Chapter II.
Judging, therefore, that it stood thus with this matter,
I decided to turn to another manner of life, and to give myself to
pleasure, and to take experience of various delights. And now I
learned that all such things are vain; and I put a check on laughter,
when it ran on carelessly; and restrained pleasure, according to the
rule of moderation, and was bitterly wroth against it. And when I
perceived that the soul is able to arrest the body in its disposition
to intoxication and wine-bibbing, and that temperance makes lust its
subject, I sought earnestly to observe what object of true worth and of real excellence is set
before men, which they shall attain to in this present life. For
I passed through all those other objects which are deemed worthiest,
such as the erecting of lofty houses and the planting of vines, and in
addition, the laying out of pleasure-grounds, and the acquisition and
culture of all manner of fruit-bearing trees; and among them also large
reservoirs for the reception of water were constructed, and distributed
so as to secure the plentiful irrigation of the trees. And I
surrounded myself also with many domestics, both man-servants and
maid-servants; and some of them I procured from abroad, and others I
possessed and employed as born in my own house. And herds of
four-footed creatures, as well of cattle as of sheep, more numerous
than any of those of old acquired, were made my property. And
treasures of gold and silver flowed in upon me; and I made the kings of
all nations my dependants and tributaries. And very many choirs
of male and female singers were trained to yield me pleasure by the
practice of all-harmonious song. And I had banquetings; and for
the service of this part of my pleasure, I got me select cup-bearers of
both sexes beyond my reckoning,—so far did I surpass in these
things those who reigned before me in Jerusalem. And thus it
happened that the interests of wisdom declined with me, while the
claims of evil appetency increased. For when I yielded myself to
every allurement of the eyes, and to the violent passions of the heart,
that make their attack from all quarters, and surrendered myself to the
hopes held out by pleasures, I also made my will the bond-slave of all
miserable delights. For thus my judgment was brought to such a
wretched pass, that I thought these things good, and that it was proper
for me to engage in them. At length, awaking and recovering my
sight, I perceived that the things I had in hand were altogether sinful
and very evil, and the deeds of a spirit not good. For now none
of all the objects of men’s choice seems to me worthy of
approval, or greatly to be desired by a just mind. Wherefore,
having pondered at once the advantages of wisdom and the ills of folly,
I should with reason admire that man greatly, who, being borne on in a
thoughtless course, and afterwards arresting himself, should return to
right and duty. For wisdom and folly are widely separated, and
they are as different from each other as day is from night. He,
therefore, who makes choice of virtue, is like one who sees all things
plainly, and looks upward, and who holdeth his ways in the time of
clearest light. But he, on the other hand, who has involved
himself in wickedness, is like a man who wanders helplessly about in a
moonless night, as one who is blind, and deprived of the sight of
things by his darkness.46
| 46 The text is,
τυφλός
τε ὢν τὴν
πρόσοψιν καὶ
ὑπὸ τοῦ
σκότους τῶν
πραγμάτων
ἀφῃρημένος,
for which it is proposed to read, τυφλός τε ὢν
καὶ τὴν
πρόσοψιν ὑπὸ
τοῦ σκότους,
etc. |
And when I considered the end of each of these modes of
life, I found
there was no
profit in the latter;
47
| 47 Or, as the
Latin version puts it: And, in fine, when I considered the
difference between these modes of life, I found nothing but that, by
setting myself, etc. |
and by setting myself to be the companion of the foolish, I saw that I
should receive the
wages of
folly. For what
advantage is there in
those thoughts, or what
profit is there in the multitude of words,
where the
streams of foolish speaking are flowing, as it were, from the
fountain of
folly? Moreover, there is nothing common to the
wise
man and to the
fool, neither as regards the memory of men, nor as
regards the recompense of
God. And as to all the affairs of men,
when they are yet apparently but beginning to be, the end at once
surprises them. Yet the
wise man is never partaker of the same
end with the foolish. Then also did I
hate all my
life, that had
been consumed in
vanities, and which I had spent with a
mind engrossed
in earthly
anxieties. For, to speak in brief, all my affairs have
been
wrought by me with labour and
pain, as the efforts of thoughtless
impulse; and some other person, it may be a
wise man or a
fool, will
succeed to them, I mean, the chill fruits of my toils. But when I
cut myself off from these things, and cast them away, then did that
real good which is set before man show itself to me,—namely, the
knowledge of
wisdom and the possession of manly
virtue.
48
And if a man neglects these things,
and is inflamed with the passion for other things, such a man makes
choice of
evil instead of good, and goes after what is bad instead of
what is excellent, and after
trouble instead of
peace; for he is
distracted by every manner of disturbance, and is burdened with
continual
anxieties night and day, with
oppressive labours of body as
well as with ceaseless cares of
mind,—his
heart moving in
constant agitation, by reason of the
strange and senseless affairs that
occupy him. For the
perfect good does not consist in eating and
drinking, although it is true that it is from
God that their
sustenance
cometh to men; for none of those things which are given for our
maintenance subsist without His providence. But the good man who
gets
wisdom from
God, gets also heavenly enjoyment; while, on the other
hand, the
evil man, smitten with ills divinely
inflicted, and
afflicted
with the
disease of
lust, toils to amass much, and is
quick to put him
to
shame who is honoured by
God in presence of the
Lord of all,
proffering useless
gifts, and making things deceitful and vain the
pursuits of his own miserable soul.
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