To be busy

Of all the ridicules in life,
what strikes me the most,
is to be busy.
Man quick to his meal; quick to his work.

So when I see such a man bespattered
by a carriage in even greater haste.
Or a tile falls from the roof
and strikes him dead.

I laugh...I laugh
from the bottom of my heart.
And who could help?
These busy botchers!!

Are they not like a confused housewife
who saves fire-tongs when the fire breaks out?
For what do these men manage to salvage
from the great fire of life?