In the ancient Indian collection of moral instruction, the "Panchatantra", there is a tale of a man who, fleeing a mad camel, leaps into a well where a dragon lies in wait; it turns out that the stones on which he might set his foot are guarded by snakes;

The moral of the parable is that the pulse of life is felt precisely at the moment when a man is escaping certain death and discovers beneath him an infernal abyss, when every element of existence undermines the footing beneath his feet, and the time by which he might cling on is gnawed away by day and night.

Illustration from the Pahlavi translation of the "Panchatantra", "Kalila wa Dimna".

In these uneasy times, I wish you all that the mad camel may not overtake you, and that some sheltering ditch may offer you its roof. And despite the fire-breathing lizards, the venomous asps and the nimble rats, may you contrive to preserve your life!