After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

Post hæc aperuit Job os suum, et maledixit diei suo,

At last, Job himself broke into utterance, and fell to cursing the day on which he was born.

And he said:

et locutus est:

And this was his plaint:

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.

Blotted out for ever be the day of my birth; that night, too, which gave word that a human life had been conceived in the womb!

Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

Dies ille vertatur in tenebras: non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.

Plunged be that day in darkness; may God on high forget it, and grant it never shine of sun;

Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis; occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.

shades, like the shades of death, claim it for their own; deep gloom lie heavy on it, and wrap it all in desolation.

Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat; non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus.

Shrouded be that night in a black storm, let it not be reckoned among the days of the year, nor marked in the moon’s calendar;

Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna.

a night doomed to exile, a night that never wakes the sound of praise.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan.

Wizards that can overcast the sun, and rouse old Chaos from his lair, on that night lay your ban;

Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine ejus; expectet lucem, et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ.

blacken its starlight, let it wait for the morning light, and see it never, nor break of rising dawn;

Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

Quia non conclusit ostia ventris qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.

the night that should have closed the doors of the womb against me, shut these eyes forever to sights of woe!

Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

Quare non in vulva mortuus sum? egressus ex utero non statim perii?

Had but the womb been the tomb of me, had I died at birth,

Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?

had no lap ever cherished me, no breast suckled me,

For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep.

Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem

all would be rest now, all would be silence. Deeply I would take my repose,

With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines;

with the old kings and senators, that once restored cities for their whim,

Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

aut cum principibus qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento;

the chieftains that had such wealth of gold, houses full of silver;

Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they that being conceived have not seen the light.

aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.

with babe still-born and babe unborn, hidden away in the sunless grave.

There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.

There the unquietness of the wicked is stilled, and the weary are at rest;

And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.

untroubled the thrall sleeps, his tyrant’s bidding cannot reach him now;

The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.

master and slave are there, and the slave masterless.

Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

Quare misero data est lux, et vita his qui in amaritudine animæ sunt:

Why should they see the light, that groan to see it; why should they live, that must live in bitterness of soul?

That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum;

Why should they be like treasure-seekers, longing for the death that still cheats them,

And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave.

gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum?

a grave the prize they covet?

To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

viro cujus abscondita est via et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?

Such men as I, that must tread blindfold in a maze of God’s making!

Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

Antequam comedam, suspiro; et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:

Ever as I sit down to meat the sighs come, grief floods over me unrestrained.

For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

quia timor quem timebam evenit mihi, et quod verebar accidit.

Must I have nothing left to daunt me? Must each calamity be felt as soon as feared?

Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.

Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.

And still I kept my own counsel, still patient and silent I, till my angry mood overcame me at last.