The Husbandman and the Sea
A husbandman seeing a ship full of sailors tossed about up and down upon the billows, cried out; "O Sea! Deceitful and pitiless element, that destroys all who venture upon thee!"
The sea heard him and, assuming a woman's voice, replied, "Do not reproach me; I am not the cause of this disturbance, but the winds, that when they fall upon me will give no repose. But should you sail over me when they are away, you will say that I am milder and more tractable than your own mother earth."