Chapter 4, Ecclesiastes (translation) by Burl Horniachek And I returned and I saw all the oppression that is done under the sun. And, look, the tears of the oppressed and they have no comforter. In the hand of their oppressors, power, and they have no comforter. And I praised the dead, which are already dead, more than the living which are still alive, but better, better than both is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil work which is done under the sun. And I saw that for all his toil and all his skill in work that a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is wisp and chasing the wind. A fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better one palm filled with quiet, than both hands filled with toil and chasing the wind. Then I returned and I saw all the wisp under the sun. There is one alone and not two, and he has no son or brother. There is no end to all his toil, neither are his eyes filled with riches. For whom do I toil and deprive my being of good? This also is wisp and evil misery. Two are better than one for they have a good reward for their work, for if they fall, the one will lift up the other, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and there is no one to help him up. Also, if two lie together, they are warm, but how can one alone be warm? And if one overpowers him, two can stand up against him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will not anymore be warned. For out of prison the youth comes to rule, but then in his kingdom a poor man is born. I saw all that lives, who walk under the sun, with the second youth who is standing over him. There was no end to all the people, to all which came before him. Also, they that come after him will not celebrate him, for this also is wisp and chasing the wind.
Burl Horniachek is a Canadian teacher, poet and translator, and the editor of To Heaven's Rim, a major anthology of world Christian poetry. He was born in Saskatoon and grew up south of Edmonton. He studied Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew/Ancient Israel) at the University of Toronto and creative writing at the University of Alberta with Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott. He currently lives near Winnipeg, with his wife, a surgeon, and their two kids.
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