Boatmen

"Strange, battered little boats, piled high with brush and wattles, made their way up and down the river, each boatman pursuing his own sad, small livelihood at the uncertain mercy of the waters. 'It is the same with all of us,' thought Kaoru to himself. 'Am I to boast that I am safe from the flood, calm and secure in a jeweled mansion?'"

Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (10th Century).

Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.