What metaphors are used in The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli?

Machiavelli estimates that half of our actions may be caused by fortune while free will controls the other half; but fortune has the greater significance because when it asserts itself it is like a raging flood, washing away all that is in its path. Continuing with the flood metaphor, he notes that virtue can control the flow of fortune in the same way that dikes and dams control a flood. Rather than using the idea of fate or luck as an excuseas a great many theorists do when things do not work out as expected. Machiavelli warns princes that they must prepare themselves against fortune and be ready to change their methods in order to accept what fortune brings.