Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 2

Cum iam eo processissent, ut mea nihil interesset, utrum irem an redirem, primum aequalitas illa, quae me corruperat, periit. Nondum erat tempestas, sed iam inclinatio maris ac subinde crebrior fluctus. Coepi gubernatorem rogare, ut me in aliquo litore exponeret. Aiebat illo aspera esse et inportuosa nec quicquam se aeque in tempestate timere quam terram.

Déjà j’étais si avancé, qu’il me devenait égal d’aller ou de revenir, quand soudain le calme qui m’avait séduit disparaît. Ce n’était pas encore la tempête, mais la mer devenait houleuse et les lames toujours plus pressées. Je prie alors le pilote de me mettre à terre quelque part. Il me répond que toute la côte est escarpée, inabordable, et que par la tempête il ne craint rien tant que la terre.

But when we were so far out that it made little difference to me whether I returned or kept on, the calm weather, which had enticed me, came to naught. The storm had not yet begun, but the ground-swell was on, and the waves kept steadily coming faster. I began to ask the pilot to put me ashore somewhere; he replied that the coast was rough and a bad place to land, and that in a storm he feared a lee shore more than anything else.