The Seafarers

Some people, having gone aboard a ship, put out to sea. When they were in the open, a violent storm broke out, and the vessel was on the point of foundering. One of the passengers, tearing his clothes, called on the gods of his country with tears and groans, promising them offerings in thanksgiving if they saved the vessel. But the storm having ceased and calm having returned, they began to feast, dance, and leap about, like people who have just escaped an unexpected danger. Then the pilot, a level-headed man, said to them, "My friends, let us rejoice, but as people who may perhaps see the storm again."