4 Macabeus 3

1O exemplo da sede do rei Davi servirá, ao menos, para tornar este ponto ainda mais evidente.

1The case of the thirst of King David may serve at least to make this clearer.

2Pois tendo Davi combatido durante todo o dia contra os filisteus, e prostrado a muitos deles com o auxílio dos guerreiros de nossa pátria, recolheu-se ao cair da tarde, esgotado de suor e fadiga, à tenda real, ao redor da qual estava acampado todo o exército de nossos pais.

2For when David had fought the live-long day against the Philistines, and by the help of our country's warriors had slain many of them, he came at eventide, all fordone with sweat and toil, to the royal tent, around which was encamped the whole army of our ancestors.

3Toda a hoste pôs-se a cear; o rei, porém, abrasado por veemente sede, conquanto dispusesse de águas em abundância, não podia saciá-la.

3So all the host fell to their evening meal; but the king, being consumed with an intense thirst, though he had abundance of water, was unable to slake it.

4Antes, um anelo descomedido pela água que se achava em poder dos inimigos consumia-o com crescente ardor, debilitando-lhe as forças.

4Instead, an irrational desire for the water that was in the possession of the enemy with growing intensity burned him up and unmanned and consumed him.

5Então, quando os guardas reais murmuraram contra o anelo do rei, dois jovens valorosos guerreiros, envergonhados de que o seu soberano padecesse tal necessidade, cingiram todas as suas armas, tomaram um cântaro, galgaram as trincheiras inimigas, e, passando despercebidos pelas sentinelas das portas, atravessaram todo o arraial adverso; e, achando valentemente a fonte, tiraram dela água para o rei.

5Then when his body-guard murmured against the craving of the king, two youths, mighty warriors, ashamed that their king should lack his desire, put on all their armour, and took a water-vessel, and scaled the enemy's ramparts; and stealing undetected past the guards at the gate, they searched through all the enemy's cam And they bravely found the spring, and drew from it a draught for the king.

6Todavia Davi, embora abrasado de sede, ponderou que tal beberagem, tida em conta de sangue, trazia gravíssimo perigo para a sua alma.

6But David, though still burning with the thirst, considered that such a draught, reckoned as equivalent to blood, was a grievous danger to his soul.

7Por isso, opondo a sua Razão ao próprio apetite, derramou a água como libação em oferta a Deus.

7Therefore, opposing his Reason to his desire, he poured out the water as an offering to God.

8Porque a mente temperante e comedida pode vencer os impulsos das paixões, extinguir as chamas dos desejos carnais, pelejar vitoriosamente contra as agonias do corpo por mais violentas que sejam, e, pela retidão e soberania da Razão, escarnecer de todo o império das paixões.

8For the temperate mind is able to conquer the dictates of the passions, and to quench the fires of desire, and to wrestle victoriously with the pangs of our bodies though they be exceeding strong, and by the moral beauty and goodness of Reason to defy with scorn all the domination of the passions.

9E agora a ocasião nos convida a expor a história da Razão plenamente senhora de si.

9And now the occasion calls us to set forth the story of the self-controlled Reason.

10Pois, num tempo em que os nossos pais desfrutavam de profunda paz pela estrita guarda da Lei, e viviam em tanta prosperidade que até Seleuco Nicanor, rei da Ásia, contribuía para os custos do culto do templo e honrava a nossa comunidade, foi precisamente então que certos homens, insurgindo-se facciosamente contra a concórdia geral, nos precipitaram em calamidades mui diversas e terríveis.

10At a time when our fathers enjoyed great peace through the due observance of the Law, and were in happy case, so that Seleucus Nicanor, the king of Asia, sanctioned the tax for the temple-service, and recognized our polity, precisely then, certain men, acting factiously against the general concord, involved us in many and various calamities.