1 What ill names shall we hurl at the sluggard? Stone from the sewers, that has no man’s good word; 2 dung from the midden, for all to wash their hands of him.
1 In lapide luteo lapidatus est piger:et omnes loquentur super aspernationem illius. 2 De stercore boum lapidatus est piger:et omnis qui tetigerit eum excutiet manus.
3 Spoilt son thou shalt beget to thy shame, spoilt daughter to thy great loss; 4 bring she to her husband no dower of modesty, her shame shall cost thee dear. 5 Shame the father shall have, shame the husband; fit company for sinners, she will have no good word from either of these.
3 Confusio patris est de filio indisciplinato:filia autem in deminoratione fiet. 4 Filia prudens hæreditas viro suo:nam quæ confundit, in contumeliam fit genitoris. 5 Patrem et virum confundit audax,et ab impiis non minorabitur:ab utrisque autem inhonorabitur.
6 Speech may be out of season, like music in time of mourning; not so the rod, not so chastisement; there lies ever wisdom.[1] 7 Teach a fool, and mend a pot with glue; 8 better audience thou shalt have from the sleeper thou wouldst awake from a deep dream; 9 thy wise speech ended, Why, what’s to do?[2] ask fool and dreamer alike.
6 Musica in luctu importuna narratio:flagella et doctrina in omni tempore sapientia. 7 Qui docet fatuum,quasi qui conglutinat testam. 8 Qui narrat verbum non audienti,quasi qui excitat dormientem de gravi somno. 9 Cum dormiente loquitur qui enarrat stulto sapientiam:et in fine narrationis dicit: Quis est hic?
10 For the dead that lacks light, for the fool that lacks wit, never cease to mourn; 11 yet not for the dead overmuch, since rest is his, 12 but the fool’s life is empty beyond the emptiness of death; 13 seven days the dead are mourned, but the fool, the godless fool, all his life long.
10 Supra mortuum plora, defecit enim lux ejus:et supra fatuum plora, defecit enim sensus. 11 Modicum plora super mortuum, quoniam requievit: 12 nequissimi enim nequissima vita super mortem fatui. 13 Luctus mortui septem dies:fatui autem et impii omnes dies vitæ illorum.
14 Linger never with a fool in talk, nor cast in thy lot with his; 15 keep clear of him, as thou wouldst keep clear of mischief, and of sin’s pollution; 16 go thy way, and let him go his; thou shalt sleep the sounder, for having no folly of his to cloud thy spirits. 17 Nought like lead for heaviness? Ay, but its name is fool. 18 With sand or salt or iron bars burden thyself, not with rash and godless company, not with a fool.
14 Cum stulto ne multum loquaris,et cum insensato ne abieris. 15 Serva te ab illo, ut non molestiam habeas,et non coinquinaberis peccato illius. 16 Deflecte ab illo, et invenies requiem,et non acediaberis in stultitia illius. 17 Super plumbum quid gravabitur?et quod illi aliud nomen quam fatuus? 18 Arenam, et salem, et massam ferri facilius est ferrequam hominem imprudentem, et fatuum, et impium.
19 Underpin the foundations with timber balks, thy house shall withstand all shock; nor less shall he, whose heart stands resolved in the counsels of prudence; 20 no hour of peril can daunt that steadfast heart. 21 Palisade set on high ground, with no better protection against the wind’s fury than cheap rubble, is but of short endurance; 22 faint heart that thinks a fool’s thoughts will not be proof against sudden terror. 23 Faint heart that thinks a fool’s thoughts …… shall never be afraid; no more shall he, that still keeps true to God’s commandments.[3]
19 Loramentum ligneum colligatum in fundamento ædificii non dissolvetur,sic et cor confirmatum in cogitatione consilii. 20 Cogitatus sensati in omni tempore metu non depravabitur. 21 Sicut pali in excelsis, et cæmenta sine impensa posita,contra faciem venti non permanebunt: 22 sic et cor timidum in cogitatione stulticontra impetum timoris non resistet. 23 Sicut cor trepidum in cogitatione fatui omni tempore non metuet,sic et qui in præceptis Dei permanet semper.
24 Chafed eye will weep, chafed heart will shew resentment. 25 One stone flung, and the birds are all on the wing; one taunt uttered, and the friendship is past repair. 26 Hast thou drawn sword against thy friend? Be comforted; all may be as it was. 27 Hast thou assailed him with angry words? Thou mayst yet be reconciled. But the taunt, the contemptuous reproach, the secret betrayed, the covert attack, all these mean a friend lost.
24 Pungens oculum deducit lacrimas,et qui pungit cor profert sensum. 25 Mittens lapidem in volatilia, dejiciet illa:sic et qui conviciatur amico, dissolvit amicitiam. 26 Ad amicum etsi produxeris gladium, non desperes:est enim regressus.Ad amicum 27 si aperueris os triste, non timeas:est enim concordatio:excepto convitio, et improperio, et superbia,et mysterii revelatione, et plaga dolosa:in his omnibus effugiet amicus.
28 Keep faith with a friend when his purse is empty, thou shalt have joy of his good fortune; 29 stand by him when he falls upon evil times, thou shalt be partner in his prosperity.
28 Fidem posside cum amico in paupertate illius,ut et in bonis illius læteris. 29 In tempore tribulationis illius permane illi fidelis,ut et in hæreditate illius cohæres sis.
33 Oh for a sentry to guard this mouth of mine, a seal to keep these lips inviolate! From that snare may I be safe, nor ever let my tongue betray me!
33 Quis dabit ori meo custodiam,et super labia mea signaculum certum,ut non cadam ab ipsis,et lingua mea perdat me?
[1] The use of words in this verse is very strained, and it is likely that the Hebrew text was corrupt.
[2] The Greek text here has, ‘What is it?’ The Latin version (‘Who is it?’) would apply to the sleeper, but gives no satisfactory sense as applied to the fool.
[3] The Latin text here is evidently confused, and perhaps defective.
[4] vv. 31, 32: It is difficult to make these verses into a continuous sentence; to render ‘let harm befall me through his agency’ is a mistranslation of the Greek. There has perhaps been an omission in the text.
