Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/479

Rh not relieved by separation and privacy, as it was on our passage over. However, the cabin was large enough to hold several persons, and there was no lack of good mattresses. I again resumed the horizonal position, in which I was diligently tended by Kniep, who administered to me plenty of red wine and good bread. In this position our Sicilian expedition presented itself to my mind in no very agreeable light. On the whole, we had really seen nothing but traces of the utterly vain struggle which the human race makes to maintain itself against the violence of Nature, against the malicious spite of Time, and against the rancour of its own unhappy divisions. The Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the many other races which followed in succession, built and destroyed. Selinus lies methodically overthrown by art and skill; two thousand years have not sufficed to throw down the temples of Girgenti; a few hours — nay, a few minutes — were sufficient to overwhelm Catania and Messina. These seasick fancies, however, I did not allow to take possession of a mind tossed up and down on the waves of life.

My hope of having a quicker passage back to Naples, or at least of recovering sooner from my seasickness, has been disappointed. Several times I attempted, at Kniep's recommendation, to go up on deck: however, all enjoyment of the varying beauty of the scene was denied me. Only one or two incidents had power to make me forget awhile my giddiness. The whole sky was overcast with a thin, vapoury cloud, through which the sun (whose disk, however, was not discernible) illuminated the sea, which was of the most beautiful blue colour that ever was seen. A troop of dolphins accompanied the ship: swimming or leaping they managed to keep up with it. I could not help fancying,