Crossing the stripling Thames at Bablock-hithe, / Trailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet, / As the slow punt swings round.

Serene yet strong, majestic yet sedate, Swift without violence, without terror great.

Don't swap horses in crossing a stream.

Burn not thy fingers to snuff another man's candle.

Then there is the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.

There's a stream crossing that can be waist-deep, and there's mud that can be almost mid-calf deep. (The runners) are in the woods. Their feet never touch pavement.