Ecclesiastes 6
1 Est et aliud malum, quod vidi sub sole, et quidem frequens apud homines:
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
2 Vir, cui dedit Deus divitias, et substantiam, et honorem, et nihil deest animæ suæ ex omnibus, quæ desiderat: nec tribuit ei potestatem Deus ut comedat ex eo, sed homo extraneus vorabit illud. Hoc vanitas, et miseria magna est.
A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
3 Si genuerit quispiam centum liberos, et vixerit multos annos, et plures dies ætatis habuerit, et anima illius non utatur bonis substantiæ suæ, sepulturaque careat: de hoc ergo pronuncio quod melior illo sit abortivus.
If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.
4 Frustra enim venit, et pergit ad tenebras, et oblivione delebitur nomen eius.
In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
5 Non vidit solem, neque cognovit distantiam boni et mali:
Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
6 etiam si duobus millibus annis vixerit, et non fuerit perfruitus bonis: nonne ad unum locum properant omnia?
And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
7 Omnis labor hominis in ore eius: sed anima eius non implebitur.
All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
8 Quid habet amplius sapiens a stulto? Et quid pauper nisi ut pergat illuc, ubi est vita?
What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
9 Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias. Sed et hoc vanitas est, et præsumptio spiritus.
What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
10 Qui futurus est, iam vocatum est nomen eius: et scitur quod homo sit, et non possit contra fortiorem se in iudicio contendere.
That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
11 Verba sunt plurima, multamque in disputando habentia vanitatem.
There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
12 Quid necesse est homini maiora se quærere, cum ignoret quid conducat sibi in vita sua numero dierum peregrinationis suæ, et tempore, quod velut umbra præterit? Aut quis ei poterit indicare quod post eum futurum sub sole sit?
Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
