olpus, sitting there scribbling verses upon an immense sheet of
parchment! Astounded that he could find time to write poetry at death's
very door, we hauled him out, in spite of his protests, and ordered him
to return to his senses, but he flew into a rage at being interrupted;
"Leave me alone until I finish this sentence," he bawled; "the poem
labors to its birth." Ordering Giton to come to close quarters and help
me drag the bellowing bard ashore, I laid hands upon the lunatic. When
this job had at last been completed, we came, wet and wretched, to a
fisherman's hut and refreshed ourselves somewhat with stores from the
wreck, spoiled though they were by salt water, and passed a night that
was almost interminable. As we were holding a council, next day, to
determine to what part of the country we had best proceed, I suddenly
caught sight of a human body, turning around in a gentle eddy and
floating towards the shore. Stricken with melancholy, I stood still and
began to brood, with wet eyes, upon the treachery of the sea. "And
perhaps," said I, "a wife, safe in some far-away country of the earth,
awaits this man, or a son who little dreams of storms or wrecks; or
perhaps he left behind a father, whom he kissed good-by at parting! Such
is the end of mortal's plans, such is the outcome of great ambitions!
See how man rides the waves!" Until now, I had been sorrowing for a mere
stranger, but a wave turned the face, which had undergone no change,
towards the shore, and I recognized Lycas; so evil-tempered and so
unrelenting but a short time before, now cast up almost at my feet! I
could no longer restrain the tears, at this; I beat my breast again and
yet again, with my hands. "Where is your evil temper now?" I cried.
"Where is your unbridled passion? You be there, a prey to fish and wild
beasts, you who boasted but a little while ago of the strength of your
command. Now you have not a single plank left of your great ship! Go
on, mortals; set your hearts upon the fulfillment of great ambitions: Go
on, schemers, and in your wills control for a thousand years the disposal
of the wealth you got by fraud! Only yesterday this man audited the
accounts of his family estate, yea, even reckoned the day he would arrive
in his native land and settled it in his mind! Gods and goddesses, how
far he lies from his appointed destination! But the waves of the sea are
not alone in thus keeping faith with mortal men: The warrior'