Ecclesiastes 4
1 And again I saw all the cruel things which are done under the sun; there was the weeping of those who have evil done to them, and they had no comforter: and from the hands of the evil-doers there went out power, but they had no comforter.
Verti me ad alia, et vidi calumnias quæ sub sole geruntur, et lacrimas innocentium, et neminem consolatorem, nec posse resistere eorum violentiæ, cunctorum auxilio destitutos,
2 So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.
et laudavi magis mortuos quam viventes;
3 Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.
et feliciorem utroque judicavi qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala quæ sub sole fiunt.
4 And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
Rursum contemplatus sum omnes labores hominum, et industrias animadverti patere invidiæ proximi; et in hoc ergo vanitas et cura superflua est.
5 The foolish man, folding his hands, takes the flesh of his body for food.
Stultus complicat manus suas, et comedit carnes suas, dicens:
6 One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.
Melior est pugillus cum requie, quam plena utraque manus cum labore et afflictione animi.
7 Then I came back, and I saw an example of what is to no purpose under the sun.
Considerans, reperi et aliam vanitatem sub sole.
8 It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.
Unus est, et secundum non habet, non filium, non fratrem, et tamen laborare non cessat, nec satiantur oculi ejus divitiis; nec recogitat, dicens: Cui laboro, et fraudo animam meam bonis? In hoc quoque vanitas est et afflictio pessima.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work.
Melius est ergo duos esse simul quam unum; habent enim emolumentum societatis suæ.
10 And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.
Si unus ceciderit, ab altero fulcietur. Væ soli, quia cum ceciderit, non habet sublevantem se.
11 So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself?
Et si dormierint duo, fovebuntur mutuo; unus quomodo calefiet?
12 And two attacked by one would be safe, and three cords twisted together are not quickly broken.
Et si quispiam prævaluerit contra unum, duo resistunt ei; funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur.
13 A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.
Melior est puer pauper et sapiens, rege sene et stulto, qui nescit prævidere in posterum.
14 Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.
Quod de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatur ad regnum; et alius, natus in regno, inopia consumatur.
15 I saw all the living under the sun round the young man who was to be ruler in place of the king.
Vidi cunctos viventes qui ambulant sub sole cum adolescente secundo, qui consurget pro eo.
16 There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.
Infinitus numerus est populi omnium qui fuerunt ante eum, et qui postea futuri sunt non lætabuntur in eo; sed et hoc vanitas et afflictio spiritus.
