From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Bale
\Bale\ , n. [AS.
bealo, bealu, balu
; akin to OS.
balu
, OHG.
balo
, Goth.
balweins
.]
1. Misery; calamity; misfortune; sorrow.
Let now your bliss be turned into bale. Spenser.