1: Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet--the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them.
2: So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive.
3: But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
4: Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
5: The fool sits back and takes it easy, His sloth is slow suicide.
6: One handful of peaceful repose Is better than two fistfuls of worried work--More spitting into the wind.
7: I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness:
8: a solitary person, completely alone--no children, no family, no friends--yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.
9: It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth.
10: And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough!
11: Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night.
12: By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped. [JC]
13: A poor youngster with some wisdom is better off than an old but foolish king who doesn't know which end is up.
14: I saw a youth just like this start with nothing and go from rags to riches,
15: and I saw everyone rally to the rule of this young successor to the king.
16: Even so, the excitement died quickly, the throngs of people soon lost interest. Can't you see it's only smoke? And spitting into the wind?