Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
298. The Shipwrecked Man and the Sea (Perry
168)
A SHIPWRECKED MAN, having been cast upon a certain shore, slept after
his buffetings with the deep. After a while he awoke, and looking upon
the Sea, loaded it with reproaches. He argued that it enticed men with
the calmness of its looks, but when it had induced them to plow its waters,
it grew rough and destroyed them. The Sea, assuming the form of a woman,
replied to him: 'Blame not me, my good sir, but the winds, for I am by
my own nature as calm and firm even as this earth; but the winds suddenly
falling on me create these waves, and lash me into fury.'
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |