| 1 ἀσχολία μεγάλη ἔκτισται παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ ζυγὸς βαρὺς ἐπὶ υἱοὺς Αδαμ ἀ{F'} ἡμέρας ἐξόδου ἐκ γαστρὸς μητρὸς αὐτῶν ἕως ἡμέρας ἐπιστροφῆς εἰς μητέρα πάντων 2 τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ φόβον καρδίας ἐπίνοια προσδοκίας ἡμέρα τελευτῆς 3 ἀπὸ καθημένου ἐπὶ θρόνου ἐνδόξου καὶ ἕως τεταπεινωμένου ἐν γῇ καὶ σποδῷ 4 ἀπὸ φοροῦντος ὑακίνθινον καὶ στέφανον καὶ ἕως περιβαλλομένου ὠμόλινον θυμὸς καὶ ζῆλος καὶ ταραχὴ καὶ σάλος καὶ φόβος θανάτου καὶ μηνίαμα καὶ ἔρις 5 καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἀναπαύσεως ἐπὶ κοίτης ὕπνος νυκτὸς ἀλλοιοῖ γνῶσιν αὐτοῦ 6 ὀλίγον ὡς οὐδὲν ἐν ἀναπαύσει καὶ ἀ{P'} ἐκείνου ἐν ὕπνοις ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σκοπιᾶς 7 τεθορυβημένος ἐν ὁράσει καρδίας αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐκπεφευγὼς ἀπὸ προσώπου πολέμου ἐν καιρῷ χρείας αὐτοῦ ἐξηγέρθη καὶ ἀποθαυμάζων εἰς οὐδένα φόβον 8 μετὰ πάσης σαρκὸς ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἑπταπλάσια 9 πρὸς ταῦτα θάνατος καὶ αἷμα καὶ ἔρις καὶ ῥομφαία ἐπαγωγαί λιμὸς καὶ σύντριμμα καὶ μάστιξ 10 ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνόμους ἐκτίσθη ταῦτα πάντα καὶ δ{I'} αὐτοὺς ἐγένετο ὁ κατακλυσμός |
1 Great is the anxiety all men are doomed to, heavy the yoke each son of Adam must bear, from the day when he leaves his mother’s womb to the day when he is buried in the earth, that is mother of all. 2 What solicitude is his, what fears catch at his heart; how quick his mind runs out to meet coming events! And the term of it all is death. 3 What matter, whether a man sit on a throne, or grovel in dust and ashes; 4 whether he goes clad in purple and wears a crown, or has but coarse linen to wear? Anger he shall know, and jealousy, and concern, and bewilderment, and the fear of death, and the grudge that rankles, and rivalry. 5 Rest he on his bed at night, sleep comes to fashion his thinking anew; 6 even there, the rest he wins is but little or none at all, and thereupon, in his dreams, he is anxious as sentry waiting to be relieved, 7 his are such whirling thoughts as fugitive has, just escaped from the battle. Then, at the moment of deliverance, comes waking; and he marvels to find his fears all vain. 8 This lot he shares with all living things; beast has it as well as man, but for the sinner it is multiplied sevenfold. 9 There is more besides, mortal sickness, bloodshed, quarrelling, the sword, oppression, famine, devastation and plague; 10 all such things are designed for the punishing of the wicked; was it not from wickedness the flood came? |
1
Occupatio magna creata est omnibus hominibus,
et jugum grave super filios Adam,
a die exitus de ventre matris eorum
usque in diem sepulturæ in matrem omnium. 2
Cogitationes eorum, et timores cordis,
adinventio exspectationis, et dies finitionis, 3
a residente super sedem gloriosam,
usque ad humiliatum in terra et cinere: 4
ab eo qui utitur hyacintho et portat coronam,
usque ad eum qui operitur lino crudo:
furor, zelus, tumultus, fluctuatio, et timor mortis,
iracundia perseverans, et contentio: 5
et in tempore refectionis in cubili,
somnus noctis immutat scientiam ejus. 6
Modicum tamquam nihil in requie,
et ab eo in somnis, quasi in die respectus. 7
Conturbatus est in visu cordis sui,
tamquam qui evaserit in die belli:
in tempore salutis suæ exsurrexit,
et admirans ad nullum timorem: 8
cum omni carne, ab homine usque ad pecus,
et super peccatores septuplum. 9
Ad hæc mors, sanguis, contentio, et rhomphæa,
oppressiones, fames, et contritio, et flagella: 10
super iniquos creata sunt hæc omnia:
et propter illos factus est cataclysmus. |