The Swiss Family Robinson

I

A shipwreck, and preparations for deliverance.

… Already the tempest had continued six terrible days, and far from subsiding on the seventh, its fury seemed to increase. We had wandered so materially from the right track, and were so forcibly driven toward the southeast, that not a creature on board knew where we were. The ship’s company were exhausted by constant labour and watching, and the courage which had hitherto sustained them now began to fail. The masts had been shivered to pieces and cast into the sea; several leaks appeared, and the ship began to fill. The sailors forbore from swearing, and were now employed in prayers, or in making the absurdest vows as the condition of their release from danger. Each recommended his soul to God, but at the same moment thought of contriving the best means for preserving his life. My children, said I to my four boys who clung to me in terrible alarm, God can save us, for nothing is impossible to him; but if he sees fit that we should not be saved, we must not murmur at his decree, but rely that what he does is most for our good; that we shall be near him in heaven, and united through eternity. Death may be well supported when it does not separate those who love.