What is the meaning of Eccolations 3:9?

Eccolations is a story recited by the dolphins who built humanity a new home world as recorded in Douglas Adams's book So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish. Eccolations 3:9 reads, "What do dolphins gain from their toil?"

It's a valid question. For years, dolphins tried to warn the human race that the Vogons were going to destroy the planet to make way for an intergalactic highway. When humans remained unable to understand the warnings, the dolphins left, wondering what good all their hard work had accomplished.

Dolphins are not prone to extended periods of angst, however. They quickly commissioned a new Earth to be built and transferred the life just as the Vogons fired. Life was saved, and the people of Earth promptly decided the giant yellow spaceships that hovered over their skies were a mass hallucination brought on by a CIA experiment. Faced with such strong denial of their hard work, the dolphins wrote off the human race as sub-intelligent, and "What do dolphins gain from their toil?" became an ironic catchphrase.

Dolphins obsessed with source criticism believe their beloved phrase is a variation on one written by the wisest human on the planet. They think that King Solomon's Ecclesiastes 3:9—which reads "What do workers gain from their toil?"—predates the dolphin version. Others believe Solomon got it from the mice who first commissioned the creation of the earth in their search for the Question for which the answer is "42." The latter explanation is more likely, especially considering the Earth was about to give the answer right when the Vogons fired.

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