Job 39
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Job 39
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Sais-tu quand les chèvres sauvages font leurs petits? Observes-tu les biches quand elles mettent bas? | Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young? |
Comptes-tu les mois pendant lesquels elles portent, Et connais-tu l`époque où elles enfantent? | Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you? |
Elles se courbent, laissent échapper leur progéniture, Et sont délivrées de leurs douleurs. | They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body. |
Leurs petits prennent de la vigueur et grandissent en plein air, Ils s`éloignent et ne reviennent plus auprès d`elles. | Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again. |
Qui met en liberté l`âne sauvage, Et l`affranchit de tout lien? | Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast? |
J`ai fait du désert son habitation, De la terre salée sa demeure. | To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place. |
Il se rit du tumulte des villes, Il n`entend pas les cris d`un maître. | He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears; |
Il parcourt les montagnes pour trouver sa pâture, Il est à la recherche de tout ce qui est vert. | He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing. |
Le buffle veut-il être à ton service? Passe-t-il la nuit vers ta crèche? | Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store? |
L`attaches-tu par une corde pour qu`il trace un sillon? Va-t-il après toi briser les mottes des vallées? | Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you? |
Te reposes-tu sur lui, parce que sa force est grande? Lui abandonnes-tu le soin de tes travaux? | Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care? |
Te fies-tu à lui pour la rentrée de ta récolte? Est-ce lui qui doit l`amasser dans ton aire? | Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor? |
L`aile de l`autruche se déploie joyeuse; On dirait l`aile, le plumage de la cigogne. | Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers, |
Mais l`autruche abandonne ses oeufs à la terre, Et les fait chauffer sur la poussière; | That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust, |
Elle oublie que le pied peut les écraser, Qu`une bête des champs peut les fouler. | Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field? |
Elle est dure envers ses petits comme s`ils n`étaient point à elle; Elle ne s`inquiète pas de l`inutilité de son enfantement. | She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear. |
Car Dieu lui a refusé la sagesse, Il ne lui a pas donné l`intelligence en partage. | For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge. |
Quand elle se lève et prend sa course, Elle se rit du cheval et de son cavalier. | When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him. |
Est-ce toi qui donnes la vigueur au cheval, Et qui revêts son cou d`une crinière flottante? | Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power? |
Le fais-tu bondir comme la sauterelle? Son fier hennissement répand la terreur. | Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath? |
Il creuse le sol et se réjouit de sa force, Il s`élance au-devant des armes; | He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear. |
Il se rit de la crainte, il n`a pas peur, Il ne recule pas en face de l`épée. | In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword. |
Sur lui retentit le carquois, Brillent la lance et le javelot. | The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow. |
Bouillonnant d`ardeur, il dévore la terre, Il ne peut se contenir au bruit de la trompette. | Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn; |
Quand la trompette sonne, il dit: En avant! Et de loin il flaire la bataille, La voix tonnante des chefs et les cris de guerre. | When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries. |
Est-ce par ton intelligence que l`épervier prend son vol, Et qu`il étend ses ailes vers le midi? | Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south? |
Est-ce par ton ordre que l`aigle s`élève, Et qu`il place son nid sur les hauteurs? | Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high? |
C`est dans les rochers qu`il habite, qu`il a sa demeure, Sur la cime des rochers, sur le sommet des monts. | On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place. |
De là il épie sa proie, Il plonge au loin les regards. | From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off. |
Ses petits boivent le sang; Et là où sont des cadavres, l`aigle se trouve. | His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen. |