Patukkung 6
1 Kaminawk khaeah hmuenzit ah kaom sethaih, ni tlim ah ka hnuk let bae vop:
I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
2 koehhaih akoep hanah, Sithaw mah kami khaeah angraenghaih, hmuenmae tawnhhaih hoi pakoehhaih to paek; toe hmuenmae nuiah kanawm acaeng hanah paek ai pongah, minawk kalah mah kanawm acaeng haih lat; hae doeh azom pui ni, nathaih kasae ah ni oh.
God enables some people to get a lot of money and possessions and to be honored; they have everything [LIT] that they want. But God [sometimes] does not allow them to continue to enjoy those things. Someone else gets them and enjoys them. That seems senseless and unfair.
3 Kami maet loe caa cumvaito tawnh moe, saning sawk parai ah hing cadoeh, hing thung koehhaih akoep ai, duek naah doeh kahoih ah aphum ai nahaeloe, anih pongah loe zok thungah kamro nawkta to hoih kue.
Someone might have 100 children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried [properly after he dies], [I say that] a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.
4 Zok thungah kamro nawkta loe azom pui ah tacawt moe, vinghaih thungah caeh, anih ih ahmin loe vinghaih mah ayaw khoep tih boeh.
That dead baby’s birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.
5 Anih loe ni to hnu vai ai, tidoeh panoek ai; toe anih loe minawk kalah pongah pop kue anghakhaih to hnuk.
It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
6 Ue, anih loe saning sang hnetto hing langlacadoeh, a tawnh ih hmuen nuiah nawmhaih tawn ai; kaminawk loe ahmuen maeto ah na ai maw caeh o boih?
Even if people could live for 2,000 years, if they do not enjoy the things that God gives to them, [it would have been better for them never to have been born]. [All people who live a long time] certainly [RHQ] all go to the same place— [to the grave].
7 Kami mah tha pathok moe, sak ih tok boih loe pakha han ih ni sak, toe caak koehhaih loe boeng thai ai.
People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
8 Palungha mah kamthu pong kamtlai ah amekhaih timaw tawnh? Kahing kaminawk hmaa ah kawbangmaw khosak nahaeloe hoi tih, tiah panoek kamtang loe amekhaih timaw tawnh?
So it seems that [RHQ] wise people do not receive more lasting benefits than foolish people do. And it seems that [RHQ] poor people do not benefit from knowing how to conduct their lives.
9 Palung koehhaih bangah amkaeh khing pongah loe, mik hoi hnuk ih hmuen to hoih kue; hae doeh azom pui ni, takhi hnukah patom rumram baktiah ni oh.
It is better to enjoy the things that we already have [MTY] than to constantly want more things; continually wanting more things is [senseless], [like] the wind.
10 Vaihiah kaom hmuen loe canghni ah a poek ih hmuen to ni; kami loe angmah pongah thacak kue kami hoiah angnoek thai ai, hae loe kami khosakhaih dan boeh ni, tiah amtueng boeh.
All the things that exist [on the earth] have been given names. And everyone knows what people are like, [so] it is useless to argue with someone (OR, with God) who is stronger than we are.
11 Pop hmoek ah lok apaeh naah, avang ai lok to pop aep, to baktih lok mah kami han tih amekhaih maw ohsak?
The more [that we] talk, the more [often we say things that are] senseless, so it certainly does not [RHQ] benefit us to talk a lot.
12 Tahlip baktiah kalaem thaih, avanghaih om ai hing thungah, kami han atho om hmuen mi maw panoek thaih? Kami duek pacoengah loe ni tlim ah timaw om tih, tiah mi mah maw thui thai tih?
We live for only a short time; we disappear like [SIM] a shadow disappears [in the sunlight]. No one [RHQ] knows what is best for us while we are alive, and no one [RHQ] knows what will happen to us after we die [EUP].
