But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good dinner was prepared in Tobias’s house,

et reversus est Tobias in domum suam, omnisque facultas ejus restituta est ei.

Soon after this, one of the Lord’s feast-days came round, and Tobias, his table richly spread,

He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God, to feast with us.

Post hæc vero, cum esset dies festus Domini, et factum esset prandium bonum in domo Tobiæ,

would have his son go out and invite fellow-tribesmen and fellow-worshippers of theirs, to share the banquet.

And when he had gone, returning he told him, that one of the children of Israel lay slain in the street. And he forthwith leaped up from his place at the table, and left his dinner, and came fasting to the body:

dixit filio suo: Vade, et adduc aliquos de tribu nostra, timentes Deum, ut epulentur nobiscum.

Go out he did, but came back bearing ill news; he had found an Israelite lying murdered in the open street. His father, without more ado, sprang up from where he sat, leaving his dinner untasted; he would not break his fast till he had found the body,

And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the sun was down, he might bury him cautiously.

Cumque abiisset, reversus nuntiavit ei unum ex filiis Israël jugulatum jacere in platea. Statimque exiliens de accubitu suo, relinquens prandium, jejunus pervenit ad corpus:

wrapped it about and carried it home with him, to bury it in secret when night fell.

And when he had hid the body, he ate bread with mourning and fear,

tollensque illud portavit ad domum suam occulte, ut dum sol occubuisset, caute sepeliret eum.

A sad and anxious meal was his, with such a guest hidden under his roof;

Remembering the word which the Lord spoke by Amos the prophet: Your festival days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.

Cumque occultasset corpus, manducavit panem cum luctu et tremore,

he remembered those words the Lord had put into the mouth of Amos, Your feast-days shall end in lamentation and sad thoughts.

So when the sun was down, he went and buried him.

memorans illum sermonem, quem dixit Dominus per Amos prophetam: Dies festi vestri convertentur in lamentationem et luctum.

Night fell at last, and the body was buried in safety;

Now all his neighbours blamed him, saying: Once already commandment was given for thee to be slain because of this matter, and thou didst scarce escape the sentence of death, and dost thou again bury the dead?

Cum vero sol occubuisset, abiit, et sepelivit eum.

but his neighbours shook their heads over it, Here was sentence of death passed on thee for such doings of thine; from that sentence thou wast barely reprieved, and art thou back at thy grave-digging?

But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them.

Arguebant autem eum omnes proximi ejus, dicentes: Jam hujus rei causa interfici jussus es, et vix effugisti mortis imperium, et iterum sepelis mortuos?

But still Tobias feared God much, and the king little; still the bodies of murdered men were stolen away, hidden in his house, and at dead of night buried.

Now it happened one day, that being wearied with burying, he came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept,

Sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem, rapiebat corpora occisorum, et occultabat in domo sua, et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea.

But toil brought weariness, and one morning, when he came home, he threw himself down in the shadow of the wall, and quickly fell asleep.

And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.

Contigit autem ut quadam die fatigatus a sepultura, veniens in domum suam, jactasset se juxta parietem, et obdormisset,

As he slept, warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell into his eyes, and he became blind.

Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job.

et ex nido hirundinum dormienti illi calida stercora inciderent super oculos ejus, fieretque cæcus.

This was but a trial which the Lord allowed to befall him, so that he might leave to later ages, as God’s servant Job did, a document of patience.

For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him,

Hanc autem tentationem ideo permisit Dominus evenire illi, ut posteris daretur exemplum patientiæ ejus, sicut et sancti Job.

Here was a man that had feared God and obeyed his commandments from infancy; he was smitten with blindness; did he thereupon complain, God was using him ill?

But continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.

Nam cum ab infantia sua semper Deum timuerit, et mandata ejus custodierit, non est contristatus contra Deum quod plaga cæcitatis evenerit ei,

No, he remained as stout-hearted a worshipper of God as before, and never a day passed but he returned thanks for the gift of life.

For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying:

sed immobilis in Dei timore permansit, agens gratias Deo omnibus diebus vitæ suæ.

Kinsman and clansman might taunt him, as Job was taunted by his fellow chieftains; might call him a fool for his pains,

Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead?

Nam sicut beato Job insultabant reges, ita isti parentes et cognati ejus irridebant vitam ejus, dicentes:

and ask whether this was the reward he had hoped for when he gave alms, and went a-burying;

But Tobias rebuked them, saying: Speak not so:

Ubi est spes tua, pro qua eleemosynas et sepulturas faciebas?

Tobias took them up short. Nay, said he, never talk thus;

For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from him.

Tobias vero increpabat eos, dicens: Nolite ita loqui:

we come of holy stock, you and I, and God has life waiting for us if we will but keep faith with him.

Now Anna his wife went daily to weaving work, and she brought home what she could get for their living by the labour of her hands.

quoniam filii sanctorum sumus, et vitam illam expectamus, quam Deus daturus est his qui fidem suam numquam mutant ab eo.

His wife Anna went every day to work at the loom, bringing home what earnings she could;

Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and brought it home:

Anna vero uxor ejus ibat ad opus textrinum quotidie, et de labore manuum suarum victum quem consequi poterat, deferebat.

and one day it was a kid that was given her for her wages. When she brought this home,

And when her husband heard it bleating, he said: Take heed, lest perhaps it be stolen: restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat or to touch any thing that cometh by theft.

Unde factum est ut hædum caprarum accipiens detulisset domi:

and its bleating reached her husband’s ears, he made great ado for fear it had been stolen; Nay, he said, this must be restored to its owner; never shall it be said that we ate stolen food, or soiled our hands with theft!

At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident thy hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.

cujus cum vocem balantis vir ejus audisset, dixit: Videte, ne forte furtivus sit: reddite eum dominis suis, quia non licet nobis aut edere ex furto aliquid, aut contingere.

Fine talk, said she, but the like hopes have played thee false already; what hast thou to shew, now, for all thy almsgiving?

And with these, and other such like words she upbraided him.

Ad hæc uxor ejus irata respondit: Manifeste vana facta est spes tua, et eleemosynæ tuæ modo apparuerunt.

With such taunts as these even his wife assailed him.