10:1 Muscæ morientes perdunt suavitatem unguenti. Pretiosior est sapientia et gloria, parva et ad tempus stultitia.
10:1 Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.
10:2 Cor sapientis in dextera ejus, et cor stulti in sinistra illius.
10:2 The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand.
10:3 Sed et in via stultus ambulans, cum ipse insipiens sit, omnes stultos æstimat.
10:3 Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools.
10:4 Si spiritus potestatem habentis ascenderit super te, locum tuum ne demiseris, quia curatio faciet cessare peccata maxima.
10:4 If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.
10:5 Est malum quod vidi sub sole, quasi per errorem egrediens a facie principis :
10:5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince:
10:6 positum stultum in dignitate sublimi, et divites sedere deorsum.
10:6 A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.
10:7 Vidi servos in equis, et principes ambulantes super terram quasi servos.
10:7 I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.
10:8 Qui fodit foveam incidet in eam, et qui dissipat sepem mordebit eum coluber.
10:8 He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
10:9 Qui transfert lapides affligetur in eis, et qui scindit ligna vulnerabitur ab eis.
10:9 He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.
10:10 Si retusum fuerit ferrum, et hoc non ut prius, sed hebetatum fuerit, multo labore exacuetur, et post industriam sequetur sapientia.
10:10 If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom.
10:11 Si mordeat serpens in silentio, nihil eo minus habet qui occulte detrahit.
10:11 If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly.
10:12 Verba oris sapientis gratia, et labia insipientis præcipitabunt eum ;
10:12 The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong.
10:13 initium verborum ejus stultitia, et novissimum oris illius error pessimus.
10:13 The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a mischievous error.
10:14 Stultus verba multiplicat. Ignorat homo quid ante se fuerit ; et quid post se futurum sit, quis ei poterit indicare ?
10:14 A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
10:15 Labor stultorum affliget eos, qui nesciunt in urbem pergere.
10:15 The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to the city.
10:16 Væ tibi, terra, cujus rex puer est, et cujus principes mane comedunt.
10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning.
10:17 Beata terra cujus rex nobilis est, et cujus principes vescuntur in tempore suo, ad reficiendum, et non ad luxuriam.
10:17 Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.
10:18 In pigritiis humiliabitur contignatio, et in infirmitate manuum perstillabit domus.
10:18 By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.
10:19 In risum faciunt panem et vinum ut epulentur viventes ; et pecuniæ obediunt omnia.
10:19 For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast: and all things obey money.
10:20 In cogitatione tua regi ne detrahas, et in secreto cubiculi tui ne maledixeris diviti : quia et aves cæli portabunt vocem tuam, et qui habet pennas annuntiabit sententiam.
10:20 Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said.