Liber Genesis, 41

1. post duos annos vidit Pharao somnium putabat se stare super fluvium

1. After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,

2. de quo ascendebant septem boves pulchræ et crassæ nimis et pascebantur in locis palustribus

2. Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.

3. aliæ quoque septem emergebant de flumine fœdæ confectæque macie et pascebantur in ipsa amnis ripa in locis virentibus

3. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:

4. devoraveruntque eas quarum mira species et habitudo corporum erat expergefactus Pharao

4. And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.

5. rursum dormivit et vidit alterum somnium septem spicæ pullulabant in culmo uno plenæ atque formonsæ

5.

6. aliæ quoque totidem spicæ tenues et percussæ uredine oriebantur

6. Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

7. devorantes omnem priorum pulchritudinem evigilans post quietem

7. And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest:

8. et facto mane pavore perterritus misit ad coniectores Ægypti cunctosque sapientes et accersitis narravit somnium nec erat qui interpretaretur

8. And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.

9. tunc demum reminiscens pincernarum magister ait confiteor peccatum meum

9. Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:

10. iratus rex servis suis me et magistrum pistorum retrudi jussit in carcerem principis militum

10. The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers:

11. ubi una nocte uterque vidimus somnium præsagum futurorum

11. Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.

12. erat ibi puer hebræus ejusdem ducis militum famulus cui narrantes somnia

12. There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,

13. audivimus quicquid postea rei probavit eventus ego enim redditus sum officio meo et ille suspensus est in cruce

13. And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet.

14. protinus ad regis imperium eductum de carcere Joseph totonderunt ac veste mutata obtulerunt ei

14. Forthwith at the king's command, Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him, and changing his apparel, brought him in to him.

15. cui ille ait vidi somnia nec est qui edisserat quæ audivi te prudentissime conicere

15. And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them.

16. respondit Joseph absque me Deus respondebit prospera Pharaoni

16. Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.

17. narravit ergo ille quod viderat putabam me stare super ripam fluminis

17. So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,

18. et septem boves de amne conscendere pulchras nimis et obesis carnibus quæ in pastu paludis virecta carpebant

18. And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

19. et ecce has sequebantur aliæ septem boves in tantum deformes et macilentæ ut numquam tales in terra Ægypti viderim

19. And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

20. quæ devoratis et consumptis prioribus

20. And the devoured and consumed the former,

21. nullum saturitatis dedere vestigium sed simili macie et squalore torpebant evigilans rursum sopore depressus

21. And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

22. vidi somnium septem spicæ pullulabant in culmo uno plenæ atque pulcherrimæ

22. And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.

23. aliæ quoque septem tenues et percussæ uredine oriebantur stipula

23. Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stock:

24. quæ priorum pulchritudinem devorarunt narravi coniectoribus somnium et nemo est qui edisserat

24. And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

25. respondit Joseph somnium regis unum est quæ facturus est Deus ostendit Pharaoni

25. Joseph answered: The king's dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.

26. septem boves pulchræ et septem spicæ plenæ septem ubertatis anni sunt eandemque vim somnii conprehendunt

26. The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

27. septem quoque boves tenues atque macilentæ quæ ascenderunt post eas et septem spicæ tenues et vento urente percussæ septem anni sunt venturæ famis

27. And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:

28. qui hoc ordine conplebuntur

28. Which shall be fulfilled in this order:

29. ecce septem anni venient fertilitatis magnæ in universa terra Ægypti

29. Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:

30. quos sequentur septem anni alii tantæ sterilitatis ut oblivioni tradatur cuncta retro abundantia consumptura est enim fames omnem terram

30. After which shall follow other seven years of so great scacity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,

31. et ubertatis magnitudinem perditura inopiæ magnitudo

31. And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.

32. quod autem vidisti secundo ad eandem rem pertinens somnium firmitatis indicium est eo quod fiat sermo Dei et velocius impleatur

32. And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.

33. nunc ergo provideat rex virum sapientem et industrium et præficiat eum terræ Ægypti

33. Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:

34. qui constituat præpositos per singulas regiones et quintam partem fructuum per septem annos fertilitatis

34. That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,

35. qui jam nunc futuri sunt congreget in horrea et omne frumentum sub Pharaonis potestate condatur serveturque in urbibus

35. That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao's hands and be reserved in the cities.

36. et paretur futuræ septem annorum fami quæ pressura est Ægyptum et non consumetur terra inopia

36. And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not consumed with scarcity.

37. placuit Pharaoni consilium et cunctis ministris ejus

37. The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.

38. locutusque est ad eos num invenire poterimus talem virum qui spiritu Dei plenus sit

38. And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?

39. dixit ergo ad Joseph quia ostendit Deus tibi omnia quæ locutus es numquid sapientiorem et similem tui invenire potero

39. He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

40. tu eris super domum meam et ad tui oris imperium cunctus populus obœdiet uno tantum regni solio te præcedam

40. Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.

41. dicens quoque rursum Pharao ad Joseph ecce constitui te super universam terram Ægypti

41. And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.

42. tulit anulum de manu sua et dedit in manu ejus vestivitque eum stola byssina et collo torquem auream circumposuit

42. And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.

43. fecitque ascendere super currum suum secundum clamante præcone ut omnes coram eo genuflecterent et præpositum esse scirent universæ terræ Ægypti

43. And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made govenor over the whole land of Egypt.

44. dixit quoque rex ad Joseph ego sum Pharao absque tuo imperio non movebit quisquam manum aut pedem in omni terra Ægypti

44. And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

45. vertitque nomen illius et vocavit eum lingua ægyptiaca Salvatorem mundi dedit quoque illi uxorem Aseneth filiam Putiphare sacerdotis Heliopoleos egressus itaque Joseph ad terram Ægypti

45. And he turned his name, and called him in the Eyyptian tounge, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Asenth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:

46. triginta autem erat annorum quando stetit in conspectu regis Pharaonis circuivit omnes regiones Ægypti

46. (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao) and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

47. venitque fertilitas septem annorum et in manipulos redactæ segetes congregatæ sunt in horrea Ægypti

47. And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corm being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

48. omnis etiam frugum abundantia in singulis urbibus condita est

48. And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

49. tantaque fuit multitudo tritici ut harenæ maris coæquaretur et copia mensuram excederet

49. And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.

50. nati sunt autem Joseph filii duo antequam veniret fames quos ei peperit Aseneth filia Putiphare sacerdotis Heliopoleos

50. And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore unto him.

51. vocavitque nomen primogeniti Manasse dicens oblivisci me fecit Deus omnium laborum meorum et domum patris mei

51. And he called the name of the first born Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

52. nomen quoque secundi appellavit Ephraim dicens crescere me fecit Deus in terra paupertatis meæ

52. And he named the second Epharaim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.

53. igitur transactis septem annis ubertatis qui fuerant in Ægypto

53. Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past:

54. cœperunt venire septem anni inopiæ quos prædixerat Joseph et in universo orbe fames prævaluit in cuncta autem terra Ægypti erat panis

54. The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.

55. qua esuriente clamavit populus ad Pharaonem alimenta petens quibus ille respondit ite ad Joseph et quicquid vobis dixerit facite

55. And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.

56. crescebat autem cotidie fames in omni terra aperuitque Joseph universa horrea et vendebat Ægyptiis nam et illos oppresserat fames

56. And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.

57. omnesque provinciæ veniebant in Ægyptum ut emerent escas et malum inopiæ temperarent

57. And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.