1 Sin comes often of an empty purse; nothing distorts the eye like the love of riches. 2 Stake that is held between two stones cannot escape; nor may sin be avoided when there is seller on this side, buyer on that. 3 Wrong done shall be undone, and the doer of it as well; 4 hold fast to thy fear of the Lord, or thy wealth shall soon come to ruin.
1 Propter inopiam multi deliquerunt:et qui quærit locupletari avertit oculum suum. 2 Sicut in medio compaginis lapidum palus figitur,sic et inter medium venditionis et emptionis angustiabitur peccatum: 3 conteretur cum delinquente delictum. 4 Si non in timore Domini tenueris te instanter,cito subvertetur domus tua.
7 Good fruit comes from a tree well dressed, and a man will be in word what he is in thought; 8 do not give thy opinion of a man till he has spoken; there lies the proof.
7 Sicut rusticatio de ligno ostendit fructum illius,sic verbum ex cogitatu cordis hominis. 8 Ante sermonem non laudes virum:hæc enim tentatio est hominum.
9 Make right-doing thy quest, and thou wilt not miss the mark; this shall be a robe of honour to clothe thee, a welcome guest in thy house, to watch over thee continually, and to be thy stronghold at the hour when all is made known.
9 Si sequaris justitiam, apprehendes illam,et indues quasi poderem honoris:et inhabitabis cum ea, et proteget te in sempiternum,et in die agnitionis invenies firmamentum.
14 Out upon the wearisome talk of sinners, that of sin and its dalliance makes a jest! 15 Out upon the man that uses oaths lightly; hair stands upright at his blaspheming, and ears are stopped! 16 Out upon the proud, that provoke bloodshed with their quarrelling, and by their cursing offend all who listen!
14 Narratio peccantium odiosa,et risus illorum in deliciis peccati. 15 Loquela multum jurans horripilationem capiti statuet,et irreverentia ipsius obturatio aurium. 16 Effusio sanguinis in rixa superborum,et maledictio illorum auditus gravis.
17 Betray thy friend’s secret, and all confidence is lost; never more shalt thou have friend to comfort thee. 18 Use such a man lovingly, and keep faith with him; 19 if once thou hast betrayed him, court no more his company. 20 Friendship thus killed, thy friend is dead to thee; 21 bird let go from the hand is not lost more irretrievably; 22 he is gone, like hind released from the snare, gone beyond thy pursuit. The wound that hurts a man’s soul 23 there is no healing; the bitter taunt may yet be unsaid, 24 but once the secret is out all is misery, all is despair.
17 Qui denudat arcana amici fidem perdit,et non inveniet amicum ad animum suum. 18 Dilige proximum,et conjungere fide cum illo. 19 Quod si denudaveris absconsa illius,non persequeris post eum. 20 Sicut enim homo qui perdit amicum suum,sic et qui perdit amicitiam proximi sui. 21 Et sicut qui dimittit avem de manu sua,sic dereliquisti proximum tuum, et non eum capies. 22 Non illum sequaris, quoniam longe abest:effugit enim quasi caprea de laqueo, quoniam vulnerata est anima ejus: 23 ultra eum non poteris colligare.Et maledicti est concordatio: 24 denudare autem amici mysteria, desperatio est animæ infelicis.
25 Sly glance of the false friend! How shall a man be rid of him? 26 Here in thy presence, he smooths his brow, and is all in wonderment at thy wise sayings; but ere long he will change his tune, and lend thy words an ill colour. 27 Above all else, he earns my hatred; God’s hatred too, I doubt not.
25 Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua,et nemo eum abjiciet. 26 In conspectu oculorum tuorum condulcabit os suum,et super sermones tuos admirabitur:novissime autem pervertet os suum,et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum. 27 Multa odivi, et non coæquavi ei,et Dominus odiet illum.
28 None can throw stone in air but at his own head’s peril, nor ever was blow struck treacherously, but the traitor must have his share of hurt; 29 a man may fall into the pit he dug, trip on the stone he set in his neighbour’s path, perish in the snare he laid for another. 30 Plot ill, and the ill shall recoil on thyself, springing up beyond all thy expectation.
28 Qui in altum mittit lapidem, super caput ejus cadet:et plaga dolosa dolosi dividet vulnera. 29 Et qui foveam fodit incidet in eam:et qui statuit lapidem proximo offendet in eo:et qui laqueum alii ponit, peribit in illo. 30 Facienti nequissimum consilium, super ipsum devolvetur,et non agnoscet unde adveniat illi.
33 Rancour and rage are detestable things both; and the sinner has both in store.
33 Ira et furor utraque execrabilia sunt,et vir peccator continens erit illorum.
[1] This obscure maxim may be interpreted in several ways, none of which is quite satisfactory. There may have been an error in the text; ‘poverty’ is represented in the Greek by a second word for ‘refuse’, and in the Latin by an abstract noun which signifies ‘not knowing which way to turn’.
