THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA
A BOOK FOR ALL AND NONE
THE WORKS OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
VOL. I. A GENEALOGY OF MORALS
POEMS
Translated by WILLIAM A. HAUSSMANN and JOHN GRAY.
VOL. II. THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA
A BOOK FOR ALL AND NONE
Translated by ALEXANDER TILLE.
VOL. III. THE CASE OF WAGNER
NIETZSCHE CONTRA WAGNER
THE TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS
THE ANTICHRIST
Translated by THOMAS COMMON.
VOL. IV. THE DAWN OF DAY
Translated by JOHANNA VOLZ.
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
This sok authorised edition of the Collected Works of Friedrich Nietzsche is
issued under the editorship of ALEXANDER TILLE, Ph.D., Lecturer at ttu
University of Glasgow. It is based on the final German edition (Leipzig, :
C. G. Naumann) prepared by Dr. Fritz Koegel, and is published under the
supervision of the Nietzsche- Archiv at Naumbnrg. Copyright in the United
States by Macmillan and Co. All rights reserved.
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA
A BOOK FOR ALL AND NONE
BY
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
TRANSLATED BY
ALEXANDER TILLE
T. FISHER UNWIN
LONDON LEIPSIC
ADELPHI TERRACE INSELSTRASSE 20
1908
First Edition of this Translation, 1899
Second Impression J9°8
33/3
9
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR ..... xiii
THE FIRST PART . . . . . . . xxvii
— Zarathustra's Introductory Speech on Beyond- Man and the
Last Man ....... I
Zarathustra's Speeches . . . . . -23
" Of the three Metamorphoses . . 25—
Of the Chairs of Virtue. . . . . . . 28 -
Of Back- Worlds- Men .32-
• Of the Despisers of Body . . . . - 37-
Of Delights and Passions . . . . . 40 -
Of the Pale Criminal . . . . . -43
Of Reading and Writing . . . . -47
Of the Tree at the Hill ... 50
Of the Preachers of Death . . . . - 54-
Of War and Warriors . . . . . -57 —
Of the New Idol 60-
Of the Flies of the Market . . . . .64 .*•
Of Chastity 69
Of the Friend ... ... 71
Of a Thousand and One Goals . . . . 74 ^
Of Love for One's Neighbour . . . . .78
the Way of a Creator - . . . .81
Of Little Women Old and Young f . . . .85
Of the Bite of the Adder . . .88
Of Child and Marriage . . . . . 91 ^
Of Free Death ... . 04 ~
Of Giving Virtue . . . . . . ' . 98 —
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE SECOND PART .... .105
The Child with the Looking-Glass . .107-
Of the Blissful Islands . m -
Of the Pitiful ... . . H5«-
Of Priests . ... . 119 ~
Of the Virtuous . . . . . . . 123 -
Of the Rabble .128
Of Tarantulae . . . . . . 132 —
Of the Famous Wise Men . . . 137
The Night-Song .... . 141
The Dance-Song .... . 144 <—
The Grave-Song ... . . 148
Of Self-Overcoming . . . . . 153 **
* Of the August ...... ~«*I58
Of the Country of Culture ... . 162 '
Of Immaculate Perception . . . .166
Of Scholars ....... 170
Of Poets ..... -173
, Of Great Events .... .178
The Fortune-Teller . . . . .183
-^Of Salvation .... . . i88-»
Of Manly Prudence ... . 195-
The Still Hour ... . 199 _
THE THIRD PART . . . . .203
The Wanderer ....... 205-
Of the Vision and the Riddle . . . . . 210-
Of Involuntary Bliss . . . . .217
Before Sunrise ....... 222 —
Of Virtue that Maketh Smaller . . . .227-
On the Mount of Olives ...... 235
Of Passing. ....... 240
Of Apostates . .... 245
Return Homeward . . . . . . 251
^kOf the Three Evil Ones . . .256--
Of the Spirit of Gravity . . . 263
. Of Old and New Tables . .269^
CONTENTS xi
PAGE
The Convalescent One ...... 294 —
Of Great Longing ...... 303
The Second Dance-Song ..... 307
The Seven Seals (or, the Song of Yea and Amen) . .312
THE FOURTH AND LAST PART . . . . .319
The Honey-Offering . . . . . .321
The Cry for Help ... .326
Conversation with the Kings . . . . . 331
The Leech . . . . . . -337
The Wizard ....... 342
Off Duty . . . . . . . .351
The Ugliest Man ....... 357
The Voluntary Beggar ...... 364
The Shadow .. . . . . . . 370
At Noon . ... . 375
Salutation ........ 379^
The Supper ....... 387 *""
Of Higher Man ....... 390 •—
The Song of Melancholy ..... 403
Of Science ....... 409
Among Daughters of the Desert .... 413
The Awakening ....... 420
The Ass-Festival . . . . . . .425
The Drunken Song ...... 430—
The Sign ."....... 440—
>
INTRODUCTION
AT various periods of his life Nietzsche designated
different written and unwritten books of his as his
"principal work." The composition of some of them
never advanced very far, and whilst in the midst of his
" Transvaluation of all Values," the First Part of which
is the " Antichrist," he was for ever disabled by an
incurable disease. If one has a right to speak of the
principal work of a mental life that never reached its
goal, but was suddenly crippled in mid career, the
strange fact appears, that Nietzsche's masterpiece is not
one of his purely philosophical books, but a work, half
philosophy, half fiction ; half an ethical sermon, half
a story ; a book serio-j ocular and scientifico-fantastical ;
historico-satirical, and realistico-idealistic ; a novel em-
bracing worlds and ages and, at the same time,
expressing a pure essence of Nietzsche, — his astounding
prose-poem Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Thus Spake Zarathustra is without doubt the strangest
product of modern German literature ; and that says
a good deal. If it is to be compared with other works
of World Literature, perhaps it is nearest the Three
Baskets of Buddhism, the Tripitaka. It has the same
elevated prose style as that sacred book_of- the East in /
narrating a comparatively simple story, full of parables
and sayings of wisdom j- it has^ the same solemn, long
xiii ^~
xiv INTRODUCTION
drawn out method of relating ; it has the same fantastic
t~th€ world and life ; whilst in the idea
of eternal^recurrence called by Nietzsche the genuine
Zarathustra thought, it rather approaches Brahmanism
than Buddhism. In similar respects the Gospels may
be said to have formed its model, not only in the way
of telling the tale, but also in the tone and mode of
transvaluing current ideas ; in the division into small
chapters and prose-verses ; in the way of forming
sentences ; and in phrases and words ; and this
although the general drift of thought, more especially
the eihicaLJsaching) goes in a direction so different.
In English literature there are two books to which,
by its allegorical basis and wealth of moral wisdom,
Nietzsche's work shows a strong similarity, viz., Piers the
Ploughman and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Though
separated by centuries, these two are, with comparatively
slight modifications, traversed by the same stream of
thought, which is well known to be the essence of the
grand system of medieval theology and religion. The
author of Piers the Ploughman was, in numerous respects,
ahead of his time, while the plain man John Bunyan
had scarcely shared the intellectual advancement of the
century and a half preceding the date of his death. While
the Tripitaka and the Gospels deal with historical per-
sonages, the Ploughman and the Pilgrim are not at all
historical, although resembling Sakyamuni Buddha and
the Christ of the Gospels in one respect : in each case
the biography presents its hero as a moral ideal. Yet
the Ploughman and the Pilgrim are true in another
sense : they represent, after a sort, ideal aspirations of
two ages, and show us more clearly than any learned
treatise could do what in these ages was regarded as
highest and worthiest of human effort, by men who had
INTRODUCTION xv
turned away from life, and sought for satisfaction in
their own consciousness.
In German literature, leaving out of account the old
Gospel-Harmonies, which are not works of original
fiction in the proper sense, the germs of much that is
in Zarathustra may be traced distinctly enough. For
example, Riickert's Wisdom of the Brahman has many
suggestions of Nietzsche's book, the third part of which
has been strongly influenced by it. The whole orien-
talising and didactic poetry of the nineteenth century
in Germany is inspired by Goethe's Western-Eastern-
Divan, and although Nietzsche's work does not show
that influence to the same extent as A. W. Schlegel,
Riickert, Platen, Bodenstedt and Count Schack, yet it
is historically in more than one respect connected with
that literary school.
The work takes its title from the mythological founder
or reformer of the Avestic religion, Zarathustra, whose
name, in its Greek mutilated form, Zoroaster, is familiar
to British readers. As the Antichrist shows, Nietzsche
had made some studies in Oriental religious literature,
which Professor Max Muller's Sacred Books of the East
had brought within the reach of educated Europe.
Yet he either neglected Persian religious tradition or
purposely in his prose-poem made no use of any know-
ledge he possessed in that field. Though attracted by
the solemn sound of the name, which in a high degree
pleased his musical ear, he declined to describe the life
of his hero after the model of the Gathas, which, accord-
ing to Professor Darmesteter, form the oldest part of
the Avesta, though belonging, in their present form
at least, to no earlier date than the first century of our
era. Nietzsche's Zarathustra is neither of the family of
Spitama, nor is he the husband of Frahaoshtra's daughter
xvi INTRODUCTION
Huogvi, nor yet the father-in-law of Jamaspa, who had
married Pourusishta, Zarathustra's daughter ; but he has
been disentangled from the whole mythological circle
of which the Zarathustra of Persian sacred tradition is
part. He is a solitary man, he has no relations, not even
a sister. But, like Buddha, Christ, and old Zarathustra,
he has a few disciples. Of a miraculous birth of his we
learn nothing in Nietzsche's poem. No ray of the
Divine Majesty descends into the womb of Dughdo ;
no Frohar or genius of Zarathustra is enclosed in a
Homa plant,1 in order to be absorbed at a sacrifice by
Paurushaspa, from whose union with Dughdo old Zara-
thustra was born according to the later prose literature
of the Avesta ; no dangers are escaped by him till he
is thirty years of age, although Nietzsche's Zarathustra
begins to teach people at the same date, when his old
model began his conversations with Ahura and received
from him his revelations ; nothing is said about him
having had only one disciple for ten years and having
then converted two sons of Hogva, till at last king
Vishtaspa himself was gained over to Zarathustra's
religion by his queen Hutaosa. The modern Zara-
thustra is neither killed in the battle nor has he any sons
who might carry on his work after his death. He stands
quite alone, his only permanent companions being two
animals, an eagle and a serpent. He is neither an
historical nor a mythical person, but a "ghost," as
Nietzsche would have called him, a tyrje__existing no-
where^and yet the incorporation of wishes and aspira-
tions ; an ideal reflected in a human image ; a man as
man shouIH^be in Nietzsche's opinion, and as he would
have liked to be himself.
1 Max Muller's Chips from a German Workshop. Vol. I. 1894.
p. 474 ff.
INTRODUCTION xvii
Under these circumstances it is but natural that in
Nietzsche's Zarathustra there should be a strong personal
element ; that he should be part of Nietzsche himself.
He has his creator's love for loneliness and wild rocky
mountains ; his love for the sea and its wonders ; his
love for a simple life almost in poverty ; like him he
is an eager wanderer ; he has his extreme individualism ;
and a hundred great and small events in his story are
reflections of small and great occurrences in Nietzsche's
own life. Yet, as Nietzsche has not even made an
attempt in his prose-poem to represent modern life and
its outward appearances, all these things are veiled under
allegorical and typical persons, things and incidents, so
that, e.g., Richard Wagner plays the part of an evil
wizard, and a modern specialist wears the mask of the
Conscientious one of the Spirit, one who knows only
the brain of the leech, but that thoroughly. And as
Nietzsche's early writings failed to appeal to the public,
and his picturesque style was later on imitated and
distorted by inferior writers, Zarathustra's speech is
beaten by a rope-dancer's performance, and when
approaching the great city, he meets the Raging Fool
who regards himself as the image of his teacher and is
anxious to keep the public of the great city for himself.
The scene of Thus Spake Zarathustra is laid, as it
were, outside of time and space, and certainly outside of
countries and nations, outside of this age, and outside
of^the main condition of all tha^Jiyes^^the-Stnig
existence. Zarathustra~Tias"hot to work for his bread,
but has got it without effort. His eagle and his serpent
provide him with all he needs, and whenever they are
not with him, he finds men who supply him. Thus
there is something of the miraculous in his story, and
the personification of lifeless objects and the gift of
I A
xviii INTRODUCTION
speech conferred upon them are frequently made use
of. True, in his story there appear cities and mobs,
kings and scholars, poets and cripples ; but outside of
their realm there is a province which is Zarathustra's
own, where he lives in his cave amid the rocks, and
whence he thrice goes to men to teach them his wisdom
pointing away from all that unites and separates men
at present. This Nowhere and Nowhen, over which
Nietzsche's imagination is supreme, is a province of
boundless individualism, in which a man of mark has
free play, unfettered by the tastes and inclinations of
the multitude.
What far more than style or story separates Thus
Spake Zarathustra from the Tripitaka and the Gospels,
from Piers and the Pilgrim, is the creed contained in itt
Thus Spake Zarathustra is a kind of summary of th£
intellectuaLlife'Trf-4he_jnineteenth century, and it is on
this fact that its principal ~signIHcance rests. It unites
in itself a number of mejital movements which, in
literature as well as in various sciences, have made
themselves felt separately during the last hundred years,
without going far beyond them. By bringing them
into contact, although not always into uncontradictory
relation, Nietzsche transfers them from mere existence
in philosophy, or scientific literature in general, into the
sphere of the creed or Weltanschauung of the educated
classes, and thus his book becomes capable of in-
fluencing the views and strivings of a whole age.
His immense rhetorical power and rhapsodic gift give
them a stress they scarcely possessed before. His en-
thusiasm and^en^rg^oLihpught animate them, and his
lyrical talent transforms them into " true poetry " for the
believers in them. He makes the freest use of traditional
wisdom, of proverbs and sayings of poets and philoso-
INTRODUCTION xix
phers that can easily be traced to their original source,
partly by repeating them but slightly altered, partly by
transforming them considerably, partly by turning them
into their contrary, or even into more than that, by
giving them a new point altogether, while keeping nine
tenths of their old form. And this close connection with
the wisdom of the century gives a person who is well
read injhe German literature of the present century quite
a p^ci^ar~pleasur^~in reading the book. It is almost
inconceivable that Nietzsche should have gone through
the amount of reading which would be necessary to
gather all these things from the places in which in-
dividual minds had placed them for the first time. A
great number of them indeed belong to the treasury
of quotations familiar to literary men. But even in
explaining the knowledge of many of the others a large
part will have to be ascribed to oral communication from
persons who were probably no longer conscious of the
fact that they uttered the sayings of others.
However peculiar a book Thus Spake Zarathustra be,
it stands neither in its form nor in its tendencies quite
isolated in modern German literature. A similar aim
is pursued by the whole Weltanschauungsroman, which
since the early seventies of this century has partly taken
an historical turn, and has by preference dealt with
subjects from periods of history which show the like
struggle about religious belief as the present time. Books
like Felix Dahn's prose-poem Odhin's Trost (1880) are
very much like Zarathustra in style, form and general
drift of thought, only that much more stress in laid on
the story and their purpose is not mainly philosophico-
didactic. The philosophy of the Gods and warriors
appearing in Dahn's novel, differs little from Zarathustra's
wisdom except as regards the extreme individualism of
xx INTRODUCTION
the latter. The lake-dwelling story in Audi Einer by
Friedrich Theodor Vischer (1879) shows the same element
of travesty as prevails in Zarathustra, and the religious
examination of the lake-dwellers' children is based on
exactly the same feelings and the same criticism as the
Ass-Festival in Nietzsche's book. The tendency of
modern German lyrics to prefer free rhythms to rhymed
verses based on a regular change of accented and un-
accented syllables, spreads far beyond Zarathustra, in
which it is mixed with some elements of ancient Greek
hymnology. Most of these books, especially those by
Dahn, show in some respects a very advanced state
of thought, whilst in others they delight in submitting to
old fancies and antiquated prejudices. In the same way
Zarathustra mixes with the highest knowledge of our
time bold and unreasonable speculations like the idea
of eternal recurrence, according to which all that is has
been infinite times before in exactly the same way,
and will recur infinitely in future, and Zarathustra boasts
to be the first to teach this grand illusion. Indeed at
another place he carries his individualism so far as to
counsel people to kill themselves at the right time, in
order not to become superfluous on earth.
Among the numerous intellectual currents which
gather in the channel of Thus Spake Zarathustra in order
to be conveyed to the ocean of general cultured, and
subsequently popular, opinion, three take a prominent
place, the individualistic, the free religious, and the
evolutional utilitarian movements, the springs of all of
which go back to last century. These currents are
neither the only ones that flow through Nietzsche's
book, nor do they appear clearly separated from other
minor tendencies. The first and the third are in more
than one respect in opposite directions to each other.
INTRODUCTION xxi
-i
Yet they may be said to express the leading motives
of the book.
The greatest German historian of to-day distinguishes
three stages in the evolution of mejrvtal life, symbolical,
conventional and individual mental life. In Western
Europe the period of individual mental life begins with
the time of the Reformation, the doctrine of private
judgment in matters of belief being its clearest expression.
It is only since then that the theory was developed that
opinions are free. This field was in the course of time
somewhat enlarged, so as to cover other things besides
opinion. In political thought the school of Anarchism
is an outcome of this idea, and Humboldt, Dunoyer,
Stirner, Bakounine and Auberon Herbert are probably
the best known representatives of these tendencies.
Even Herbert Spencer shows traces so marked of this
doctrine, that Huxley could name his theory Adminis-
trative Nihilism. The same tendencies which in political
speculation take the form of theoretical anarchism,
prevail, to a smaller extent, in modern ethics, in modern
philosophy generally, and, perhaps even in larger
measure, in modern religious concepts, in which every-
body claims the right to build up for himself a Universe
of his own. By Huxley this liberty has been sanctified
by the name of Agnosticism.
Nietzsche's mind is as unpolitical as possible. The
modern State is for him nothing but a new idol. He does
not believe in nations and countries, and is indifferent
about any special form of Government, except that he
hates from the bottom of his soul democracy as the
depth of decadence. In his eyes the teachers of equality
are tarantulas, and Huxley's essay On the Natural In-
equality of Men would have delighted him. But he pays
no special attention to political and social questions.
xxii INTRODUCTION
The competition of nations for the surface of the earth
is neglected by him entirely, and his few speculations
about a further evolution of larger groups of individuals
suffer seriously from his apathy towards everything
called social. He deals with men almost exclusively
as individuals, and has beautiful words on man's moral
self-education, on friendship and on love, but none
for labour and its reward. For him the struggle for
existence is not the source of all power and efficiency
His ideal is the lonely philosopher, the creator, as he
calls him ; and in what he demands from man in this
respect he has scarcely been surpassed.
When, about the middle of last century, Lessing and
Reimarus had considerably shaken the position of
theoretical church doctrines, it did not take long, till,
under the influence of the French encyclopaedists,
attempts were made to replace them by altogether
different concepts. Wieland's philosophical novels and
part of Goethe's prose writings led the way. Then in
the nineteenth century a whole literature bearing on
the subject arose. Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Gutzkow,
Heinrich Heine, David Strauss, F. Th. Vischer, Eduard
von Hartmann and Felix Dahn are its principal repre-
sentatives. And Ludwig Feuerbach has given this free
religious movement a motto by the saying : " God was
my first, Reason my second, and Man my third and last
thought. Man alone is and must be our God. No
salvation outside of Man." The same idea which made
James Cotter Morrison, writing on the decrease of
religious influence and the increase of morality, title
his book : Service of Man, in opposition to the Service
of God preached by the churches all over the world, is
at the root of that German movement, the most pro-
minent representative of which in modern Germany is
INTRODUCTION xxin
Friedrich Nietzsche. His Zarathustra deals with the
latest phases of the belief in God. In many respects
he adopts the same attitude as Heinrich Heine, but his
criticism of Christianity is most akin to that of perhaps
the freest spirit of modern Germany, Karl Gutzkow,
whose footsteps he follows.
The connection between natural science and literature
has always, in Germany as elsewhere, been very loose.
True, Albrecht von Haller made some attempts to bring
them into contact, and Goethe tried to attain the same
end in his Wahlverwandtschaften and in other writings :
up to the present time the world has no literature which
has taken into itself even the most important knowledge
which natural science regards as definitively fixed ; and
the literary historian who would take up as his subject
a history of the conversations on Darwinism occurring
in modern novels, would produce a most astounding
book that could not fail to make any scientist laugh
in his most melancholy hours. Yet there are certain
parallel developments in literature and science which
by no means lack significance : and the history of
modern evolutional utilitarianism in Ethics is perhaps
the most astonishing among them. If it was the last
goal of medieval ethical speculation to find the way
to heaven by fulfilling the commandments of God,
another goal was, after the sixteenth century, set up —
the goal of so-called eudaemonistic utilitarianism. It
was to be reached by furtherance of the happiness of
one's fellow-men. But before it was, in this century,
called by Bentham the greatest possible happiness of
the greatest possible number, or the maximisation of
happiness, it had, in German philosophy and literature
been superseded by another goal, which is usually called
the goal of Perfectionism. Under the influence of
xxiv INTRODUCTION
Greek antiquity it had become the aim of the educated
man to work out his own perfection in every respect.
Leibnitz is the most important representative of that
school, which, in the course of the eighteenth century,
borrowed a whole phraseology from the world of art.
It was Goethe who, after the model of the French
phrases former le coeur and former I'esprit, coined the
new word Bildung which later on became identical
partly with culture and partly with education. He is
probably the most pronounced perfectionist who has
ever lived. Early in his youth he called his Faust a
Beyond-Man, an Uebermensch. His aim it was to make
his own life a great work of art. And yet in Wilhelm
Meister's Wanderjahre* he stands at the threshold of a
; new phase in the evolution of individual perfectionism,
I of the phase of racial perfectionism. This phase was
opened by Prince Puckler-Muskau who was the first
to lay before his contemporaries the idea of leading
the human race to a higher perfection by means of
artificial selection, after the model of the breeder of
animals and the father of Frederic the Great, who is said
to have married by preference his tallest grenadiers to
tall ladies in order to beget a still taller off-spring.
Prince Puckler-Muskau, however, was scarcely taken
seriously, and even when Wilhelm Jordan took up the
idea in his Demiurgos of 1854 and Radenhausen in his
book Isis, Man and World, scarcely anybody thought
of its far-reaching importance. It was only after Darwin
had in his Origin of Species of 1859 placed the whole
idea of evolution on a scientific basis, that the same
poet Wilhelm Jordan could celebrate in his epos Die
Nibelunge the higher bodily and intellectual development
of the human race as the great goal of humanity, and
the centre of ethical obligations. He connected it with
INTRODUCTION xxv
patriarchal matrimonial institutions, and made it the
point of view from which his heroes select wives for
their sons. Although clearly pronounced in at least
twenty passages of that epic, it failed to attract public
sympathy for a considerable time, and only after
Nietzsche, (who follows Jordan closely in all details)
had taken up the idea and made it almost the leading
motive of his Zarathustra, did it impress itself upon large
circles of the educated youth. And it is Nietzsche's
undeniable merit to have led this new moral ideal to
a complete victory, so that from his writings it rapidly
spread over German lyrics and epic poetry.
Nietzsche himself tells us that the fundamental idea
of his Zarathustra originated in August 1881 in the
Engadine. The composition of the work extended over
about two years. The First Part was written in January
and February 1883 near Genoa ; the Second Part in Sils
Maria in June and July of the same year ; the Third
Part in the following winter at Nice, and the Fourth
Part from November 1884 till February 1885 at Mentone.
The Fourth Part, which was then not intended to be the
last, but rather an Interlude of the whole poem, was
never published by Nietzsche, but merely printed for
private circulation among a few friends. It was not
publicly issued till after the outbreak of Nietzsche's
illness, in March 1892, so that the whole of Zarathustra,
containing all four parts, appeared no earlier than July
1892, since which time it has gone through several
editions.
The aim of the present translation has been to give
the meaning of the German text as exactly as could
be done. Where several interpretations of words or
sentences were possible, as is rather frequently the case,
that interpretation was chosen which seemed to agree
xxvi INTRODUCTION
best with the context, although the decision of this
question is in many cases quite arbitrary. For the few
facts regarding the composition of Thus Spake Zara-
thustra the Editor is obliged to Dr. Fritz Koegel's
Nachbericht to Vol. vi. of the German edition.
ALEXANDER TILLE.
THE FIRST PART
if:
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY
SPEECH ON BEYOND-MAN
AND THE LAST MAN
HAVING attained the age of thirty, Zarathustra left
his home and the lake of his home and went into the
mountains. There he rejoiced in his spirit and his
loneliness and, for ten years, did not grow weary of
it. But at last his heart turned, — one morning he got
up with the dawn, stepped into the presence of the
Sun, and thus spake unto him :
" Thou great star ! What would be thy happiness,
were it not for those for whom thou shinest.
For ten years thou hast come up here to my cave.
Thou wouldst have got sick of thy light and thy jour-
ney but for me, mine eagle, and my serpent.
But we waited for thee every morning and, receiv-
ing from thee thine abundance, blessed thee for it.
Lo ! I am weary of my wisdom, like the bee that
hath collected too much honey ; I need hands reaching
out for it.
I would fain grant and distribute until the wise
among men could once more enjoy their folly, and
the pooFTmce more TEeir riches.
For that end I must descend to the depth : as
thou dost at even, when, sinking behind the sea,
thou givest light to the lower regions, thou resplen-
dent star !
4 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
I must, like thee, go down, as men say— men to
whom I would descend.
Then bless me, thou impassive eye that canst look
without envy even upon over-much happiness.
Bless the cup which is about to overflow so that
the water golden-flowing out of it may carry every-
where the reflection of thy rapture.
Lo ! This cup is about to empty itself again, and
Zarathustra will once more become a man."
Thus Zarathustra's going down began.
Zarathustra stepped down the mountains alone and
met with nobody. But when he reached the woods,
suddenly there stood in front of him an old man who
had left his hermitage to seek roots in the forest.
And thus the old man spake unto Zarathustra :
" No stranger to me is the wanderer : many years
ago he passed here. Zarathustra was his name ; but
he hath changed.
Then thou carriedst thine ashes to the mountains :
wilt thou to-day carry thy fire to the valleys ? Dost
thou not fear the incendiary's doom ?
Yea, I know Zarathustra again. Pure is his eye,
nor doth any loathsomeness lurk about his mouth.
Doth he not skip along like a dancer ?
Changed is Zarathustra, a child Zarathustra became,
awake is Zarathustra : what art thou going to do among
those who sleep ?
As in the sea thou livedst in loneliness, and wert
borne by the sea. Alas ! art thou now going to walk
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 5
on the land ? Alas ! art thou going to drag thy body
thyself ? "
Zarathustra answered : " I love men."
"Why," said the saint, "did I go to the forest and
desert ? Was it not because I loved men greatly
over-much ?
Now I love God : men I love not. Man is a
thing far too imperfect for me. Love of men would
kill me."
Zarathustra answered : " What did I say of love !
I am bringing gifts to men."
" Do not give them anything," said the saint.
" Rather take something from them and bear their
burden along with them — that will serve them" best :
if it only serve thyself well !
And if thou art going to give them aught, give
them no more than an alms, and let them beg even
for that."
" No," said Zarathustra, " I do not give alms. I
am not poor enough for that."
The saint laughed at Zarathustra and spake thus :
"Then see to it that they accept thy treasures! They
are suspicious of hermits and do not believe that we
are coming in order to give.
In their ears our steps sound too lonely through
the streets. And just when during the night in their
beds they hear a man going long before sunrise they
sometimes ask : whither goeth that thief ?
Go not to men, but tarry in the forest ! Rather
go to the animals ! Why wilt thou not be like me,
a bear among bears, a bird among birds ? "
6 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
" And what doth the saint in the forest ? " asked
Zarathustra.
The saint answered: "I make songs and sing
them, and making songs I laugh, cry and hum : I
praise God thus.
With singing, crying, laughing, and humming I
praise that God who is my God. But what gift
bringest thou to us ?"
Having heard these words Zarathustra bowed to
the saint and said: "What could I give to you I But
let me off quickly, lest I take aught from you." —
And thus they parted from each other, the old man
and the man like two boys laughing.
When Zarathustra was alone, however, he spake
thus unto his heart : " Can it actually be possible ! This
old saint in his forest hath not yet heard aught of
God being dead ! "—
3
Arriving at the next town which lieth nigh the
forests, Zarathustra found there many folk gathered
in the market : for a performance had been promised
by a rope-dancer. And Zarathustra thus spake unto
the folk :
"7 teach you beyond-man. Man is a something that
shall be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass
him?
All beings hitherto have created something beyond
themselves : and are ye going to be the ebb of this
great tide and rather revert to the animal than sur-
pass man ?
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 7
What with man is the ape ? A joke or a sore
shame. Man shall be the same for beyond-man, a
joke or a sore shame.
Ye have made your way from worm to man, and
much within you is still worm. Once ye were apes,
even now man is ape in a higher degree than any ape.
He who is the wisest among you is but a discord
and hybrid of plant and ghost. But do I order you
to become ghosts or plants ?
Behold, I teach you beyond-man !
Beyond-man is the significance of earth. Your will
shall say : beyond-man shall be the significance of
earth.
I conjure you, my brethren, remain faithful
earth and do not believe those who speak unto you
of superterrestrial hopes! Poisoners they are whether
they know it or not.
Despisers of life they are, decaying and them-
selves poisoned, of whom earth is weary : begone with
them!
Once the offence against God was the greatest
offence, but God died, so that these offenders died
also. Now the most terrible of things is to offend
earth and rate the intestines of the inscrutable one
higher than the significance of earth !
Once soul looked contemptuously upon body ; that
contempt then being the highest ideal : — soul wished
the body meagre, hideous, starved. Thus soul thought
it could escape body and earth.
Oh ! that soul was itself meagre, hideous, starved :
cruelty was the lust of that soul! J
8 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
But . ye also, my brethren, speak : what telleth
your body of your soul ? Is your soul not poverty
and dirt and a miserable ease ?
Verily, a muddy stream is man. One must be a
sea to be able to receive a muddy stream without
becoming unclean.
Behold, I teach you beyond-man : he is that sea,
in him your great contempt can sink.
What is the greatest thing ye can experience ?
That is the hour of great contempt. The hour in
which not only your happiness, but your reason and
virtue as well turn loathsome.
The hour in which ye say : ' What is my happiness
worth ! It is poverty and dirt and a miserable ease.
But my happiness should itself justify existence ! '
The hour in which ye say : ' What is my reason
worth ! Longeth it for knowledge as a lion for its
food ? It is poverty and dirt and a miserable ease.'
The hour in which ye say : ' What is my virtue
worth ! It hath not yet lashed me into rage. How
tired I am of my good and mine evil ! All that is
poverty and dirt and miserable ease ! '
The hour in which ye say: ' What is my justice
worth ! I do not see that I am flame and fuel. But
the just one is flame and fuel !'
The hour in which ye say : ' What is my pity
worth ! Is pity not the cross to which he is being
nailed who loveth men ? But my pity is no cruci-
fixion.'
Spake ye ever like that ? Cried ye ever like that ?
Alas ! would that I had heard you cry like that !
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 9
Not your sin, your moderation crieth unto heaven,
your miserliness in sin even crieth unto heaven !
Where is the lightning to lick you with its tongue ?
Where is that insanity with which ye ought to he
inoculated ?
Behold ! I teach you beyond^man : he is that light-
ning, he is that insanity ! "
Zarathustra having spoken thus, one of the folk
shouted : " We have heard enough of the rope-dancer ;
let us see him now ! " And all the folk laughed at Zara-
thustra. The rope-dancer, however, who thought he was
meant by that word, started with his performance.
4
But Zarathustra looked at the folk and wondered.
Then he spake thus :
"Man is a rope connecting animal and beyond-man,
— a rope over a precipice.
Dangerous over, dangerous on-the-way, dangerous
looking backward, dangerous shivering and making a
stand.
What is great in man is that he is a bridge and
not a goal : what can be loved in man is that he is
a transition and a destruction.
I love those who do not know how to live unless
in perishing, for they are those going beyond.
I love the great despisers because they are the
great adorers, they are arrows of longing for the other
shore.
I love those who do not seek behind the stars for
a reason to perish and be sacrificed, but who sacrifice
io THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
themselves to earth in order that earth may someday
become beyond-man's.
I love him who liveth to perceive, and who is
longing for perception in order that some day beyond-
man may live. And thus he willeth his own destruc-
tion.
I love him who worketh and inventeth to build a
house for beyond-man and make ready for him earth,
animal, and plant ; for thus he willeth his own de-
struction.
I love him who loveth his virtue : for virtue is will
to destruction and an arrow of longing.
I love him who keepeth no drop of spirit for him-
self, but willeth to. be entirely the spirit of his virtue :
thus as a spirit crosseth he the bridge.
I love him who maketh his virtue his inclination
and his fate : thus for the sake of his virtue he willeth
to live longer and live no more.
I love him who yearneth not after too many virtues.
One virtue is more than two because it is so much
the more a knot on which to hang fate.
I love him whose soul wasteth itself, who neither
wanteth thanks nor returneth aught : for he always
giveth and seeketh nothing to keep of himself.
I love him who is ashamed when the dice are
thrown in his favour and who then asketh : am I a
cheat in playing ? — for he desireth to perish.
I love him who streweth golden words before his
deeds and performeth still more than his promise : for
he seeketh his own destruction.
I love him who justifieth the future ones and saveth
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 11
the past ones : for he seeketh to perish on account of
the present ones.
I love him who chastiseth his God because he loveth
his God: for he must perish on account of the wrath
of his God.
I love him whose soul is deep even when wounded
and who can perish even on account of a small affair :
for he gladly crosseth the bridge.
I love him whose soul is over-full so that he for-
getteth himself and all things are within him : thus all
things become his destruction.
I love him who is of a free spirit and of a free
heart : thus his head is merely the intestine of his
heart, but his heart driveth him to destruction.
x
I love all those who are like heavy drops falling
one by one from the dark cloud lowering over men :
they announce the coming of the lightning and perish
in the announcing.
Behold, I am an announcer of the lightning and
a heavy drop from the clouds: that lightning's name
is beyond-man"
5
Having spoken these words Zarathustra again looked
at the folk and was silent, "There they are stand-
ing," he said unto his heart, " there they are laughing :
they do not understand me, I am not the mouth for
these ears.
Must they needs have their ears beaten to pieces
before they will learn to hear with their eyes ? Must
one rattle like a kettledrum and a fast-day preacher ?
Or do they only believe stammerers ?
12 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
They have got something to be proud of. How
name they what maketh them proud? Education they
name it ; it distinguishes them from the goat-herds.
Wherefore they like not to hear the word contempt
used of themselves. Thus I am going to speak unto
their pride.
Thus I am going to speak unto them of the most
contemptible : that is of the last\ man."
And thus Zarathustra spake unto the folk :
" It is time for man to mark out his goal. It is
time for man to plant the germ of his highest hope.
His soil is still rich enough for that purpose. But
one day that soil will be impoverished and tame, no
high tree being any l&nger able to grow from it.
Alas ! the time cometh when man will no longer
throw the arrow of his longing beyond man and the
string of his bow will have lost the cunning to
whizz !
I tell you : one must have chaos within to enable
one to give birth to a dancing star. I tell you: ye
have still got chaos within.
Alas ! the time cometh when man will no longer
give birth to any star ! Alas ! There cometh the time
of the most contemptible man who can no longer
despise himself.
Behold ! I show you the last man.
1 What is love ? What is creation ? What is long-
ing ? What is star?'— Thus the last man asketh,
blinking.
Then earth will have become small, and on it the
last man will be hopping who maketh everything small.
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 13
His kind is indestructible like the ground-flea ; the
last man liveth longest.
'We have invented happiness/ — the last men say,
blinking.
They have left the regions where it was hard to
live, for one must have warmth. One still loveth his
neighbour and rubbeth one's self on him ; for warmth
one must have.
To turn sick and to have suspicion are regarded
as sinful. They walk wearily. A fool he who still
stumbleth over stones or men.
A little poison now and then : that causeth pleasant
dreams. And much poison at last for an easy death.
They still work, for work is an entertainment.
But they are careful, lest the entertainment exhaust
them.
They no longer grow poor and rich ; it is too
troublesome to do either. No herdsman and one flock !
Each willeth the same, each is equal : he who feeleth
otherwise voluntarily goeth into a lunatic asylum.
' Once all the world was lunatic ' — the most refined
say, blinking.
One is clever and knoweth whatever has happened,
so that there is no end of mocking. They still quarrel,
but they are soon reconciled — otherwise the stomach
would turn.
One hath one's little lust for the day and one's little
lust for the night : but one honoureth health.
'We have invented happiness,' the last men say,
blinking."
And here ended Zarathustra's first speech which is
14 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
also called "the introductory speech": for in that
moment the shouting and merriment of the folk inter-
rupted him. " Give us that last man, o Zarathustra "-
thus they bawled—" make us that last man ! We gladly
renounce beyond-man ! " And all the folk cheered
smacking with the tongue. But Zarathustra sadly said
unto his heart :
" They understand me not : I am not the mouth
for these ears.
I suppose I lived too long in the mountains, listen-
ing too much to brooks and trees : now for them my
speech is like that of goat-herds.
Unmoved is my soul and bright like the mountains
in the morning. But they deem me cold and a mocker
with terrible jokes.
And now they look at me and laugh : and while they
laugh they hate me. There is ice in their laughter."
Then a thing happened which silenced every mouth
and fixed every eye. For in the meantime the rope-
dancer had begun his performance : he had stepped
out of the little door and walked along the rope that
was stretched between two towers so that it hung
over the market and the folk. When he was just
midway the little door opened again and a gay-coloured
fellow like a clown jumped out and walked with quick
steps after the first. "Go on, lame-leg," his terrible
voice shouted, "go on, slow-step, smuggler, pale-face!
That I may not tickle thee with my heel ! What dost
thou here between towers ? Thy place is in the tower.
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 15
Thou shouldst be imprisoned. Thou barrest the free
course to one who is better than thou art ! " — And
with each word the clown drew nearer and nearer :
but when he was just one step behind, the terrible
thing happened which silenced every mouth and fixed
every eye : uttering a cry like a devil, he jumped over
him who was in his way. The latter seeing his rival
conquer, lost his head and the rope ; throwing down
his stick he shot down quicker than it, like a whirl of
arms and legs. The market and the folk were as the
sea when the storm rusheth over it : everybody fled
tumbling one over the other, and most there where the
body was to strike the ground.
Zarathustra remained standing there, and the body
fell down just beside him, badly disfigured and broken,
but not dead. After a while, the consciousness of the
fallen one coming back, he saw Zarathustra kneel
beside him. " What art thou doing there ? " he asked
at last, "I knew it long ago that the devil would play
me a trick. Now he draggeth me unto hell : art thou
going to hinder him ? "
"On my honour, friend," Zarathustra answered,
" what thou speakest of doth not exist : there is no
devil nor hell. Thy soul will be dead even sooner
than thy body : henceforward fear nothing."
The man looked up suspiciously: "If. thou speakest
truth," he said, " losing my life I lose nothing. Then
I am not much more than an animal which by means
of blows and tit-bits hath been taught to dance."
" Not so," Zarathustra said ; " thou hast made danger
thy calling, there is nothing contemptible in that. .Now
16 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
thou diest of thy calling : therefore shall I bury thee
with mine own hands."
Zarathustra having said thus the dying one made
no answer, but moved his hand as though he sought
Zarathustra's to thank him.
7
Meanwhile the evening fell, and the market was
hidden in darkness : the folk dispersed, for even curi-
osity and terror grow tired. Zarathustra, however, sat
beside the dead man on the ground, absorbed in
thought, forgetting the time. But at last it was night,
and a cold wind blew over the lonely one. Then
Zarathustra rising said unto his heart :
" Verily, a fine fishing was Zarathustra's to-day ! It
was not a man he caught, but a corpse.
Haunted is human life and yet meaningless : a
buffoon may be fatal to it.
I am going to teach men their life's significance :
which is beyond-man, the lightning from the dark
cloud of man.
But still I am remote from them, my sense speaketh
not to their sense. For men I am still a cross between
a fool and a corpse.
Dark is the night, dark are Zarathustra's ways.
Come on, thou cold and stiff companion ! I carry thee
to the place where I shall bury thee with my hands."
8
Having said thus unto his heart Zarathustra took
the corpse on his back and started on his way. When
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 17
he had not yet gone a hundred steps, somebody stealing
close to him whispered into his ear — and lo ! the
speaker was the buffoon from the tower. " Depart from
this town, O Zarathustra," he said ; " too many hate
thee here. There hate thee the good and just ones,
and they call thee their enemy and despiser ; there
hate thee the faithful of the right belief, and they call
thee a danger for the many. It was thy good fortune
to be laughed at : and, verily, thou spakest like a
buffoon. It was thy good fortune to associate with the
dead dog : by thus humiliating thyself thou hast saved
thyself to-day. But depart from this town — or to-
morrow I jump over thee, a living over a dead one/'
Having so said, the man disappeared, whilst Zarathustra
went on through the dark lanes.
At the gate of the town he met the grave-diggers.
They flared their torch in his face, and recognising
Zarathustra, mocked him. " Zarathustra is carrying
off the dead dog : well that Zarathustra hath turned
grave-digger ! For our hands are too clean for this
roast. Perhaps Zarathustra means to steal from the
devil his bite ? Go on ! And much luck to the dinner !
We are afraid the devil will be a better thief than
Zarathustra ! — he stealeth both of them, he eateth
both ! " And putting their heads together they
laughed.
Zarathustra saying no word in answer went his way.
Journeying two hours through forests and swamps,
he heard the hungry howling of the wolves and felt
hungry himself. So he stopped at a lonely house in
which a light was burning.
3
18 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
" Hunger surpriseth me," said Zarathustra, "like a
robber. Amid forests and swamps in the depth of the
night my hunger surpriseth me.
My hunger hath odd fancies. Frequently it appear-
eth only after dinner, and to-day it did not appear
all day : where was it ? "
And then Zarathustra knocked at the door of the
house. Very soon an old man came carrying a candle
and asking : " Who cometh to me and mine evil
sleep?"
"A living and a dead one," replied Zarathustra.
"Give me to eat and to drink, I forgot it in the day-
time. (He who feedeth the hungry refresheth his own
soul ; thus saith wisdom." j
The old man having gone off returned immediately,
offering Zarathustra bread and wine. " This is a bad
quarter for hungry people," said he ; " that is why I
am staying here. Animal and man come to me, the
hermit. But ask also thy companion to eat and
drink ; he is much more tired than thou art." Zara-
thustra answered : " Dead is my companion ; I shall
scarcely persuade him to do so." "That is no reason
with me," said the old man crossly ; " he who knocketh
at my house must take whatever I offer him. Eat
and farewell ! "
Then Zarathustra walked two more hours and
trusted the road and the light of the stars ; for he
was accustomed to walk by night and liked to look
into the face of all things asleep. But when the
morning dawned, Zarathustra found himself in a deep
forest with no road visible. Then he laid the dead
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 19
one in a hollow tree at his own head — for he wished
to defend him from the wolves — and he laid himself
down on the ground and moss. And at once he fell
asleep, with his body tired, but with his soul un-
moved.
Long slept Zarathustra, not only the dawn passing
over his face, but the morning also. At last, however,
his eye opened : astonished Zarathustra looked into
the forest and the stillness, astonished he looked into
himself. Then quickly rising, like a mariner who sud-
denly seeth land, he exulted : for he saw a new truth.
And thus he then spake unto his heart :
" A light hath arisen for me : companions I need,
and living ones,— not dead companions or corpses
which I carry with me wherever I go.
But living companions I need who follow me be-
cause they wish to follow themselves — and to the
place whither I wish to go.
A light hath arisen for me : Zarathustra is not to
speak unto the folk, but unto companions ! Zarathustra
is not to be the herdsman and dog of a herd !
To entice many from the herd — that is why I have
come. Folk and herd will be angry with me : a robber
Zarathustra wisheth to be called by herdsmen.
Herdsmen I call them, but they call themselves
the good and just. Herdsmen I call them, but they
call^ themselves the faithful of the right belief.
Lo, the good and just ! Whom do they hate
most ? Him who breaketh to pieces their tables of
20 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
values,— the breaker, the criminal :— but he is the
creator.
Lo, the faithful of all beliefs ! Whom do they hate
most? Him who breaketh to pieces their tables of
values, — the breaker, the criminal : — but he is the
creator.
Companions the creator seeketh and not corpses,
neither herds nor faithful men. Such as will be creators
with him the creator seeketh, those who write new
values on new tables.
Companions the creator seeketh, and such as will
reap with him : for with him everything is ripe for
harvest. But he lacketh the hundred sickles so that
he teareth up the ears and is angry.
Companions the creator seeketh, and such as know
how to wet their sickles. Destroyers they will be
called and despisers of good and evil. But they are
those who reap and cease from labour.
Such as will be creators with him Zarathustra
seeketh, such as reap with him and cease from labour
with him : what hath he to do with herds and herds-
men and corpses 1
And thou, my first companion, farewell ! Well I
buried thee in thy hollow tree, well I hid thee from
the wolves.
But I part from thee, the time is past. Between
dawn and dawn a new truth hath revealed itself
to me.
I am not to be a herdsman nor yet a grave-digger.
I am not even to speak unto the folk again. I have
spoken unto a dead one for the last time.
ZARATHUSTRA'S INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 21
Those who are creators, who reap, who cease from
labour I shall associate with. I shall show them the
rainbow and all the degrees of beyond-man.
I shall sing my song unto the hermits and those
who are hermits in pairs. And the heart of him who
hath ears for unheard things I shall make heavy with
my happiness.
Towards my goal I struggle, mine own way I go ;
I shall overleap those who hesitate and delay. Let my
way be their destruction ! "
10
Having said thus unto his heart, when the sun was
at noon Zarathustra suddenly looked upwards wonder-
ing— for above himself he heard the sharp cry of a
bird. And lo ! an eagle swept through the air in
wide circles, a serpent hanging from it not like a prey,
but like a friend : coiling round its neck.
" They are mine animals " said Zarathustra and re-
joiced heartily.
" The proudest animal under the sun, and the wisest
animal under the sun have set out to reconnoitre.
They wished to learn whether Zarathustra still
liveth. Verily, do I still live ?
More dangerous than among animals I found it
among men. Dangerous ways are taken by Zarathustra.
Let mine animals lead me ! "
Having so said Zarathustra thought of the words
of the saint in the forest and sighing he thus spake
unto his heart :
22 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
" Would I were wiser ! Would I were wise from
the root like my serpent !
But I ask impossibilities. I ask my pride to be
always the companion of my wisdom.
And when once my wisdom leaveth me : alas 1 it
liketh to fly away ! Would that my pride would then
fly with my folly ! "
Thus began Zarathustra's down-going.
ZARATHUSTRA'S SPEECHES
OF THE THREE METAMORPHOSES
" THREE metamorphoses of the spirit I declare unto
you : how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a
lion, and the lion at last a child.
There are many things heavy for the spirit, the
strong spirit which is able to bear the load and in
which reverence dwelleth : its strength longeth for the
heavy and heaviest.
What is heavy ? asketh the spirit which is able to
bear the load, and kneeling down like a camel wisheth
to be well-laden.
What is the heaviest, ye heroes ? asketh the spirit
which is able to bear the load, that I may take in on
me and rejoice in my strength.
Is it not : to humiliate one's self in order to give
pain to one's haughtiness ? To show forth one's folly
in order to mock at one's wisdom ?
Or is it : to part from our cause when it is cele-
brating its victory ? To ascend high mountains in
order to tempt the tempter ?
Or is it : to live on the acorns and grass of know-
ledge and to starve one's soul for the sake of truth ?
Or is it : to be ill and send away the consolers and
make friends of deaf people who never hear thy
wishes ?
26 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Or is it : to step into dirty water, if it be the water
of truth, and not drive away the cold frogs and hot
toads ?
Or is it : to love those who despise us and to sha^e
hands with the ghost when it is going to terrify us ?
All these heaviest things are taken upon itself by
the spirit that is able to bear the load ; like the camel
which when it is laden hasteth to the desert, the spirit
hasteth to its own desert.
In the loneliest desert however cometh the second
metamorphosis : there the spirit becometh a lion.
Freedom it will take as its prey and be lord in its
own desert.
There it seeketh its last lord : to him and its last
God it seeketh to be a foe, with the great dragon it
seeketh to contend for victory.
What is the great dragon which the spirit is no
longer willing to call lord and God? 'Thou shalt'
is the name of the great dragon. But the lion's spirit
saith : ' I will.'
'Thou shalt' besets his way glittering with gold, a
pangolin, on each scale there shineth golden ' Thou shalt.'
Values a thousand years old are shining on these
scales, and thus saith the most powerful of all dra-
gons : The value of all things — is shining on me.
All value hath been created, and all value created—-
that is I. Verily, there shall be no more 'I will.'
Thus saith the dragon.
My brethren, wherefore is the lion in the spirit
necessary ? Wherefore doth the beast of burden that
renounceth and is reverent not suffice ?
OF THE THREE METAMORPHOSES 27
To create new values — that even the lion is not able
to do : but to create for itself freedom for new creating,
for that the lion's power is enough.
To create for one's self freedom and a holy Nay
even towards duty : therefore, my brethren, the lion is
required.
To take for one's self the right to new values —
that is the most terrible taking for a spirit able to
bear the load and reverent. Indeed, for it a preying
it is and the work of a beast of prey.
As its holiest it once loved ' Thou shalt : ' now it
must find illusion and arbitrariness even in the holiest,
in order to prey for itself freedom from its love : the
lion is required for that preying.
But tell me, my brethren, what can the child do
which not even the lion could ? Why must the prey-
ing lion become a child also ?
The child is innocence and oblivion, a new starting,
a play, a wheel rolling by itself, a prime motor, a holy
asserting.
Ay, for the play of creating, my brethren, a holy\
asserting is wanted : it is its own will that the spirit (
now willeth, it is its own world that the recluse_5
winneth for himself.
Three metamorphoses of the spirit I declare unto
you : how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a
lion, and the lion at last a child."
Thus spake Zarathustra when he stayed in the town
which is called : The Cow of Many Colours.
OF THE CHAIRS OF VIRTUE
SOME one praised a wise man to Zarathustra because
he was said to speak well of sleep and virtue and
therefore to be very much honoured and rewarded.
All young men were said to sit before his chair.
Zarathustra went to him and sat among all the young
men before his chair. And thus spake the wise man :
" Honour and shame to sleep ! That is the first
thing. And to go out of the way of all who sleep
badly and are awake in the night !
Even the thief is ashamed to disturb sleep : he always
stealeth gently through the night. But shameless is
the watchman of the night, shamelessly he weareth
his horn.
Sleeping is no small art : for that purpose one
\^needeth firstly to keep awake all day.
Ten times a day thou must conquer thyself : that
giveth a wholesome weariness and is poppy for the
soul.
Ten times thou must reconcile thyself with thyself :
for resignation is bitterness and badly sleepeth he who
is not reconciled.
Ten truths a day thou must find : else thou seekest
5
OF THE CHAIRS OF VIRTUE 29
for truth even in the night, thy soul having remained
hungry.
Ten times a day thou must laugh and be gay :
else thy stomach disturbeth thee in the night, that
father of affliction.
Few know that, but in order to sleep well one
must have all virtues. Shall I bear false witness ?
Shall I commit adultery ?
Shall I covet my neighbour's maid servant ? All
that would ill accord with good sleep.
And even if one hath all the virtues, one must
know one more thing, to send unto sleep the virtues
at the proper time.
In order that they may not quarrel, the pretty little
women ! And about thee, thou unhappy one !
Peace with God and thy neighbour : good sleep
will have it so. And peace even with the neighbour's
devil ! Else it will haunt thee in the night.
Honour and obedience to the magistrates, and even
to crooked magistrates ! good sleep will have it so. Is
it "my fault that power liketh to walk on crooked legs ?
He shall be called by me the best herdsman who
leadeth his sheep unto the greenest meadow : that
accordeth well with good sleep.
I do not want many honours nor great treasures :
that inflameth the milt. But one sleepeth badly with-
out a good name and a small treasure.
A small society is more welcome unto me than an
evil one : it must however come and go at the proper
time. That accordeth well with good sleep.
I am also well pleased with the poor in spirit:, they
30 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
promote sleep. Blessed are they, especially if one
always yieldeth to them.
Thus the day passeth for the virtuous. When
night cometh I take good care not to call sleep ! It
liketh not to be called : sleep which is the master of
virtues !
But I think of what I did and thought during the
day. Ruminating I ask myself, patient as a cow : what
were thy ten resignations ?
And what were thy ten reconciliations, and the
ten truths and the ten laughters with which my heart
pleased itself ?
Whilst I am meditating thus and rocked by forty
thoughts, suddenly sleep seizeth me : the uncalled one,
the master of virtues.
Sleep knocking at mine eye, it getteth heavy. Sleep
touching my mouth, it remaineth open.
Verily, on soft soles it approacheth me, the dearest
of thieves, stealing my thoughts: stupid I stand like
this chair.
But I do not stand long then : there I lie — "
Having heard the wise man speak thus, Zarathustra
laughed in his heart : for a light had arisen for him
in the meantime. And thus he spake unto his
heart :
"A fool I consider that wise man there with his
forty thoughts; but I believe that he well knoweth
how to sleep.
Happy he who liveth near this wise man ! Such
a sleep is infectious, even through a thick wall it is
infectious.
OF THE CHAIRS OF VIRTUE 31
A charm liveth even in his chair. Nor did the
youths sit in vain before the preacher of virtue.
His wisdom is : to wake in order to sleep well.
And verily, if life had no significance, and had I to
choose nonsense, this nonsense would seem to be the
worthiest to be chosen for me as well.
Now I understand clearly, what once was sought
for above all when teachers of virtue were sought.
Good sleep was sought for and poppy-head-like virtues
with it !
For all those belauded wise men of chairs, wisdom
was sleep without dreams: they knowing no better
significance of life.
Even to-day there are a few extant who are*' like
this preacher of virtues and not always so honest.
But their time is past. And not much longer they
stand : there they lie already.
Blessed are the sleepy : for they shall soon drop off."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF BACK-WORLDS-MEN
"ONCE Zarathustra threw his spell beyond man, like
all back-worlds-men. Then the world seemed to me
the work of a suffering and tortured God.
A dream then the world appeared to me, and a
God's fiction ; coloured smoke before the eyes of a
godlike discontented one.
Good and evil, and pleasure and pain, and I and
thou — coloured smoke it appeared to me before creative
eyes. When the creator wished to look away from
himself — he created the world.
r" For the sufferer it is an intoxicating joy to look
away from his suffering and lose himself. An intoxicat-
ing joy and a losing of one's self the world once
appeared to me.
This world, the ever imperfect, an image and an
imperfect image of an eternal contradiction — an in-
toxicating joy to its imperfect creator : — thus this world
once appeared to me.
Thus I threw my spell beyond man, like all back-
worlds-men. Truly beyond man ?
Alas ! brethren, that God whom I created was man's
work and man's madness, like all Gods !
Man he was, and but a poor piece of man and the I.
32
OF BACK-WORLDS-MEN 33
From mine own ashes and flame it came unto me,
that ghost, yea verily 1 It did not come unto me from
beyond !
What happened, brethren ? I overcame myself,
the sufferer, and carrying mine own ashes unto the
mountains invented for myself a brighter flame. And
lo ! the ghost departed from me !
Now to me, the convalescent, it would be suffering
and pain to believe in such ghosts : suffering it were
now for me and humiliation. Thus I speak unto the
back-worlds-men.
Sorrow and weakness created all back-worlds ; and
that short madness of happiness which only the most
sorrowful experience.
Weariness which, with one jump, with a jump of
death, wanteth to reach the last, a poor ignorant
weariness which is not even willing any more to will :
it created all Gods and back-worlds.
Believe me, my brethren ! It was the body which
despaired of the body — with the fingers of a befooled
spirit it groped at the last walls.
Believe me, my brethren ! It was the body which
despaired of earth, it heard the womb of existence
speak unto it.
And there it yearned to get through the last walls
with its head, and not with its head only — beyond, to
'the other world.'
But ' the other world ' is carefully hidden from
man, that brutish, inhuman world which is a heavenly
nothing ; and the womb of existence speaketh not
unto man unless as man.
4
34 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Verily, difficult to be proved is all existence and
difficult to be induced to speak. Tell me, brethren,
hath not the oddest of all things been proved even
best of all ?
Ay, that I and the contradiction and confusion of
the I speak most honestly of all existence, that creating,
willing, valuing I which is the measure and the value
of things.
And that most honest existence, that I which
speaketh of the body and still willeth the body even
when composing poetry and imagining and fluttering
with broken wings.
Even more honestly it learneth to speak, that I :
and the more it learneth, the more words and honours
for body and earth it findeth.
A new pride I have been taught by mine I ; and
this I teach men : no more to put their head into the
sand of heavenly things, but to carry it freely, an
earth-head that giveth significance unto earth !
A new will I teach men : to will that way which
man hath gone blindly and to call it good and no
longer to shirk aside from it like the sickly and
dying.
The sickly and dying folk despised body and earth
and invented the heavenly and the redeeming blood-
drops ; but even those sweet and gloomy poisons were
borrowed from body and earth !
They, sought to escape from their misery, and the
stars were too remote for them. Then they sighed :
Would that there were heavenly ways by which to
steal into another existence and happiness ! — they in-
OF BACK-WORLDS-MEN 35
vented for themselves their byways and little bloody
drinks !
And they professed to be beyond the reach of
their body and this earth, the ungrateful ones. But
to whom did they owe the convulsion and delight of
their removal ? To their body and this earth.
Kind unto the sick is Zarathustra. Verily, he is not
angry at their ways of consolation and ingratitude.
Would they were convalescent and conquering and
creating a higher body for themselves !
Neither is Zarathustra angry with the convalescent
one, if he looketh fondly back upon his illusion and
at midnight stealeth round the grave of his God : but
even his tears remain for me a disease and a sick body.
Many sick folk were always among the makers of
poetry and the god-passionate ; furiously they hate him
who perceiveth and that youngest of virtues that is
called honesty.
Backward they ever gaze into the dark times :
then, of course, illusion and belief were something else.
Intoxication of reason was likeness unto God, and
doubt was sin.
Only too well I know those god-like ones : they
wish to be believed in, and that doubt should be sin.
Only too well I know, besides, what they themselves
believe in most.
Verily, not in back-worlds and redeeming blood-
drops : but even they believe most in body, and their
own body for them is the thing in itself.
But a sickly thing it is for them : and fain they
would leap out of their skin. Therefore they listen
36 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
unto the preachers of death and themselves preach
back-worlds.
Rather listen, my brethren, unto the voice of the
body that hath been restored unto health : it is a
more honest and a purer voice.
More honestly and purely the healthy body speaketh,
the perfect and rectangular : it speaketh of the signi-
ficance of eartlr."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE DESPISERS OF BODY
" IT is unto the despisers of body that I shall say
my word. It is not to re-learn and re-teach what I
wish them to do ; I wish them to say farewell unto
their own body — and be dumb.
'Body I am and soul' — thus the child speaketh.
And why should one not speak like the children ?
But he who is awake and knoweth saith : ' Body I
am throughout, and nothing besides; and soul is
merely a word for a something in body/
Body is one great reason, a plurality with one sense,
a war and a peace, a flock and a herdsman.
Also thy little reason, my brother, which thou
callest ' spirit' — it is a tool of thy body, a little tool
and toy of thy great reason.
1 1 ' thou sayest and art proud of that word. But
the greater thing is — which thou wilt not believe — thy
body and its great reason. It doth not say ' I/ but it
doth <!.'
What the sense feeleth, what the spirit perceiveth
hath never its end in itself. But sense and spirit
would fain persuade thee, that they were the end of
all things : so vain they are.
Tools and toys are sense and spirit : behind them
37
38 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
there lieth the self. The self also seeketh with the
eyes of the senses, it also listeneth with the ears of
the spirit.
The self ever listeneth and seeketh : it compareth,
subdueth, conquereth, destroyeth. It ruleth and is the
ruler of the ' 1 ' as well.
Behind thy thoughts and feelings, my brother,
standeth a mighty lord, an unknown wise man — whose
name is self. In thy body he dwelleth, thy body he is.
There is more reason in thy body than in thy best
wisdom. And who can know why thy body needeth
thy best wisdom ?
Thy self laugheth at thine I and its prancings :
' What are these boundings and flights of thought ? '
it saith unto itself. A round-about way to my purpose.
I am the leading-string of the I and the suggester of
its concepts/
The self saith unto the I: ' Feel pain here !' And
there it suffereth and meditateth how to get rid of
suffering — and that is why it shall think.
The self saith unto the I : ' Feel lust here ! '
There it rejoiceth and meditateth how to rejoice often —
and that is why it shall meditate.
I am going to say a word unto the despisers of
body. Their contempt maketh their valuing. What
is it that created valuing and despising and worth
and will ?
The creative self created for itself valuing and
despising, it created for itself lust and woe. The
creative body created for itself the spirit to be the
hand of its will.
OF THE DESPISERS OF BODY 39
Even in your folly and contempt, ye despisers of
body, ye are serving your self. I say unto you :
your self itself is going to die and turneth away from
life.
No longer is it able to do what it liketh best : to
create something beyond itself. That it liketh best,
that is its whole enthusiasm.
But now it is too late for it to attain that purpose :
—your self seeketh to perish, ye despisers of body.
Your self seeketh to perish and therefore ye are
become despisers of body ! For no longer are ye
able to create anything beyond yourselves.
And therefore are ye now angry at life and earth.
An unconscious envy is in the sidelong look of your
contempt.
I go not your way, ye despisers of body ! Ye are
no bridges to beyond-man 1 "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF DELIGHTS AND PASSIONS
" MY brother, when thou hast a virtue and it is thy
virtue, thou hast it in common with nobody.
It is true thou wilt call it by a name and pet it ;
thou wilt pull its ear and amuse thyself with it.
And lo ! now thou hast its name in common with
the folk and hast become folk and herd with thy
virtue 1
It would be better for thee to say, ' Unutterable
and nameless is that which maketh my soul's pain and
sweetness, and it is a hunger of mine intestines/
Let thy virtue be too high for the familiarity of
names : and if thou hast to speak of it, be not ashamed
to stammer.
Speak and stammer : ' That is my good, that love I,
thus it pleaseth me entirely, thus alone will I the good.
I do not will it as the law of a God, I do not
will it as the statute or requirement of man : it shall
not be a landmark for me to beyond-earths or 'para-
dises.
It is an earthly virtue that I love : there is little
prudence in it, and still less the reason common
to all.
But that bird hath built its nest with me : that is
40
OF DELIGHTS AND PASSIONS 41
why I love and embrace it, — now with me it sitteth
on golden eggs.'
Thus thou shalt stammer, praising thy virtue.
Once having passions thou calledst them evil. Now,
however, thou hast nothing but thy virtues : they grow
out of thy passions.
Thou laidest thy highest goal upon these passions :
then they became thy virtues and delights.
And though thou wert from the stock of the
choleric, or of the voluptuous, or of the religiously
frantic, or of the vindictive:
At last all thy passions grew virtues, and all thy
devils angels.
Once thou hadst wild dogs in thy cellar ; but at
last they changed into birds and sweet singers.
Out of thy poisons thou brewedst a balsam for
thee ; thou didst milk thy cow of sorrow — now thou
drinkest the sweet milk of its udder.
And from this time forth, nothing evil groweth out
of thee, unless it be the evil that groweth out of the
struggle of thy virtues.
My brother, if thou hast good luck, thou hast one
virtue and no more : thus thou walkest more easily
over the bridge.
It is a distinction to have many virtues, but a hard
Mot ; and many having gone to the desert killed them-
selves, because they were tired of being the battle and
battlefield of virtues.
My brother, are warfare and battle evil ? But
necessary is this evil, necessary are envy and mistrust
and backbiting among thy virtues.
42 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Behold, how each of thy virtues is covetous for
the highest : it longeth for thy whole spirit to be its
herald, it longeth for thy whole power in wrath, love
and hatred.
Jealous is each virtue of the other, and a terrible
thing is jealousy. Even virtues may perish from
jealousy.
He who is encompassed by the flame of jealousy
at last, like the scorpion, turneth the poisonous sting
towards himself.
Alas, my brother, didst thou never see a virtue
backbite and stab itself ?
Man is a something that must be surpassed : and
therefore thou shalt love thy virtues : for thou wilt
perish from them."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE PALE CRIMINAL
"YE are not going to slay, ye judges and sacrificers,
before the animal hath nodded. Behold, the pale
criminal hath nodded : from his eye there speaketh
the great contempt.
' Mine I is a something that shall be surpassed : for
me mine I is the great contempt of man : ' thus
something speaketh out of that eye.
His highest moment was when he judged himself :
let not the sublime one fall back into his lower
state !
There is no salvation for him who thus suffereth
from himself unless it be speedy death.
Your slaying, ye judges, shall be pity and not
revenge. And whilst slaying take care to justify life
itself !
It is not enough that ye should be reconciled
unto him whom ye are slaying. Let your sorrow
be love unto beyond-man : thus ye justify your still
living.
' Enemy ' ye shall say, but not ' wicked one ; '
' diseased one ' ye shall say, but not ' wretch ; ' ' fool '
ye shall say, but not ' sinner.'
And thou, red judge, if thou wert to declare aloud
43
44 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
all that thou hast done in thy thoughts, everybody
would cry : ' Away with this filth and worm of
poison ! '
But one thing is thought, another is deed, another
is the picture of the deed. The wheel of reason rolleth
not between them.
A picture made this pale man pale. Of the same
growth with himself was his deed when he did it ;
but when it was done, he could not bear the picture
He ever saw himself as the doer of one deed.
Madness I call that : the exceptional was engrained
upon his nature.
The streak of chalk paralyseth the hen ; the stroke
he struck paralysed his poor reason. — Madness after
the deed I call that.
Listen, ye judges ! There is, besides, another mad-
ness : it is before the deed. Alas, ye did not creep far
enough into this soul !
Thus speaketh the red judge : ' Why did that
criminal murder ? He was going to rob.' But I say
unto you : his soul asked for blood, not for prey : he
was thirsting for the happiness of the knife !
But his poor reason understood not that madness
and persuaded him. ' What is blood worth ! ' it said ;
' wouldst not thou at least make a prey along with it ?
take revenge along with it ? '
And he hearkened unto his poor reason : like lead
its speech lay upon him, — then he robbed when
murdering. He did not like to be ashamed of his
madness.
OF THE PALE CRIMINAL 45
And now again lieth the lead of his guilt upon
him, and again his poor reason is so chilled, so para-
lysed, so heavy.
If he could but shake his head, that burden would
roll off. But who will shake that head ?
What is this man ? A mass of diseases which through
the spirit reach out into the world : there they are
going to prey.
What is this man ? A coil of wild serpents which
seldom are at rest with each other — thus singly they
depart to search for prey in the world.
Behold this poor body ! What it suffered and
longed for, this poor soul interpreted : it interpreted
it as a murderous lust and greediness for the happiness
of the knife.
He who is diseased now is surprised by the evil
which is evil now. He willeth to cause pain with
what causeth pain to him. But there have been other
times and another evil and another good.
Once doubt and the will unto self were evil. Then
the diseased became heretics or witches : as here-
tics or witches they suffered and sought to cause
suffering.
This however entereth not into your ears ; it is
hurtful unto your good ones, ye say unto me. But
what are your good ones worth unto me !
Many things in your good ones cause loathing
unto me — not what is evil in them. I even wish they
had a madness from which they might perish like
this pale criminal.
Indeed I wish their madness could be named- truth
46 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
or faithfulness or justice : but they have their virtue to
live long and in a miserable ease.
I am a railing alongside the stream ; whoever is
able to seize me, may seize me. Your crutch, how-
ever, I am not."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF READING AND WRITING
" OF all that is written I love only that which the
writer wrote with his blood. Write with blood, and
thou wilt learn that blood is spirit.
It is not easily possible to understand other people's
blood. I hate the reading idlers.
He who knoweth the reader doth nothing more
for the reader. Another century of readers — and spirit
itself will stink.
That everybody is allowed to learn to read spoileth
in the long run not only writing but thinking.
/ Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now
it is becoming mob.
He who writeth in blood and apophthegms seeketh
not to be read, but to be learnt by heart.
In the mountains the shortest way is from summit
to summit : but for that thou needest long legs. Apo-
phthegms shall be summits, and they who are spoken
unto, great ones and tall.
The air rarefied and pure, danger near, and the
spirit full of a gay wickedness : these agree well
together.
I desire to have goblins round me, for I am brave.
47
48 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Courage that dispelleth ghosts createth goblins for it-
self,— courage desireth to laugh.
I no longer feel as ye do : this cloud which I see
beneath me, that blackness and heaviness at which I
laugh, — that is your thunder-cloud.
I Ye look upward when longing to be exalted. And
look downward because I am exalted.
Which of you can at the same time laugh and be
exalted ?
He who strideth across the highest mountains laugh-
eth at all tragedies whether of the stage or of life.
Brave, unconcerned, scornful, violent, — thus wisdom
would have us to be : she is a woman and ever loveth
the warrior only.
Ye say unto me : ' Life is hard to bear.1 But for what
purpose have ye got in the morning your pride and
in the evening your submission ?
Life is hard to bear. But do not pretend to be
so frail ! We are all good he-asses and she-asses of
burden.
What have we in common with the rose-bud that
trembleth because a drop of dew lieth on its body ?
It is true : we love life, not because we are ac-
customed to life, but because we are accustomed to
love.
There is always a madness in love. There is, how-
ever, also always a reason in madness.
And to my thinking as a lover of life, butterflies,
soap-bubbles, and whatever is of their kind among men,
know most of happiness.
To see these light, foolish, delicate, mobile little
OF READING AND WRITING 49
souls flitting about — that moveth Zarathustra to tears
and to song.
I could believe only in a God who would know
how to dance.
And when I saw my devil, I found him earnest,
thorough, deep, solemn : he was the spirit of gravity, —
through him all things fall.
Not through wrath but through laughter one
slayeth. Arise ! let us slay the spirit of gravity !
I learned to walk : now I let myself run. I learned
to fly : now I need no pushing to move me from
the spot.
Now I am light, now I fly, now I see myself
beneath myself, now a God danceth through me."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE TREE AT THE HILL
ZARATHUSTRA'S eye had seen that a young man
avoided him. And one night when walking alone
through the hills round about the town that is
called " the Cow of Many Colours : " behold, walking
there he found that young man sitting with his
back against a tree and gazing into the valley
with a tired look. Zarathustra taking hold of the
tree against which the young man was sitting spake
thus:
" If I wished to shake this tree with my hands I
could not do so.
But the wind which we do not see tormenteth and
bendeth it wherever it listeth. By unseen hands we
are bent and tormented worst."
Astonished the young man rose and said : " I hear
Zarathustra and was just thinking of him." Zarathustra
answered :
" Wherefore dost thou fear ? It is with man as
with the tree.
The more he would ascend to height and light the
stronger are his roots striving earthwards, downwards,
into the dark, the deep, — the evil."
50
OF THE TREE AT THE HILL 51
" Ay, towards the evil ! " cried the youth. " How
was it possible for thee to discover my soul ? "
Zarathustra said smiling : (^ Some souls will never
be discovered, unless they be invented first."
" Ay, towards the evil ! " repeated the youth.
"Thou saidst the truth, Zarathustra. I do not trust
myself any longer since I am striving upwards, neither
doth anybody else trust me — say, how is that ?
I alter too quickly : my to-day refuteth my yester-
day. I frequently overleap steps when I ascend — no
step pardoneth me for that.
When I reach the summit I always find myself
alone. Nobody speaketh unto me, the frost of solitude
maketh me tremble. What do I seek on high ?
My contempt and longing grow together ; the higher
I ascend the more I despise him who ascendeth. What
seeketh he on high ?
How ashamed I am of mine ascending and stumb-
ling ! How I mock at my vehement panting and
puffing ! How I hate him who flieth ! How tired I
am on high ! "
Here the youth was silent. And Zarathustra con-
templating the tree by which they stood spake thus :
" This tree standeth lonely by the mountains ; it
grew high beyond man and animal.
And if it were to speak it would have nobody to
understand it : so high hath it grown.
Now, it is waiting and waiting, — for what is it
waiting, say ? It dwelleth too close to the clouds :
It is waiting I suppose for the first lightning ? "
Zarathustra having so said, the youth cried -with
52 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
vehement gesture : " Ay, Zarathustra, thou speakest
truth. It was for my destruction that I longed when
-I was striving upwards, and thou art the lightning
I waited for ! Behold, what am I since thou hast
appeared unto us ? It is the envy of thee which hath
destroyed me ! " Speaking thus the youth wept bitterly.
Zarathustra, however, put his arm round him and led
him away with him.
When they had walked a while together Zarathustra
thus began:
" It teareth my heart. Better than thy words say
it, thine eye telleth me all thy danger.
Thou art not free yet, thou seekest freedom still.
Weary with watching thou art made by thy seeking,
and much too wakeful.
Towards the free height thou art striving, for stars
thy soul is thirsting. But thy bad instincts are also
thirsting for freedom.
Thy wild dogs seek freedom ; in their cellar they
bark for lust when thy spirit seeketh to open all
prisons.
To me thou art still a prisoner meditating freedom
for himself : alas ! ingenious becometh the soul of such
prisoners, but guileful and bad also.
Even he who is freed in spirit must purify him-
self. Much of prison and mould is still left in him :
his eye needeth to be purified.
Ay, I know thy danger. But by my love and
hope I conjure thee : throw not away thy love and
hope !
Noble thou feelest thyself, and that thou art noble
OF THE TREE AT THE HILL 53
feel even the others who are angry with thee and
cast evil glances. Know that a noble one is in the
way of all.
A noble one is in the way of the good : and even
if they call him a good one, by so doing they seek
to put him aside.
The noble one wisheth to create something new
and a new virtue. The good one willeth that old things
should be preserved.
But that is not the danger of the noble one, to
become a good one, but to become an insolent, a
sneering one, a destroyer.
Alas, I have known noble ones who lost their
highest hope. And then they slandered all high hopes.
Then they lived insolently in brief pleasure, and
scarcely made any of their goals beyond the day.
' Spirit is voluptuousness also ' — said they. Then
they broke the wings of their spirit : now it creepeth
about and soileth whilst it gnaweth.
Once they thought of becoming heroes : men of
pleasure they are now. A hero is a grief and a horror
for them.
But by my love and hope I conjure thee : throw
not away the hero in thy soul 1 Keep holy thine
highest hope ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE PREACHERS OF DEATH
"THERE are preachers of death, and the earth is full
of those unto whom it is necessary to preach the aban-
donment of life.
Full is earth of superfluous ones, spoiled is life by
the much-too-many. Would they could be tempted
away from this life by ' eternal life.'
' Yellow ones ' the preachers of death are called or
'black ones.' I shall, however, show them unto you
in other colours besides.
There are the terrible who carry about within
themselves a beast of prey and have no choice except
voluptuousness or self - laceration. And even their
voluptuousness is self -laceration.
They have not even become human beings, these
terrible ones : let them preach abandonment of life and
themselves pass away 1
There are the consumptive of soul. When scarce
born they begin to die and long for the doctrine of
weariness and renunciation.
They would fain be dead, and we should approve
of their will 1 Let us beware lest we awaken these
dead ones or damage these living coffins !
54
OF THE PREACHERS OF DEATH 55
Whenever they meet with a diseased or an old man
or a corpse they say : ' Life hath been refuted/
But only they themselves are refuted and their eye
that seeth only that one face of existence.
\ Wrapped in thick melancholy and hungry for those
uittle accidents which produce death they wait with
clenched teeth.
Or : they reach out for sweetmeats and so doing mock
their own childishness : they cling to the straw of their
life and mock because they are hanging on a straw.
Their wisdom is : ' A fool he who remaineth alive ;
but to that extent we are fools ! And that is the
greatest folly of life ! '
' Life is but suffering ' — others say, and they do
not lie. Well then, see that you die ! See to it that
life which is but suffering come to an end.
And let this be the teaching of your virtue : ' Thou
shalt kill thyself ! thou shalt steal thyself away ! '
' Lust is sin/ — the preachers of death say — t let us
turn aside and produce no children !'
' Giving birth is toilsome' — say the others — 'Why
give birth ? One giVeth birth to unhappy ones only ! '
And they also are preachers of death.
'Pity is needed' — a third section say. 'Accept from
me whatever I have ! Accept from me whatever I
am. The less am I bound unto life !'
Were they piteous at heart, they would set the
minds of their neighbours against life. To be evil —
that would be their proper goodness.
They yearn to be rid of life. What care they if
with their chains and gifts they tie others the faster !
56 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Ye also to whom life is stormful labour and unrest :
are ye not wearied of life ? Are ye not ripe for the
sermon of death ?
All of you to whom stormful labour is dear, and
what is swift, what is new and what is strange are
dear, ye bear yourselves ill ; your industry is retreat and
will to forget itself.
If ye had more belief in life ye would yield your-
selves the less to the moment. But ye have not enough
substance within you to enable you to wait, not even
to idle.
Everywhere soundeth the voice of the preachers of
death : and the earth is full of those unto whom it is
necessary to preach death.
Or : ' eternal life : ' that is the same unto me, — if
they only pass away quickly 1 "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF WAR AND WARRIORS
"WE like neither to be spared by our best enemies,
nor by those whom we love from our heart of heart.
Let me tell you the truth !
My brethren in war ! I love you from my heart's
heart. I am and was your like. And, besides, I am
your best enemy. Therefore let me tell you the truth !
I know the hatred and envy of your heart. Ye
are not great enough not to know hatred and
envy. Then be great enough not to be ashamed of
them!
And if ye cannot be saints of knowledge, at least
be its warriors. They are the companions and pioneers
of the saints' holiness.
I see many soldiers : would I could see many N
warriors ! ' Uniform ' they call what they wear :
would it were not uniform what they hide under it !
Ye shall be like unto them whose eye is ever look-
ing out for the enemy — for your enemy. And with a
few of you there is hatred at first sight.
Ye shall seek your own enemy, ye shall wage
your own war, and for your own thoughts. And if
your thought be conquered, your honesty shall shout
victory over it.
57
58 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars, and
the short peace better than the long.
I do not advise you to work, but to fight. I do
not advise you to conclude peace, but to conquer.
Let your work be a fight, your peace a victory !
One cannot be silent and sit still unless one hath
bow and arrow. Otherwise one talketh and quarrelleth.
Let your peace be a victory !
Ye say, a good cause will hallow even war ? I
say unto you : a good war halloweth every cause.
War and courage have done more great things
than charity. Not your pity, but your bravery, hath
hitherto saved those who had met with an accident.
What is good ? ye ask. To be brave is good.
Let the little girlies talk : ' To be good is what is
|Sweet and touching at the same time.'
They call you heartless : but your heart is genuine,
and I love the shame of your heartiness. Ye are
ashamed of your flood-tide, and others are ashamed
of their ebb.
Ye are ugly ? Well then, my brethren ! Wrap
the sublime round yourselves, the mantle of what
is ugly !
And when your soul waxeth great it waxeth haughty,
and in your sublimity there is wickedness. I know you.
In wickedness the haughty one and the weakling
meet. But they misunderstand each other. I know you.
Ye are permitted to have enemies only who are
to be hated ; not enemies who are to be despised. Ye
are to be proud of your enemy : then the success of
your enemy is your success also.
OF WAR AND WARRIORS 59
Rebellion, that is superiority in the slave. Let your °
superiority be obedience, your commanding even be
an obeying !
To a good warrior t Thou shalt ' soundeth more
agreeably than ' I will.' And all that will be dear
unto you, ye shall yet be commanded.
Let your love unto life be love unto your highest \
hope : and your highest hope the highest thought of (
your life !
Your highest thought, however, ye shall be ordained
by myself — and it is : man is a something that shall
be surpassed.
Thus live your life of obedience and war ! What
is long life worth? What warrior wisheth to be
spared ?
I do not spare you, I love you from the heart of
my heart, my brethren in war ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE NEW IDOL
"SOMEWHERE there are still peoples and herds, but
not with us, my brethren : with us there are states.
The state ? What is that ? Well ! now open your
ears, for now I deliver my sentence on the death of
peoples.
The state is called the coldest of all cold monsters.
And coldly it lieth ; and this lie creepeth out of its
mouth : ' I, the state, am the people/
It is a lie ! Creators they were who created the
peoples and hung one belief and one love over them ;
thus they served life.
Destroyers they are who lay traps for many, calling
them the state : they hung a sword and a hundred
desires over them.
Wherever a people is left, it understandeth not the
state but hateth it as the evil eye and a sin against
customs and rights.
This sign I show unto you : every people speaketh
its own tongue of good and evil— not understood by
its neighbour. Every people hath found out for itself
ts own language in customs and rights.
But the state is a liar in all tongues of good and
OF THE NEW IDOL 61
evil : whatever it saith, it lieth ; whatever it hath, it
hath stolen.
False is everything in it ; with stolen teeth it biteth,
the biting one. False are even its intestines.
Confusion of languages of good and evil. This
sign I show unto you as the sign of the state. Verily,
this sign pointeth to the will unto death ! Verily, it
waveth hands unto the preachers of death I
Far too many are borri : for the superfluous the
state was invented.
Behold, behold, how it allureth them, the much-too-
many ! How it devoureth, cheweth, and masticateth
them !
' On earth there is nothing greater than I ; God's
regulating finger am I,' thus the monster howleth.
And not only those with long ears and short sight
sink upon their knees !
Alas, even within you, ye great souls, the state
whispereth its gloomy lies ! Alas ! it findeth out the
rich hearts which are eager to squander themselves !
Ay, it findeth out even you, ye conquerors of the
old God ! Ye got wearied in the battle, and now your
weariness serveth the new idol.
The new idol would fain surround itself with
heroes and honest men ! It liketh to sun itself in
the sunshine of good consciences — that cold monster !
It will give you anything if you adore it, the new
idol : thus it buyeth for itself the splendour of your
virtue and the glance of your proud eyes.
With you the state will bait the hook for the
much-too-many ! Ay, a piece of hellish machinery was
62
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
invented then, a horse of death, rattling in the attire
of godlike honours !
Ay, the death of many was invented then, death
which praiseth itself as life : verily, a welcome service
unto all preachers of death !
What I call the state is where all are poison-drinkers,
the good and the evil alike. What I call the state is
where all lose themselves, the good and the evil alike.
What I call the state is where the slow suicide of
all is called 'life.'
Look at those superfluous ! They , steal the works
of inventors and the treasures of wise men : their
theft they call education — and for them everything
turneth into disease and hardship !
Look at those superfluous ! Diseased they ever are,
they vomit bile and call it newspaper. They devour
but cannot digest each other.
Look at those superfluous ! They acquire riches and
become poorer thereby. They seek power, and first the
crow-bar of power, much money — these impotent ones.
See how they climb, these swift apes ! They climb
over each other and thus drag themselves into the
mud and depths.
They all strive towards the throne : that is their
madness, — as though happiness were sitting on the
throne ! Often mud sitteth on the throne ; often also
the throne sitteth on the mud.
Madmen they are all to my mind, and climbing apes,
and over-hot. Ill smelleth to me their idol, that cold
monster : ill smell they all to me, these idolaters.
My brethren, will ye be suffocated in the damp of
OF THE NEW IDOL 63
their mouths and desires ! Rather break the windows
and jump into the open air 1
Go, I pray, out of the way of the evil odour. Go
away from the idolatry of the superfluous.
Go, I pray, out of the way of the evil odour ! Go
away from the steam of these human sacrifices !
For great souls earth is yet open. For hermits,
and hermits in pairs, many seats are yet empty, round
which floateth the odour of calm seas.
For great souls a free life is still open. Verily, he
who possesseth little is possessed still less : a modest
poverty be praised !
Where the state ceaseth there beginneth that man
who is not superfluous : there beginneth the song of
the necessary, the melody that is sung once and cannot
be replaced.
Where the state ceaseth — look there, I pray, my
brethren ! Do you not see it, the rainbow and the
bridges of beyond-man ? "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE FLIES OF THE MARKET
" FLY, my friend, into thy loneliness ! I see thee
stunned by the noise of the great men and pierced by
the stings of the small.
With thee forest and rock know how to be fitly
silent. Be like the tree again which thou lovest, the
tree with broad boughs : still and listening it hangeth
over the sea.
Where loneliness ceaseth, the market beginneth,
and where the market beginneth, there begin also the
noise of the great actors and the buzzing of the poison-
ous flies.
In the world even the best things are useless with-
out somebody to show them : great men are these
showmen called by the folk.
The folk little understand what is great, i.e., what
createth. But they have eyes and ears for all showmen
and actors of great things.
The world revolveth round the inventors of new
values :— invisibly it revolveth. But the folk and glory
revolve round actors : such is life.
The actor hath spirit ; but little conscience of spirit.
He always believeth in that by which he maketh others
believe most,— i.e., to believe in himself!
64
OF THE FLIES OF THE MARKET 65
To-morrow he hath a new belief, and the day after
to-morrow a still newer. Quick senses he hath, like
the folk, and can change the scent quickly.
To overthrow — that meaneth for him : to prove.
To drive mad — that meaneth for him: to convince.
And for him blood is the best of all reasons.
A truth which slippeth only into sharp ears he
calleth a lie and nothing. Verily, he believeth only in
Gods that make a great noise in the world !
Full of noisy clowns is the market — and the folk
boast of their great men. Such for them are the
masters of the hour.
But the hour presseth them and they press thee.
From thee also they seek a Yea or Nay. Alas ! wilt
thou put thy chair between for and against !
As for these unconditioned and pressing ones be
thou, O lover of truth, without jealousy ! Never yet
did truth hang on the arm of an unconditioned one.
As for these sudden ones, return unto thy safety :
it is only at the market that one is surprised by the
question Yea ? or Nay ?
All deep wells get their experience slowly : they
have to wait long before they know what hath fallen
to the bottom of them.
Away from the market and glory happeneth every-
thing that is great : away from the market and glory
have ever lived the inventors of new values.
Fly, my friend, into thy loneliness : I see thee stung
all over by poisonous flies. Fly where the rough,
strong wind bloweth !
Fly into thy loneliness ! Thou hast lived toQ close,
6
66 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
unto the small and miserable. Fly from their in-
visible revenge ! Against thee they are nothing but
revenge.
Lift no more thine arm against them! Innumer-
able are they; neither is it thy lot to be a fly-
brush.
Innumerable are these small and miserable ones;
and many a proud building the raindrops and weeds
have destroyed.
Thou art not a stone, but already thou hast been
hollowed out by the many drops. Under the many
drops thou wilt break into pieces and burst asunder.
I see thee wearied by poisonous flies and blood
drawn at a hundred spots ; and thy pride will not even
be angry.
In all innocence they seek to draw blood from thee,
their bloodless souls crave for blood — and therefore in
all innocence they sting.
But thou deep one, thou sufferest too greatly, even
from small wounds ; and ere thou art healed, the same
poisonous worm creepeth over thy hand.
Thou art, I know, too proud to kill these dainty-
mouthed. But take care that it be not thy fate to
endure all their poisonous wrong.
They also hum round thee with their praise : their
praise is impudence. They seek to have nigh unto
them thy skin and thy blood.
They flatter thee like a God or devil ; they whimper
before thee as before a God or devil. What matter ?
Flatterers they are and whimperers, that is all.
They also frequently present themselves unto thee
OF THE FLIES OF THE MARKET 67
as amiable. But that hath ever been the prudence of
cowards. Ay, cowards are prudent.
They think much about thee with their narrow
souls, thou art ever suspected of them ! Whatever is
much reflected upon, becometh suspected.
, They punish thee for all thy virtues. From the
/ heart of their heart they only pardon thee — thy mis-
takes.
i
Because thou art tender and of a just mind thou
shyest : i Their small existence is not their fault.1 But
their narrow soul thinketh : ' Guilty is all great exist-
ence.'
Even if thou art tender unto them they think that
thou despisest them ; and they return thy benefits
with secret harms.
Thy unspoken pride is ever against their taste ;
they exult, when once thou art m6dest enough to
be idle.
Whatever we recognise in a man, we inflame in
/him. Therefore beware of the small. —
They feel themselves to be small before thee, and
thejr lowness glimmereth and gloweth in invisible
revenge against thee.
Sawest thou not how often they were silent when
thou earnest nigh unto them, and how their power
left them as the smoke leaveth a fire that is going
out ?
Ay, my fciend, thou art the bad conscience for thy
neighbours ; for they are unworthy of thee. That is
why they hate thee and would fain suck thy blood.
Thy neighbours will always be poisonous flies.
68 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
That which is great in thee — that itself must make
them still more poisonous and ever more like flies.
Fly, my friend, into thy loneliness and where the
rough, strong wind bloweth. It is not thy lot to be
a fly-brush."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF CHASTITY
\
" I LOVE the forest. It is bad to live in towns : too
many of the lustful are there.
Is it not better to fall into the hands of a murderer
than into the dreams of a lustful woman ?
And look at these men : their eye saith it — they
know of nothing better on earth than to lie by a
woman's side.
Mud is at the bottom of their soul ; alas ! if there
is spirit in their mud !
Would ye were perfect, at least as animals are.
But innocence is a necessary quality of animals.
Do I counsel you to slay your senses ? I counsel
the innocence of the senses.
Do I counsel chastity ? Chastity is a virtue with
some, ^>ut with most almost a vice.
True, these abstain : but the she-dog of sensuality
looketh with envy out of all they do.
This beast and its no-peace followeth them even
unto the heights of their virtues and into their cold
spirit.
And with what grace the she-dog of sensuality
knoweth how to beg for a piece of spirit, if it be
denied a piece of flesh !
69
70 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Ye love tragedies and all that breaketh the heart
to pieces. I am suspicious, however, of your she-dog.
Ye have too cruel eyes and look wantonly for
sufferers. Hath not your lust merely been disguised
by calling itself pity ?
This other parable I speak unto you ; not a few
who sought to drive out their devil, went themselves
into the swine.
/He unto whom chastity is hard is to be counselled
a/gainst it : in order that it may not become the way
pnto he'll, i.e.t to mud and concupiscence of the soul.
Speak I of dirty things ? That is not the worst
for me.
Not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow
doth he who perceiveth dislike to step into its water.
Verily, there are some who are chaste to the
bottom : they are more tender in their hearts, they
like to laugh more and oftener than ye do.
They also laugh at chastity, asking : < What is
chastity ?
Is chastity not folly ? But that folly hath come
unto us, not we unto it.
We offered that guest house and heart : now he
liveth with us, — let him stay as long as he liketh ! ' "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE FRIEND
"' THERE is always one too many about me' — thus
thinketh the hermit. ' Always once one — that maketh
in the long run two.
I and me are always too eager in a conversation :
t how could it be borne if there were not a friend ? '
For the hermit a friend is always the third one :
the third one is the cork that hindereth the conver-
sation of the two from sinking into the depth.
Alas ! there are too many depths for all hermits.
That is why they long so much for a friend and his
height.
Our belief in others betrayeth what we would fain
believe in ourselves. Our longing for a friend is our
betrayer.
And often with love one only trieth to overleap
envy. And frequently one assaileth and maketh an-
other one's enemy in order to hide the fact of one's
self being assailable.
' Be at least mine enemy : ' thus saith true reverence
that dareth not ask for friendship.
If one seek to have a friend one must also be
ready to wage war for him : and in order to wage
war one must be able to be an enemy.
72 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
In one's friend one shall honour the enemy. Canst
thou step close unto thy friend without going over
to him ?
In one's friend one shall have one's best enemy.
Thou shalt be closest unto him with thy heart, when
thou resistest him.
Thou wouldst not wear clothes in the presence of
thy friend. It is to honour thy friend that thou pre-
sentest thyself unto him as thou art. But he there-
fore wisheth thee to go unto the devil.
He who maketh no secret of himself shocketh : so
much reason have ye to fear nakedness ! Ay, if ye
were Gods, ye might well be ashamed of your clothing !
For thy friend thou canst not adorn thyself beauti-
fully enough : for unto him thou shalt be an arrow
and a longing towards beyond-man.
Didst thou ever see thy friend asleep so as to learn
what he is like ? What is thy friend's face at other
times? It is thine own face seen in a rough and im-
perfect looking-glass.
Didst thou ever see thy friend asleep ? Wert thou
not terrified at thy friend looking like that ? O my
friend, man is a something that shall be surpassed.
In finding put and being silent the friend shall be
master : thou must not wish to see everything. Thy
dream shall betray unto thee what thy friend doth
when he is awake.
Let a finding out be thy sympathy : in order that
first thou mayest know whether thy friend seeketh
sympathy. Perhaps in thee he liketh the unmoved
eye and the look of eternity.
OF THE FRIEND 73
Let thy sympathy with thy friend be hidden under
a hard shell, on it thou shalt break thy tooth in
biting. Thus thy sympathy will have delicacy and
sweetness.
Art thou unto thy friend fresh air and solitude and
bread and medicine ? Many a one cannot loose his
own chains and yet is a saviour unto his friend.
Art thou a slave ? If thou be, thou canst not be
a friend. Art thou a tyrant ? If thou be, thou canst
not have friends.
Far too long a slave and a tyrant have been hidden
in woman. Therefore woman is not yet capable of
friendship : she knoweth love only.
In the love of woman there is injustice and blind-
ness unto everything she loveth not. And even in the
knowing love of woman there is still, along with light,
surprise and lightning at night.
Yet woman is not capable of friendship : women
are still always cats and birds. Or, in the best case,
cows.
Yet woman is not capable of friendship. But say,
ye men, which of you is capable of friendship ?
Oh ! for your poverty, ye men, and your avarice
of soul ! As much as ye give unto your friend, I
will give unto mine enemy, and will not become poorer
thereby.
There is comradeship : oh, that there were friend-
ship ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF A THOUSAND AND ONE GOALS
"MANY lands were seen by Zarathustra, and many
peoples : thus he discovered the good and evil of many
peoples. No greater power on earth was found by
Zarathustra than good and evil.
No people could live that did not, in the first place,
value. If it would maintain itself, it must not value as
its neighbour doth.
Much that one people called good another called
scorn and dishonour : thus I found it. Much I found
named evil here, adored there with the honours of
the purple.
Never did one neighbour understand the other : his
soul was ever astonished at his neighbour's self-decep-
tion and wickedness.
A table of values hangeth over each people. Behold,
it is the table of its resignations ; behold, it is the
voice of its will unto power.
That is laudable which is reckoned hard ; what is
indispensable and hard is named good ; and that which
freeth from the extremest need, the rare, the hardest,
— that is praised as holy.
Whatever enableth a people to dominate and conquer
and shine, unto the horror and envy of its neighbour,
74
OF A THOUSAND AND ONE GOALS 75
that is regarded as the high, the first, the standard, the
significance of all things.
Verily, my brother, if thou once recognisedst a
people's need and land and sky and neighbour, thou
mightest easily find out the law of its resignations,
and why it climbeth on this ladder unto its hope.
'Thou shalt ever be the first, standing out from
the others : no one shall be loved by thy jealous soul
unless thy friend : ' that saying thrilled the soul of the
Greek : then went he upon the path of his greatness.
'To speak the truth and handle bow and arrow
well : ' that was at once loved and reckoned hard by
the people from whom my name cometh — the name
which is at once dear and hard unto me.
'To honour father and mother, and make their will
thine unto the heart of thy heart : ' this table of resig-
nations was hung up by another people which thereby
became mighty and eternal.
' To keep faith and, for the sake of faith, risk honour
and blood in evil and dangerous affairs : ' thus teach-
ing itself another people conquered itself, and thus
conquering became pregnant and heavy with great
hopes. \j
Verily, men have made for themselves all their good
and evil. Verily, they did not take it, they did not
find it, it did not come down as a voice from heaven.
Values were only assigned unto things by man in
order to maintain himself — he it was who gave signi-
ficance to things, a human significance. Therefore he
calleth himself 'man,' i.e., the valuing one.
Valuing is creating : listen, ye who are creative !
76 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
To value is the treasure and jewel among all things
valued.
Only by valuing is there value, without valuing the
nut of existence woulc[3^ hollow. Listen, ye who are
creative !
Change of values, — i.e., change of creators ! He
who is obliged to be a creator ever destroyeth.
At first people only were creators, and not till long
afterwards individuals ; verily, the individual himself is
the latest creation.
Once peoples hung up above them a table of good.
Love that seeketh to rule, and love that seeketh to
obey, together created such tables.
Older than the pleasure received from the I is the
pleasure received from the herd : and as long as the
good conscience is called herd, only the bad con-
science saith : 'I.'
Verily, that cunning, unloving I that seeketh its own
profit in the profit of many : that is not the origin of
the herd, but its destruction.
The loving and creative, they have always been the
creators of good and evil. The flame of love and the
flame of wrath glow in the names of all virtues.
Many lands were seen by Zarathustra, and many
peoples : no greater power was found on earth by
Zarathustra than the works of the loving : good and
evil are their names.
Verily, a monster is this power of praising and
blaming. Say, brethren, who will overthrow it ? Who
will cast the fetters over its thousand necks ?
A thousand goals have existed hitherto, for a thou-
OF A THOUSAND AND ONE GOALS 77
sand peoples existed. But the fetter of the thousand
necks is lacking, the one goal is lacking. Humanity
hath no goal yet.
But tell me, I pray, my brethren : if the goal be
lacking to humanity, is not humanity itself lacking?"
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF LOVE FOR ONE'S NEIGHBOUR
YE throng round your neighbour and have fine words
for that. But I tell you, your love for your neigh-
bour is your bad love for yourselves.
Ye flee from yourselves unto your neighbour and
would fain make a virtue thereof ; but I see through
your "unselfishness."
The thou is older than the I ; the thou hath been
proclaimed holy, but the I not yet ; man thus thrusteth
himself upon his neighbour.
Do I counsel you to love your neighbour ? - I rather
counsel you to flee from your neighbour and to love
the most remote.
Love unto the most remote future man is higher
than love unto your neighbour. And I consider love
unto things and ghosts to be higher than love unto
men.
This ghost which marcheth before thee, my brother,
is more beautiful than thou art. Why dost thou not
give him thy flesh and thy bones? Thou art afraid
and fleest unto thy neighbour.
Unable to endure yourselves and not loving your-
selves enough : you seek to wheedle your neighbour
into loving you and thus to gild you with his error.
78
OF LOVE FOR ONE'S NEIGHBOUR 79
Would that ye could not endure any kind of your
neighbours and their neighbours ; were that so ye
would need to create your friend and his enthusiastic
heart out of yourselves.
Ye invite a witness, if ye wish to speak well of your-
selves, and having wheedled him into thinking well of
you, ye think well of yourselves also.
Not only doth he lie who speaketh contrary to his
knowledge, but still more he who speaketh contrary
to his not-knowledge. Thus ye speak of yourselves
in company and deceive your neighbour as your-
selves.
Thus saith the fool : " Intercourse with men spoileth
character, especially if ye have none."
One goeth unto the neighbour because he seeketh
himself, another because he wisheth to lose himself.
Your bad love for yourselves maketh for yourselves a
prison out of solitude.
It is the more remote who pay for your love unto
•
your neighbour ; and whenever there are five of you
together the sixth must die.
I like not your festivals : I have found there too
many actors, and the spectators also often behaved
like actors.
I teach you not the neighbour, but the friend. Let
the friend be for you the festival of earth and a fore-
taste of beyond-man.
I teach you the friend and his too-full heart. But
one must know how to be a sponge, if one would be
loved by too-full hearts.
I teach you the friend in whom there standeth the
8o THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
world finished, a husk of the good,— the creative friend
who hath ever a finished world in his gift.
And as, for him, the world hath unrolled itself so
it rolleth itself up again in rings — being the growth
of good out of evil, the growth of purposes out of
chance.
Let the future and the most remote be for thee the
cause of thy to-day : in thy friend thou shalt love
beyond-man as thy cause.
My brethren, I counsel you not to love your neigh-
bour, I counsel you to love those who are the most
remote."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE WAY OF A CREATOR
"WiLT thou, my brother, go into solitude? Wilt
thou seek the way unto thyself ? Tarry a while and
listen unto me.
" He who seeketh is easily lost himself. All solitude
is a crime," thus say the herd. And for a long time
thyself wert of the herd.
The voice of the herd will sound even within thee.
And whenever thou sayest : " I no longer have the
same conscience with you," it will be a grief and pain.
Behold, that pain itself was born of the same con-
science. And the last gleam of that conscience still
gloweth over thy woe.
But wilt thou go the way of thy woe, which is the
way unto thyself ? If so, show me thy right and thy
power so to do !
Art thou a new power and a new right ? A prime
motor ? A wheel self-rolling ? Canst thou also compel
stars to circle round thee ?
Alas, there is much lust for height ! there are so
many throes of the ambitious ! Show me that thou
art not of those lustful or ambitious !
Alas, there are so many great thoughts which are
7
82 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
no better than bellows : they inflate things and then
make them emptier than ever.
Thou callest thyself free ? I wish to hear thy do-
minating thought, not that thou hast escaped a yoke.
Art thou such a one as to be permitted to escape
a yoke ? Many there are who threw away everything
they were worth when they threw away their servitude.
Free from what ? What doth that concern Zara-
thustra ? Clearly thine eye shall answer : free for what ?
Canst thou give thyself thine evil and thy good,
hanging thy will above thee as a law? Canst thou be
thine own judge and the avenger of thine own law ?
Terrible it is to be alone with the judge and avenger
of one's own law. Thus a star is cast out into the
void and into the icy breath of solitude.
To-day thou still sufferest from the many, thou :
to-day thou hast still thy courage and thy hopes entire.
But one day loneliness will weary thee, one day
thy pride will writhe and thy courage gnash its teeth.
One day thou wilt cry : " I am alone."
One day thou wilt see no longer what is high for
thee, and much too close what is low for thee ; and
what is sublime for thee will make thee afraid as if it
were a ghost. One day thou wilt cry : " All is false."
There are feelings which tend to slay the lonely
one ; if they do not succeed they must themselves
die ! But art thou able to be a murderer ?
Knowest thou, my brother, the word " contempt ? "
And the agony it is for thy justice to be just unto
those who despise thee ?
Thou compellest many to relearn about thee ; that
OF THE WAY OF A CREATOR 83
is sternly set down unto thine account by them. Thy
drawing near unto them and yet passing they will
never pardon.
Thou goest beyond them : the higher thou risest,
the smaller thou appearest unto the eye of envy. But
he who flieth is hated the most.
" How could ye be just unto me ! " thou hast to
say — " I choose your injustice as my portion."
Injustice and dirt are thrown after the lonely one ;
but, my brother, if thou wouldst be a star, thou must
shine unto them none the less !
Beware of the good and just ! They would fain
crucify those who invent their own standard of virtue,
— they hate the lonely one.
Beware also of sacred simplicity ! For it, nothing
is sacred that is not simple ; it liketh to play with
the fire — of the stake.
And beware of the attacks of thy love ! Too quickly
the lonely one stretcheth out his hand unto him
whom he meeteth.
Unto some folk thou shouldst not give thy hand,
but only thy paw, and I would that thy paw might
have claws.
But the worst enemy thou canst meet will always/
be thyself ; thou waylayest thyself in caves and forests./
O lonely one, thou goest the way unto thyself !
And thy way leadeth past thyself and thy seven
devils !
As for thee, thou wilt be a heretic, witch, fortune-
teller, fool, sceptic, unholy one, villain.
Thou must be ready to burn thyself in thine own
84 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
flame : how canst thou become new, if thou hast not
first become ashes !
O lonely one, thou goest the way of the creator :
thou wilt create for thyself a God out of thy seven
devils !
O lonely one, thou goest the way of the loving
one : loving thyself thou despisest thyself as only the
loving do.
The loving one will create because he despiseth !
What knoweth he of love whose lot it hath not been
to despise just what he loved !
My brother, go into thy solitude with thy love and
thy creating ; and justice will not haltingly follow thee
until long after.
My brother, go into thy solitude with my tears. I
love him who willeth the creating of something beyond
himself and thus perisheth." —
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF LITTLE WOMEN OLD AND YOUNG
" WHY stealest thou so timidly through the dawn,
Zarathustra ? and what hidest thou so carefully under
thy mantle ?
Is it a treasure that thou hast been given? Or a
child born unto thee ? Or dost thou now go thyself
in the ways of thieves, thou friend of evil ? " —
" Verily, my brother ! " said Zarathustra, " it is a
treasure that I have been given : a little truth it is I
carry.
But it is unruly like a little child ; and if I hold not
its mouth, it bawleth as loud as it can.
When I went on my way alone at the hour of sun-
set this day I met an old little woman who thus spake
unto my soul : —
" Much hath Zarathustra said unto us women, but
never hath he spoken unto us of woman."
And I answered her : " Of woman one must speak
unto men only."
"Speak also unto me of woman/' she said ; " I am
old enough to forget it at once."
Arid I assenting thus spake unto the old little
woman : —
" Everything in woman is a riddle, and everything
in woman hath one answer : its name is child-bearing.
85
86 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Man is for woman a means : the end is always
the child. But what is woman for man ?
Two things are wanted by the true man : danger
and play. Therefore he seeketh woman as the most
dangerous toy.
Man shall be educated for war, and woman for
**
the recreation of the warrior. Everything else isjplly.
Over-sweet fruits — the warrior liketh not. There-
fore he liketh woman ; bitter is even the sweetest
woman.
Woman understandeth children better than man
doth ; but man is more childlike than woman.
In the true man a child is hidden that seeketh to
play. Up, ye women, reveal the child in man !
Let woman be a toy pure and delicate like a jewel,
illuminated by the virtues of a world which hath not
yet come.
Let a ray of starlight shine in your love ! Let
your hope be called : " Would that I might give birth
to beyond-man ! "
Let bravery be in your love ! With your love ye
shall attack him who inspireth you with awe.
Let your honour be in your love ! Little else
doth woman understand of honour. But let it be
your honour ever to love more than ye are loved,
and never to be the second.
Let man fear woman when she loveth : then she
sacrificeth anything, and nothing else hath value
for her.
Let man fear woman when she hateth : for in the
heart of their heart, man is only evil, but woman is base.
OF LITTLE WOMEN OLD AND YOUNG 87
Whom doth woman hate the most ? — Thus spake
the iron unto the loadstone : " I hate thee most be-
cause thou attractest, but art not strong enough to
draw unto thee."
Man's happiness is : "I will." Woman's happiness
is : " He will."
" Behold, this moment the world hath become per-
fect ! " — thus thinketh every woman, when she obeyeth
from sheer love.
And woman must obey and find a depth for her
surface. Surface is woman's mood, a foam driven to
and fro over a shallow water.
But man's mood is deep, his stream roareth in
underground caves : woman divineth his power, but
understandeth it not." —
Then the little old woman answered me : " Many
fine things hath Zarathustra said, and especially for
those who are young enough.
Strange it is, that Zarathustra little knoweth women,
and yet is right regarding them ! Is that because
with woman nothing is impossible ?
And now take as my thanks a little truth. For
I am old enough for that.
Wrap it up and keep its mouth shut : or it will
bawl as loud as it can, that little truth."
" Give me, woman, thy little truth," I said, and
thus spake the little old woman : —
" Thou goest to women ? Remember thy whip ! " —
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE BITE OF THE ADDER
ONE day Zarathustra had fallen asleep under a fig-
tree; it was hot, and he had folded his arms over his
face. Then an adder came and bit his neck so that
Zarathustra cried out with pain. Taking his arm
from his face he looked at the serpent : which recog-
nising Zarathustra's eyes tried awkwardly to wriggle
away. " Not so," said Zarathustra ; " thou hast not yet
accepted my thanks ! Thou wakedst me in due time,
my way is long." "Thy way is short," said the adder
sadly; "my poison killeth." Zarathustra smiled : "When
did ever a dragon die from a serpent's poison ? " he
said. " But take back thy poison ! Thou art not rich
enough to make me a gift of it." Then the adder
again fell upon his neck and licked his wound.
Zarathustra once telling this unto his disciples they
asked : " And what, O Zarathustra, is the moral of
thy tale ? " Zarathustra thus answered :—
"The destroyer of moral I am called by the good ;
and just: my tale is immoral.
But if ye have an enemy return not good for evil :
for that would make him ashamed. But prove that he
hath done you a good turn.
And rather be angry than make him ashamed. And
88
OF THE BITE OF THE ADDER 89
if ye be cursed I would have you not bless. Rather curse
a little also !
And if a great wrong be done unto you straight-
way do five small ones in return ! A horrible sight
is he who is oppressed by having done wrong un-
revenged.
Know ye that ? Divided wrong is half right. And
he who can bear it, is to take the wrong on himself !
A small revenge is more human than no revenge
at all. And if punishment be not, at once, a right
and an honour of the offender, I like not your punishing.
It is higher to own one's self wrong than to carry
the point, especially if one be right. Only one must
be rich enough for that.
I like not your cold justice ; from the eye of your
judges the executioner and his cold iron ever gaze.
Say, where is justice to be found which is love
with seeing eyes ?
Arise ! invent that love which not only beareth all
punishment, but all guilt as well !
Arise 1 invent that justice which acquitteth every-
body except the judge !
Desire ye to hear this also ? In him who wisheth
to be just from the heart even a lie becometh a
humanity.
But how could I be just from the heart ? How
could I give unto each what is his ? Let this be
enough for me : I give unto each what is mine.
Lastly, my brethren, beware of doing wrong unto
any hermit ! How could a hermit forget ? How could
he retaliate ?
90 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Like a deep well is a hermit. It is easy to throw
a stone into it. But when it hath sunk unto the
bottom who will get it out again ?
Beware of offending a hermit. But if ye do, well,
kill him also!"
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF CHILD AND MARRIAGE
" I HAVE a question for thee alone, my brother : like
the lead I heave that question over into thy soul that
I may know how deep it is.
Thou art young and wishest for child and marriage.
But I ask thee : art thou a man who darest to wish
for a child ?
Art thou the victorious one, the self-subduer, the
commander of th% senses, the master of thy_virtues ?
Thus I ask thee.
Or, in thy wish, doth there speak the animal or
necessity ? Or solitude ? Or discord with thyself ?
I would that thy victory and freedom were longing
for a child. Thou shalt build living monuments unto
thy victory and liberation.
Thou shalt build beyond thyself. But first thou must
be built thyself square in body and souj.
Thou shalt not only propagate thyself but propa-
gate thyself upwards ! Therefore the garden of marriage
may help thee !
Thou shalt create a higher body, a prime motor,
a wheel self-rolling — thou shalt create a creator.
Marriage : thus I calf the will of two to create
that one which is more than they who created it. I
91
92 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
call marriage reverence unto each other as unto those
who will such a will.
Let this be the significance and the truth of thy
marriage. But that which the much-too-many call
marriage, those superfluous — alas, what call 1 that ?
Alas ! that soul's poverty of two ! Alas ! that soul's
dirt of two ! Alas ! that miserable ease of two !
Marriage they call that; and they say marriage is
made in heaven.
} Well, I like it not, that heaven of the superfluous !'
I Nay, I like them not, those animals caught in heavenly
i
nets !
Far from me also be the God who cometh halting
to bless what he did not join together.
Laugh not at such marriages ! What child hath
not reason to weep over its parents ?
Worthy and ripe for the significance of earth
appeared this man unto me, but when I saw his wife
earth seemed unto me a madhouse.
Yea, I wish the earth would tremble in convulsions
whenever a saint and a goose couple.
This one went out for truths like a hero and at
last he secured a little dressed up lie. He calleth it
his marriage.
That one was reserved in intercourse and chose
fastidiously. But suddenly he for ever spoiled his
company : he calleth this his marriage.
A third one looked for a servant with an angel's
virtues. But suddenly he became the servant of a
woman, and now it would be well if in consequence
he became an angel.
OF CHILD AND MARRIAGE 93
I found all buyers careful, having cunning eyes.
But even the most cunning one buyeth his wife in a
sack.
Many short follies — that is what ye call love. And
your marriage maketh an end of many short follies —
being one long stupidity.
Your love unto woman, and woman's love unto
man : alas ! would it were sympathy with suffering
and veiled Gods ! But generally two animals find
each other out.
But even your best love is but an enraptured
parable and a painful heat. It is a torch that is to
beacon you unto higher ways.
One day ye shall love beyond yourselves ! If so,
first learn how to love. And hence ye have had to
drink the bitter cup of your love.
Bitterness is in the cup even of the best love : thus
it bringeth longing for beyond-man : thus it bringeth
thirst unto thee, the creator !
Thirst unto the creator, an arrow and longing for
beyond-man : say, my brother, is that thy will unto
marriage ?
Holy I call such a will and such a marriage."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
\
OF FREE DEATH
"MANY die too late, and some die too early. Still
the doctrine soundeth strange : ' Die at the right
time/
' Die at the right time : ' thus Zarathustra teacheth.
Nay, he who hath never lived at the right time,
how could he ever die at the right time ? Would
that he had never been born ! — Thus I counsel the
superfluous.
But even the superfluous put on airs about their
dying, and even the hollowest nut wisheth to be
cracked.
Everyone taketh dying seriously, and death is not
yet a festival. Not yet have men learnt how the
finest festivals are consecrated.
I show yo'u the achieving death, which, for the
living, becometh a sting and a pledge.
The achieving one dieth his death victorious, sur-
rounded by hopeful ones and such as pledge them-
selves.
Thus should one learn to die ; and there should be
no festival, in which such a dying one did not consecrate
the oaths of the living !
94
OF FREE DEATH 95
To die thus is the best : the second is however to die
in the battle and spend a great soul.
But equally hated by the fighting one and the victor
is your grinning death, which stealeth nigh like a thief
and yet cometh as a master.
I praise unto you my death, free death, which cometh
because I will.
And when shall I will ? He who hath a goal and
an heir wisheth death to come at the right time for
goal and heir.
And out of reverence for goal and heir he will
hang up no more withered wreaths in the sanctuary
of life.
Indeed, I would not be like the rope-makers. They
draw out their cord longer and longer, going ever
backwards themselves.
Many a one, besides, waxeth too old for his truths
and victories, a toothless mouth having no longer a
right unto every truth.
And whoever wisheth fame must in time say farewell
unto honour, and exercise the difficult art of departing
at the right time.
One must cease to be eaten, when one tasteth best ;
they who would be loved for long know that.
There are sour apples whose lot it is to wait till the
last day of autumn. At the same time they wax ripe
and yellow and wrinkled.
With some the heart groweth old first, with others
the spirit. And some are old in youth : but late youth
remaineth long youth.
Unto many life is a failure, a poisonous worm eating
96 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
through unto their heart. These ought to see to it that
they succeed better in dying*.
Many never grow sweet, but putrefy even in summer.
It is cowardice that maketh them stick unto their
branch.
Much-too-many live, and much-too-long they stick
unto their branches. Would that storm came to shake
from the tree all that is putrid and gnawed by worms. !
Would that preachers of swift death came ! They
would be the proper storms to shake the trees of life !
But I hear only slow death preached and patience with
all that is 'earthly.'
Alas ! ye preach patience with what is earthly ?
What is earthly hath too much patience with you, ye
revilers !
Too early died that Hebrew whom the preachers of
slow death revere : and his dying-too-early hath been
fatal for many since.
When Jesus the Hebrew knew only the tears and
melancholy of the Hebrew, together with the hatred of
the good and just, — then a longing for death surprised
him.
Would that he had remained in the desert and far
away from the good and just ! Perhaps he would
have learnt how to live and to love the earth— and how
to laugh besides !
Believe me, my brethren ! He died too early ; he
himself would have revoked his doctrine, had he reached
mine age ! Noble enough to revoke he was !
But he was still unripe. Unripely the youth loveth,
and unripely also he hateth man and earth. Fettered
OF FREE DEATH 97
and heavy are still his mind and the wings of his
spirit.
But in a man there is more of child than in a youth,
and less of melancholy : he better understandeth how
to manage death and life.
Free for death and free in death, a holy Nay-sayer,
when there is no longer time to say yea : thus he
understandeth how to manage death and life.
That your dying may not be a blasphemy of man
and earth, my friends, that is what I ask from the honey
of your soul.
In your dying your spirit and your virtue shall glow
on, like the evening-red round the earth : or else your
dying hath not succeeded well.
Thus I would die myself, that ye friends for my sake
may love the earth more than before ; and I would
become dust again, in order to have rest in earth which
gave me birth.
Of a truth, Zarathustra had a goal, he threw his
ball : now, friends, be the heirs of my goal, I throw the
golden ball unto you.
Best of all, my friends, I like to see you throw the
golden ball ! And thus I wait for a little while on
earth : excuse me I "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF GIVING VIRTUE
ZARATHUSTRA having taken leave of the town unto
which his heart was attached and whose name is : the
Cow of Many Colours — many followed him who called
themselves his disciples, and accompanied him. Having
arrived at four crossways, Zarathustra told them that
now he wished to go alone ; for he had a liking for
going alone. But his disciples gave him at parting
a stick on the golden handle of which a serpent curled
round a sun. Zarathustra, pleased with the stick and
supporting himself with it, spake thus unto his disciples :
"Tell me : how came gold to be valued highest ?
Because it is uncommon and of little use and shining
and chaste in its splendour ; it ever spendeth itself.
Only as an image of the highest virtue gold came
to be valued highest. Goldlike shineth the glance of
him who giveth. The glitter of gold maketh peace
between moon and sun.
Uncommon is the highest virtue, and of little use ;
shining it is and chaste in its splendour : a giving
virtue is the highest virtue.
Verily, I believe I have found you out, my disciples :
98
OF GIVING VIRTUE 99
ye seek like me after giving virtue. What could ye
have in common with cats and wolves ?
/' Your thirst is to become sacrifices and gifts your-
1 selves : hence it is that ye thirst to heap all riches into
your soul.
Unsatisfied your soul seeketh after treasures and
trinkets because your virtue is ever unsatisfied in
willing to give away.
Ye compel all things to come unto you and into you,
in order that they may flow back from your well as
gifts of your love.
Verily, such a giving love must become a robber
as regardeth all values ; but I call that selfishness
healthy and holy.
There is another selfishness, a very poor one, a
starving one which ever seeketh to steal, the selfishness
of the sickly, sickly selfishness.
With a thief's eye it looketh at all that glittereth ;
with the craving of hunger it measureth him who hath
plenty to eat ; and it ever stealeth round the table
of givers.
Disease speaketh in that craving, and invisible
degeneration ; of a sick body speaketh the thieflike
craving of that selfishness.
Tell me, my brethren : what regard we as the bad
and the worst thing ? Is it not degeneration f — And we
always suspect degeneration whereveT^h'e^ giving soul
is lacking.
Upwards goeth our way, from species to beyond-
species. But a horror for us is the degenerating mind
which saith : ' All for myself ! ' I
ioo THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Upwards flieth our mind : it is an image of our
body, an image of an exaltation. The names of vir-
tues are images of such exaltations.
Thus the body goeth through history, — growing and
fighting. And the spirit — what is it unto the body ?
The herald, companion and echo of its fights and
victories.
All names of good and evil are images : they speak j
not out, they only beckon. A fool he who seeketh/
knowledge from them !
My brethren, give heed unto each hour, in which
your spirit wisheth to speak in images : there is the
origin of your virtue.
There your body is exalted and risen ; with its
delight it ravisheth the spirit so that it becometh
creative and valuing and loving and benefiting all
things.
a When your heart overfloweth, broad and full like
stream, a blessing and a danger for those dwelling
igh : there is the origin of your virtue.
en ye are raised above praise and blame, and
your will seeketh to command all things, as the will of
a^ loving one : there is the origin of your virtue.
^When ye despise what is agreeable and a soft bed,
and know not how to make your bed far enough from
the effeminate : there is the origin of your virtue.
When ye will one will, and that end of all trouble
is called necessity by you : there is the origin of your
virtue.
Verily, a new good and evil is your virtue — verily,
a new deep rushing, and the voice of a new well !
OF GIVING VIRTUE 101
It is power, that new virtue ; one dominating thought
it is, and round it a cunning soul : a golden sun, and
round it the serpent of knowledge."
Here Zarathustra was silent a while looking with
love upon his disciples. Then he continued to speak
thus with a changed voice.
"Remain faithful unto earth, my brethren, with the
power of your virtue ! Let your giving love and your
knowledge serve the significance of earth ! Thus I beg
and conjure you.
Let it not fly away from what is earthly and beat
against eternal walls with its wings ! Alas, so much
virtue hath ever gone astray in flying !
Like me lead back unto earth the virtue which
hath gone astray — yea, back unto body and life : that
it may give its significance unto earth, a human signi-
ficance.
Spirit and virtue also have hitherto gone astray
and mistaken their goals in a hundred ways. Alas,
in our body now all these illusions and mistakes still
live. Body and will they have become there.
Spirit and virtue also have lost themselves in
seeking and erring hitherto. Yea, man hath been only
an attempt. Alas, much ignorance and error have
become body in us !
Not only the reason of millenniums — but also their
madness breaketh out in us. Dangerous it is to be
an heir.
102 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
Yet we fight step by step with the giant of chance ;
over all humanity hitherto not-sense, the lack of sense,
hath ruled.
Let your spirit and your virtue serve the signi-
ficance of earth, my brethren ; and let the value of all
things be fixed anew by yourselves ! Therefore ye
shall be fighters ! Therefore ye shall Jbejcreators !
Knowingly the body purifieth itself ; attempting
with knowledge it exalteth itself ; for him who per-
ceiveth all instincts are proclaimed holy ; the soul of
him who is exalted waxeth merry.
r* Physician, heal thyself ; so thou healest also thy
patient. Let that be his best health, that he may see
with his own eyes him who hath made himself
whole.
A thousand paths there are which have never yet
been walked, a thousand healths and hidden islands
of life. Unexhausted and undiscovered ever are man
and the human earth.
Awake and listen, ye lonely onesj^. From the
future winds are coming with a gentle beating of
wings, and there cometh a good message for fine
ears.
Ye lonely ones of to-day, ye who stand apart,
ye shall one day be a people : from you who have
chosen yourselves, a chosen people shall arise : and
from it beyond-man.
Verily, a place of healing shall earth become !
And already a new odour lieth round it, an odour
which bringeth salvation — and a new hope."
OF GIVING VIRTUE 103
3
Zarathustra having spoken these words was silent
like one who hath not yet uttered his last word ; a
long while he doubtfully b alanced the stick in his
hand. At last he spake thus, his voice having again
changed :
" Alone I now go, my disciples ! Ye go also, and
alone. I would have it so.
Verily, I counsel you : depart from me and defend
yourselves from Zarathustra ! And better still : be
ashamed of him. Perhaps he hath deceived you.
The man of perception must not only be able to
love his enemies, but also to hate his friends.
One ill requiteth one's teacher by always remaining
only his scholar. Why will ye not pluck at my
wreath ?
?°*\
Ye revere me ; but how if your reverence one day
falleth down ? Beware of being crushed to death by
a statue !
Ye say ye believe in Zarathustra ? But what is
Zarathustra worth ? Ye are my faithful ones : but
what are all faithful ones worth !
When ye had not yet sought yourselves ye found
me. Thus do all faithful ones ; hence all belief is
worth so little.
Now I ask you to lose me and find yourselves ;
not until all of you have disowned me, shall I return
unto you.
Verily, with other eyes, my brethren, I shall then
seek my lost ones ; with another love I shall then
love you. . j
104 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
And one day ye shall have become friends of mine
and children of one hope : then I shall be with you
for a third time, in order to celebrate with you the
great noon.
And the great noon is when man standeth in the
middle of his course between animal and beyond-man,
and glorifieth his way unto the evening as his highest
hope ; for it is the way unto a new morning.
Then he who perisheth will bless himself as one
who goeth beyond ; and his sun of knowledge will
stand at noon.
1 Dead are all Gods: now we will that beyond-man
live.' Let this be one day your last will at the
great noon ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE SECOND PART
— "not until all of you have disowned
me shall I return unto you.
Verily, with other eyes, my brethren,
I shall then seek my lost ones; with an-
other love I shall then love you"
Zarathustra, I
Of Giving Virtue
THE CHILD WITH THE LOOKING-GLASS
AFTER this Zarathustra went back into the mountains
and the solitude of his cave and withdrew from
men, waiting like a sower who hath thrown out his
seed. But his soul was filled with impatience and
longing for those he loved ; for he had still many
gifts for them. For this is the hardest : to shut one's
open hand because of love, and as a giver to preserve
one's modesty.
Thus months and years passed away with the
lonely one, but his wisdom grew, and its abundance
caused him pain.
But one morning he awoke before dawn, medi-
tated long on his couch, and at last spake unto his
heart :
" Why then was I terrified in my dream so that
I awoke ? Did not a child come unto me carrying a
looking-glass ?
' O Zarathustra ' — the child said unto me — ' look at
thyself in the looking-glass ! '
But when I looked into the looking-glass I cried
aloud, and my heart was shaken. For in it I did not
see myself, I saw a devil's grimace and scornful
laughter.
107
io8 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Verily, only too well I understand the sign and
warning of this dream ; my teaching is in danger :
tares usurp the name of wheat.
Mine enemies have grown strong and have
distorted the face of my teaching, so that my
dearest friends must be ashamed of the gifts I gave
them.
My friends are lost ; the hour hath come for me to
seek my lost ones."
With these words Zarathustra started up, but not
like one terrified seeking for air, on the contrary, like
a prophet and poet visited by the spirit. With astonish-
ment his eagle and his serpent gazed upon him ; for
a happiness to come lay on his countenance like the
day-blush.
" What hath happened unto me, mine animals ? " —
said Zarathustra. " Am I not changed ! Did not bliss
come unto me like a stormwind ?
Foolish is my happiness, and foolish things it will
say : too young it is : have patience with it !
Wounded I am by my happiness. All sufferers
shall be my physicians !
Again I am allowed to descend unto my friends
as well as unto mine enemies ! Again Zarathustra is
allowed to speak and give and do his kindest unto
his dear friends.
Mine impatient love floweth over in streams, down-
wards towards east and west. Out of silent mountains
and thunderstorms of pain my soul rusheth into the
valleys.
Too long have I yearned and looked into the dis-
THE CHILD WITH THE LOOKING-GLASS 109
tance ; too long hath solitude possessed me : thus
I have got disaccustomed to silence.
Mouth I have become all over, and the brawling
of a brook rushing from high rocks : I will hurl my
speech into the valleys.
Let the stream of my love rush into what is pathless !
How should a stream not at last find its way into
the ocean !
It is true, there is a lake within me, hermit-like,
self-contented ; but the stream of my love teareth it
along into the ocean !
New paths I tread, a new speech cometh unto me ;
like all creators I have grown weary of old tongues.
My mind wisheth no more to walk on worn-out
soles.
Too slowly all speech runneth for me. Into thy
chariot, O storm, I leap. And even thee I will scourge
with my malignity.
Like a cry and a shouting of triumph I shall rush
over wide seas until I find the blissful islands where
my friends dwell.
And mine enemies among them ! How I now
love every one unto whom I may speak ! Even mine
enemies are part of my bliss.
And when I mount my wildest horse my spear
always helpeth me best to get on its back ; it is the
ever ready servant of my foot.
The spear which I throw at mine enemies ! How
grateful am I unto mine enemies that at last I may
throw it !
Too heavily charged was my cloud : between the
I io THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
laughters of lightnings I will throw hail-showers into
the depths.
Powerfully my breast will heave, powerfully it will
blow its stormblast over the mountains : thus it will
relieve itself.
Verily, like a storm my happiness and my freedom
come. But mine enemies shall believe that the evil
one rageth over their heads.
Yea, ye also will be terrified by my wild wisdom,
my friends, and perhaps ye will flee away along with
mine enemies.
Oh ! that I were able to tempt you back with a
herdsman's flute ! Oh ! that the lioness of my wis-
dom would learn how to growl lovingly ! How many
things we have already learnt together.
My wild wisdom became pregnant on lonely moun-
tains ; upon rugged stones she bore her young, her
youngest.
Now she runneth strangely through the hard desert
and seeketh, and ever seeketh for soft grass, mine
old wild wisdom.
She would fain bed her dearest on the soft grass
of your hearts, on your love, my friends ! "
\
Thus spake Zarathustra.
ON THE BLISSFUL ISLANDS
" THE figs fall from the trees, they are good and sweet ;
and while falling their red skin bursteth. A north
wind I am unto ripe figs.
Thus, my friends, those precepts fall unto your
share like figs : now drink their juice and their sweet
meat ! Autumn it is round about and clear sky and
afternoon.
Behold what plenty is around us ! And it is
beautiful to gaze on remote seas from the midst of
plenty.
Once folk said 'God' when they gazed on remote
seas, now I have taught you to say : ' Beyond-man/
God is a supposition ; but I would have your sup-
posing reach no further than your creative will.
Could ye create a God ? — Then be silent concern-
ing all Gods ! But ye could very well create beyond-
man.
Not yourselves perhaps, my brethren ! But ye
could create yourselves into fathers and fore-fathers
of beyond-man : and let this be your best creating !
God is a supposition ; but I would have your sup-
posing limited by conceivableness.
Could ye conceive a God ? — But let this be for
ii2 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
you will unto truth, that all be turned into something
conceivable, visible, tangible for men ! Ye should
mentally follow your own senses unto their ends.
And what ye called world hath still to be created
by you : it shall become your reason, your image,
your will, your love itself I And, verily, it would be
for your bliss, ye perceiving ones !
How could ye bear life without that hope, ye per-
ceiving ones ? Ye could neither have been born into
an inconceivable, nor into an unreasonable world.
But let me reveal unto you my heart entirely, my
friends. // there were Gods, how could I bear to be
qo God ! Consequently there are no Gods.
True, I have drawn that conclusion, but now it
draweth me.
God is a supposition, but who could drink all the
pain of that supposition without dying ? Is the creator
to be bereaved of his belief, and the eagle of his flight
into eagle-distances ?
God is a thought which bendeth all that is straight,
and turneth round whatever standeth still. How ?
Should time have disappeared, and all that is perish-
able be a mere lie ?
To think this is a whirling and giddiness for human
bones and a vomiting for the stomach. The giddy-sick-
ness I call it to imagine such things.
Evil I call it and hostile unto human beings, all that
teaching of the one thing, the full, the unmoved, the
satisfied, the imperishable !
All that is imperishable — is only a simile ! And the
poets lie too much.
ON THE BLISSFUL ISLANDS 113
But for a simile the best images shall speak of time
and becoming ; a praise they shall be and a justification
of all perishableness !
Creating — that is the great salvation from suffering
and anjftevTation of life. But for the existence of the
creator pain and much transformation are necessary.
Yea, much bitter death must be in your life, ye
creators! Thus ye are advocates and justifiers of all
• « • « ^*"rt"ta---.JT -,-„-•
perishableness.
In order to be the child that is newly born, the
creator must also be the child-bearing woman and the
pain of the child-bearing woman.
Verily, I have gone my way through an hundred
souls and through an hundred cradles and birth-throes.
Many times have I taken leave ; I know the heart-
breaking last hours.
But thus willeth my creative will my doom. Or
to put it more candidly : such a doom is just willed
by my will.
All that feeleth within me suffereth and is in prison ;
but my willing always approacheth me as my liberator
and bringer of joy.
Willing delivereth : that is the true doctrine of will
and freedom — thus ye are taught by Zarathustra.
No-longer-willing, and no-longer-valuing, and no-
longer-creating ! Oh, that that great weariness wgn^ for
ever far from me !
Even in perception I feel only the lust of my will
to procreate and grow ; and if there be innocence in
my perception, it is because there is in it will unto
procreation.
9
H4 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
This will enticed me away from God and Gods ;
for what could be created, if there were Gods 1
But mine ardent will to create impelleth me unto
man ever anew. Thus the hammer is impelled unto
the stone.
Alas, ye men, in the stone there sleepeth for me an
image, the image of all mine images ! Alas, that it
should have to sleep in the hardest and ugliest
stone !
Now my hammer rageth cruelly against its prison.
Pieces fly off from the stone : what doth it concern
me ?
I shall finish it. For a shadow came unto me — the
stillest and lightest of all things once came unto me !
The beauty of beyond-man came unto me as a
shadow. Alas, my brethren ! What do Gods concern
me!"
•*• -•
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE PITIFUL
" MY friends, a mocking speech hath come unto your
friend : ' Behold Zarathustra ! Doth he not walk among
us as among animals ? '
But it is better said thus : 'The perceiving one walk-
eth among men as being animals/
Man himself is called by the perceiving one : the
animal with red cheeks.
How did he get them ? Was it not because he had
occasion so often to be ashamed ?
0 my friends ! Thus speaketh the perceiving one :
1 Shame, shame, shame, that is the history of man ! '
That is why the noble one maketh it his law never~)
to make anybody ashamed. He maketh it his law to/
be ashamed in presence of all that suffereth.
Verily, I like them not, the merciful who are blessed
in their mercy. Too much they are lacking in the
sense of shame.
If I must be pitiful, I do not wish to be called so ;
and if I am so, I like to be so at a distance.
1 also like to veil my head and flee before being
recognised ; and thus I ask you to do, my friends !
Would that my fate would always lead across my
path such as are free from sorrow like you, and such
"5
ii6 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
as those with whom I may share hope and meal and
honey.
Verily, now and then I did something for sufferers,
but I always seemed unto myself to do something better
when I learned how to enjoy myself better.
Since man came into existence he hath had too
little joy. That alone, my brethren, is our original
sin !
And when we learn how to have more joy we best
get disaccustomed to cause pain and to invent pain
unto others.
Therefore I wash my hand which helped the suf-
ferer ; therefore I even wipe my >soul.
For on account of the sufferer's shame I was ashamed,
when seeing him suffer ; and when I helped him, I
strongly offended his pride.
Great obligations do not make grateful but revenge-
ful ; and when a small benefit is not forgotten, it
turneth into a gnawing worm.
' Be shy of accepting ! Distinguish by accepting ! '
thus I counsel those who have nothing to give away.
But I am a giver : willingly I give, as a friend unto
friends. But strangers and paupers may themselves
pluck the fruit from my tree : thus it causeth less
shame.
Beggars should be abolished utterly ! Verily, we
are angry when giving them anything and are angry
when not giving.
And likewise the sinners and bad consciences ! Be-
lieve me, my friends : remorse of conscience teacheth
to bite.
ON THE PITIFUL 117
But the worst are petty thoughts. Verily, it is still
better to act wickedly than to think pettily.
True ye say : ' The pleasure derived from petty
wickedness saveth us many a great wicked deed.' But
here folk should not try to save.
Like an ulcer is an evil deed : it itcheth and scratch-
eth and breaketh forth, — it speaketh honestly.
' Behold, I am disease ' saith the evil deed : that
is its honesty.
But the petty thought resembleth a fungus : it creep-
eth and cowereth and wisheth to be nowhere — until
the whole body is rotten and withered with small fungi.
Unto him who is possessed by the devil I say this
word into his ear : 'It is better for thee to bring up
thy devil. Even for thee there is a way unto great-
ness ! '
Alas, my brethren ! Of everybody one knoweth a
little too much. And many a one becometh trans-
parent for us ; but for that reason we are by no means
able to penetrate him.
It is difficult to live with men, because silence is so
difficult.
And we are most unjust not unto him who is con A
trary to our taste, but unto him who doth not concern/
us in any way.
But if thou hast a suffering friend, be a couch for
his suffering, but a hard bed, as it were, a field-bed :
thus thou wilt be of most use for him.
And if a friend doth wrong unto thee, say : ' I
forgive thee what thou didst unto me, but that thou
didst so unto thyself, how could I forgive that ? '
ii8 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Thus speaketh all great love : it even overcometh
forgiveness and pity.
One must keep fast one's heart. For if one letteth
it go, how soon the head runneth away !
Alas ! where in the world have greater follies hap-
pened than with the pitiful ? And what in the world
hath done more harm than the follies of the pitiful ?
Woe unto all loving ones who do not possess an
elevation which is above their pity !
Thus the devil once said unto me : ' Even God hath
his own hell : that is his love unto men/
And recently I heard the word said : ' God is dead ;
he hath died of his pity for men/
Beware of pity : a heavy cloud will one day come
from it for men. Verily, I understand about weather-
forecasts !
But remember this word also : All great love is
lifted above all its pity, for it seeketh to create what
it loveth !
' Myself I sacrifice unto my love, and my neighbour
as myself,' thus runneth the speech of all creators.
But all creators are hard."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF PRIESTS
ONE day Zarathustra made a sign unto his disciples
and spake unto them these words':
" Here are priests. And though they are mine
enemies, pass them quietly and with sleeping sword !
Among them also there are heroes ; many of them
have suffered too much. Hence they try to make.1^
others suffer.
Evil friends they are : nothing is more revengeful
than their submissiveness. And easily he defileth him-
self who toucheth them.
But my blood is kindred with theirs ; I would have
my blood honoured even in theirs."
And when they had passed, Zarathustra was attacked
by pain. And when he had fought with his pain a
little while, he thus began to speak :
"I am sorry for these priests. They are contrary
unto my taste, but that is a small matter unto me
since I am dwelling among men.
But I suffer and have suffered with them : prisoners
they are for me, and branded ones. He whom they
call Saviour put them into fetters :
Into the fetters of false values and illusory words !
Oh, that some one would save them from their Saviour 1
Once when the sea tossed them to and fro they
119
120 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
believed they had landed on an island ; but, behold,
it was a slumbering monster !
False values and illusory words : these are the
worst monsters for mortals : in them doom slumbereth
and waiteth long.
But at last it cometh and waketh and eateth and
devoureth whatever made its tabernacle upon it.
Oh, look at the tabernacles made by these priests !
Churches they call their sweetly smelling dens.
Oh; that falsified light, that heavy air ! This place
where the soul is — not allowed to fly upwards unto its
S height !
But thus its faith commandeth ! ' On your knees
up the stairs, ye sinners ! '
Verily, I would rather see the shameless than the
sprained eyes of their shame and devotion !
Who created for himself such dens and stairs of
penitence ? Was it not such as sought to hide them-
selves and were ashamed of the clear sky ?
And not until the clear sky shall again look through
brokeri ceilings and down on grass and red poppy
growing by broken walls, shall I again turn my heart
unto the places of this God.
They called God what was opposite and painful
unto them : and, verily, there was much of the heroic
in their worship !
(And they did not know how to love their God
otherwise than by fixing man unto the cross.
As corpses they meant to live, in black they draped
their corpse : even in their words I smell the evil
seasoning of the dead-house.
OF PRIESTS 121
And he who liveth nigh unto them, liveth nigh unto
the black ponds from which the toad singeth its song
in sweet melancholy.
In order that I might learn to believe in their
saviour they ought to sing better songs, and his
disciples ought to look saved-like.
I would fain see them naked : for beauty alone
should preach penitence. But who in the world is
persuaded by that disguised affliction ?
Verily, even their saviours have not come from
freedom and the seventh heaven of freedom ! Verily,
they themselves have never walked on the carpets of
knowledge 1
The mind of these saviours consisted of voids, but
into every void they had put their illusion, their stop- ,
gap whom they called God.
In their pity their mind was drowned, and when
they swelled, and swelled over from pity, at the sur- \v
face there always swam a great folly.
Eagerly and with much crying they drove their
flock over their wooden bridge, as if there were only
a single bridge into the future ! Verily, those herds-
men also were of the sheep !
Petty intellects and comprehensive souls these herds-
men had : but, my brethren, what small territories
hitherto have been even the most comprehensive
souls I
Signs of blood have been written by them on the ,
way they went, and it was taught by their folly that
truth is proved by blood.
But blood is the worst of all witnesses for truth ;
122 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
blood even poisoneth the purest teaching and turneth
it into delusion and hatred of hearts.
And when a man goeth through fire for his teach-
ing— what is proved thereby ? Verily, it is more when
one's own teaching springeth from one's own burning.
A sultry heart and a cool head, where these happen
to meet, the blusterer ariseth, the * saviour.'
Verily, there have been much greater ones and
more highly born ones than those whom folk call
saviours, those ravishing blusterers.
And ye, my brethren, if ye ever wish to find the
way unto freedom, ye must be saved by much greater
ones than any saviours have been.
Never yet beyond-man existed. I have seen them
both naked, the greatest and the smallest man.
Much too like are they still unto each other. Verily,
even the greatest one I found to be — much too
human ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE VIRTUOUS
"WITH thunder and heavenly fire-works one hath to
speak unto languid and sleeping senses.
But the voice of beauty speaketh gently ; it stealeth
only into the sprightliest souls.
To-day my shield trembled and laughed gently:
that is the holy laughter and trembling of beauty.
Over you, ye virtuous, my beauty laughed to-day.
And thus came its voice unto me : ' They wish to be
—paid in addition ! '
Ye wish to be paid in addition, ye virtuous ! Ye
wish reward for virtue, heaven for earths, and eternity
for your to-day ?
And now ye are angry at my teaching that there
is no rewarder and pay-master. Nay, I do not even
teach that virtue is its own reward.
Alas ! That is my trouble : reward and punishment
have been deceitfully put into the foundation of things
— and now even into the foundation of your souls,
ye virtuous !
But like a boar's snout my word shall harrow the
foundation of your souls. I would have you call me
a plough.
All the secrets of your foundation shall be brought
123
I24 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
unto light ; and when you will lie in the sun harrowed
and crushed, your lie will be separated from your
truth.
For this is your truth : ye are too cleanly for the
filth of the words : revenge, punishment, reward,
retaliation.
/ Ye love your virtue as the mother doth her child ;
( but did anybody ever hear of a mother wishing to be
paid for her love ?
It is your dearest self, your virtue. The thirst of
the ring is within you. To reach itself again, for that
purpose every ring struggleth and turneth.
And every work of your virtue resembleth a star
extinguished. Its light is still on the way and travel-
leth on. When will it have ceased to be on the
way ?
Thus the light of your virtue is still on the way,
even when the work hath been done. Be it for-
gotten or dead, its beam of light still liveth and
travelleth.
That your virtue is your self, and not anything
strange, a skin, a mantle : that is the truth from the
foundation of your soul, ye virtuous !
But to be sure there are men who call the agony
under the whip virtue ; and ye have listened too much
unto their crying !
And there are others who call the putrefaction of
their vices virtue ; and when their hatred and their
jealousy for once stretch their limbs, their justice
awaketh and rubbeth its sleepy eyes.
And there are others who are drawn downwards :
OF. THE VIRTUOUS 125
they are drawn by their devils. But the deeper they
sink the more ardently gleameth their eye and the
desire for their God.
Alas, their crying also hath reached your ears, ye
virtuous : ' What I am not, that, that is for me God
and virtue ! '
And there are others who walk about heavily and
creaking like waggons carrying stones downhill. They
talk much of dignity and virtue, — their skid they call
virtue !
And there are others who are wound up like every
day watches ; they go on ticking and wish that ticking
to be called virtue.
Verily, these are mine entertainment. Wherever
I find such watches I shall wind them up with my
mocking ; and they shall even click at that.
And others are proud of their handful of justice,
and for its sake commit outrages on all things, so
that the world is drowned with their unjustice.
Alas ! How badly the word ' virtue ' cometh from
their mouth ! And when they say : ' I am just/ it
soundeth almost like : ' I am just—revenged ! '
With their virt to scratchut
tq^debase others.
And again there are others who sit in their mud-
bath and thus speak out of the bulrushes : ' Virtue —
that meaneth to sit still in the mud-bath.
We bite nobody and go out of the way of him
who seeketh to bite ; and in all things we have the
opinion we are given.'
126 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
And again there are such as love gestures and think
virtue is a kind of gesture.
Their knees always adore, and their hands are a
praise of virtue, but their heart knoweth nothing of it.
And again there are such as deem it virtue to say :
' Virtue is necessary ; ' but in reality they Qnly_beJieve
police to be necessary.
... ^^*«BMMAMMMnNMBM«i«!!.
And many a one who cannot see what is sublime
in men, calleth it virtue to see too well what is base
in them : thus he calleth his evil eye virtue.
And some wish to be edified and lifted up, and
call it virtue ; and others wish to be cast down — and
call it virtue also.
And in this way almost all believe they share in
virtue. At any rate everybody would have himself to
be an expert as to ' good ' and ' evil.'
Zarathustra hath not come to say unto all these
liars and fools : ' What know ye of virtue ! What
could ye know of virtue ! '
But that ye, my friends, may become weary of the
old words which ye have learnt from fools and liars.
Weary of the words ' reward,' ' retaliation,' ' punish-
ment,' ' revenge in justice ' —
Weary of saying : ' That an action is good, springeth /
from its being unselfish.'
Alas, my friends ! That your self be in your action
as a mother is in the child, that shall be for me your
word of virtue. 1
Verily, I have taken from you perhaps an hundred
words and the dearest play-things of your virtue ; and
now ye are angry with me as children are.
OF THE VIRTUOUS 127
They played on the seashore, — then came a wave
and swept all their toys away into the depth : now
they cry.
But the same wave shall bring them new play-
things and spread before them new coloured shells.
Thus they will be comforted ; and like them ye
also, my friends, shall have your comforts — and new
coloured shells ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE RABBLE
" LIFE is a well of lust ; but wherever the rabble drink
also, all wells are poisoned.
I am fond of all things cleanly ; I like not to see
the grinning mouths and the thirst of the unclean.
They have cast their eye down into the well ;
now their repugnant smile shineth up out of the
well.
The holy water hath been poisoned by their con-
cupiscence ; and when calling their foul dreams lust
they have poisoned words as well.
Angry waxeth the flame when they lay their damp
hearts nigh the fire ; the spirit itself bubbleth and
smoketh wherever the rabble approach the fire.
Sweetish and much too mellow waxeth the fruit
in their hand ; shaky and withered at the top waxeth
the fruit-tree from their look.
And many a one who turned away from life only
turneth away from the rabble ; he careth not to share
with them well and fire and fruit.
And many a one who went into the desert and
suffered from thirst with the camels, merely cared not
to sit round the cistern with dirty camel-drivers.
And many a one who came along like a destroyer
128
OF THE RABBLE 129
and a hail-storm unto all corn-fields, merely intended
to put his foot into the jaws of the rabble and thus
stuff their throat.
And this was not the bit which choked me most :
to know that life itself requireth hostility and death
and crosses of torture ;
But once I asked and was almost suffocated by
my question : ' What ? doth life also require rabble ?
Are poisoned wells required, and stinking fires, and
A 'LCr-^- *^
foul dreams, and mites in the bread of life ? '
Not my hatred but my loathing gnawed hungrily
at my life 1 Alas, I frequently wearied of the spirit
when I found the rabble also full of spirit !
And I turned my back upon the rulers, when I saw
what is now called ruling : to chaffer and barter about
power — with the rabble !
Among nations with foreign tongues I lived with
closed ears, in order that the tongue of their chaffering
might remain unknown unto me, and their bartering
about power.
And holding my nose I angrily walked through
all yesterday and to-day. Verily, after writing rabble
badly smelleth all yesterday and to-day 1
Like a cripple who became deaf and blind and
dumb, thus I lived long in order not to live with the
rabble of power, writing, and lust.
With difficulty my mind went up stairs, and cau-
tiously ; alms of lust were its refreshments ; for the
blind man, life crept leaning on a stick.
What happened unto me ? How did I free myself \
from loathing ? How became mine eye younger ? f
10
130 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
How did I reach in flying the height where no longer
the rabble sit at the well ?
Did my very loathing give me wings and powers
divining wells ? Verily, I had to fly unto the very
highest to rediscover the well of lust !
Oh, I found it, my brethren ! How on the very
height the well of lust floweth for me ! And there is
a life, in the drinking of which no rabble share !
Almost too violently for me thou flowest, well of
lust 1 And frequently thou emptiest the cup again by
trying to fill it 1
And yet I must learn to approach thee more
modestly. Much too violently my heart floweth to-
wards thee —
My heart on which my summer burneth, the short,
hot, melancholy, all-too-blessed summer ! How doth
my summer-heart long for thy coolness 1
Past is the hesitating trouble of my spring ! Past
is the wickedness of my flakes of snow in June 1
Wholly I became summer and a summer-noon !
A summer on the very height with cold wells and
blessed stillness ! Oh come, my friends, that the still-
ness may become still more blessed !
For this is our height and our home. Too highly
and too steeply we here stay for all the impure and
their thirst.
Just cast your pure eyes into the well of my lust,
ye friends ! How could it become muddy therefrom !
Laughing with its purity it shall receive you.
On the trees of the future we build our nest. Eagles
are to bring food with their beaks unto us lonely ones 1
OF THE RABBLE 131
Verily, no food in the eating of which impure ones
would be allowed to share ! They would fancy they
ate fire and burned their mouths with it.
Verily, here we have no homes ready for impure
ones. Unto their bodies our happiness would mean a
cave of ice, and unto their minds as well !
And like strong winds we will live above them,
companions of eagles, companions of the snow, com-
panions of the sun ; thus live strong winds.
And like a wind I shall one day blow amidst them
and take away their breath with my spirit ; thus my
future willeth it.
Verily, a strong wind is Zarathustra for all low
lands ; and his enemies and everything that spitteth
and bespattereth he counselleth with such advice :
' Take care to spit against the wind ! ' "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF TARANTULA
" BEHOLD, this is the cave of the tarantula ! Wouldst
thou see itself ? Here hangeth its net. Touch it so as
to make it tremble.
There the tarantula cometh willingly. Welcome,
tarantula I Black on thy back is thy triangle and
mark; besides, I know what is in thy soul.
Revenge is in thy soul : wherever thou bitest, black
canker waxeth ; with revenge thy poison maketh the
soul turn round.
Thus I speak unto you in a parable, ye who make )
the souls turn round, ye preachers of equality ! For (
me ye are tarantulas and underhand revengeful ones ! \
But I shall bring unto the light your hiding places.
Therefore I laugh into your face my laughter of the
height.
Therefore I tear at your net so that rage may
tempt you out of your cave of lying and your revenge
may jump forth from behind your word ' justice.'
To save man from revenge, that is for me the
bridge towards the highest hope, and a rainbow after
long thunderstorms.
But the tarantulae would have it otherwise. 'Call
132
I
OF TARANTULA 133
it very justice, to fill the world with the thunderstorms
of our revenge/ thus they speak unto each other.
'Revenge will we take, and aspersions will we
cast on all who are not like us' — this the tarantulae-
hearts pledge unto themselves.
And 'will unto equality' — that itself shall in the
future become the name of virtue ; and we will raise
our clamour against everything that hath power ! '
Ye preachers of equality, the tyrant-insanity of im-
potency thus crieth out of yourselves for ' equality : '
Your most secret tyrant-aspirations thus disguise them-
selves under words of virtue !
Surly presumption, hidden envy, perhaps the pre-
sumption and envy of your fathers : as a flame and
insanity of revenge they break forth from you.
What the father kept close is uttered by the son ;
and frequently I found the son to be the revealed
secret of the father.
They resemble the enthusiastic ; but it is not the
heart that rouseth their enthusiasm, — but revenge.
And when they grow sharp and cold, it is not spirit,
but envy that maketh them sharp and cold.
Their jealousy even leadeth them into the paths
of thinkers ; and it is the mark of their jealousy
that they ever go too far, so that their weariness hath
at last to lie down on the snow to sleep.
From each of their laments soundeth revenge, in
each of their praises is a sore ; and to be judges
appeareth unto them to be bliss.
But thus I counsel you, my friends : Mistrust all
1 in whom the impulse to punish is powerful !
134 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
They are folk of bad kin and descent. Out of
their countenances look the hang-man and blood-
hound.
Mistrust all those who talk much of their justice !
Verily, it is not honey merely that their souls lack.
And if they call themselves 'the good and just'
forget not that to be Pharisees they lack nothing but
— power !
My friends, I like not to be confounded with and
taken for a wrong one.
There are some that preach my doctrine of life
but at the same time are preachers of equality and
tarantulae.
If they speak favourably of life although they sit
in their cave, these poisonous spiders, and have turned
away from life : it is because they wish to cause. >
pain.
They intend to cause pain unto those who now
have power ; for with them the sermon of death is
most at home.
Were it otherwise the tarantula would teach
otherwise. Once it was just they who were the best
calumniators of the world and the best burners of
heretics.
I do not wish to be confounded with, and mistaken
for these preachers of equality. For within me justice
saith : ' Men are not equal.'
Neither shall they become so ! For what would
be my love for beyond-man if I spake otherwise ?
On a thousand bridges and gang-ways they shall
throng towards the future, and ever more war and
OF TARANTULA 135
inequality shall be set among them. Thus my great
love maketh me speak !
Inventors of images and ghosts they shall become
in their hostilities, and with their images and ghosts
they shall fight against each other the supreme
battle !
Good and evil, rich and poor, high and low, and
all the names of values : they shall be weapons and
clashing signs that life always hath to surpass itself
again !
Upwards it striveth to build itself with pillars and
stairs, life itself : into far distances it longeth to gaze
and outwards after blessed beauties — therefore it needeth
height !
And because it needeth height it needeth stairs
and contradiction between stairs and those rising
beyond them ! To rise striveth life and to surpass
itself in rising.
And now behold, my friends ! Here where the
cave of the tarantula is, the ruins of an old temple
rise, — do ye gaze there with enlightened eyes !
Verily, he who here once made his thoughts tower
upwards in stone, like the wisest one he knew the
secret of all life !
That even in beauty there is fight and inequality
and war over power and superiority : he teacheth it
unto us in the clearest parable.
How divinely here vaults and arches break each
other in a struggle ! How with light and shadow they
strive contrary unto each other, the divinely striving
ones !
136 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Let our enemies also be thus secure and beautiful,
my friends ! Divinely we will strive contrary unto each
other !
Alas ! There the tarantula bit me, mine old* enemy !
Divinely, securely, and beautifully it bit my finger !
'There must be punishment and justice' — thus it
thinketh. Not for nothing shall he sing here songs in
honour of hostility ! '
Yea, it hath taken its revenge ! And alas, now
it will with revenge even make my soul turn round !
But that I may not turn round, my friends, tie me
fast unto this pillar ! I will rather be a stylite than a
whirlpool of revengefulness !
Verily, no whirlwind or eddy-wind is Zarathustra;
and if he be a dancer, he will never be a tarantula-
dancer ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE FAMOUS WISE MEN
YE have saved the folk and the superstition of the
folk, all ye famous wise men, — and not truth ! And
for that very reason ye were revered.
And for the same reason your unbelief was
endured because it was a joke and a round-about-way
unto the folk. Thus the lord alloweth his slaves to
bustle about and is amused with their over-flowing
spirits.
But what is hated by the folk as a wolf is by the
dogs is the free spirit, the enemy of all fetters, the
not-adorer, he who liveth in the woods.
To hunt him up from his hiding place — that hath
always been called by the folk : ' the sense for what is
right : ' against him they still bait their hounds with
the sharpest teeth.
' For truth is there because the folk are there ;
Alas ! Alas ! for them who seek ! ' Thus it hath
sounded at all times.
Ye tried to help your people to feel themselves light
in their reverence. That was what ye called ' will unto
truth,' ye famous wise men !
And for ever your heart said unto itself : ' From
the folk I have sprung ; thence also sprang the voice
of God.'
137
138 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Stiff necks and wisdom ye always had, like the
asses, when ye were the folk's advocates.
And many a mighty one who wished to drive
well with the folk, harnessed in front of his horses —
a little ass, a famous wise man.
And now I wish, ye famous wise men, ye would
finally and entirely throw off the hide of the lion !
The hide of the beast of prey, the many-coloured,
and the shaggy hair of the explorer, seeker, conqueror !
Alas, in order to make me believe in your 'truth-
fulness,' ye would require first to break your revering
will.
^ Truthful — thus I call him who goeth into godless
deserts and hath broken his revering heart.
In yellow sand burnt by the sun, it is true, he
leereth thirstily at the islands full of wells where living
tilings rest under dark trees.
But his thirst persuadeth him not to become like
these comfortable ones ; for where oases are, there
are idols also.
Hungry, violent, lonely, godless — thus the lion's
will willeth itself.
Free from the happiness of slaves ; saved from
Gods and adorations : fearless and fear-inspiring ; great
.and lonely ; this is the will of the truthful one.
In the desert at all times the truthful have lived,
the free spirits, as the masters of the desert ; but in
towns live the well-fed, famous wise men, the draught-
beasts.
| For, being asses, they always draw— the folk's cart !
Not that therefore I was angry with them; but
OF THE FAMOUS WISE MEN 139
as serving ones they are regarded by me, and as
harnessed ones, -even if they glitter in golden harness.
For often they were good servants and worth their
hire. For thus speaketh virtue : ' If thou must be a
servant, seek him unto whom thy service will be of
the most use !
The spirit and virtue of thy master shall grow
in that thou art his servant. Thus thou thyself wilt
grow with his spirit and his virtue ! '
And, verily, ye famous wise men, ye servants of
the folk ! Ye yourselves have grown with the folk's
spirit and virtue — and the folk through you ! I say
so in your honour !
But folk ye remain for me even in your virtues,
folk with dim-sighted eyes, — folk that know not what
spirit is !
Spirit is that life which itself cutteth into life. By
one's own pain one's own knowledge incteaseth ; —
knew ye that before ?
And the happiness of the spirit is this ; to
anointed and consecrated by tears as a sacrificial }
animal ; — knew ye that before ?
And even the blindness of the blind and his seeking
and fumbling shall bear witness as unto the power of
the sun, into which he gazed : — knew ye that
before ?
And the perceiver shall learn to build with mount-
ains. Little it is for the spirit to remove mountains ;
— knew ye that before?
Ye only see the sparks of the spirit ; ye know not
the anvil it is, nor the cruelty of its hammer !
I4o THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Verily, ye know not the pride of the spirit ! Still
less would ye endure the modesty of the spirit, if it
once would utter it.
Neither have ye ever before been allowed to throw
your spirit into a pit of snow. Ye are not hot enough
for that. Thus ye know not, either, the ravishings of
its coldness.
But in every respect ye make yourselves too familiar
with the spirit ; and ye have frequently made out
of wisdom an alms-house and infirmary for bad
poets.
Ye are not eagles. Thus ye have never experienced
the happiness in the terror of the spirit. And he who
is not a bird shall not dwell over abysses.
Ye are for me lukewarm ; but every deep per-
ception floweth cold. As cold as ice are the innermost
wells of the spirit, — a refreshment for hot hands and
doers.
Decently there ye stand, and stiff, and with a stiff
back, ye famous wise men ! Ye are not driven by
any strong wind or will.
Saw ye never a sail go over the sea, rounded and
blown up and trembling with the violence of the
wind ?
Like that sail, trembling with the violence of the
spirit, my wisdom goeth over the sea — my wild wis-
dom !
But ye servants of the folk, ye famous wise men,
how could ye go with me!"
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE NIGHT-SONG
" NIGHT it is : now talk louder all springing wells. And
my soul is a springing well.
Night it is : only now all songs of the loving awake.
And my soul is the song of a loving one.
Something never stilled, something never to be stilled
is within me. It longeth to give forth sound. A
longing for love is within me, that itself speaketh the
language of love.
Light I am : would that I were night ! But it is
my loneliness, to be girded round by light.
Oh, that I were dark and like the night ! How
would I suck at the breasts of light !
And I would bless even you, ye small, sparkling
stars and glow-worms on high, — and be blessed by
your gifts of light !
But in mine own light I live, back into myself I
drink the flames that break forth from me.
I know not the happiness of the receiver. And
often I dreamt that stealing was needs much sweeter
than receiving.
It is my poverty that my hand never resteth from
giving; it is mine envy that I see waiting eyes and
the illuminated nights of longing.
141
142 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Oh, unblessedness of all givers ! Oh, obscuration of
my sun ! Oh, longing for longing ! Oh, famished
voracity in the midst of satisfaction !
They take things from me : but do I touch their
soul ? There is a gulf between giving and taking ;
and the smallest gulf is the most difficult to bridge
over.
A hunger vvaxeth out of my beauty : I would cause
pain unto those unto whom I bring light ; I would fain
bereave those I gave my gifts to. Thus am I hungry
for wickedness.
Taking back my hand when another hand stretch-
eth out for it ; hesitating like the waterfall that hesi-
tateth when raging down — thus am I hungry for
wickedness.
Such revenge is invented by mine abundance ; such
insidtousness springeth from my loneliness.
My happiness of giving died from giving ; my virtue
became weary of itself from its abundance !
He who always giveth is in danger to lose his
sense of shame ; he who always distributeth getteth
hard swellings on his hand and heart from distributing.
Mine eye no longer floweth over from the shame
of the begging ones ; my hand hath become too hard
to feel the trembling of full hands.
Whither went the tear of mine eye and the down of
my heart ? Oh, solitude of all givers ! Oh, silence of
all lighters 1
Many suns circle round in empty space : unto all
that is dark they speak with their light,— unto me they
are silent.
THE NIGHT-SONG 143
Oh, that is the enmity of light against what shineth !
Without pity it wandereth on its course.
Unfair towards what shineth in the heart of its heart,
cold towards suns, — thus walketh every sun.
Like the storm the suns fly on their courses ; that
is their walking. They follow their inexorable will ;
that is their coldness.
Oh, it is only ye, ye dark ones, ye of the night who
create warmth out of what shineth ! Oh, it is only ye
who drink milk and refreshment from the udders of
light !
Alas, there is ice round me, my hand burneth itself
when touching what is icy ! Alas, there is thirst within
me that is thirsty for your thirst !
Night it is : alas, that I must be a light ! And a
thirst for what is of the night ! And solitude !
Night it is : now, like a well, my longing breaketh
forth from me. I am longing for speech.
Night it is : now talk louder all springing wells.
And my soul is a springing well.
Night it is : only now all songs of the loving awake.
And my soul is the song of a loving one.
Thus sang Zarathustra.
THE DANCE-SONG
ONE night Zarathustra went through the forest with
his disciples, and when seeking for a well, behold 1 he
came unto a green meadow which was surrounded by
trees and bushes. There girls danced together. As
soon as the girls knew Zarathustra, they ceased to
dance ; but Zarathustra approached them with a friendly
gesture and spake these words :
" Cease not to dance, ye sweet girls ! No spoil-sport
hath come unto you with an evil eye, no enemy of
girls.
I am the advocate of God in the presence of the
devil. But he is the spirit of gravity. How could I,
ye light ones, be an enemy unto divine dances ? Or
unto the feet of girls with beautiful ankles ?
True, I am a forest and a night of dark trees, but
he who is not afraid of my darkness, findeth banks
full of roses under my cypresses.
And I think he will also find the tiny God whom
girls like best. Beside the well he lieth, still with his
eyes shut.
Verily, in broad daylight he fell asleep, the slug-
gard 1 Did he perhaps try to catch too many butter-
flies ?
144
THE DANCE-SONG 14$
Be not angry with me, ye beautiful dancers, if I
chastise a little the tiny God ! True, he will probably
cry and weep ; but even when weeping he causeth
laughter !
And with tears in his eyes shall he ask you for a
dance ; and I myself shall sing a song unto his dance :
A dance-song and a mocking song directed unto
the spirit of gravity, my very highest and most
powerful devil, whom they call 'the master of the
world.'
And this is the song sung by Zarathustra, when
Cupid and the girls danced together.
" Of late I looked into thine eye, O life ! And I
seemed unto myself to sink into what is impenetrable.
But thou drewest me out of it with thy golden
hook. Mockingly thou laughedst when I called thee
impenetrable.
'This is the speech of all fish/ saidst thou. 'What
they do not penetrate is impenetrable.
But I am only changeable and wild and a woman in
all respects, and not a virtuous one —
Although I am called by you men 'the deep one'
or ' the faithful one,' or the ' eternal one ' or the
' mysterious one.'
But ye men always present us with your own virtues.
Alas, ye virtuous ! '
Thus she laughed, the incredible one. But I never
believe her or her laughter when she speaketh badly
of herself.
And when I talked with my wild wisdom privately,
ii
146 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
she told me angrily : ' Thou wiliest, thou desirest, thou
lovest ; therefore only thou praisest life ! '
Then I almost answered in anger and told the truth
unto the angry one; and one cannot answer more
angrily than when ' telling the truth ' unto one's
wisdom.
For thus things stand among us three. I love life
alone from the bottom — and, verily, the most, when
I hate her !
But that I am fond of wisdom and often too fond,
that is because she remindeth me of life very much !
Wisdom hath life's eye, life's laughter and even life's
little golden fishing-rod. Is it my fault that the two
are so like unto each other ?
And when once life asked me : ' Wisdom, who is
she ? ' — I eagerly said : ' Oh yes ! wisdom !
One is thirsty for her and is not satisfied ; one
looketh through veils ; one catcheth with nets.
Is she beautiful ? I do not know. But even the
oldest carps are lured by her.
Changeable she is and defiant ; often I saw her bite
her own lip and pass the comb the wrong way through
her hair.
Perhaps she is wicked and deceitful, and in all re-
spects a woman ; but just when speaking badly of
herself she seduceth most.'
When I told that unto life, she laughed wickedly
and shut her eyes. ' Say, of whom dost thou speak ?
Is it of me ?
Suppose thou wert right, — doth one say that thus
into my face ! But now speak of thy wisdom also ! '
THE DANCE-SONG 147
Oh ! and now thou openedst again thine eye, O
beloved life ! And I seemed again unto myself to sink
into what is impenetrable."
Thus sang Zarathustra. But when the dance was
finished and the girls had departed, sad he grew.
"The sun hath gone down long ago," he said at
last ; " the meadow is damp, and coolness ariseth from
the forests.
An unknown something hovereth round me and
gazeth in deep thought. What ? Thou livest still,
Zarathustra ?
Why ? Wherefore ? Wherethrough ? Whither ?
Where ? How ? Is it not folly still to live ?
Alas ! my friends, it is the evening that thus out of
myself asketh. Forgive me my sadness !
Evening it hath become. Forgive me that it hath
become evening 1 "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE GRAVE-SONG
" ' YONDER is the island of graves, the silent. Yonder
also are the graves of my youth. Thither will I carry
an evergreen wreath of life.'
Resolving this in my heart I went over the sea.
Oh, ye, ye visions and apparitions of my youth !
Oh, all ye glances of love, ye divine moments ! How
could ye die so quickly for me ! This day I think of
you as of my dead ones.
From your direction, my dearest dead ones, a sweet
odour cometh unto me, an odour setting free heart
and tears. Verily, it shaketh and setteth free the heart
of the lonely sailor.
Still I am the richest and he who is to be envied
most — I, the loneliest! For I have had you, and ye
have me still. Say, for whom as for me have such
rose apples fallen from the tree ?
Still I am the heir and soil of your love, flourish-
ing in memory of you with many-coloured wild-
growing virtues, O ye dearest !
Alas, we had been made to remain nigh unto each
other, ye kind, strange marvels ! And ye came not unto
me and my desire, as shy birds do. Nay, ye came as
trusting ones unto a trusting one !
THE GRAVE-SONG 149
Yea, like me, ye are made for faithfulness, and for
tender eternities. Must I now call you after your faith-
lessness, ye divine glances and moments ? No other
name have I yet learnt.
Verily, too soon have ye died for me, ye fugitives.
Yet ye did not flee from me, nor did I flee from you.
Innocent we are towards each other in our faithless-
ness !
To kill me they strangled you, ye singing birds of
my hopes ! Yea, after you, my dearest ones, wicked-
ness always shot arrows — to hit my heart !
And it hath hit ! For ye have ever been what
was dearest unto me, my possession and my being
possessed. Therefore ye had to die young and much too
soon !
At the most vulnerable things I possessed, the
arrow was shot. That was after you whose skin is
like down and still more like the smile that dieth by
a glance !
But this word I shall say unto mine enemies : ' What
is all manslaughter compared with what ye have done
unto me 1
More wicked things ye have done unto me than
all manslaughter is. What was irrecoverable for me
ye have taken from me. Thus I say unto you, mine
enemies 1
For ye have slain the visions and dearest marvels
of my youth ! For ye have taken from me my play-
fellows, the blessed spirits ! Unto their memory I lay
down this wreath and this curse.
This curse upon you, mine enemies I For ye have
150 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
made short what was eternal for me ; as a sound
breaketh off in a cold night ! Scarcely as a glancing
of divine eyes it came unto me,— as a moment 1
Thus in a good hour once spake my purity : * All
beings shall be divine for me ! '
Then ye surprised me with foul ghosts. Alas !
Whither fled then that good hour ?
' All days shall be holy unto me.' Thus spake once
the wisdom of my youth, — verily, the speech of a gay
wisdom !
But then ye, mine enemies, stole my nights and
sold them to cause me sleepless pain. Alas ! Whither
now hath fled that gay wisdom?
Once I desired lucky bird-omens. Then ye led an
owl-monster across my way, an adverse one. Alas !
Whither fled then my tender desire ?
Once I promised to renounce all loathing. Then
ye changed into ulcers those who were nigh unto me
and nighest unto me. Alas ! Whither fled then my
noblest promise ?
As a blind man I once went in blessed ways. Then
ye threw filth in the way of the blind man. And now
the old footpath of the blind man striketh him with
disgust.
And when I did my hardest and celebrated the
victory of mine overcomings, then ye made those who
loved me cry, that I caused them the sorest pain.
Verily, it hath always been your action, to make
bitter my best honey and the diligence of my best bees.
Ye always sent the most impudent beggars unto
my charity. Ye always pressed the incurably shameless
THE GRAVE-SONG 151
round my sympathy. Thus ye wounded my virtues
in their belief.
And as soon as I laid down as a sacrifice what
was holiest unto me, quickly your 'piety' laid its
fatter gifts beside it, so that in the steam of your fat
my holiest was suffocated.
And once I wished to dance as I had danced be-
fore ; I wished to dance beyond all heavens. Then ye
persuaded my dearest singer.
And now he started a dull, terrible melody. Alas,
he blew into mine ears like a mournful horn !
Murderous singer, tool of wickedness, most innocent
one ! Already I stood prepared for the best dance ;
then thou murderedst my rapture with thy tunes !
Only in dancing I know how to utter the parable
of the highest things. And now my highest parable
remained unuttered in my limbs !
Unuttered and unsaved remained my highest hope !
And all the visions and comforts of my youth died !
How did I bear it ? How did I forget and over-
come such wounds? Hoyy.- did my soul rise again
"^"•^"^•^v^.^,^. " " " .:
JErom these graves ?
Yea7^a^-thrn"g invulnerable, unburiable is within
me ; a thing that blasteth rocks : it is called my will.
v^»»— —"*'" ' "***' ii'M'i'i"<ji'"*^-^~.^».>».
Silently and unchanged it walketh through the years.
It will go its way on my feet, mine old will ;
hard-hearted and invulnerable is its sense.
Invulnerable I am at my heel only. There thou
still livest and art like thyself, thou most patient one !
Thou hast ever broken through all graves, and dost
so still !
152 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
In thee what is unsaved of my youth still liveth.
And as life and youth thou sittest hopeful on the
yellow ruins of graves.
Yea, thou still art for me the destroyer of all )
graves ! All hail unto thee, my will ! Only where/
there are graves are there resurrections."
Thus sang Zarathustra.
OF SELF-OVERCOMING
"'WiLL unto truth' ye call, ye wisest men, what
inspireth you and maketh you ardent ?
'Will unto the conceivableness of all that is' — thus
I call your will !
All that is ye are going to make conceivable. For
with good mistrust ye doubt whether it is conceivable.
But it hath to submit itself and bend before your-
selves ! Thus your will willeth. Smooth it shall be-
come and subject unto spirit as its mirror and reflected
image.
That is your entire will, ye wisest men, as a will
unto power ; even when ye speak of good and evil
and of valuations.
Ye will create the world before which to kneel
down. Thus it is your last hope and drunkenness.
The unwise, it is true, the folk, — they are like unto
a river down which a boat glideth. And in the boat
the valuations are sitting solemn and disguised.
Your will and your valuations ye placed on the
river of becoming. What is believed by the folk as
good and evil betrayeth unto me an old will unto
power.
It hath been you, ye wisest men, who placed such
153
154 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
guests in the boat and gave them pomp and proud
names', ye and your dominating will !
Now the river carrieth on your boat ; it must carry
it on. Little matter if the broken wave foameth and
angrily contradicteth the keel !
Not the river is your danger, nor the end of your
good and evil, ye wisest men ; but that will itself,
will unto power, — the unexhausted, procreative will
of life.
But in order that ye may understand my word of
good and evil, I shall tell you my word of life and
of all kinds of living things.
I pursued living things, I walked on the broadest
and the narrowest paths to perceive their kin.
With an hundredfold mirror I caught their glance
when their mouth was shut, in order to hear their eye
speak. And their eye spake unto me.
But wherever I found living things, there also I
heard the speech of obedience. All living things are
things that obey.
And this is the second : he is commanded who
cannot obey his own self. This is the way of Jiving
things.
But this is the third I heard : to command is
more difficult than to obey. And not only that the
commander beareth the burden of all who obey, and
that this burden easily crusheth him ; —
An effort and a jeopardy appeared unto me to be
contained in all commanding ; and whenever living
things command they risk themselves.
Nay even, when they command themselves : even there
OF SELF-OVERCOMING 155
they have to atone for their commanding. For their own
law they must become judge and avenger and sacrifice.
'How doth that happen?' I asked myself. What
persuadeth living things to obey and command and obey
in commanding ?
Now hearken unto my word, ye wisest men I Ex-
amine earnestly whether I have stolen into the heart
of life itself and unto the roots of its heart !
Wherever I found living matter I found will unto
power ; and even in the will of the serving, I found
the will to be master.
To serve the stronger the weaker is persuaded by its
own will which wisheth to be master over what is still
weaker. This delight alone it liketh not to miss.
And as the smaller giveth itself up unto the larger,
in order to have itself delight from, and power over
the smallest : thus even the largest giveth itself up, and
for the sake of power risketh— -life.
That is the devotion of the largest, to be jeopardy
and danger and a casting of dice about death.
And wherever there are sacrifice and services and
loving glances, there is will to be master. By secret
paths the weaker one stealeth into the castle and unto
the heart of the more powerful one — and there stealeth
power.
And this secret did life itself utter unto me : ' Behold/
it said, ' I am whatever must surpass itself.
It is true, ye call it will unto procreation or impulse
for the end, for the higher, the more remote, the more
manifold ; but all that is one thing and one secret.
I perish rather than renounce that one thing ; and
156 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
verily, wherever there is perishing and falling of leaves,
behold, life sacrificeth itself — for the sake of power !
That I must be war and becoming and end and the
contradiction of the ends — alas, he who findeth out my
will, probably findeth out also on what crooked ways
he hath to walk !
Whatever I create and however I love it, soon after-
wards I have to be an adversary unto it and unto my
love. Thus willeth my will.
And even thou, O perceiver, art but a path and foot-
step of my will. Verily, my will unto power walketh
on the feet of thy will unto truth !
Of course, he who shot after the word of 'will unto
existence' did not hit truth. Such a will—- doth not
exist !
For what existeth not cannot will ; but what is in
existence how could that strive after existence !
Only where there is life, there is will ; but not will
unto life, but — thus I teach thee — will unto power 1
Many things are valued higher by living things
than life itself; but even out of valuing speaketh —
will unto power ! '
Thus life once taught me. And by means of that,
ye wisest men, I read you the riddle of your heart.
Verily, I tell you : good and evil, which would be
imperishable,—do not exist ! Of themselves they must
ever again surpass themselves.
With your values and words of good and evil ye
exercise power, ye valuing ones. And this is your
hidden love and the shining, trembling, and overflowing
of your soul.
OF SELF-OVERCOMING 157
But a stronger power waxeth out of your values,
and a new overcoming. On it there break egg and
eggshell.
And he who must be a creator in good and evil —
verily, he must first be a destroyer, and break values
into pieces.
Thus the highest evil is part of the highest goodness.
But that is creative goodness.
Let us speak thereon, ye wisest men, however bad
it be. To be silent is worse ; all unuttered truths
become poisonous.
And whatever will break on our truths, let it break !
Many a house hath yet to be built ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE AUGUST
"STILL is the bottom of my sea. Who could know
that it hideth jesting monsters !
Unshakable is my depth, but it shineth from swim-
ming riddles and laughters.
An august one I saw to-day, a solemn one, a
penitent of spirit. Oh, how laughed my soul at his
ugliness !
With his breast raised and like those who draw
in their breath — thus he stood there, the august one,
and silent ;
Covered with ugly truths, the prey of his hunting,
and rich with torn clothes ; many thorns also hung on
him, but I saw no rose.
Not yet had he learnt laughter and beauty.
Frowning this hunter came back from the forest of
perception.
He returned from the struggle with wild beasts":
but out of his seriousness a wild beast looketh — one
f
not overcome !
Like a tiger still standeth he there, about to jump ;
but I care not for these strained souls; my taste hath
no favour for all these reserved ones.
158
OF THE AUGUST 159
And ye tell me, friends, that one cannot quarrel
about taste and tasting ? But all life is a struggle
about taste and tasting !
Taste — that is at the same time weight and balance
and the weighing one. And alas ! for all living things
that would try to live without struggle about weight
and balance and weighing ones !
If he would become weary of his augustness, this
august one — only then his beauty would begin. And
not until then shall I taste him and find him tasty.
. And not until he turneth away from himself will
he jump over his own shadow — and lo ! straight into
his sun.
Much too long hath he been sitting in the shadow ;
the cheeks of the penitent of spirit grew pale ; he almost
died from hunger because of his expectations.
Contempt is still in his eye ; and loathing is hidden
round his mouth. Although he resteth just now, his
rest hath not yet lain down in the sun.
He ought to do as doth the bull ; and his happiness
ought to smell after earth and not after contempt
of earth.
I should like to see him as a white bull snorting
and roaring and going in front of the plough. And
even his roaring should praise all that is earthy.
Dark still is his face ; the shadow of his hand
playeth over it. Overshadowed still is the sense of
his eye.
His deed itself is the shadow that lieth on him;
the hand obscureth the acting one. Not yet hath he
j overcome his deed.
160 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
True, I love in him the bull's neck, but I also
want to see the angel's eye.
He also hath to unlearn his heroic will. He shall
be one who is lifted up, and not only an august
one. Ether itself should lift him who should have lost
all will !
He hath conquered monsters, he hath solved riddles.
But besides he should save his monsters and riddles,
he should alter them into heavenly children.
Not yet hath his perception learnt how to smile
and be without jealousy ; not yet hath his flowing
passion become still in beauty.
Verily, not in satiety shall his desire be silent and
submerge, but in beauty ! Gracefulness is part of the
generosity of the magnanimous.
His arm put across his head — thus the hero should
rest ; thus he should also overcome his resting.
But for the hero above all the beautiful is the
hardest of things. Unattainable by struggle is the
beautiful for all eager will.
A little more, a little less — just that is here much,
that is here the most.
To stand with your muscles relaxed and with your will
unharnessed, that is the hardest for all of you, ye august !
When power becometh gracious and steppeth down
into visibleness — beauty I call such stepping down.
And of no one I demand beauty with the same
eagerness as just from thee, thou powerful one. Let thy
goodness be thy last self-overcoming I
Everything evil I expect from thee ; therefore I
demand from thee what is good.
OF THE AUGUST 161
Verily, I laughed many a time over the weaklings
.who thought themselves good because they had lame
(paws !
Thou shalt strive after the virtue of the pillar. It ever
getteth more beautiful and tender, but inside ever
harder and more able to bear the load, the higher
it ariseth.
Yea, thou august one, one day thou shalt be beautiful
and hold the mirror before thine own beauty.
Then thy soul will quiver with godlike desires ;
and there will be adoration even in thy vanity !
For this is the secret of the soul. Not until the
hero hath left it, is it approached in dream by —
beyond-hero."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE COUNTRY OF CULTURE
" Too far flew I into the future ; a shivering seized me.
And when I looked round, behold ! time was mine
only contemporary there.
Then I flew backwards, homeward — and ever in a
greater haste. Thus I came unto you, ye present ones,
and into the country of culture.
For the first time have I brought with me an eye
to see you and a good desire. Verily, with a longing
in my heart have I come.
But what befell me ? However frightened I was, —
I had to laugh ! Never hath mine eye seen anything
so many-coloured !
I laughed and laughed whilst my foot was still
trembling and my heart also. ' Behold, here is the
home of all paint-pots !' said I.
With fifty spots of paint on your face and limbs,
ye sat there and aroused mine astonishment, ye present
ones !
And with fifty mirrors around you, which flattered
your play of colours and spake in its favour !
Verily, ye could not possibly wear any better mask,
ye present ones, than your own face is ! Who could
recognise you !
162
OF THE COUNTRY OF CULTURE 163
Written all over with the signs of the past, and
these signs painted over with new signs — thus have ye
concealed yourselves well from all soothsayers !
And even if one could look through your intestines
— who will believe that ye have intestines ? Ye seem
to have been baked out of colours and glued papers !
All times and all peoples, many-coloured, gaze out
of your veils ; all customs and beliefs, many-coloured,
speak out of your gestures.
He who would take away from you veils and
garments and colours and gestures — he would just keep
sufficient to scare the birds.
Verily, I myself am the scared bird, who for once
saw you naked and colourless ; and I flew away when
the skeleton made me signs of love.
Rather I would be a day-labourer in the lower
regions and among the shadows of the past 1 For
fatter and fuller than ye are the inhabitants of the
lower regions !
This, yea, this is bitterness in my bowels, that I
can endure you neither naked nor dressed, ye present
ones !
All that is dismal in the future, all that hath scared
the strayed birds, is indeed more homelike and more
familiar than your 'reality.'
For thus ye speak : ' We are wholly real and without
any belief or superstition.' Thus ye give yourselves airs
— alas, even without having any breasts !
Oh, how could ye believe, ye many-coloured — ye who
are pictures of whatever hath been believed at any
time !
164 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Ye are yourselves living refutations of belief and a
breaking of limbs of all thought. Untrustworthy — thus
I call you, ye real !
All times rave against each other in your minds ;
X7 and the dreams and gossip of all times have been
more real than your being awake !
Sterile ye are. Therefore faith is lacking vwthm___yoii.
But he whcT was compelled to create had always^his
prophesying dreams and prognostics in the stars— and
believed in belief !
Half-open doors ye are at which gravediggers wait.
And this is your reality : ' Everything deserveth to
perisn.
6£pKbw ye appear unto me, ye sterile, how meagre
in your ribs ! And many of you knew that perfectly.
And they said : ' Whilst I was sleeping, a God, I
suppose, clandestinely stole something from me ? Verily,
enough to form a little woman out of it ! '
1 Wonderful is the poverty of my ribs ! ' thus said
many present ones.
Yea, ye make me laugh at you, ye present ones !
And especially when ye are astonished at yourselves !
And woe unto me, if I could not laugh at your
astonishment, and had to swallow whatever is loath-
some in your dishes !
But as it is, I shall take you more lightly, since
I have to bear heavy things. What matter, if beetles
and flying worms alight on my burden !
Verily, it shall not thereby become heavier ! And
not from you, ye present ones, shall my great weari-
ness spring.
OF THE COUNTRY OF CULTURE 165
Alas ! where shall I now ascend with my longing ?
From all mountain-tops I look out for my fathers' and
my mothers' lands.
But a home I found nowhere. Unresting I am in
all towns and a departure at all gates.
Strange and a mockery unto me are the present
ones unto whom my heart hath driven me of late.
Banished am I from my fathers' and my mothers' lands.
Thus I love only my children's land, the un-
discovered, in Jhejremotest sea. For it I bid my sails
seek and seek...
Unto my children shall I make amends for being
the child of my fathers; and junto all the future _shall
I make amends for this present ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF IMMACULATE PERCEPTION
" WHEN the moon rose yesternight, I fancied she would
give birth unto a sun. So broad and big she lay on
the horizon.
But a liar she was with her child-bearing ; and I
shall rather believe in the man in the moon than in
the woman.
To be sure, there is little of man either in the moon,
that shy dreamer of the night. Verily, with a bad con-
science she strideth over the roofs.
For he is lascivious and jealous, the monk in the
moon, lascivious for earth and all delights of the loving.
Nay, I like him not, this tom-cat on the roofs ! Dis-
gusting for me are all who steal round half-closed
windows !
Piously and silently he walketh on over starry
/carpets. But I like not soft-stepping men's feet, with-
out even a spur clinking.
Every honest man's step speaketh ; but the cat
stealeth over the ground. Behold, like a cat, dishonestly
the moon strideth on.
This parable I give unto you sentimental dissemblers,
unto you with your ' pure perception.' You / call
lascivious 1
166
OF IMMACULATE PERCEPTION 167
Ye also love earth and things earthly. Truly I found
you out ! But shame and bad conscience are in your
love ; ye are like the moon 1
To despise things earthly your mind hath been per- '•
suaded, but not your bowels which are the strongest
thing within you !
And now your mind is ashamed to be under the
will of your bowels, and goeth byways and lie-ways
to escape its own shame.
' That would be the highest for me ' — thus saith
your deceitful mind unto itself — ' to look at life without
desire, and not like the dog with the tongue hanging out ;
To be happy in gazing, with one's will dead,
without the grasp or greediness of selfishness — cold and
ashen-grey all over the body, but with the eyes drunken
like the moon !
That is what I should like best/ Thus the seduced
one seduceth himself to love earth, as the moon loveth
it, and to touch its beauty solely with the eye.
And I call it the immaculate perception of all
things, that I want nothing from things but to be
allowed to lie before them, like a mirror with an
hundred eyes.
Oh, ye sentimental dissemblers, ye lascivious ! Ye
lack innocence in desire, and therefore ye backbite
desire.
Verily, not as creators, procreators, happy in
becoming, ye love earth !
Where is innocence ? Where will unto procreation
is. And he who would create beyond himself, hath in
mine eyes the purest will.
168 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
\
Where is beauty ? Where I am compelled to will
with all will ; where I must love and perish in order
that an image might not remain an image only.
Loving and perishing, — these words have rhymed
for eternities. Will unto love, — that is, to be willing
even unto death. Thus I speak unto you cowards !
But now your emasculate ogling wisheth to be
called ' contemplativeness.' And what can be touched
with cowardly eyes is to be baptised ' beautiful ! ' Oh,
\ye befoulers of noble names !
But that shall be your curse, ye immaculate, ye
pure perceivers, that ye shall never give birth. And
that although ye lie broad and big on the horizon !
Verily, ye fill your mouth well with noble words,
and we are to be made believe that your heart hath
; too great abundance, ye liars ?
But my words are small, despised, crooked words ;
happily I pick up what falleth under the table during
your dinner.
Still they serve to tell dissemblers the truth ! Yea,
my fishbones, shells, and stinging leaves shall tickle
the noses of dissemblers !
Bad air is always around you and your meals.
For your lascivious thoughts, your lies and secrecies are
in the air !
Dare first to believe yourselves — yourselves and
your intestines ! He who doth not believe himself
lieth ever.
A God's mask ye hang before yourselves, ye ' pure.' )
In a God's mask hid itself your horrible coiled worm.
Verily, ye deceive, ye < contemplative ! ' Zarathustra )
OF IMMACULATE PERCEPTION 169
also hath been the dupe of your godlike hides. He
did not find out the coiling of the snakes by which
they were stuffed.
Once I thought I saw a God's soul play in your
plays, ye pure perceivers ! No better art I once
thought existed than your arts !
The filth of snakes and the bad odour were hidden
from me by distance. So was the fact that the cun-
ning of a lizard crept lasciviously about.
But I stepped close unto you. Then the day came
unto me, and now it cometh unto you, — the moon's
flirtation is at an end !
Look there ! Detected and pale she standeth there
—before the dawn of the day !
There it cometh already, the glowing one, — its love
unto earth cometh ! All sun-love is innocence and
creative desire.
Look there, how impatiently it cometh over the
sea ! Feel ye not the thirst and the hot breath of its
love ?
It will suck the sea, and by drinking its depth
draw up unto the height. Then the lust of the sea riseth
with a thousand breasts.
It desireth to be Jkissed and sucked by the thirst
of the^sun ; it desireth : to. fefLQorne air and height, and
a foot-path of light, and light itself !
Verily, like the sun I love life and all deep seas.
Andjthis_ ij>_called jDej-eep&of*— by^-wyself : all that
is deep shall be raised upwards — unto my height ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF SCHOLARS
" WHEN I lay sleeping, a sheep ate at the ivy-wreath
of my head, — ate and said eating : ' Zarathustra is no
longer a scholar.'
Said it and went off clumsily and proudly. So a
child told me.
I like to lie here where the children play, at the
broken wall, under thistles and red poppy flowers.
A scholar am I still for the children and the thistles
and the red poppy flowers. Innocent are they, even
in their wickedness.
But a scholar am I no longer for the sheep. Thus
my fate willeth — be it blessed !
For this is the truth : I have departed from the
house of scholars, and the door I have shut violently
behind me.
Too long sat my soul hungry at their table. Not,
as they, am I trained for perceiving as for cracking
nuts.
Freedom I love, and a breeze over^ a fresh soil.
And I would rather sleep on ox-skins than on their
honours and respectabilities.
I am too hot and am burnt with mine own thoughts,
170
OF SCHOLARS 171
so as often to take my breath away. Then I must
go into the open air and away from all dusty rooms.
But they are sitting cool in the cool shadow. They
like to be spectators in all things and take care not
to sit where the sun burneth on the steps.
Like such as stand in the street and gaze at the
folk passing — thus they tarry and gaze at the thoughts
thought by others.
As soon as they are grasped by hands, they give
off dust like flour-bags, and involuntarily. But who
would find out rightly that their dust is derived from
the corn and the yellow delight of summer fields ?
When they give themselves the air of wisdom, I
grow cold with their petty sayings and truths. An
odour is often in their wisdom, as if it sprang from
ithe swamp. And, verily, I have even heard the frog
I croak in it !
Clever they are, they have able fingers. What doth
my simplicity wish from their manifoldness ? Their
fingers understand all threading and knotting and
weaving. Thus they weave the stockings of the spirit !
Good clock-works are they. Only take care to
wind them up properly ! Then without deceitfulness
they indicate the hour and make a modest noise in
so doing.
Like millworks they work, and like corn-crushers.
Let folk only throw their grain into them ! They know
only too well how to grind corn and make white dust
out of it. •
They look well at each other's fingers and trust each
other not over-much. Ingenious in little stratagems,
172 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
they wait for those whose knowledge walketh on lame
feet ; like spiders they wait.
I have seem them always prepare their poison with
prudence ; and they always put gloves of glass on
their fingers in so doing.
They also know how to play with false dice ; and
I found them play so eagerly that they perspired
from it.
We are strangers unto each other, and their virtues
are still more contrary unto my taste than their false-
hoods and false dice.
/And when I lived among them I lived above them.
Therefore they became angry at me.
They like not to hear of any one walking above
their heads. Thus they laid wood and earth and filfth
between myself and their heads.
Thus they have deadened the sound of my steps ;
and the most learned have heard me worst.
The fault and weakness of all human beings they
laid between themselves and myself. ' False ceiling'
they call that in their houses.
But nevertheless I walk with my thoughts above their
heads ; and even if I should walk on mine own faults,
I should still be above them and their heads.
For men are not equal. Thus speaketh justice. And
what I will they would not be allowed to will ! "
.--•"
» Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF POETS
" SINCE I came to know the body better," said Zara-
thustra unto one of his disciples, "spirit hath been
for me, as it were, spirit only, and all that is * imperish-
able ' — only a simile."
"Thus I heard thee say already," answered the
disciple. " And when thou saidst thus thou didst add :
4 But the poets lie too much.' Why didst thou say
that the poets lie too much ? "
" Why ? " said Zarathustra. " Thou askest why ? I
am not of those who may be asked for their whys.
Forsooth, is mine experience of yesterday ? It is
long since I found by experience the reasons for mine
opinions.
Would I not require to be a barrel of memory, if I
were to have my reasons with me ?
Even to keep mine opinions is too much for me ; and
many a bird flieth off.
And sometimes indeed I find a bird in my dovecot,
that hath come there but is strange unto me and
trembleth when I lay my hand on it.
But what did Zarathustra once say unto thee ? That
the poets lie too much ? But Zarathustra is a poet
also.
173
174 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Believes! thou now that he spake the truth in this
point ? Why dost thou believe that ? "
The disciple answered : " I believe in Zarathustra."
But Zarathustra shook his head and smiled.
" Belief doth not make me blessed/' said he, " more
especially not the belief in myself.
But suppose somebody said seriously that the poets
lie too much : he is right, — we lie toojmich.
Besides we know too little and are bad learners.
Thus we are compelled to lie.
And which of us poets hath not adulterated his
wine ? Many a poisonous mishmash hath been brought
about in our cellars ; many indescribable things have
been done there.
And because we know little we like from our heart's
heart the poor in spirit, especially if they are little
young women !
And we are even desirous of the things which the
little old women tell each other at night. This we
call in ourselves eternally feminine.
And as though there were a particular secret access
unto knowledge, which was obstructed for those who
learn something — we believe in the folk and their
' wisdom.'
But this is what all poets believe, that he who is
lying in the grass or by lonely slopes and pricketh up
his ears, learneth something about the things which
are between heaven and earth.
And when feeling amorous emotions, the poets ever]
think that nature herself is in love with them.
And that she stealeth unto their ear, to whisper into
OF POETS 175
it secret things and love-flatteries, — of that they boast,
and in it they take their pride in the presence of all
mortals !
Alas, there are so many things between heaven and
earth of which poets only have dreamt !
And chiefly above heaven. For all Gods are a simile
of poets, an i m posk tQn^Jby^p oe ts !
Verily, we are always drawn upwards — namely into
) the kingdom of clouds. On these we place our coloured
[ dolls and call them Gods and beyond-men.
For they are just light enough for such chairs —
all these Gods and beyond-men !
Alas, how weary I am of all the inadequate things
which are obstinately maintained to be actuality 1 Alas^
how weary I am of poets ! "
Zarathustra so saying, his disciple was angry with
him but was silent. And Zarathustra was silent also ;
and his eye had turned inwards, as though he gazed
into far distances. At last he sighed and took
breath.
Then he said : " I am of to-day and of the past ;
but something is within me, that is 'of to-morrow and
the day after to-morrow and the far future.
^became weary of poets, of the old and of the new.
Superficial all of them are, and shallow seas.
They did not think deep enough. Therefore their
feeling did not sink so deep as to reach the bottom.
Some voluptuousness and some tediousness — these
have even been their best meditation.
As a breathing and vanishing of ghosts I regard all
i;6 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
the strumming of their harp. What have they known
hitherto of the ardour of tones !
Besides they are not cleanly enough for me. All
of them make their water muddy that it may seem
deep.
And they like to let themselves appear as reconcilers.
/ But mediators and mixers they remain for me, and
half-and-half ones and uncleanly !
Alas, it is true I have cast my net in their seas
and tried to catch good fish ; but I always drew up
the head of some old God.
Thus the sea gave a stone unto the hungry
one. And perhaps they themselves are born from
the sea.
1 True, one findeth pearls in them. So much the more
are they like unto the hard shell-fish. And instead of
a soul I often found salt slime in them.
From the sea they learned even its vanity. Is not
the sea the peacock of peacocks ?
Even before the ugliest of all buffaloes it unfoldeth
its tail ; and it never wearieth of its lace-fan of silver
and silk.
Defiantly looketh at it the buffalo, with soul nigh
the sand, still nigher the thicket, but nighest the
swamp.
What is for it beauty and sea and peacock-decoration ?
This simile I give unto poets.
Verily, their mind itself is the peacock of peacocks,
and a sea of vanity !
The mind of poets wisheth spectators, — even if it
were buffaloes 1
OF POETS 177
But I wearied of that mind ; and I see a time when
it will weary of itself.
Changed already have I seen the poets, and their
glance turned against themselves.
Penitents of spirit I saw come. They grew out of
poets."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF GREAT EVENTS
THERE is an island in the sea — not far from the blissful
islands of Zarathustra — in which a volcano smoketh
constantly. The folk, and especially the little old
women among the folk, say that that island is set
before the gate of the underworld. But through the
volcano there is a narrow path down, which leadeth
unto that gate of the underworld.
About that time when Zarathustra lived on the bliss-
ful islands it came to pass that a ship cast anchor at
that island on which the smoking mountain standeth ;
and the sailors of that ship went ashore in order to shoot
rabbits ! But about the hour of noon, when the captain
and his men had mustered again, they suddenly saw
a man come through the air unto them, and a voice
said distinctly : " It is time ! It is high time !" But when
that person was nighest unto them (he passed by them
flying quickly like a shadow, in the direction in which
the volcano was situated) they recognised with the
greatest confusion that it was Zarathustra. For all
of them, except the captain, had seen him before, and
they loved him, as the folk love, blending love and
awe in equal parts.
ITS
OF GREAT EVENTS 179
" Lo there ! " said the old steersman, " Zarathustra
goeth unto hell ! "
About the same time when these sailors landed at
the fire-island, a rumour went about that Zarathustra
had disappeared. And when his friends were asked
they told how at night he had gone aboard a ship
without saying whither he was going to voyage.
Thus some anxiety arose. But after three days the
story of the sailors was added unto that anxiety — and
now every one said that the devil had taken Zarathustra.
Although his disciples laughed at that gossip and one
of them even said : " I rather believe that Zarathustra
hath taken the devil," at the bottom of their soul they
were all full of sorrow and longing. Thus their joy
was great when, on the fifth day, Zarathustra appeared
among them.
And this is the story of Zarathustra's conversation
with the fiery dog :
" Earth," said he, " hath a skin ; and that skin hath
diseases. One of these diseases, for example, is called :
' man.'
And another of these diseases is called ' fiery dog ; '
of it men have told and been told many lies.
To find out this secret I went beyond the sea. And
I have seen truth naked, verily ! barefoot up to its
neck.
Now I know the truth about that fiery dog ; and at
the same time about all the devils of casting out and
of revolution, of which not only little old women are
afraid.
' Come up, fiery dog, out of thy depth ! ' I shouted,
i8o THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
' and confess how deep that depth is ! Whence cometh
what thou snortest up ?
Thou drinkest enough at the sea ; that is betrayed
by thy salt eloquence ! Verily, considering that thou
art a dog of the depth thou takest thy food too much
from the surface !
At the highest I regard thee as a ventriloquist of
earth, and whenever I heard devils of revolution and
casting out speak, I found them to be like thee : salt,
deceitful and shallow.
Ye understand how to roar and to darken with ashes !
Ye are the best swaggerers and have sufficiently learnt
the art of heating mud.
Wherever ye are, there must mud be nigh, and many
mud-like, hollow, squeezed-in things. They seek to
get into freedom.
"Freedom" all of you like best to shout. But I
have lost my belief in "great events," whenever much
shouting and smoke are round them.
And believe me, friend Hellish Noise! The greatest
events are not our loudest but our stillest hours.
The world doth not revolve round the inventors
of new noise, but round ihe inventors of new values ;
inaudibly it turneth.
And now confess ! Little had actually happened when
thy noise and smoke disappeared. What matter that a
town became a mummy, and a statue lay in the mud !
And this word I tell the subverters of statues. Pro-
bably the greatest folly is to throw salt into the sea,
and statues into the mud.
In the mud of your contempt the statue lay. But
OF GREAT EVENTS 181
that very fact is its law, that out of contempt life and
living beauty grow again !
With more godlike features it now ariseth, seducing
by suffering ; and verily ! it will thank you one day
for subverting it, ye subverters !
But with this counsel I counsel kings and churches
and all that is weak from old age and virtue : allow
yourselves to be subverted ! In order that ye may
recover life, and that — virtue may recover you ! '
Thus I spake before the fiery dog ; then it inter-
rupted me sullenly and asked : ' Church ? What is that ?'
' Church ? ' I answered, ' that is a kind of state,
viz., the most deceitful kind. But be quiet, thou
hypocritical dog ! Thou knowest thy kin best, I
suppose !
The state is a hypocritical dog like thyself ; like
thyself it liketh to speak with smoke and roaring, — in
order to make believe, like thee, that it speaketh out
of the womb of things.
For it wisheth absolutely to be the most important
animal on earth, the state. And it is believed to be so/
When I had said thus, the fiery dog behaved as
if it were mad with envy. ' How ? ' it cried, ' the
most important animal on earth ? And it is believed
to be so ? ' And so much steam and terrible voices
came from its throat, that I thought it would choke
with anger and envy.
At last it became quieter, and its panting ceased.
But as soon as it was quiet I said laughing :
'Thou art angry, fiery dog. Therefore I am right
about thee 1
182 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA II
And in order that I may also be right in future,
let me speak unto thee of another fiery dog, that
actually speaketh out of the heart of earth.
Gold is breathed by its breath, and a golden rain.
Thus its heart willeth. What are for it ashes and
smoke and hot phlegm 1
Laughter fluttereth out of it like coloured clouds ;
it misliketh thy gargling and spitting and thy pains
in the bowels !
But gold and laughter it taketh out of the heart
of earth. For thou mayest now know — the heart of
earth is of gold.'
When the fiery dog had heard that, it could bear
no longer to listen unto me. In shame it drew in its
tail ; sorely cast down it said : ' Bow wow ! ' and crept
down into its cave."
Thus told Zarathustra. But his disciples scarcely
listened unto him. So great was their desire to tell
him about the sailors, the rabbits, and the flying man.
" What am I to think of that 1 " said Zarathustra.
" Am I a ghost ?
But it may have been my shadow. I suppose ye have
heard some things about the wanderer and his shadow ?
But one thing is sure : I must keep it shorter, —
otherwise it spoileth my reputation."
And Zarathustra shook his head once more and
wondered. " What am I to think of that ! " he repeated.
" Why did that ghost cry : ' It is high time 1 '
For what is it — high time ? "
"Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE FORTUNE-TELLER
"AND I saw a great sadness coming over men. The
best became weary of their works.
A doctrine went out, a belief ran with it : 'All is
empty, all is equal, all hath been ! '
nd from all hills it echoed : ' All is empty, all is
equal, all hath been ! '
True, we have reaped. But why grew all our fruits
rotten and brown ? What hath fallen down from the
evil moon last night?
In vain hath been all work, our wine hath become
poison, an evil eye hath burnt our fields and hearts
yellow.
Dry all of us have become ; and when fire falleth
down on us we become dust like ashes. Fire itself
we have wearied out. For us, all wells pined away ;
even the sea receded from us. All the soil is going
to break, but the depth is not going to devour any-
thing !
Alas ! where is a sea left to be drowned in ? Thus
soundeth our lament, away over shallow swamps.
Verily, we are already too weary to die. Now we
wake on and live on — in burial vaults ! "
183
184 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Thus»^heard Zarathustra a fortune-teller say ; and
the prophecy touched his heart and changed him. He
went about dreary and weary ; and he became like those
of whom the fortune-teller had spoken.
"Verily," said he unto his disciples, "yet a little
while, and then cometh that long twilight. Alas, how
can I save my light beyond it !
Would that it were not extinguished in that sadness !
For it is meant to be a light for still remoter worlds,
and for the remotest nights ! "
Thus afflicted Zarathustra went about. And for three
days he did not take any drink or food ; he had no
rest and lost his speech. At last it came to pass that
he fell into a deep sleep. But his disciples sat around
him in long night-watches and waited sorrowing, to
see whether he would awake and speak again and
recover from his affliction.
This is the speech which Zarathustra made when
he awoke. But his voice sounded unto his disciples
as though it came from a far distance.
" Now listen unto the dream I dreamt, ye friends,
and help me to find out its sense !
A riddle it is still for me, that dream. Its sense is
hidden within it and caught in it, and flieth not yet
over it with free wings.
I dreamt I had renounced all life. I had become
a night watchman and grave watchman, there on the
lonely castle of death in the mountains.
On high there I guarded death's coffins. The damp
vaults stood full of such signs of triumph. Out of glass
coffins, overcome life gazed at me.
THE FORTUNE-TELLER 185
The odour of dusty eternities I breathed. Sultry and
dusty lay my soul. And who could have aired his soul
there !
Light of midnight was always round me, loneliness
cowered beside me, and, as the third, the death-stillness-
and-rattle, the most wicked of all my female friends.
I had keys with me, the rustiest of keys ; and I
knew - how to open with them the loudest creaking
doors.
Like a very cruel groan the sound ran through
the long corridors when the door opened on both
hinges ; weirdly cried that bird ; it liked not to be
awakened.
But still more terrible, strangling one's heart, it was
when it became silent again and still round about, and
I sat alone with that insidious silence.
Thus the time went on and crept on, if there really
was time. What know I thereof ! But at last that
came to pass which awakened me.
Three times blows struck the door, like thunder
strokes ; three times the vaults resounded and groaned ;
then I went unto the door.
' Alpa ! ' I called, ' who carrieth his ashes unto the
mountains ? Alpa ! Alpa ! Who carrieth his ashes
unto the mountains ? '
And I pressed the key and tried to lift the door,
and exerted myself. But it was not yet opened a
finger's breadth —
Then an impetuous wind tore its two halves apart.
Whistling, whizzing, and buzzing it threw a black
coffin at me.
1 86 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
And amidst the roaring and whistling and whizzing
the coffin brake and spat out a thousandfold laughter.
And out of a thousand caricatures of children,
angels, owls, fools, and butterflies as big as children,
something laughed and mocked and roared at me.
It made me sore afraid, it threw me down. And
with terror I yelled, as never I yelled before.
But mine own cry awakened me ; and I became
conscious again."
Thus Zarathustra told his dream and then was
silent. For he did not yet know the interpretation of
it. But the disciple whom he loved most, arose quickly
and took Zarathustra's hand, saying :
"Thy life itself is explained unto us by this dream,
O Zarathustra !
Art thou not thyself the wind with whizzing whistling,
that openeth the doors of the castles of death ?
Art thou hot thyself the coffin of many-coloured
wickednesses and caricatures of the angels of life ?
Verily, like" ITTfiousandfold laughter of children
Zarathustra entereth all chambers of the dead, laugh-
ing at those night watchmen and grave watchmen, and
whoever else rattleth with gloomy keys.
Thou wilt terrify and subvert them with thy laughter.
Impotence and awakening will be proved by thy power
over them.
And even when the long dawn cometh, and the
weariness of death, thou wilt not set in our sky, thou
advocate of life !
Thou madest us see new stars and new beauties of
the night. Verily, life itself thou didst stretch over us
like a many-coloured tent.
THE FORTUNE-TELLER 187
Now for ever the laughter of children will spring
forth from coffins ; now for ever a strong wind will
come victoriously over all weariness of death. Of that
thou art thyself a pledge and a prophet.
Verily, thou beholdest thine enemies themselves, in
thy dream ; that was thy hardest dream !
But as thou awokest and earnest back from them
unto thyself, so shall they awake from themselves and
come unto thee ! "
Thus said the disciple. And now all the others
thronged round Zarathustra and shook his hands and
tried to persuade him to leave his bed and his sadness
and return unto them. But Zarathustra sat upright on
his couch and with a strange glance. Like unto one
who returneth from a long journey abroad he gazed
at his disciples and examined their faces ; but not yet
did he recognise them. But when they lifted him and
set him on his feet, behold, then his eye changed at
once. He understood all that had befallen, he stroked
his beard and said with a strong voice :
" Up ! This hath had its time. Take care, my dis-
ciples, that we have a good dinner, and that right
early ! Thus would I do penance for bad dreams !
But the fortune-teller shall eat and drink at my side.
And, verily, I shall show him a sea in which he can
be drowned ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra. And then for a long while
he gazed into the face of the disciple who had been
the interpreter of his dream — shaking his head.
OF SALVATION
WHEN Zarathustra one day crossed the large bridge,
cripples and beggars surrounded him, and a hunchback
thus spake unto him :
" Behold, Zarathustra ! Even the folk learn from thee
and learn belief in thy teaching. But in order that
they may believe thee entirely, one thing more is
wanted — first thou must persuade us cripples ! Here
thou hast now a beautiful selection, and, verily, an
opportunity with more than one forelock to catch it
by. Thou mightest heal the blind and make the lame
run, and thou mightest also perhaps take a little from
him who hath too much behind him. That, I think,
would be the proper way to make the cripples believe
in Zarathustra ! "
But Zarathustra replied thus unto him who had
spoken : " If one taketh the hunch from the hunchback,
one taketh his spirit away. Thus the folk teach. And
*if one giveth the blind one his eyes, he seeth too many
bad things on earth, so that he curseth him who hath
I healed him. But he who maketh the lame one run,
I hurteth him sorely ; for just when he hath learnt to
: run, his vices run away with him. Thus the folk
teach about cripples. And why should not Zarathustra
1 88
OF SALVATION 189
learn from the folk, what the folk learn from Zara-
thustra ?
But it is of the least moment for me since I came
to live among men, to see : these are lacking an eye,
and that man is lacking an ear, and a third one is
lacking a leg, and there are others who have lost the
tongue or the nose or the head.
I see and have seen worse things and many kinds
of things so abominable that I should not like to speak
of all things ; and about some I should not even stand
silent : namely men who are lacking everything except
that they have one thing too much ; men who are
nothing but a great eye, or a great mouth, or a great
womb, or something else great. Reversed cripples I
call such.
And when I came out of my solitude and crossed
this bridge for the first time I trusted not mine eyes,
and gazed there again and again, and said at last :
' That is an ear, an ear as great as a man 1 ' I gazed
there still more thoroughly. And really, under the ear
something moved, which was pitifully small and poor
and slender. And, truly, that immense ear was carried
by a small, thin stalk ; and the stalk was a man ! He
who would put a glass before his eye could even re-
cognise a small envious face ; also that a little bloated
soul was hanging down from the stalk. The folk,
however, informed me that that great ear was not only
a man, but a great man, a genius. But I never be-
lieved the folk when they spake of great men — and
kept my belief that he was a reversed cripple who had
too little of all things and top much of one thing."
190 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Having thus spoken unto the hunchback and unto
those whose mouthpiece and advocate that man was,
Zarathustra turned unto his disciples in deep distress
and said :
"Verily, my friends, I walk among men as among
the fragments and limbs of men !
This is the dreadful thing for mine eye, that I find
man broken into pieces and scattered as over a battle
field and a butcher's shambles.
And when mine eye fleeth from to-day into the
past it findeth always the same : fragments and limbs
and dismal accidents, but no men !
The present and the past on earth — alas ! my friends,
— these are what 7 find most intolerable. And I should
_
not know how to live, if I were not a prophet of
what must come.
A prophet, a willing one, a creator, a veritable
future, and a bridge unto the future — and alas ! be-
sides, as it were, a cripple at that bridge. All these
things is Zarathustra.
And ye also asked yourselves : ' Who is Zarathustra
for us ? How is he to be called by us ? ' And as I do,
ye gave yourselves questions for answer.
Is he one who promiseth ? Or one who fulfilleth ?
One who conquereth ? Or one who inheriteth ? An
autumn ? Or a plough ? A physician ? Or a con-
valescent ?
Is he a poet ? Or a truthful one ? A liberator ? Or
a subduer ? One who is good ? Or one who is bad
I walk among men as among the fragments of the
future, of that future which I see.
j
OF SALVATION 191
And all my thought and striving is to compose and
gather into one thing what is a fragment and a riddle
and a dismal accident.
AniTTiow" coutcT I bear to be a man, if man was ]
not a poet and a solver of riddles and the saviour of :
accident ! ^£^
To save the past ones and to change every ' It was '
into a ' Thus I would have it ' — that alone would mean
salvation for me !
Will— that is the name of the liberator and bringer
of joy. Thus I taught you, my friends ! But now
learn this in addition : will itself is
Willing delivereth. But what is the name of that
which putteth into chains even the liberator ?
'It was;' thus the gnashing of the teeth and the
loneliest affliction of will are named. Impotent against
what hath been done, it is an evil spectator of all that
is past.
Will is ujaable-iQ^will anything in the past. That
^^^-.,1 .«.. ,. , *»«^ ^im~3B*;*»*'*rw"--*«"«jfc!*'i'^^ »*^^>^,'aa>^»-^*^A*«>^^J^fc-
it cannot break time and the desire of time, — that is
the loneliest affliction of will.
Willing delivereth. What doth willing itself invent in
order to get rid of its affliction and mock at its prison ?
Alas, every prisoner becometh a fool ! Foolishly,
likewise, imprisoned will delivereth itself.
That time doth not go backwards, that is will's
wrath. ' What was ' — is the name of the stone it can-
not turn.
And thus it turneth stones out of wrath and indig-
nation and taketh revenge on what doth not feel wrath
and indignation like it,
192 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Thus will, the liberator, became a causer of pain.
And on all that is able to suffer, it taketh revenge for
being unable to enter the past.
This, this alone, is revenge : will's abhorrence of time
and its ' It was.'
Verily, great folly liveth in our will ; and it became
a curse for all that is human, that that folly learned
how to have spirit 1
The spirit of revenge — my friends, that hath hitherto
beenTKSTTest meditation of men. And wherever
there was affliction, there punishment was supposed
to be.
' Punishment ' — thus revenge calleth itself. With a
word oflying, it feigheth a good conscience for itself.
And because there is affliction in the willing one,
because he cannot will backwards — all willing and all
living were supposed to be punishment !
And now one cloud after another hath rolled over
the spirit, until at last madness preached : ' Everything
perisheth, therefore all is worthy to perish ! '
'And this law of time is justice, that time must
devour its own children.' Thus madness preached.
' Morally things are arranged according to right and
punishment. Oh ! where is the salvation from the
current of things and the "existence" of punishment?'
Thus madness preached.
' Can there be salvatio/i if there is an eternal right ?
Alas, unturnable is tho^tone " It was ! " Eternal must
be all punishments ! ' Thus madness preached.
' No action can be annihilated. How could it be
undone by punishment! This, this, is what is eternal
OF SALVATION 193
in the punishment of " existence," that existence itself
must eternaUy-ba.agajji action and guilt 1
"Tjnless it should be, that at last will would save
itself, and willing would become not-willing.' But ye
know, my brethren this fabulous song of madness !
I led you away from those fabulous songs, when I
taught you : ' All will is a creator^
All 'It was' is aTragmerit, a riddle, a dismal acci-
dent until a creating will saith unto it : ' Thus I would
have it ! '
Until a creating will saith unto it: 'Thus I will!
Thus I shall will!'
But did it ever speak thus ? And when doth that
happen ? Hath will been unharnessed yet from its
own folly ?
Hath will become its own saviour and bringer of
joy? Hath it unlearnt the spirit of revenge and the
gnashing of teeth ?
And who taught it reconciliation with time and
something higher than all reconciliation is ?
Something higher than all reconciliation is, must be
willed by the will that is will unto power. But how
doth that happen unto it? And who taught it that
willing into the past ? "
But at this place of his speech it came to pass that
Zarathustra stopped suddenly and looked like unto one
who is sore afraid. With a * terrified eye he looked
upon his disciples. As it were with arrows, his eye
pierced their thoughts and back-thoughts. But after a
short while he again laughed and said appeased : p
194 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
" It is difficult to live with men because silence is
1 so difficult. Especially for a talkative person."
Thus spake Zarathustra. But the hunchback had
listened unto the conversation with his face covered
over. Yet when he heard Zarathustra laugh he looked
up curiously and said slowly :
"But why doth Zarathustra speak unto us in differ-
ent wise from that in which he speaketh unto his dis-
ciples?"
Zarathustra answered : " What cause is there for
astonishment? With the hunchback, one may well
speak in a hunchbacked way ! "
" Good and well," said the hunchback; "and among
schoolfellows one may well talk of school.
But why doth Zarathustra speak in different wise
unto his disciples from that — in which he speaketh
unto himself ? "
OF MANLY PRUDENCE
" NOT the height, the declivity is the terrible thing !
The declivity where the glance hurleth down, and
the hand graspeth up. There the heart becometh
dizzy from its double will.
Alas, friends, do ye guess rightly the double will of
my heart ?
This, this is my declivity and my danger, that my
glance hurleth up, and my hand would fain clutch
and lean upon — depth !
My will clingeth round man ; with chains I bind
myself unto man because I am torn upwards unto
beyond-man. For thither mine other will is longing.
And for this purpose I live blind among men as
though I did not know them ; that my hand might
not lose entirely its belief in what is firm.
I know not you men ; this darkness and comfort is
frequently spread out over me.
I am sitting at the gateway for every villain and
ask : ' Who is going to deceive me ? '
My first manly prudence is that I admit myself to
be deceived in order not to be compelled to guard
myself from deceivers.
Alas, if I guarded myself from man how could man
195
196 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
be an anchor for my ball ! Much too easily would I
be drawn upwards and away !
This providence hangeth over my fate, that I must
be without caution.
And whoever wisheth not to die of thirst among
men, must learn to drink out of all glasses ; and who-
ever wisheth to remain clean among men, must under-
stand to wash himself even with dirty water.
Thus I often spake unto myself comforting : ' Up !
up ! old heart ! A misfortune of thine hath failed.
Enjoy that as thy happiness!'
But this is mine other manly prudence : I spare
the conceited more than the proud.
Is not wounded conceit the mother of all tragedies ?
But where pride is wounded, there groweth up some-
thing better than pride.
In order that life may be a fine spectacle, its play
must be played well. But for that purpose good
actors are required.
Good actors, I found, all the conceited are. They
play and wish that folk may like to look at their
playing. All their spirit is in this will.
They act themselves, they invent themselves ; close
by them I like to look at life's play,— it cureth melan-
choly.
Therefore I spare all the conceited, because they
are physicians of my melancholy and keep me tied
fast unto man as unto a spectacle.
And then : in the conceited one, who could measure
the entire depth of his modesty ! I am favourable and
sympathetic towards him because of his modesty.
OF MANLY PRUDENCE 197
From you he wisheth to learn his belief in himself ; i
he feedeth from your glances, he eateth praise off your
hands.
He even believeth your lies when ye lie well about
him. For in its depths his heart sigheth : ' What am / /'
And if that is the right virtue, which knoweth not
about itself : now, the conceited one knoweth not
about his modesty !
But this is my third manly prudence, that I allow
not the sight of the wicked to be made disagreeable
through your fear.
I am blessed in seeing the marvels which hot sun-
shine breedeth : tigers and palm-trees and rattle-snakes.
Among men there is a beautiful brood from the
hot sunshine, and in the wicked there are many
astonishing things.
Let me confess : as your wisest men did not appear
unto me to be so very wise, so I found men's wicked-
ness much less than the fame of it.
And often I asked with a shaking of my head :
' Why rattle still, ye rattle-snakes ? '
Verily, even for what is wicked there is still a future !
And the hottest south hath not yet been discovered
for man.
How many things are at present called highest
wickedness, which are only twelve shoes broad and
three months long ! One day, however, bigger dragons
will come into the world.
For, in order that beyond-man may not lack a
dragon, a beyond-dragon that is worthy of him, much
hot sunshine must glow over damp primeval forest !
198 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Out of your wild cats tigers must have grown and
crocodiles out of your poisonous toads. For the good
hunter shall have a good hunt !
And, verily, ye good and just ! Much in you is
laughable and especially your fear of what hath hitherto
been called ' devil ! '
What is great is so strange unto your soul, that be-
yond-man would be terrible unto you by his kindness !
And ye wise and knowing men, ye would flee from
the burning sun of wisdom, in which beyond-man
rejoiceth to bathe his nakedness !
Ye highest men with whom mine eye hath met !
This is my doubt as regardeth you, and my secret
laughter : I guess, my beyond-man ye would call—
'devil!'
Alas, I have grown weary of these highest and best !
From their 'height' I longed to rise upwards, out,
away unto beyond-man !
A terror overcame me when I saw these best men
naked. Then wings grew unto me to fly away into
remote futures.
Into more remote futures, into more southern souths
than artist ever dreamt of : thither where Gods are
ashamed of all clothing !
But I wish to see you disguised, ye neighbours and
fellow-men, and well adorned, and vain, and worthy,
as 'the good and just,' —
And disguised I -will sit among you myself, in order
to mistake you and myself. For this is my last manly
prudence."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE STILL HOUR
" WHAT hath happened unto me, my friends ? Ye see
me troubled, driven away, unwillingly obedient, ready
to go — alas, to go away from you I
Yea, once more Zarathustra hath to go into his
solitude! But this time the bear goeth back into its
cave sadly !
What hath happened unto me ? Who commandeth
this ? Alas, mine angry mistress wisheth it to be thus !
She spake unto me. Did I ever mention her name
unto you ?
Yester-even my stillest hour spake unto me. That
is the name of my terrible mistress.
And thus it happened. (For everything must I tell
you, that your heart may not harden towards him who
taketh sudden leave !)
Know ye the terror of him who falleth asleep ?
Unto his very toes he is terrified by the ground
giving way and the dream beginning.
This I tell you as a parable. Yesterday at the
stillest hour, the ground gave way beneath me : the
dream began.
The hand moved on, the clock of my life took
breath. Never did I hear such stillness round me.
Thus my heart was terrified.
199
200 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
Then it was said unto me without a voice : ' Thou
knowest it, Zarathustra ? '
And I yelled with terror at that whispering, and the
blood went out of my face, but I was speechless.
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
'Thou knowest, Zarathustra, but thou speakest not 1'
And at last I answered like a spiteful one : ' Yea, I
know it, but wish not to pronounce it ! '
Then it was again said unto me : 'Thou wishest not,
Zarathustra ? Is that true ? Conceal not thyself be-
hind thy spite ! '
But I wept and trembled like a child and said :
' Alas, I should wish, but how can I do it ! Exempt
me from this one thing ! It is beyond my power !'
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
' What matter about thyself, Zarathustra ! Say thy
word and break into pieces ! '
And I answered : ' Alas, is it my word ? Who am / f
I wait for a worthier one ; I am not worthy to be
broken into pieces even from that word/
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
' What matter about thyself ? Thou art not yet
humble enough. Humility hath the thickest skin.'
And I answered : ' What hath not been borne by
the skin of my humility ! At the foot of my height
I dwell. How high my summits are ? How high, no
one hath yet told me. But well I know my valleys/
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
' O Zarathustra, he who hath to move mountains moveth
valleys and low lands as well/
And I answered : ' Not yet hath my word moved
THE STILL HOUR 201
any mountains, and what I spake hath not reached men.
Although I went unto men, not yet have I reached them.'
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
' What knowest thou of that f The dew falleth upon the
grass when the night is most silent/
And I answered : ' They mocked at me when I
found and went mine own way. And in truth my feet
trembled then.'
And thus they spake unto me : < Thou unlearnedst the
path ; now thou also unlearnest walking ! '
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
' What matter for their mocking ? Thou art one who
hath unlearnt obedience : now thou shalt command !
Knowest thou not who is required most by all ? He
who commandeth great things.
To do great things is hard ; but to command great
things is still harder.
This is what is most unpardonable in thee : thou hast
the power and wantest not to rule.'
And I answered : ' I lack a lion's voice for com-
manding.'
, I Then it was again said unto me like a whispering :
I ' The stillest words bring the storm. Thoughts which
/ come on doves' feet rule the world.
O Zarathustra, thou shalt go as a shadow of what
must come. Thus thou wilt command and go in the
front commanding.'
And I answered : ' I am ashamed.'
Then it was again said unto me without a voice :
'Thou hast still to become a child and without sense,
of shame.
\
202 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
The pride of youth is still upon thee ; very late hast
thou become young. And whoever wanteth to become
a child must overcome even his youth.'
And I meditated a long while and trembled. But at
last I said what I had said first : ' I wish not.'
Then a laughter brake out around me. Alas, how
the laughter tore mine intestines and ripped up my
heart !
And it was said unto me for the last time : 'O Zara-
thustra, thy fruits are ripe, but thou art not ripe for
thy fruits !
Thus thou must again go into solitude ; for thou
shalt become mellow.'
And again there was laughter ; and then it fled. Then
there was stillness around me, as it were, with a two-
fold stillness. But I lay on the ground, and the sweat
flowed down my limbs.
Now ye have heard all, and why I have to return
into my solitude. Nothing I kept hidden from you, my
friends.
Ye have indeed heard it from me who am still the most
discreet of men — and will be so !
Alas, my friends ! I should have more to tell you,
I should have more to give you ! Why do I give it not ?
Am I miserly ? "
When Zarathustra had said these words the power
of pain and the nighness of the leavetaking from his
friends surprised him so that he wept aloud ; and no-
body could comfort him. But at night he went off
alone and left his friends.
THE THIRD PART
" Ye look upward when longing to be ex-
alted. And I look downward because I am
exalted.
Which of you can at the same time laugh
and be exalted ?
He who strideth across the highest moun-
tains laugheth at all tragedies whether of
the stage or of life."
Zarathustra, I
Of Reading and Writing
THE WANDERER
IT was about midnight that Zarathustra took his way
over the back of the island in order to arrive early
in the morning at the other shore. For there he in-
tended to go on board a ship. For there was a good
roadstead at which foreign ships liked to cast anchor.
They took with them many a one who from the bliss-
ful islands desired to go over sea. Now when thus
mounting the hill Zarathustra thought on his way of
his many lonely wanderings from his youth, and how
many hills and mountain ridges and summits had been
ascended by him.
"I am a wanderer and a mountain-climber," said
he unto his heart ; " I like not the plains and it seemeth
I cannot long sit still.
And whatever may become my fate and experi-
ence,— a wandering and a mountain-climbing will be
part of it. In the end one experienceth nothing but
one's self.
The time is past when accidents could happen unto
me. And what could now fall unto my share that is
not already mine own !
It merely returneth, it at last cometh home unto me
205
206 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
— mine own self, and whatever of it hath been for a long
time abroad and hath been dispersed among all things
and accidents.
And one more thing I know : now I stand before my
last summit and before that which hath been longest
reserved for me. Alas, I must ascend my hardest path !
Alas, .1 have begun my loneliest wandering !
But whoever is of my kin escapeth not such an hour,
an hour which speaketh unto him : ' It is only now that
thou goest the way of thy greatness ! Summit and
precipice — these are now contained in one !
Thou goest the way of thy greatness. Now what was
called hitherto thy last danger hath become thy last
refuge !
Thou goest the way of thy greatness. Thy best
courage must now be that behind thee there is no
further path !
Thou goest the way of thy greatness. Hither no
one shall steal after thee ! Thy foot itself extinguished
the path behind thee, and above it there standeth written:
' Impossibility/
And if thou now lackest all ladders thou must know
how to mount thine own head. Otherwise how couldst
thou ascend ?
Thine own head, and past thine own heart ! Now
what is mildest in thee must become hardest.
Whoever hath spared himself always, at last aileth
because of his sparing himself so much. .- Let that which
maketh hard be praised. I do not praise the land where
there— flow butter and honey !
In order to see much it is necessary to learn to forget
THE WANDERER 207
one's self. This hardness is requisite for every mountain-
climber.
But whoever is forward with his eyes as a perceiver,
how could he see more than the foremost reasons of all
things !
But thou, O Zarathustra, desiredst to see the ground
and background of all things. Thus thou art compelled
to mount above thyself, up, upwards until thou seest
below thyself even thy stars !
Ay, to look down unto one's self and even unto one's
stars : only that would I call my summit, that hath been
reserved for me as my last summit."
Thus Zarathustra spake unto himself, ascending, com-
forting his heart with hard little sayings ; for his heart
was sore as it had never been. And when he reached
the top of the mountain ridge, lo ! the other sea lay
spread out before him. And he stood still and kept
silence for a long time. But the night was cold on that
height, and clear and bright with stars.
" I recognise my lot," at last he said sadly. " Up ! I
am ready. My last loneliness hath just begun.
Oh, that black, sad sea below me ! Oh, that black,
nightlike peevishness ! Oh, fate and sea ! Now I have
to step down unto you !
Before my highest mountain I stand, and before
my longest wandering. Therefore I must first descend
deeper than I ever ascended —
Descend deeper into pain, than I ever ascended until
I reach its blackest flood. Thus my fate willeth. Up !
I am ready.
208 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
' Whence spring the highest mountains ? ' Thus I
once asked. Then I learned that they spring from
the sea.
This testimony is written in their stones and in the
walls of their summits. Out of the greatest depth the
highest must rise unto its height."
Thus spake Zarathustra on the summit of the
mountain, where it was cold. But when he came nigh
unto the sea, and at last stood alone among the cliffs,
he had grown weary on the way and felt a deeper
longing than ever before.
"Now everything is asleep," said he. "The sea is
asleep also. Full of sleep and strange its eye gazeth at me.
But warm is its breath, I feel it. And I also feel
that it dreameth. Dreamy it tosseth to and fro on its
hard pillows.
Hearken ! Hearken ! How it groaneth with evil
reminiscences ! Or with evil expectations ?
Oh, I am sad with thee, thou dark monster, and
I am angry at myself even for thy sake.
Alas, that my hand hath not strength enough ! Fain,
truly, would I redeem thee from evil dreams ! "
And while thus speaking Zarathustra laughed with
melancholy and bitterness at himself. " What ! Zara-
thustra ! " said he. " Art thou about to sing comfort
even unto the sea ?
Oh, thou kind-hearted fool Zarathustra, thou who
art all-too-full of confidence ! But thus thou hast
always been : familiarly thou hast ever approached
unto all that was terrible.
THE WANDERER 209
Thou wert about to caress every monster. A whiff
of warm breath, a little soft shaggy hair at the paw, —
and at once thou wert ready to love and decoy it.
Love is the danger of the loneliest one, love unto
everything if it only live. Laughable, verily, is my
folly and my modesty in love ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra laughing withal a second
time. But then he remembered his friends he had
left — , and as though he had done wrong unto them
with his thoughts, he was angry with himself because
of his thoughts. And a little later it game to pass
that the laughing one wept. From anger and longing
Zarathustra wept bitterly.
OF THE VISION AND THE RIDDLE
WHEN the rumour spread among the shipmen that
Zarathustra was on board the ship (for at the same
time with him a man had come aboard who came
from the blissful islands), great curiosity and expecta-
tion arose. But Zarathustra was silent for two days
and was cold and deaf from sadness so that he neither
answered looks nor questions. But on the evening
of the second day he opened his ears again, al-
though he still remained silent. For there were many
strange and dangerous things to be heard on that
ship which came from a far distance and went far
further. But Zarathustra was a friend of all such as
make distant voyages and like not to live without
danger. And lo ! from listening at last his own tongue
was loosened and the ice of his heart brake. Then he
began to speak thus :
"Unto you, ye keen searchers, tempters and who-
ever goeth aboard a ship for terrible seas with cun-
ning sails, —
Unto you rejoicers in riddles, who enjoy the twi-
aio
OF THE VISION AND THE RIDDLE 211
light ; whose soul is attracted by flutes unto every
labyrinthine chasm :
(For ye care not to grope after a thread, with a
coward's hand ; and where ye are able to guess ye
hate to determine by argument.)
Unto you alone I tell this riddle which I saw— the
vision of the loneliest one.
Mournfully I went of late through a corpse-coloured
dawn, — mournfully and hard with my lips pressed to-
gether. Not only one sun had gone down for me.
A path ascending defiantly through the boulder-
stones ; a wicked, lonely path unto which neither herb
nor bushes spake ; a mountain-path gnashed its teeth
under the scorn of my foot.
Striding silently over the scornful rattling of pebbles,
crushing with its step the stone that made it slip,
thus my foot forced its way upwards.
Upwards — in defiance of the spirit drawing it down-
wards, into the abyss — the spirit of gravity, my devil
and arch-enemy.
Upwards — although that spirit sat upon me, half
a dwarf, half a mole ; lame ; laming ; dropping lead
through mine ear, thoughts as heavy as drops of lead
into my brain.
' O Zarathustra,' it whispered scornfully pronouncing
syllable by syllable. ' Thou stone of wisdom ! Thou
threwest thyself high up, but every stone thrown must-
fall !
O Zarathustra, thou stone of wisdom, thou sling-
stone, thou destroyer of stars ! Thyself thou threwest
so high, — but every stone thrown must — fall 1
212 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Condemned unto thyself and thine own stoning.
O Zarathustra, far thou threwest the stone indeed, —
but it will fall back upon thyself!'
Then the dwarf was silent ; and that lasted long.
But his silence pressed me down ; and being thus by
twos, verily, one is lonelier than being by one !
I ascended, I ascended, I dreamt, I thought, — but
everything pressed upon me. Like a sick one I was,
who is wearied by a sore torture, and who, by a sorer
dream, is awakened out of his falling asleep.
But a thing is within me, I call it courage. It hath
hitherto slain every evil mood of mine. This courage
bade me at last stand still and say : ' Dwarf ! Thou !
Or I !'
For courage is the best murderer, — courage that
•attacketh. For in every attack there is a stirring music
of battle.
But man is the most courageous animal. Thereby
he hath conquered every animal. With stirring battle-
music he hath conquered every pain ; but human pain
is the sorest pain.
Courage even slayeth giddiness nigh abysses. And
where doth man not stand nigh abysses I Is the very
seeing not — seeing abysses ?
Courage is the best murderer ; courage murdereth
even pity. But pity is the deepest abyss. As deep as
man looketh into life, so deep he looketh into suffer-
ing.
But courage is the best murderer, courage that
attacketh ; it murdereth even death, for it saith : ' Was
that life ? Up ! Once more ! '
OF THE VISION AND THE RIDDLE 213
In such a saying is much stirring battle-music. He
who hath ears to hear shall hear.
2
1 Halt ! Dwarf ! ' said I. ' I ! Or thou ! But I am the
stronger of us two. Thou knowest not mine abyss-
like thought ! Thou couldst not endure // / '
Then came to pass what made me lighter. For
the dwarf jumped from my shoulder, the curious one !
And he squatted on a stone in front of me. There
happened to be a gateway where we stopped.
' Look at this gateway ! Dwarf 1 ' I said further.
' It hath two faces. Two roads meet here the ends of
which no one hath ever reached.
/ This long lane back : it stretched out for an eter-
f nity. And that long lane out there — it is another
eternity.
They contradict each other, these roads ; they knock
each other directly on the head. And here, at this
gateway, they meet. The name of the gateway standeth
written above : " Moment."
But whoever would go along either of them — and
ever further and ever more remote : believest thou,
dwarf, that these roads contradict each other eternally ? '
( All that is straight, lieth,' murmured the dwarf with
contempt. ' All truth is crooked, time itself is a circle/
' Thou spirit of gravity ! ' said I angrily, ' do not
make things too easy for thyself ! Otherwise I let thee
squat where thou squattest, lame leg, — and I have
carried thee high up !
' Behold/ I continued, l this moment ! From this
'
2i4 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
gateway called moment a long, eternal lane runneth
backward : behind us lieth an eternity.
Must not all that can run of things have run al-
ready through this lane ? Must not what can happen
of things have happened, have been done and have
run past here ?
And if all things have happened already : what dost
thou dwarf think of this moment ? Must not this
gateway have existed previously also ?
And are not thus all things knotted fast together
that this moment draweth behind it all future things ?
Consequently — draweth itself, as well ?
For what can run of things — in that long lane out
there, it must run once more !
And this slow spider creeping in the moonshine,
and this moonshine itself, and I and thou in the gate-
way whispering together, whispering of eternal things,
must not we all have existed once in the past ?
And must not we recur and run in that other lane
out there, before us, in that long haunted lane — must
we not recur eternally ? '
Thus I spake and ever more gently. For I was
afraid of mine own thoughts and back-thoughts. Then,
suddenly, I heard a dog howl nigh unto the place.
Did I ever hear a dog howl like that? My thought
went back. Yea ! When I was a child, in my remotest
childhood.
Then I heard a dog howl like that. And I saw it
as well, with its hair bristled, its head turned upwards,
trembling, in the stillest midnight when even the dogs
believe in ghosts—
OF THE VISION AND THE RIDDLE 215
So that I felt pity for it. For that very moment
the full moon in deadly silence passed the house ; that
very moment she stood still, a round glow, — still on
the flat roof, as if she stood on strange property.
Thereby the dog had been terrified ; for dogs be-
lieve in thieves and ghosts. And when I heard that
howling again, I felt pity once more.
Whither had the dwarf gone ? And the gateway ?
And the spider ? And all the whispering ? Did I
dream ? Did I awake ? Between wild cliffs I stood
suddenly, alone, lonely, in the loneliest moonshine.
But there lay a man ! And there ! The dog, jump
ing, with its hair bristled, whimpering, — now it saw
me come. Then it howled again, then it cried. Did
I ever hear a dog cry thus for help ?
And, verily, what I saw, the like I had never seen.
A young shepherd I saw, writhing, choking, quivering,
with his face distorted, from whose mouth a black
heavy snake hung down.
Did I ever see so much loathing and pale horror
in one face ? Had he slept ? Then the serpent crept
into his throat — and clung there biting.
My hand tore at the serpent and tore — in vain ! It
was unable to tear the snake out of his throat. Then
something in myself cried out : ' Bite ! Bite !
Off its head! Bite!' Thus something in myself
cried out. My horror, my hate, my loathing, my pity,
all my good and bad cried in one cry out of me.
Ye keen ones around me ! Ye searchers, tempters,
and whoever, of you goeth on board a ship for unex-
plored seas with cunning sails ! Ye rejoicers in riddles !
216 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Find out this riddle, which I beheld at that time !
Interpret the vision of the loneliest one !
For a vision it was, and a forecast. What did I
then behold in a parable ? And who is he that must
come one day ?
Who is the shepherd whose throat was thus entered
by the snake ? Who is the man from whose throat
thus the hardest, blackest thing will have to creep
forth ?
But the shepherd bit, as my cry counselled him ;
and with a strong bite ! Far away he spat the snake's
head — and leaped up.
No longer a shepherd, no longer a man, — a changed
one, one surrounded by light who laughed ! Never
on earth hath a man laughed as he did.
O my brethren, I heard a laughter that was no
man's laughter. And now a thirst gnaweth at me, a
longing that is never stilled.
My longing for that laughter gnaweth at me. Oh
how can I endure still to live ! And how could I en-
dure to die now ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF INVOLUNTARY BLISS
His heart filled with such riddles and bitterness,
Zarathustra went over the sea. But when he was
away from the blissful islands and from his friends a
four days' journey, he had overcome all his pain. Vic-
torious and with firm feet he again stood on his fate.
And then Zarathustra thus spake unto his rejoicing
conscience :
" Alone am I again and will be, alone with pure
sky and free sea ; and again there is afternoon round
me.
One afternoon I found my friends for the first
time ; another afternoon I found them a second time,
at the hour when all light groweth stiller.
For whatever of happiness is still on its way be-
tween heaven and earth seeketh now for its home a
light soul. From happiness all light hath now become
stiller.
Oh, afternoon of my life! Once my happiness also
went down unto the valley to look for a home. Then
it found those open, hospitable souls.
Oh, afternoon of my life! What did I not give
away in order to have one thing ; this living plantation of
my thoughts and this morning light of my highest hope !
217
218 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Companions once the creator sought for, and
children of his hope. And lo ! it was found that he
could not find them unless he would create them
himself.
Thus am I in the middle of my work, going unto
my children and returning from them. For the sake
of his children Zarathustra must complete himself.
For from the bottom one loveth nothing but one's
child and work; and where there is great love unto
one's self, it is the sign of child-bearing. Thus I
found it.
Still my children flourish in their first spring,
standing close together and shaken together by the
winds, the trees of my garden and of my best soil.
And, verily ! Where such trees stand close unto
each other, there are blissful islands !
But one day I will take them out of their soil and
plant each of them alone, that he may learn lone-
liness and defiance and caution.
Gnarled and crooked and with hardness that bend-
eth, he shall stand then by the sea, a living lighthouse
of life undestroyable.
There where the storms hustle down into the sea,
and the snout of the mountains drinketh water, each
of them shall one day have his day-watches and night-
watches, for the sake of his trial and recognition.
Recognised and tried shall he be, to find out
whether he be of my kin and descent, whether he
be the master of a long will, silent even when he
speaketh, and yielding so that he taketh in giving —
In order that he one day may become my com-
OF INVOLUNTARY BLISS 219
panion and one who createth with me and ceaseth
from work with me ; such a one as writeth my will
on my tables for the sake of a fuller perfection of
all things.
And for his sake and the sake of his like I must
complete myself. Therefore I now avoid my happiness
and offer myself unto all misfortune, for the sake of
my last trial and recognition.
And; verily, it was time that I went away. And
the wanderer's shadow, and the longest while, and the
stillest hour, all counselled me : l It is high time ! '
The wind blew through my key hole saying :
' Come ! ' My door cunningly opened of itself saying :
'Go!'
But I lay fettered by my love unto my children.
The desire laid this trap for me — the desire for love
—that I should become my children's booty, and lose
myself unto them.
Desiring — that meaneth in mine opinion to have lost
myself. / have got you, my children ! In this possess-
ing, all shall be security, and nothing desiring.
But brooding the sun of my love lay upon me ; in
his own juice Zarathustra stewed. Then shadows and
doubts flew past me.
I longed for frost and winter : ' Would that frost
and winter would make me again crack and groan,'
I sighed. Then icy fogs rose from me.
My past hath broken its graves ; many a pain
buried alive hath awakened. It had merely slept
its fill, hidden in corpse's clothes.
Thus all reminded me by signs : ' It is time !
220 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
But I — heard not ; until at last mine abyss moved and
my thought bit me.
Oh, abyss-like thought which art my thought !
When shall I find the strength to hear thee dig, and
to tremble no more ?
Up to my throat throbbeth my heart when I hear
thee dig ! Thy silence even will throttle me, thou who
art silent as an abyss !
Never yet have I dared to call thee upward. It
was enough that I — carried thee with me ! Not yet
was I strong enough for the utmost overflowing
spirit and wantonness of the lion.
Enough of horror for me thy gravity hath ever
been. But one day yet shall I find the strength and
the voice of a lion to call thee up !
When once I shall have overcome myself in this
respect, I shall also overcome myself in that greater
matter ; and a victory shall be the seal of my per-
fection I
In the meantime, I sail about on uncertain seas ;
chance flattereth me with its smooth tongue ; forward
and backward I gaze, not yet do I see any end.
Not yet hath the hour of my last struggle come.
Or doth it come this very moment ? Verily, round
about with insidious beauty sea and life gaze at me.
Oh, afternoon of my life ! Oh, happiness before
eventide ! Oh, harbour on the open sea ! Oh, peace
in what is uncertain ! How I mistrust all of you !
Verily, mistrustful am I of your insidious beauty !
I am like unto the lover who mistrusteth a too velvety
smile.
OF INVOLUNTARY BLISS 221
As he pusheth before himself the most beloved
woman, — tender even in his hardness, the jealous lover
—thus I push before me this blissful hour.
Away with thee, thou blissful hour ! In thee an
involuntary bliss came unto me ! Willing to take
upon me my deepest pain, here I stand. At the wrong
time thou earnest !
Away with thee, thou blissful hour ! Rather settle
down there — with my children ! Hurry, and bless
them before eventide with my happiness !
There eventide approacheth, the sun sinketh. Gone
— my happiness ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra. And he waited for his
misfortune the whole night ; but he waited in vain.
The night remained clear and still, and happiness itself
drew nigher and nigher unto him. But towards the
morning Zarathustra laughed unto his heart saying
mockingly : " Happiness runneth after me. That result-
eth from my not running after women. Happiness is
a woman."
BEFORE SUNRISE
" OH, sky above me ! Thou pure ! Thou deep ! Thou
abyss of light ! Gazing at thee, I quiver with god-like
desires.
To cast myself up unto thy height — that is my
profundity ! To hide myself in thy purity — that is
mine innocence !
A God is veiled by his beauty : thus thy stars are
hidden by thee. Thou speakest not : thus thou
showest forth thy wisdom unto me.
Silent over a roaring sea thou hast risen to-day
unto me ; thy love and thy shame utter a revelation
unto my roaring soul.
That thou earnest unto me, beautiful, veiled in thy
beauty; that silent thou speakest unto me, manifest in
thy wisdom —
Oh, how should I not guess all that is full of shame
in thy soul ! Before sunrise thou earnest unto me,
the loneliest one.
We are friends from the beginning. Sorrow and
horror and soil we share ; even the sun we share.
We do not speak unto each other because we know
too many things. We stare silently at each other ;
smiling we declare our knowledge unto one another.
[NRISE 223
Art thou not tf^tight" unto my fire ? Hast thou
not the sister-soul unto mine insight ?
Together we have learnt everything ; together we
have learnt to ascend above ourselves unto ourselves,
and to smile cloudless —
To smile down cloudless from bright eyes and
from a distance of many miles, when below us com-
pulsion and purpose and guilt steam like rain.
And when I wandered alone, — for what did my soul
hunger in nights and labyrinthine paths ! And when
climbing mountains, — for whom did I ever search, unless
for thee, on mountains ?
And all my wandering and mountain-climbing, — it
was only a necessity and a make-shift of the helpless
one. Flying is the only thing my will willeth, flying
into thee!
\ And whom could I hate more than wandering
1 clouds and all that defileth thee ! And I even hated
! mine own hatred because it defiled thee !
I bear a grudge unto wandering clouds, those
stealthy cats of prey. They take from thee and me
what we have in common, — that immense, that infinite
saying of Yea and Amen.
We bear a grudge unto these mediators and mixers,
the wandering clouds ; those half-and-half ones who
neither learnt how to bless nor curse from the bottom
of their soul.
I will rather sit in the barrel, with the sky shut
out; rather sit in the abyss without a sky, than see
thee, sky of light, defiled with wandering clouds !
And I often longed to fix them with the jagged
224 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
gold-wires of lightning, in order to beat the kettle-
drum on their kettle-womb, like a thunder clap, —
An angry kettledrum-beater, because they bereave
me of thy Yea and Amen, thou sky above me ! Thou
pure ! Thou bright ! Thou abyss of light ! And be-
cause they bereave thee of my Yea and Amen !
For rather I love noise and lightning and the
curses of thunder than that deliberate doubting silence
of cats. And among men also I hate most all eaves-
droppers and half-and-half ones and doubting, tardy,
wandering clouds.
And 'he who cannot bless shall leant how to
curse 1 ' — this clear doctrine fell unto me from the
clear sky; this star standeth on my sky even in black
nights.
But I am one who blesseth and saith Yea, if thou
only art round me, thou pure ! Thou bright ! Thou
abyss of light ! Then I carry my Yea-saying with
its blessing even into all abysses.
I have become one who blesseth and saith Yea.
And for that purpose I struggled long and was a
struggler, in order to get one day my hands free for
blessing.
But this is my blessing : to stand above every
thing as its own sky, as its round roof, its azure bell
and eternal security. And blessed he who blesseth thus !
For all things are baptised at the well of eternity,
and beyond good and evil. But good and evil them-
selves are but inter-shadows and damp afflictions and
wandering clouds.
Verily, it is a blessing arid not a blasphemy, when
BEFORE SUNRISE 225
I teach : ' Above all things standeth the chance sky,
the innocence sky, the hazard sky, the wantonness sky.'
'Sir Hazard' — that is the earliest nobility of the
world, which I restored unto all things. I saved them
from the slavery of serving an end.
This freedom and clearness of sky I put over all
things like an azure bell, when I taught, that above
them and through them no 'eternal will' willeth.
This wantonness and this folly I put in the place
of that will when I taught : ' In all things one thing is
impossible — reasonableness I '
A little of reasonableness, a seed of wisdom scattered
from star to star : it is true, this leaven is mixed
with all things. For the sake of folly, wisdom is mixed
with all things !
A little of wisdom is well possible. But this bliss-
ful security I found in all things : they rather like to
dance with chance's feet.
Oh, sky above me ! Thou pure ! Thou high 1
Therein consisteth thy purity for me, that there are
no eternal spiders of reason and spider's webs of rea-
son—
That for me thou art a dancing ground for god-
like chances, that for me thou art a godlike table for
godlike dice and dice-players !
But thou blushest ? Spake I things unutterable ?
Did I revile whilst intending to bless thee ?
Or is it the shame by two which maketh thee
blush ? Dost thou bid me go and be silent, because
now — the day cometh ?
The world is deep, — and deeper than ever day
16
226 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
thought it might. Not everything is allowed to have
language in presence of the day. But the day cometh !
Now therefore let us part!
Oh, sky above me. Thou bashful 1 Thou glowing 1
Oh, thou my happiness before sunrise ! The day
cometh ! Now therefore let us part ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF VIRTUE THAT MAKETH SMALLER
HAVING reached the firm land again, Zarathustra did
not straightway go unto his mountains and his cave,
but walked about much and put many questions and
learned this and that, so that he said of himself by
way of a joke : "Behold a river which with many
windings floweth back unto its source." For he wished
to learn what in the meantime had gone on with man,
whether he had become taller or smaller. And once
he saw a row of new houses. Then he wondered and
said :
" What do these houses mean ? Verily, no great soul
put them there to be its likeness 1
Did a silly child take them out of the toy-box ?
Would that another child would put them back into
his box !
And these public rooms and bed-rooms — are men
able to go in and out there ? They appear unto me to
i be made for silken dolls ; or for sweet-teeth, which
even allow delicacies to be stolen from them."
And Zarathustra stopped and meditated. At last he
said sadly : " All hath become smaller !
227
228 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Everywhere I see lower doorways. He who is of my
kin, can still pass through them, but he must stoop !
Oh, when shall I return unto my home where I
shall have to stoop no more — to stoop no more before
the small ! " And Zarathustra sighed gazing into the
distance.
The same day he made his speech on the virtue that
maketh smaller.
" I pass through these folk and keep mine eyes open.
The folk do not forgive me for not being envious of
their virtues.
They bite at me because I say unto them : ' For
small folk small virtues are requisite ; ' and because it
is hard for me to understand that small folk are
requisite !
Still I am like the cock in a strange farm yard, at
whom even the hens bite. But for that reason I have
no dislike unto these hens.
I am polite unto them as I am unto all small annoy-
ances. To be bristly towards what is small, seemeth
unto me to be a wisdom for hedgehogs.
They all speak of me whenever they sit round the
fire at even. They speak of me, but no one thinketh —
of me !
This is the new stillness I learned : their noise around
me spreadeth a mantle over my thoughts.
They make a noise among themselves : 'What doth
that gloomy cloud there ? Let us see unto it that it
bring not a pestilence unto us ! '
OF VIRTUE THAT MAKETH SMALLER 229
And of late a woman clasped unto herself her child
that was coming unto me : ' Take the children away ! '
cried she ; ' such eyes scorch childreli's~souTs.r
They cough when I speak ; they are of opinion
that coughing is an objection unto strong winds.
They do not divine anything about the rushing of my
happiness !
1 We have not yet time for Zarathustra ' — they say
as an objection. But what matter about a time that
hath l no time ' for Zarathustra ?
And if they praise me, above all, — how can I fall
asleep on their fame ? A belt of spikes is their
praising unto me ; it scratcheth me even when I take
it off.
And this moreover I learned among them : the
praising one behaveth as if he restored things ; in
truth, however, he desireth to be given more !
Ask my foot whether it is pleased by their melody of
praising and alluring ! Verily, unto such a time-beat and
ticking it liketh neither to dance nor to stand still.
Unto small virtue they would fain allure me and draw
me by praising. To share the ticking of their small
happiness, they would fain persuade my foot.
I walk through these folk and keep mine eyes open.
They have become smaller and are becoming ever
smaller. And the reason of that is their doctrine of
happiness and virtue.
For they are modest even in their virtue ; for they are
desirous of ease. But with ease only modest virtue
is compatible.
True, in their fashion they learn how to stride and to
230 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
stride forward. That call I their hobbling. Thereby
they become an offence unto every one who is in a
hurry.
And many a one strideth on and in doing so looketh
backward, with a stiffened neck. I rejoice to run
against the stomachs of such.
Foot and eyes shall not lie, nor reproach each other
for lying. But there is much lying among the small
folk.
Some of them will, but most of them are willed
merely. Some of them are genuine, but most of
them are bad actors.
There are unconscious actors among them, and
involuntary actors. The genuine are always rare,
especially genuine actors.
Here is little of man; therefore women try to make
themselves manly. For only he who is enough of a
man will save the woman in woman.
And this hypocrisy I found to be worst among them,
that even those who command feign the virtues of those
who serve.
' I serve, thou servest, we serve/ Thus the hypocrisy
of the rulers prayeth. And, alas, if the highest lord be
merely the highest servant !
Alas ! the curiosity of mine eye strayed even unto
their hypocrisies, and well I divined all their fly-happi-
ness and their humming round window-panes in the
sunshine.
So much kindness, so much weakness see I. So much
justice and sympathy, so much weakness.
Round, honest and kind are they towards each
OF VIRTUE THAT MAKETH SMALLER 231
other, as grains of sand are round, honest and kind
unto grains of sand.
Modestly to embrace a small happiness — they call
' submission ! ' And therewith they modestly look side-
ways after a new small happiness.
At bottom they desire plainly one thing most of all :
to be hurt by nobody. Thus they oblige all and do well
unto them.
But this is cowardice; although it be called
' virtue.'
And if once they speak harshly, these small folk, — /
hear therein merely their hoarseness. For every draught
of air maketh them hoarse.
Prudent are they ; their virtues have prudent fin-
gers. But they are lacking in clenched fists ; their
fingers knew not how to hide themselves behind
fists.
For them virtue is what maketh modest and tame.
Thereby they have made the wolf a dog and man
himself man's best domestic animal.
'We put our chair in the midst' — thus saith their
simpering unto me — 'exactly as far from dying gladia-
tors as from happy swine.'
This is mediocrity ; although it be called moderation.^
3
I walk through these folk arid let fall many a
word. But they know neither how to take nor how to
keep.
They wonder that I have not come to revile lusts and
232 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
vices. Nor indeed have I come to bid them beware of
pick-pockets.
They wonder that I am not ready to sharpen and
point their prudence; as if among them there were not
wiselings enough, whose voices grate mine ear like
slate-pencils.
And when I cry : ' Curse all cowardly devils within
yourselves who would fain whine and fold their hands
and adore ' — they cry : ' Zarathustra is ungodly.'
And so chiefly their teachers of submission cry. But
into their ears I rejoice to cry : ' Yea ! I am Zarathustra,
the ungodly 1 '
These teachers of submission ! Like lice they creep
wherever things are small and sick and scabbed. It
is only my loathing that hindereth me from cracking
them.
Up ! This is my sermon unto their ears : ' I am
Zarathustra, the ungodly, who ask : " Who is more
ungodly than I am that I may enjoy his teaching ? "
I am Zarathustra, the ungodly. Where find I my
like ? And all those are my like who give themselves
a will of their own and renounce all submission.
I am Zarathustra, the ungodly. I have ever boiled
every chance in mine own pot. And not until it hath
been boiled properly, do I give it welcome as my
meat/
And, verily, many a chance came unto me im-
periously. But my will spake unto it still more so.
Then the chance at once fell beseechingly upon its
knees —
Beseeching to be given a home and heart with
OF VIRTUE THAT MAKETH SMALLER 233
me, and persuading me flatteringly : ' Behold, O Zara-
thustra, how ever friend cometh unto friend ! '
But what say I where no one hath mine ears !
And thus I will proclaim it into all winds :
' Ye become ever smaller, ye small folk ! Ye com-
fortable ones, ye crumble away ! One day ye will
perish —
From your many small virtues, from your many
small omissions, from your much small submission!
Too much sparing, too much yielding — thus it is
your soil ! But for the purpose of growing high a
tree will twist hard roots round hard rocks !
Even what ye omit weaveth at the weft of all
manly future ; even your nothing is a spider's web and
a spider living upon the blood of the future.
And when ye take anything, it is as if ye stole
it, ye small virtuous. But even among rogues honour
ordereth : 'One shall steal only when one cannot rob.'
' It is given ' — that is one of those doctrines of
submission. But I tell you, ye comfortable ones :
' // is taken ' — and ever more will be taken from you !
Oh, that ye would renounce that half-willing and
resolve upon idleness as one resolveth upon action !
Oh, that ye would understand my word: 'Be sure
to do whatever ye like, — but first of all be such as
can will!
Be sure to love your neighbour as yourselves, —
but first of all be such as love themselves —
As love themselves with great love, with great
contempt!' Thus speaketh Zarathustra, the un-
godly.
234 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
But what say I where no one hath mine ears!
Here it is still an hour too early for me.
Mine own fore-runner I am among these folk, mine
own cock-crow through dark lanes.
But their hour will come ! And mine will come
also ! Every hour they become smaller, poorer, less
fertile. Poor pot-herbs ! Poor soil !
And soon shall they stand there like dry grass and
prairie, and, verily, wearied of themselves — and long-
ing for fire more than for water !
Oh, blessed hour of lightning! Oh, secret of the
forenoon ! Running fires shall I one day make out
of them and announcers with fiery tongues.
Announce shall they one day with fiery tongues :
' It cometh, it is nigh, the great noon ! ' "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
"THE winter, an evil guest, sitteth in my home with
me. Blue are my hands from his friendship's hand-
shaking.
I honour him, this evil guest, but would gladly let
him alone. Gladly I run away from him. And, if one
runneth well one escapeth from him !
With warm feet and warm thoughts I run thither
where the wind is still, unto the sunny corner of my
mount of olives.
There I laugh at my stern guest and yet am fond
of him, because at home he catcheth the flies for me
and stilleth many little noises.
For he doth not allow a midge to sing, or still less
two midges : even the lane he maketh lonely so that
the moonshine at night is afraid there.
A hard guest is he, — but I honour him, and I do
not, like the tenderlings, pray unto the fire-idol with
its fat womb.
Rather chatter a little with the teeth than adore
idols ! Thus my kin willeth. And especially I hate
all ardent, steaming, damp fire-idols.
Whom I love, I love better in winter than in
summer. Better I now mock at mine enemies, and
235
236 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
more valiantly, now that the winter sitteth in my
home.
Valiantly indeed, even when I creep into bed.
Even then my hidden happiness laugheth and wan-
toneth ; then laugheth my dream with its lies.
I, a — creeper ! Never in my life have I crept
before mighty ones. And if I ever lied, I lied from
love. Therefore am I glad even in my wintry
bed.
A poor bed warmeth me better than a rich bed ;
for I am jealous of my poverty. And in winter it is
the most faithful unto me.
With a wickedness I begin every day : I mock at
the winter by a cold bath. Therefore grumbleth my
stern house-friend.
Besides I like to tickle him with a little wax-candle
so that, at last, he may let the sky come out of ashen
gray dawn.
For particularly wicked am I in the morning. At
an early hour, when the pail clattereth at the well,
and the horses with heat whinny through gray
lanes —
Impatiently I wait, that, at last, the clear sky may
open unto me, the wintry sky with its beard of snow,
the old and white-headed man —
The wintry sky, the silent, which often even keepeth
back its sun !
Have I learnt from it the long bright silence ? Or
hath it learnt it from me ? Or hath either of us in-
vented it himself ?
The origin of all good things is thousandfold.
ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES 237
From lust all good wanton things spring into existence.
How could they do so in all cases — once only !
A good wanton thing is the long silence. Like the
wintry sky, to look out of a bright face with round
eyes,—
Like it to keep back one's sun and one's inflexible
sun-will—verily, this art and this winter-wantonness
learned I well!
My dearest wickedness and art is it, that my silence
learned not to betray itself by being silent.
Rattling with words and dice I outwit those who
wait solemnly. My will and end shall escape all these
severe watchers.
That no one might look down into my bottom
and last will, I have invented for myself the long
bright silence.
Many a prudent one I found. He veiled his face
and made muddy his water, that no one might look
through it and down into it.
But just unto him the cleverer mistrustful and nut-
crackers came. They fished just out of his water his
best hidden fish !
But the bright, the brave, the transparent — for me
they are the wisest silent ones ; they, whose bottom
is so deep that even the clearest water doth not
betray it.
Thou silent wintry sky with thy beard of snow !
Thou white head above me with thy round eyes !
Oh, thou heavenly likeness of my soul and its wanton-
ness I
And must I not hide myself like one who hath
238 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
swallowed gold, in order that my soul may not be
cut open ?
Must I not walk on stilts in order that my long
legs may escape the notice of all those envious and
malicious folk around me ?
Those souls smoky, fireside-warmed, used-up,
covered with green, sulky — how could their envy
endure my happiness !
But as things are, I show them only the ice and
the winter on my summits — and not that my mount
tieth around itself all the girdles of the sun !
They hear the whistle of my wintry storms only —
and not that I also sail over warm seas, like longing,
heavy, hot south winds.
They have pity on my accidents and chances.
But my word is : 'Let chance come unto me ! Innocent
it is, as a little child ! '
How could they endure my happiness if I did not
put round it accidents and winter sorrows and caps
of polar bear-skin and covers of snowy skies !
If I had not pity for their pity, for the pity of
these envious and malicious folk !
And if I did not sigh in their presence mysslf
and chatter with cold and allow myself to be patiently
wrapped in their pity 1
This is the wise wantonness and good-will of my
soul, that it doth not hide its winter and its snow
storms ; neither doth it hide its chilblains.
The loneliness of the one is the flight of the sick
one ; the loneliness of the other is the flight from the
sick.
ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES 239
Let them hear me chatter and sigh with the winter
cold, all those poor, envious rogues round me ! With
such sighing and chattering I fly from their well
warmed rooms.
Let them pity me and sigh with me because of
my chilblains. 'At the ice of perception at last he
will freeze unto death !' Thus they complain.
In the meantime with warm feet I walk crosswise
and crooked wise over my mount of olives. In the
sunny corner of my mount of olives I sing and
mock at all pity."
Thus sang Zarathustra.
OF PASSING
THUS slowly passing through much folk and towns
of many kinds by round-about-ways, Zarathustra re-
turned unto his mountains and his cave. And, behold,
in doing so he came unawares unto the town-gate of
the great city. But there a raging fool jumped at
him with his hands spread out and stood in his way.
And this was the same fool whom the folk called
" the ape of Zarathustra." For he had learnt from him
some things regarding the coining and melody of
speech, and borrowed probably not unwillingly from
the treasure of his wisdom. The fool thus spake unto
Zarathustra :
" O Zarathustra, here is the great city ! Here thou
hast nothing to seek and everything to lose.
Why shouldst thou wish to wade through this mud ?
Have pity on thy foot ! Rather spit at the city gate,
and — turn round !
Here is the hell of hermit's thoughts. Here great
thoughts are boiled alive and cooked into morsels.
Here all great feelings moulder. Here only such
little feelings are allowed to rattle as rattle from lean-
ness.
Dost thou not smell already the shambles and
240
OF PASSING 241
cook-shops of the spirit ? Doth not this city steam
with the odour of butchered spirit ?
Dost thou not see the souls hang slack like filthy
rags ? And they make even newspapers out of these
rags!
Dost thou not hear how in this place the spirit
hath become a play upon words ? Loathsome word-
dishwater is vomited by it. And they make even
newspapers out of that dishwater of words.
They hunt each other they know not whither.
They make each other hot and know not why. They
jungle with their tin foil; they tinkle with their
gold.
They feel cold and seek warmth for themselves in
distilled waters ; they are hot and seek coolness in
frozen spirits ; they are all sick and full of sores from
public opinion.
All lusts and vices are here at home. But here
also are virtuous ones, here is much competent virtue
in service —
Much competent virtue with fingers to write and
hard flesh to sit and wait, blessed with small stars on
the breast and stuffed small-haunched daughters.
Here also are much piety and much faithful spittle-
licking and spittle-baking before the God of hosts.
For 'from above' the star droppeth, and the gra-
cious spittle. Upwards every starless breast longeth.
The moon hath her court, and the court hath its
moon-calves. Unto whatever cometh from the court
pray the beggar-folk and all competent beggar-virtue.
'I serve, thou servest, we serve' — thus all competent
17
242 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
virtue prayeth upwards unto the prince, in order that
the star which had been deserved may at last be fixed
on the narrow breast !
But the moon revolveth round all that is earthly.
Thus the prince also turneth round what is earthliest
of all : that is the gold of shopkeepers.
The God of hosts is not a God of gold bars. The
prince thinketh, but the shopkeeper directeth !
By all that is light and strong and good within
thee, O Zarathustra ! Spit on this town of shopkeepers
and turn round !
Here the blood floweth rotten and lukewarm and
with a scum through all veins. Spit at the great city,
which is the great rubbish-heap where all the scum
simmereth together !
Spit at this town of the pressed-in souls and the
narrow breasts, the pointed eyes and the sticky
fingers —
At this town of obtruders, impudent ones, writers
and bawlers, of over-heated ambitious ones —
Where all that is tainted, feigned, lustful, dust-
ful, over-mellow, ulcer-yellow, conspiring, ulcerateth,
together —
Spit at the great city and turn round ! "
Here Zarathustra interrupted the raging fool and
shut his mouth.
"Stop now ! " Zarathustra cried, " I have long loathed
thy speech and kin !
Why hast thou dwelt so long nigh the swamp that
thou wert obliged to become a frog and a toad ?
OF PASSING 243
Doth not a rotten scumlike swamp-blood flow
through thine own veins, that thou hast learnt to croak
and slander thus.
Why wentst thou not into the forest ? Or why
didst thou not plough the soil ? Is not the sea full
of green islands ?
I despise thy despising. And if thou warnedst me,
— why didst thou not warn thyself ?
From love alone my despising and my warning
birds shall fly up ; but not out of the swamp !
They call thee mine ape, thou raging fool, but I call
thee my grunting pig. Through grunting thou even
spoilest my praise of folly.
What then was it that made thee grunt first ?
Because nobody flattered thee sufficiently, therefore
thou sattest down at this filth in order to have reason
to grunt much, —
In order to have reason for much revenge ! For
revenge, thou idle fool, is all thy raging. Truly I have
found thee out !
But thy foolish word doth harm unto me even
where thou art right ! And if Zarathustra's word were
even right a hundred times, with my word thou
wouldst always do wrong ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra. And long he gazed at the
great city, sighed and was long silent. At last he
spake thus :
" I loathe this great city and not merely this fool.
In neither is there anything to be improved, anything
to be made worse.
244 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Alas, for this great city ! Would I could see now
the pillar of fire by which it will be burnt !
For such pillars of fire will have to precede the great
noon. But this hath its time and its own fate.
This wisdom I give thee, thou fool, at parting :
'Where one can love no longer, one shall — -pass!11
Thus spake Zarathustra and passed the fool and the
great city.
OF APOSTATES
"ALAS! doth everything lie withered and gray that of
late stood green and many-coloured on this meadow ?
And how much honey of hope carried I hence into
my bee-hives !
These young hearts have all become old — and not
even old ! only weary, vulgar, indolent. They call it :
' We have become pious once more.'
Of late I saw them run out on brave feet at early
morning. But their feet of perception have wearied,
and now they even slander the bravery of their morning !
Verily, many a one of them once lifted his feet like
a dancer, the laughter in my wisdom making signs
unto him. Then he changed his mind. Just now I
have seen him creep crooked unto — the cross.
Round light and freedom they once fluttered, like
midges and young poets. A little older, a little colder
— and quickly they have become obscurantists and
mumblers and stay-at-homes.
Did their heart lose its courage, because loneliness
devoured me like a whale ? Did their ear hearken
longingly and long in vain for me and my trumpet-
peals and herald-calls ?
245
246 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Alas ! There are always but few whose heart hath
a long courage and long overflowing spirits ; and unto
such the spirit remaineth patient also. But the rest
are cowards I
The rest, that meaneth always the great majority,
the every-day folk, the superabundant, the much too
many — all these are cowards !
Unto him who is of my kin, experiences of my kin
will cross the way. Thus his first companions must be
corpses and buffoons.
But his second companions — they will call them-
selves his faithful ones — a living hive, much love, much
folly, much beardless veneration.
Whoever is of my kin among men, shall not tie
his heart unto these faithful ones ! Whoever knoweth
the fleeting cowardly kind of man, shall not believe
in these springs and many-coloured meadows !
If they could do otherwise, they would will other-
wise also. Half-and-half ones spoil every whole. That
leaves wither, — why lament about that !
Let them go and fall, O Zarathtistra, and lament
not ! Rather blow among them with rustling winds !
Blow among these leaves, O Zarathustra, that all
that is withered may still faster run away from thee !
' We have become pious once more ' — these apostates
confess ; and some of them are too cowardly to confess
that.
Into their eye I gaze ; into their face and into the
OF APOSTATES 247
blushing of their cheeks I tell it : ' You are such as
pray again I '
But it is a shame to pray ! Not for all, but for
thee and me and him who hath his conscience in his
head. For thee it is a shame to pray !
Thou knowest it well : thy cowardly devil within
thee who would fain fold his hands and lay them in
his lap and have things made easier — this cowardly
devil persuadeth thee * there is a God 1 '
Thereby thou belongest unto that kin that fear the
light, that cannot find rest in the light. Now daily
thou must put thy head deeper into night and
damp 1
And, verily, thou chosest the hour well ; for just
now the moths have swarmed out again. The hour
hath come for all folk that fear the light, the hour of
even and rest, when they do not — 'rest.'
I hear it and smell it : their hour hath come for
hunting and procession ; true, not for the wild hunts-
man, but for a hunting tame, lame, snuffling, a hunt-
ing of eavesdroppers and secret praying ones —
For a hunting of soul-breathing sneaks. All mouse-
traps for hearts have been set once more 1 And
wherever I lift a curtain, a little moth rusheth forth
from it.
Did it squat there together with another little moth ?
For everywhere I smell little hidden communions;
and wherever there are small rooms, there are new
bigots and the odour of bigots.
They sit for long evenings together saying : ' Let us
become again like the little children and say "dear
248 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
God ! " — with their mouth and stomach spoiled by the
pious comfit-makers.
Or for long evenings they gaze at an artful, lurking
cross-spider that preacheth prudence unto the spiders
themselves and teacheth thus : ' Below crosses there is
good spinning ! '
Or they sit all day with fishing rods at the swamps,
and thereby believe themselves profound. But him
who fisheth where there are no fish I call not even
superficial 1
Or they learn to play the harp piously and gaily
from a hymn-writer, who would fain harp himself into
the heart of young little women. For he hath wearied
of old little women and their praises.
Or they learn how to shudder with a learned half-
madman who waiteth in dark rooms for the spirits to
come unto him — and the spirit runneth wholly away !
And they listen unto an old juggler-piper and snarler
who hath wandered about and learnt from dreary
winds the affliction of tones. Now he whistleth after
the wind and preacheth affliction in dreary tones.
And some of them have even become night watch-
men. They know now how to blow horns and to
walk about in the night and awaken old things which
have long ago fallen asleep.
Five words of old things I heard last night at the
garden wall. They came from such old, dreary, dry
night watchmen.
' For a father he taketh not care enough of his
children. Human fathers do it better ! '
' He is too old ! He no longer taketh care of his
OF APOSTATES 249
children at all' — thus answered the other night watch-
man.
' Hath he got children ? No one can prove he hath,
if he doth not prove it himself 1 I have wished for a
long time he would prove it for once thoroughly.'
' Prove ? As though he had ever proved anything !
Proof is hard for him. He layeth much stress upon
folk believing him.'
' Ay ! Ay 1 Belief maketh him blessed, belief in him.
Thus is the way of old folk ! Thus it will be with
us too 1 '
Thus they spake unto each other, the two old night
watchmen and shunners of the light, and afterwards
drearily blew their horns. Thus it came to pass yester-
night at the garden wall.
But my heart writhed with laughter and was like to
break and knew not whither to go, and sank into the
midriff.
Verily, it will one day be my death that I choke with
laughter, when seeing asses drunken, and hearing night
watchmen thus doubt God.
Hath the time not long since passed even for all
such doubts ? Who may at this time of day awaken
such old things which have fallen asleep and shunned
the light ?
For the old Gods came unto an end long ago. And,
verily, it was a good and joyful end of Gods !
They did not die lingering in the twilight,— although
that lie is told ! On the contrary, they once upon a
time— laughed themselves unto death !
That came to pass when by a God himself the most
250 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
ungodly word was uttered, the word : ' There is one
God ! Thou shalt have no other Gods before me ! '
An old grim beard of a God, a jealous one, forgot
himself thus.
And then all Gods laughed and shook on their chairs
and cried : ' Is godliness not just that there are Gods,
but no God?'
Whoever hath ears let him hear."
Thus spake Zarathustra in the town which he loved
and which is called the "Cow of Many Colours."
From it he had only two more days to walk in order
to return unto his cave and his animals. And his soul
rejoiced without ceasing over the nighness of his return
home.
RETURN HOMEWARD
" OH, loneliness ! Thou my home, loneliness ! Too
long have I lived wild in wild places afar off, to be
able to return home unto thee without tears !
Now threaten me with the finger, as mothers do ;
now smile at me, as mothers do, now speak : ' And
who was it that once upon a time like a stormwind
rushed away from me ?
Who, taking leave, called : " Too long I sat with
loneliness ; there I unlearned silence ! " Peradventure
thou hast now learnt that f
O Zarathustra ! I know all and that thou wert more
sorely forsaken among the many, thou one, than thou
ever wert with me !
Forsakenness is one thing, loneliness is another —
that thou hast now learnt ! And that, among men,
thou wilt always be wild and strange —
Wild and strange even when they love thee ; for
above all they wish to be spared!
But here thou art in thine own home and house ;
here thou canst speak out everything and pour out all
reasons. Nothing here is ashamed of hidden, obdurate
feelings.
Here all things come fondling unto thy speech and
251
252 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
flatter thee ; for they will ride on thy back. On every
likeness thou ridest here unto every truth.
Upright and sincere mayest thou here speak unto all
things. And, verily, it soundeth like praise unto their
ears, that one speaketh frankly with all things !
Another thing, however, is forsakenness. For dost
thou remember, O Zarathustra, when thy bird shrieked
above thee, when thou stoodest in the forest irresolute
whither to go, unknowing, nigh unto a corpse ?
When thou spakest : " Let mine animals lead me.
More dangerous I found it among men than among
animals ? " That was forsakenness !
And dost thou remember, O Zarathustra, when thou
sattest on thine island ; among empty pails, a well of
wine, giving and spending ; among thirsty folk, granting
and pouring out —
Until, at last, thou sattest alone thirsty among
drunken folk and wailedst : " Is taking not more bliss-
ful than giving ? And stealing still more blissful than
taking ? That was forsakenness !
And dost thou remember, O Zarathustra, when thy
stillest hour catne and drove thee away from thyself,
when it spake with evil whispering : " Speak and
break 1 "
When it made thee loathe all thy waiting and isilence,
and abashed thine humble courage 1 That was for-
sakenness ! '
Oh, loneliness ! Thou my home, loneliness ! How
blissfully and fondly speaketh thy voice unto me !
We do not ask each other, we do not wail with
each other, we openly go together through open doors.
RETURN HOMEWARD 253
For all is open and bright with thee, and even
the hours run here on lighter feet. For in the dark,
time is a heavier burden than in the light.
Here the words of being and shrines of words of
being open suddenly. All being longeth here to become
language, all becoming longeth here to learn to speak
from me.
But down there — all speech is in vain ! There to
forget and to pass by are the best wisdom. That
have I learnt now !
He who would conceive all with men, would have
to touch everything. But for that my hands are too
clean.
I do not like to breathe even their breath. Alas,
that I have lived so long amid their noise and bad
breath !
Oh, blissful stillness round me ! Oh, pure odours
round me ! Oh, how this stillness bringeth pure breath
out of a deep breast ! Oh, how it hearkeneth, this
blissful stillness !
But down there — everything speaketh, everything is
overheard. Let folk proclaim their wisdom by ringing
bells, — the shopkeepers in the market will outring them
with their pennies !
Everything with them speaketh, no one knoweth how
to understand. Everything falleth into the water, nothing
falleth into deep wells any more.
Everything with them speaketh, nothing more
succeedeth and cometh unto an end. Everything doth
cackle, — but who will sit still on the nest and hatch
eggs?
254 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Everything with them speaketh, everything is spoken
into pieces. And what yesterday was too hard for
time itself and its tooth, to-day hangeth out of the
mouths of the folk of to-day—scraped and gnawed
into pieces.
Everything with them speaketh, everything is be-
trayed. And what once was called secret and a secrecy
of deep souls, to-day belongeth unto the trumpeters
of the streets and other butterflies.
Oh, human kind, how strange thou art ! Thou noise
in dark lanes ! Now thou again liest behind me ! My
greatest danger lieth behind me !
In sparing and pity lay always my greatest danger ;
and all human kind wisheth to be spared and endured.
With truths kept back, with a foolish hand and a
befooled heart, and rich with the small lies of pity —
thus have I always lived among men.
Disguised I sat among them, ready to mistake
myself in order to endure them, and willingly trying
to persuade myself : ' Thou fool, thou dost not know
men !'
One unlearneth men when living among men. Too
much foreground is in all men — what could far-seeing,
far-searching eyes do there !
And when they mistook me — fool that I was, I
spared them on that account more than I spared
myself ! For I was accustomed to be hard upon my-
self, and often even took revenge on myself for that
sparing.
Stung all over by poisonous flies, and hollowed
like a stone by many drops of wickedness, I sat among
RETURN HOMEWARD 255
them and tried to persuade myself : ' Innocent of its
smallness is everything small ! '
Especially those who call themselves ' the good '
I found to be the most poisonous flies. They sting in
all innocence, they lie in all innocence. How could
they be just unto me !
Whoever liveth among the good, is taught to lie by
pity. Pity maketh the air damp unto all free souls.
For the stupidity of the good is unfathomable.
To hide myself and my riches — that I have learnt
down there ; for every one I found to be poor in
spirit. That was the lie of my pity, that I knew about
everyone, —
That I saw and smelt at once in everyone how
much of spirit was enough for him, and how much of
spirit was too much for him !
Their stiff wise men — I called them wise, not stiff.
Thus I learned to swallow words. Their grave-diggers —
I called them searchers and examiners. Thus I learned
to exchange words.
The grave-diggers get sicknesses by digging. Under
old rubbish there rest bad odours. One must not stir
up the swamp. One must live on mountains.
With blessed nostrils I breathe again mountain-
freedom. Saved, at last, is my nose from the odour
of all human kind !
Tickled by sharp breezes, as it were by sparkling
wines, my soul sneezeth. It sneezeth and in triumph
crieth : < God bless me ! "'
Thus spake Zarathustra,
OF THE THREE EVIL ONES
" IN a dream, in a last dream of the morning, I stood
this day on a promontory, — beyond the world. I held
a balance and weighed the world.
Alas, that the dawn came too soon unto me ! It
waked me by its glow, the jealous one ! Jealous is it
always of the glow of my morning dreams.
Measurable for him who hath time ; weigh able for
a good weigher ; reachable by the flight of strong
wings ; guessable by godlike nut-crackers ; — thus my
dream found the world to be.
My dream, a bold sailor, half ship, half whirlwind,
silent as butterflies, impatient as a falcon gentle — why
had it this day patience and leisure to weigh the
world ?
Did my wisdom silently speak unto it, my laughing,
wide-awake wisdom of daylight which mocketh at all
' infinite worlds ? ' For it saith : * Where there is force,
there the number becometh master; for it hath the
greater force/
How securely did my dream look on this finite
world, not curious, not greedy for old things, not
afraid, not praying.
256
OF THE THREE EVIL ONES 257
As if a round apple was offered unto my hand,
a ripe, golden apple, with a cool, smooth, velvet skin —
thus the world offered itself unto me.
As if a tree made a sign unto me, with broad
boughs and a strong will, bent for the weary wanderer
to lean against and use as a foot stool— -thus stood the
world on my promontory.
As if neat hands carried towards me a chest, a
chest open for the rapture of bashful revering eyes
— thus the world this day offered itself unto me.
Not riddle enough to frighten away human love ;
not solution enough to put to sleep human wisdom ;
— a humanly good thing for me, this day, was the
world of which such bad things are said !
How thankful am I unto my morning dream be-
cause I thus weighed the world early this morning !
As'a humanly good thing it came unto me, this dream
and comforter of the heart 1
And in order to do during the day what it did,
and to learn from it its best, now I will put the three
evilest things on the balance and weigh them in a
humanly good spirit !
He who taught to bless, taught also to curse. Which
are the three best-cursed things in the world ? These I
will put on the balance.
Voluptuousness, thirst of power, selfishness — these three
have hitherto been cursed best and have had the worst
renown and been calumniated worst. These three I
will weigh in a humanly good spirit.
Up ! Here is my promontory, and there is the sea.
That rolleth nigh unto me, with shaggy hair, flatteringly,
18
258 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
the faithful old dog-monster with an hundred heads
which I love.
Up ! Here will I keep the balance over the rolling
sea ! And a witness I choose also, to look at my
weighing, — thee, thou hermit-tree, which I love, with
thy strong odour and thy broad arching boughs.
On what bridge doth the Now go unto the One-
day ? By what compulsion doth what is high compel
itself to join what is low ? And what biddeth even the
highest — grow upwards ?
Now the balance standeth equal and still. Three
heavy questions I have thrown into it ; three heavy
answers are carried by the other scale.
Voluptuousness — unto all despisers of the body who
wear penance-shirts, a sting and stake, and cursed
as a ' world' by all back- worlds-men. For it mocketh
at, and maketh fools of, all teachers of confusion and
heresy.
Voluptuousness — for the rabble the slow fire on
which they are burnt ; for all worm-eaten wood, for
all stinking rags, the ready oven of love-fire and
stewing.
Voluptuousness — for free hearts innocent and free,
the garden-joy of earth, the overflowing thankfulness
of all the future towards the present.
Voluptuousness— a sweet poison unto the withered
only, but the great invigoration of the heart and the
reverently spared wine of wines for those who have
the will of a lion.
OF THE THREE EVIL ONES 259
Voluptuousness — the great prototype of a higher
happiness and the highest hope. For unto many
things matrimony is promised and more than matri-
mony,—
Unto many things which are stranger unto each
other than man and woman are. And who would
perceive completely how strange man and woman are
unto each other !
Voluptuousness — but I will have railings round my
thoughts and even round my words, that swine and
enthusiasts may not break into my gardens !
Thirst of power — the glowing scourge of the hardest
in hardness of heart ; the horrid torture reserved for
the very cruellest ; the gloomy flame of living pyre.
Thirst of power — the malicious gadfly which is being
set on the vainest peoples ; the scorner of all un-
certain virtue ; that which rideth on every horse and
on every pride.
Thirst of power — the earthquake that breaketh, and
by breaking openeth, all that is rotten and hollow ;
the rolling, grudging, punishing breaker of whited
sepulchres ; the shining interrogation mark beside pre-
mature answers.
Thirst of power — before the glance of which man
creepeth and ducketh and slaveth and becometh
lower than serpent or swine, until at last the great
contempt crieth out of him.
Thirst of power — the terrible teacher of the great
contempt which preacheth : ' Away with thee ! ' in the
very face of cities and empires, until a cry cometh out
of themselves ; ' Away with me ! '
260 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Thirst of power — which alluring mounteth self-
contented heights up unto the pure and lonely, glow-
ing like a love that, alluring, painteth purple blisses on
earthly heavens.
Thirst of power — but who could call it thirst, if
what is high longeth to step down for power ! Verily,
there is nothing sick or suppurative in such a longing
and stepping down !
That the lonely height may not for ever be lonely
and self-contented ; that the mount may come unto
the valley, and the winds of the height unto the low
lands !
Oh ! who could find the right Christian name and
name of virtue for such a longing ! ' Giving virtue ' —
thus the unutterable was once called by Zarathustra.
And then it also came to pass — and, verily, to pass
for the first time, that his word praised blessed selfishness,
whole, healthy selfishness that springeth from a mighty
soul —
From a mighty soul, part of which is the high body,
the beautiful, victorious, recreative, round which every
thing becometh a mirror —
The flexible, persuading body, the dancer whose like-
ness and summary is the self-joyful soul. The self-joy
of such bodies and souls calleth itself ' virtue.'
With its words of good and bad such a self-joy
protecteth itself as with sacred groves. With the names
of its happiness it banisheth from itself all that is
contemptible.
Away from itself it banisheth all that is cowardly.
It saith : ' Bad — that meaneth cowardly ! ' Contemptible
OF THE THREE EVIL ONES 261
appeareth unto it the ever sorrowful, sighing, miserable
one, and whoever collecteth even the smallest advantage.
It despiseth all wisdom happy in misery. For, verily,
there is also wisdom that flourisheth in darkness, a
wisdom of nightlike shadows which ever sigheth : ' All
is vain ! '
The shy mistrusting is regarded as inferior, and
whoever wanteth oaths instead of looks and hands ;
including all all-too-mistrustful wisdom ; for such is
the way of cowardly souls.
As lower still it regardeth him who is quick to oblige,
dog-like, who at once lieth down on his back, who is
submissive ; and there is also wisdom that is submissive
and dog-like and pious and quick to oblige.
Hateful and loathsome unto it is he who careth not
to defend himself, who swalloweth down poisonous
spittle and evil looks, the all-too-patient one, the sufferer
of everything, the all-too-contented one ; for that is the
way of slaves.
Whether one be servile before Gods and divine kicks ;
whether he be so before men and silly human opinions
—at all the slave tribe it spitteth, that blessed selfishness !
Bad — thus it calleth all that is broken and niggardly-
servile, unfree blinking eyes, pressed-down hearts, and
that false yielding tribe that kisseth with broad cowardly
lips.
And spurious wisdom — thus selfishness calleth all
the quibbles of slaves and old men and weary ones ; and
in particular the whole bad, mad, over-witty priest-
foolishness !
The spurious wise men, however, all the priests,
262 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
the weary of the world, and those whose souls are
of the tribe of women and slaves, — oh ! how well hath
their play ever abused selfishness !
And this very thing, to ill-use selfishness, was pro-
claimed to be virtue and to be called virtue ! And
' unselfish ' — thus, with good reason, all those cowards
weary of the world and cross-spiders wished to be !
And for all those the day now cometh, the change, the
sword of judgment, the great noon. Then much shall
become apparent !
And he who proclaimeth the I whole and holy, and
selfishness blessed, a prophet indeed, saith also what
he knoweth : ' Behold, it cometh, it is nigh, the great
noon ! ' "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF THE SPIRIT OF GRAVITY
" MY gift of the gab— is of the folk. Too coarsely and
heartily for angora-rabbits I speak. And still stranger
my word soundeth unto all ink-fish and pen-foxes.
My hand — is a fool's hand. Woe unto all tables and
walls, and whatever hath space left for fools' ornaments,
fools' scribbling !
My foot — is a horse's foot. With it I trample and
trot over logs and stones, crosswise and straight over
the fields, and I am the devil's with lust in all my
fast running.
My stomach — is it an eagle's stomach ? For it liketh
best to eat lamb's flesh. But certainly it is a bird's
stomach.
Fed on innocent and few things, ready and impatient
to fly, to fly away — that is now my way. How should
not something of bird's ways be in it !
And, in particular, that I am an enemy unto the spirit
of gravity, that is a bird's way. And, verily, a mortal
enemy, an arch-enemy, a born fiend ! Oh ! whither
hath mine enmity not already flown and strayed ?
Of that I could sing a song and will sing it, although
263
264 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
I am alone in an empty house and must sing it unto
mine own ears.
True, there are other singers, whose throat is softened
only, whose hand becometh talkative only, whose eye
expressive only, whose heart awake only, when the
hall is well filled. I am not like unto them.
He who one day will teach men to fly, hath moved
all landmarks.
All landmarks will themselves fly into the air, the
earth will be baptised anew by that man — as ' the
light one.'
The ostrich bird runneth faster than the swiftest
horse, but even it putteth its head heavily into the
heavy ground. So doth man who cannot yet fly.
Earth and life are called heavy by him ; thus the
spirit of gravity willeth ! But whoever intendeth to
become light and a bird, must love himself ; thus
teach 7.
True, not with the love of the sick and suppurative.
For with them stinketh even love unto themselves !
One must learn how to love one's self — thus I teach
— with a whole and healthy love, that one may find
life with one's self endurable, and not go gadding
about.
Such a gadding about baptiseth itself ' love unto one's
neighbour.' With this word folk have lied best hitherto
and dissembled best, and in particular those whom all
the world felt to be heavy.
And, verily, it is no commandment for to-day and
OF THE SPIRIT OF GRAVITY 265
to-morrow, to learn how to love one's self. It is rather
the finest, cunningest, last and most patient of arts.
For unto him who possesseth it, all that is possessed
is well hidden ; and of all treasure pits one's own is
digged out last. Thus the spirit of gravity causeth it
to be.
Almost in the cradle we are given heavy words and
values. ' Good ' and ' evil ' that cradle-gift is called.
For its sake we are forgiven for living.
And for that end one calleth the little children unto
one's self, to forbid them in good time to love them-
selves. Thus the spirit of gravity causeth it to be.
And we — we carry faithfully what we are given, on
hard shoulders over rough mountains 1 And when
perspiring, we are told : ' Yea, life is hard to bear 1 '
But man himself only is hard to bear ! The reason
is that he carrieth too many strange things on his
shoulders. Like the camel he kneeleth down and
alloweth the heavy load to be put on his back —
In particular the strong man who is able to bear
the load, who is possessed by reverence. Too many
strange, heavy words and values he taketh upon his
shoulders. Now life appeareth unto him to be a desert.
And, verily ! Even many things that are one's own,
are hard to bear ! And many inward things in man
are like unto the oyster, i.e., loathsome and slippery and
difficult to catch —
So that a noble shell with noble ornaments must
plead for it. But even this art requireth to be learnt,
to have a shell and beautiful semblance and cunning
blindness !
266 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Again concerning many things in man there is deceit,
in that many a shell is inferior and sad and too much
a shell. Much hidden kindness and power is never
found out ; the most precious dainties find no tasters !
Women, the most precious of them, know that : a
little fatter, a little leaner — oh, how much fate lieth in
so little !
Man is difficult to discover, and hardest of all unto
himself. Often the spirit lieth over the soul. Thus
the spirit of gravity causeth it to be.
But he hath discovered himself who saith : ' This is
my good and evil.' Thereby he hath made mute the
mole and dwarf who said : 'Good for all, evil for all.'
Verily, neither like I such as call everything good and
this world even the best. Such I call the all-contented.
All-contentedness that knoweth how to taste every-
thing— that is not the best taste ! I honour the
obstinate, fastidious tongues and stomachs which have
learnt to say : T and 'Yea' and 'Nay.'
To chew and digest everything — that is the proper
way of swine. To say always 'Hee-haw' — that hath
been learnt by the ass alone and creatures of his
kidney !
Deep yellow and hot red — thus my taste willeth. It
mixeth blood with all colours. But whoever painteth
his house white betrayeth unto me a soul painted
white.
Some fall in love with mummies, others with ghosts ;
both are alike enemies unto all flesh and blood. Oh,
how contrary are they both unto my taste ! For I
love blood.
OF THE SPIRIT OF GRAVITY 267
And not there will I stay and dwell where everybody
spitteth and bespattereth ; that is my taste. Rather
would I live among thieves and perjured ones. No
one carrieth gold in his mouth.
But still more repugnant unto me are all lick-spittles ;
and the most repugnant beast of a man I have found,
I have baptised parasite. It would not love and yet
would live by love.
I call every one unblessed who hath only one choice,
to become an evil beast or evil subduer of beasts.
With such I would not build tabernacles.
Unblessed also call I those who must always wait.
They are contrary unto my taste — all the publicans and
shopkeepers and kings and other keepers of lands
and shops.
Verily, I have also learned to wait, and from the
bottom, — but only to wait for myself. And I learned
to stand and to walk and to run and to jump and to
climb and to dance over all things.
But this is my teaching : whoever wisheth to learn
to fly one day, must first learn to stand and walk and
run and climb and dance. One doth not learn flying
by flying !
By ladders of rope I learned to climb up unto many
a window; with swift legs I climbed up high masts.
To sit on high masts of perception seemed unto me
no small bliss, —
To flicker on high masts like small flames — although
a small light, yet a great comfort for sailors driven
out of their course and for shipwrecked folk !
By many ways and modes I have come unto my
268 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
truth ; not on one ladder I climbed up unto the height,
where mine eye roveth into my distance.
And I have always asked other folk for the way
unwillingly. That hath ever been contrary unto my
taste ! Rather have I asked and tried the ways for
myself.
A trying and asking hath all my walking been. And,
verily, one must also learn how to answer such question-
ing ! But that — is my taste —
No good, no bad, but my taste, for which I have
neither shame nor concealment.
1 This — is my way, — where is yours ? ' I answered unto
those who asked me 'for the way.' 'For the way—
existeth not!'"
Thus spake Zarathustra.
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES
HERE I sit and wait; round me old broken tables
and new tables half written upon. When cometh mine
hour ?
The hour of my stepping down, of my destruction.
For once more will I go unto men.
For that wait I now ; because first of all the signs
must appear unto me that it is mine hour, — namely the
laughing lion with the flock of doves.
In the meantime I speak unto myself as one who
hath time. Nobody telleth me new things so that I
tell mine own self unto myself.
When I came unto men, I found them sitting on
an old conceit. All of them thought they had known
long what was good and evil unto man.
All speech about virtue appeared unto them to be
an old weary thing, and he who wished to sleep well
spake of ' good ' and ' evil ' before going to bed.
This sleeping I disturbed when teaching that no
one knoweth yet what is good and evil, unless he be
a creator !
269
2/0 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
But a creator is he who createth man's goal and giveth
earth its significance and its future. It is he alone who
createth the fact that things are good and evil.
And I bid them overthrow their old chairs, and all
seats on which that old conceit had sat. I bid them
laugh at their great masters of virtue and saints and
poets and world-redeemers.
I bid them laugh at their gloomy wise men, and
whoever had before sat warning, a black scare-crow
on the tree of life.
By their great street of graves I sat down, yea, nigh
unto carrion and vultures ; and I laughed at all their
past and its mellow, decaying splendour.
Verily, like preachers of penitence and fools I pro-
claimed wrath and slaughter against their great and
small things. ' Oh, that their best things are so very
small ! Oh, that their evilest things are so very small ! '
Thus I laughed.
Thus out of me cried and laughed my wise longing,
which is born on mountains, a wild wisdom, verily !
my great longing with its roaring wings.
And often it tore me off and upward and away, and
that in the midst of laughing. Then meseemed I flew
shuddering, an arrow through a rapture drunk with
sunlight —
Out into remote futures, not yet seen by any dream ;
into hotter souths than artists ever dreamt; thither where
Gods dancing are ashamed of all clothing :
(So I say to use a simile, and poet-like halt and
stammer. And, verily, I am ashamed that I still need
to be a poet !)
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 271
Where all becoming seemed unto me to be a dance
of Gods and a wantoning of Gods, and the world to be
left loose and wantonly flying back unto itself, —
As an eternal fleeing of many Gods from themselves
and seeking themselves again ; as the blessed self-
contradicting, hearing themselves again, and belonging
unto themselves once more of many Gods ;
Where all time seemed unto me a blissful scorn for
moments ; where necessity was freedom itself, playing
blessedly with the sting of freedom ;
Where I found again mine old devil and arch-fiend,
the spirit of gravity, and all created by it : compulsion,
institutions, exigency and consequence and purpose
and will and good and evil :
(For must there not be things over which, across
which there can be dancing ? Must there not exist
— moles and heavy dwarfs, for the sake of the light,
the lightest ?)
3
There also I picked up from the way the word
' beyond-man,' and the concept that man is a some-
thing which must be surpassed, —
That man is a bridge and not a goal — praising him-
self as blessed because of his noon and evening, as a
way unto new morning reds —
The Zarathustra-word of the great noon, and what-
ever else I hung up over man like second purple
evening reds.
Verily, new stars also I made them see, and new
nights ; and over clouds and day and night I spread
out laughter like a many-coloured tent.
272 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
I taught them all my fancying and planning: to
compose into one thing and carry together whatever
is fragmentary in man and riddle and dismal chance —
As a poet, solver of riddles and redeemer of chance,
I taught- them to work at the future and to redeem all
that hath been by creating.
To redeem what is past in man and to transvalue
every ' It was ' until will saith : < Thus I willed ! Thus
shall I will—'
This I publicly called redemption, this alone I taught
them to call redemption.
Now I wait for my redemption — , that I may go
unto them for the last time.
For once more will I go unto men. Among them
will I perish, dying will I give them my richest gift !
I learned that from the sun when he goeth down,
the over-rich one. Then he poureth gold into the sea,
out of his inexhaustible wealth —
So that the poorest fisherman even roweth with
a golden oar ! For this I saw once, and gazing upon
it wearied not of tears.
Like the sun, Zarathustra will go down. Now he
sitteth here and waiteth ; round him old broken tables
and new tables half written upon.
Behold, here is a new table ! But where are my
brethren to carry it down unto the valley and into
hearts of flesh ?
Thus my great love unto the most remote com-
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 273
mandeth : ' Spare not thy neighbour ! Man is a some-
thing that must be surpassed.'
There are numerous ways and modes of surpass-
ing. See thou unto it ! But only a buffoon thinketh :
' Man can be passed over also.'
Surpass thyself even in thy neighbour ! And a
right thou canst take as a prey, thou shalt not allow
to be given !
What thou dost, no one can do unto thee. Behold,
there is no retaliation.
Whoever cannot command himself, shall obey. And
many a one can command himself ; but there lacketh
much in his obeying himself !
5
Thus willeth the tribe of noble souls : they wish
not to have anything for nothing, least of all, life.
Whoever is of the mob, will live for nothing. { But
we others unto whom life gave itself, — we are ever
wondering what we shall best give in return!
And, verily, this is a noble speech, that saith : ' What
we are promised by life, we shall keep unto life ! '
One shall not wish to enjoy one's self where one
doth not give enjoyment. And — one shall not wish to
enjoy one's self !
For enjoyment and innocence are the most bash-
ful things. Neither liketh to be sought. One shall have
them. But rather than for them, one shall seek for
guilt and pains !
274 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
6
O my brethren, whoever is a firstling is ever sacri-
ficed. Now we are firstlings.
We all bleed at secret tables of sacrifice ; we all
burn and roast in honour of old idols.
Our best is still young. That tickleth old palates.
Our flesh is tender, our skin is merely a lambskin — how
should we not excite old idol-priests !
In ourselves he still liveth, the old idol-priest w
roasteth our best for his own dinner. Alas ! my brethren,
how could firstlings not be sacrifices?
But thus our tribe willeth. And I love them who
wish not to keep themselves. The perishing I love
with mine entire love! for they go beyond.
7
To be true — few are able to be so ! And he who
is able doth not want to be so. But least of all the
good are able.
Oh, these good ! Good men never speak the truth.
To be good in that way is a sickness for the mind.
They yield, these good, they submit themselves ;
their heart saith what is said unto it, their foundation
'obeyeth. But whoever obeyeth doth not hear himself !
All that is called evil by the good must come together
in order that one truth be born. O my brethren, are
ye evil enough for this truth 1
The bold adventuring, the long mistrust, the • cruel
Nay, satiety, the cutting into what is living — how rarely
do all these come together ! But by such seed — truth
is procreated !
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 275
Beside the bad conscience hitherto all knowledge hath
grown ! Break, break, ye knowing, the old tables !
8
When the water hath 'poles, when gang-way and
railing jump over a stream— verily, no one findeth belief
who saith : ' Everything is in stream.'
But even churls contradict him. 'How?' say the
churls, ' all is said to be in the stream ? Poles and
railings are evidently above the stream ! '
' Above the stream all is firm, all the values of things,
the bridges, concepts, all "good" and "evil" — all
that is firm ! '
When even the hard winter cometh, the subduer
of streams, then even the wittiest learn mistrust. And,
verily, not only churls say then : t Should perhaps
everything — stand still ?
' At bottom everything standeth still ' — that is a proper
winter-doctrine, a good thing for a sterile time, a good
comfort for winter sleepers and fire-side-mopers.
' At bottom everything standeth still.' But the thaw-
wind preach eth the contrary !
The thaw-wind, a bull which is no ploughing bull,
— a raging bull, a destroyer that breaketh ice with
wrathful horns ! But ice — breaketh gangways !
O my brethren, is not now all in stream f Have not
all railings and gangways fallen into the water ? Who
would still cling unto ' good ' and ' evil ? .'
' Woe unto us ! All hail unto ourselves ! The thaw-
wind bloweth ! ' Thus preach, my brethren, through
all lanes !
276 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
9
There is an old illusion, called good and evil.
Round fortune-tellers and astrologers hitherto the wheel
of that illusion hath turned.
Once the folk believed in fortune-tellers and astro-
logers, and therefore they believed : ' All is fate. Thou
shalt ; for thou must ! '
Then at another time they mistrusted all fortune-
tellers and astrologers, and therefore they believed : * All
is freedom. Thou canst ; for thou wilt.'
O my brethren, as to the stars and the future, there
hath only been illusion, not knowledge. And there-
fore, as to good and evil, there hath also been illusion
only, not knowledge !
10
'Thou shalt not rob!' ' Thou shalt not commit
manslaughter ! ' Such words were once called holy ;
before them the folk bent their knees and heads and
took off their shoes.
But I ask you : Where in the world have there
ever been better robbers and murderers than such
holy words ?
Is there not in all life — robbing and manslaughter ?
And by calling such words holy, did they not murder
truth itself ?
Or was it a sermon of death, to call that holy which
contradicted all life and counselled against it ? O my
brethren, break, break the old tables !
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 277
ii
My pity for all that is past is in seeing that it is
exposed —
Exposed unto the mercy, the spirit, the lunacy of
every generation that cometh and transformeth every-
thing that hath been into its own bridge !
A great lord of power could come, an artful fiend,
with his mercy and disgrace to compel and constrain
whatever is past, until for him it became a bridge
and an omen and a herald and a cock-crow.
But this is the other danger and mine other pity :
whoever is of the mob, his memory reacheth back
unto his grandfather ; but with his grandfather time
ceaseth to exist.
Thus all that is past is exposed. For one day it
might come to pass that the mob would become master,
and all time would be drowned in shallow waters.
Therefore, O my brethren, a new nobility is requisite
which is opposed unto all mob and all that is tyrannic
and writeth on new tables the word ' noble.'
For many noble ones are requisite, and noble ones
of many kinds, in order that there be nobility ! Or,
as I said once in a figure : 'That exactly is godliness,
that there are Gods, but no God ! '
12
O my brethren, I consecrate you to be, and show
unto you the way unto a new nobility. Ye shall be-
come procreators and breeders and sowers of the
future.
2/8 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Verily, ye shall not become a nobility one might
buy like shop-keepers with shop-keepers' gold. For all
that hath its fixed price is of little value.
Not whence ye come be your honour in future,
but whither ye go ! Your will, and your foot that
longeth to get beyond yourselves, — be that your new
honour !
Verily, not that ye have served a prince — of what
concern are princes now ? — or that ye have become a
bulwark unto that which standeth, in order that it
might stand firmer !
Not that your kin hath become courtly at courts,
and that ye have learnt to stand long hours in shallow
ponds, — many-coloured, flamingo-like —
(For to be able to stand is a merit with courtiers ;
and all courtiers believe that to be allowed to sit is
part of the bliss after death !)
Nor that a spirit, called holy, led your forefathers
into lands of promise, which / do not praise (for where
there grew the evilest of all trees, the cross, — in that
land there is nothing worthy of praise !)
And, verily, wherever this ' holy ghost ' led his knights,
always in such expeditions goats and geese and cross-
heads and wrong-heads led the train !
O my brethren, not backward shall your nobility
gaze, but forward! Expelled ye shall be from all
fathers' and forefathers' lands !
Your children's land ye shall love (be this love your
new nobility !), the land undiscovered, in the remotest
sea ! For it I bid your sails seek and seek !
In your children ye shall make amends for being
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 279
your fathers' children. Thus ye shall redeem all that
is past ! This new table I put over you !
13
' Wherefore live ? All is vanity. To live — that
meaneth to thrash straw. To live — i.e., to burn one's
self and yet not become warm.'
Such ancient talk is still regarded as ' wisdom.'
Even because it is ancient and smelleth damp, it is
honoured the more. Even mould maketh noble.
Children are allowed to speak thus. They fear the
fire because it burned them ! There is much childish-
ness in the old books of wisdom.
And he who always thrasheth straw — how could he
be allowed to backbite thrashing ! With such a fool
one would have to muzzle his mouth !
Such folk sit down unto dinner and bring nothing
with them, not even a good hunger. And now they
backbite : < All is vanity ! '
But to eat well and drink well, O my brethren, is,
verily, no vain art ! Break, break the tables of those
who are never joyful !
* Unto the pure all things are pure ' — thus say the
folk. But I tell you : ' Unto the swine all things be-
come swine ! '
Therefore the enthusiasts and hypocrites, whose
very heart hangeth down, preach : ' The world itself is
a filthy monster.'
28o THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
"*
For they are all of an unclean mind; in particular
those who have neither quiet nor rest ; unless it be
that they see the world from the back,— those back-
worlds-men !
I tell it to their face, although it doth not sound
lovely : ' Therein the world resembleth man, that it hath
a backside, — thus much is true ! '
There is much filth in the world, — thus much is
true ! But for that reason the world itself is not yet
a filthy monster !
It is wisdom therein, that much in the world
smelleth ill. Loathing itself createth wings and well-
divining powers !
In the best one even, there is something loathsome.
And even the best one is a something that must be
surpassed 1
O my brethren, there is much wisdom in the fact
that there is much filth in the world !
15
Such sayings I heard pious back-worlds-men say
unto their conscience, and, verily, without cunning or
deceitfulness, — although there is nothing more deceit-
ful in the world, nor anything worse.
' Let the world be the world ! Lift not even a
finger against it ! '
' Let anybody who careth to do so throttle and
sting and flay and scrape the folk ! Lift not even a
finger against it ! Thereby they shall one day learn to
renounce the world.'
And thine own reason — thou shalt thyself throttle
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 281
and choke it ; for it is a reason of this world. Thereby
thou thyself learnest to renounce the world.'
Break, break, O my brethren, these old tables of the
pious ! Break into pieces by your speech the saying
of the calumniators of the world !
16
' Whoever learneth much, unlearneth all violent '
desiring.' Men whisper that to-day into one another's
ears in all dark lanes.
* Wisdom maketh weary. Nothing is worth while.
Thou shalt not desire ! ' This new table I found
hanging even in open markets.
Break, O my brethren, break also this new table !
The weary of the world have hung it up, and the
preachers of death, and the jailers also. For, behold,
it is moreover a sermon unto slavery !
Because they learned badly and learned not the
best, and learned everything too early and everything
too quickly because they dined badly,— they have got
that soured stomach.
For their mind is a soured stomach. It counselleth
them unto death ! For, verily, my brethren, the mind
is a stomach !
Life is a well of delight. But all wells are poisoned
for him out of whom the soured stomach speaketh,
the father of affliction.
To perceive — that is lust unto him who hath the
will of a lion ! But he who hath become weary, is
himself ' willed' only; with him all waves play.
282 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
And thus it is always the way of weak men : they
lose themselves on their ways. And at last their weari-
ness asketh : ' Wherefore have we ever gone ways !
All is the same ! '
Unto their ears it soundeth lovely when there is
preached : ' Nothing is worth while ! Ye shall not
will ! ' But this is a sermon unto slavery.
O my brethren, as a fresh roaring wind Zarathustra
cometh unto all who are weary of the way. Many
noses he will make sneeze.
Even through walls bloweth my free breath, and
into prisons and imprisoned spirits !
Willing delivereth ! For willing is creating. Thus
I teach. And only for the purpose of creating shall
ye learn !
And even the learning ye shall only learn from me,
the learning well ! Whoever hath ears, let him hear !
There standeth the boat. Over there perhaps is the
way into great nothingness. But who will step into
this 'perhaps?'
No one of you will step into the boat of death !
How then can ye be weary of the world !
Weary of the world ! And ye did not even part
with earth ! Longing I found you still for earth,
fallen in love with your own weariness of earth !
Not in vain your lip hangeth down. A small earthly
desire still sitteth on it ! And in the eye — doth there
not swim a little cloud of unforgotten earthly delight ?
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 283
There are on earth many good inventions, some
useful, some agreeable. For their sake earth is to be
loved.
And all kinds of things so well invented are there,
that they are like a woman's breast, alike useful and
pleasing.
But ye weary ones of the world ! Ye lazy ones of
earth ! Ye should be lashed with whips ! With whip-
lashes your legs shall be made brisk again.
For if ye are not sick and worn out wretches of
whom earth is weary, ye are sly tardigrades or dainty-
mouthed, hidden lust-cats. And if ye wish not to run
again gaily, ye shall — pass away !
Unto the incurable, one shall not go to be physician.
Thus teacheth Zarathustra. Thus ye shall pass away !
But more courage is requisite for making an end
than for making a new verse. That is known unto
all physicians and poets.
18
O my brethren, there are tables created by weari-
ness, and tables created by laziness, rotten laziness.
And although they speak equally, they will not be
heard equally.
Look here at this languishing one ! Only a span
is he distant from his goal, but from weariness he
hath defiantly put himself down into the dust — the
courageous one !
From weariness he yawneth at his way, and at
earth, and at his goal, and at himself. No further step
will he take — this courageous one !
284 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Now the sun gloweth down on him, and the dogs
lick his sweat. But he lieth there in his defiance and
will rather die of thirst.
A span distant from his goal will he die of thirst !
Verily, by his hair ye will have to pull him into his
heaven — this hero !
Better it is, ye let him lie where he hath laid him-
self, that sleep unto him may come, — the comforter
with a cool, murmuring rain.
Let him lie until he awake himself — until he him-
self gainsay all weariness and all that weariness taught
him to teach !
Only, my brethren, drive the dogs away from him,
the lazy sneaks, and all the swarming flies —
All the swarming flies, the ' educated,' who — feast
luxuriously on the sweat of every hero !
19
I draw around me circles and holy boundaries.
Ever fewer mount with me ever higher mountains. I
build a mountain chain out of ever holier mountains.
But wherever ye mount with me, O my brethren,
see to it that no parasite mount with you !
Parasite — that is a worm, a creeping, bent one, that
wisheth to fatten upon your hidden sores and wounds.
And this is its art, that it findeth out ascending
souls, where they are weary. In your sorrow and bad
mood, in your tender shame, he buildeth his loath-
some nest.
Wherever the strong is weak, and the noble much-
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 285
too-mild — there he buildeth his loathsome nest. The
parasite dwelleth where the great one hath small hidden
wounds.
What is the highest kind of all that is, and what is
the lowest? The parasite is the lowest kind. But
whoever is of the highest kind feedeth the most
parasites.
For that soul which hath the longest ladder and
can step down deepest — how should not the most
parasites sit on it ?
The most comprehensive soul which can within itself
go furthest and stray and rove ; the most necessary
one which from lust precipitateth itself into chance ;
The being soul which diveth down into becoming ;
the having one that longeth to get into willing and
desiring ;
The soul fleeing from itself and catching itself in
the widest circle ; the wisest soul, unto which foolish-
ness speaketh sweetest ;
The soul that loveth itself most, in which all things
have their streaming and back-streaming and ebb and
flood ! Oh ! how should the highest soul not have the
worst parasites ?
20
O my brethren, say, am I cruel ? But I say : ' What
is falling already, shall be struck down/
The All of to-day— it falleth, it decayeth. Who
would keep it ? But I — I will strike down it besides !
Know ye the voluptuousness that rolleth stones into
286 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
steep depths ? These men of to-day — look at them,
how they roll into my depths !
A prelude I am of better players, O my brethren !
An example ! Act after mine example !
And him whom ye do not teach to fly, teach — how
to fall quicker !
21
I love the brave. But it is not enough to be a
swordsman, one must also know against whom to use
the sword !
And often there is more bravery in keeping quiet
and going past, in order to spare one's self for a
worthier enemy !
Ye shall have only enemies who are to be hated, but
not enemies who are to be despised. Ye must be
proud of your enemy. Thus I taught you once before.
Ye shall reserve yourselves for the worthier enemy,
O my friends ! Therefore ye have to pass by many
things.
In particular ye have to pass by much rabble that
maketh a din of people and peoples in your ears.
Keep your eye pure from their For and Against !
Much right is there and much wrong. Whoever
looketh on, waxeth angry.
To look on, to use one's sword — in that case it is
one and the same thing. Therefore depart into the
forests and put your sword to sleep !
Go your ways. And let people and peoples go
theirs ! Verily, dark ways, on which not a single hope
lighteneth any longer 1
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 287
Let the shopkeeper rule there where everything that
still shineth is shopkeepers' gold. It is no longer the
time of kings. For what to-day calleth itself a people
deserveth no kings.
Behold, how these peoples now themselves act like
shopkeepers. They seek the smallest profits out of
every sort of rubbish !
They lie in ambush for each other; they obtain
things from each other by lying in wait. That is
called by them 'good neighbourliness.' Oh, blessed,
remote time, when a people said unto itself : ' I will
be — master over peoples ! '
For, my brethren, what is best, shall rule ; what is
best, will rule ! And where the teaching soundeth dif-
ferent, the best is — lacking.
22
If they had bread for nothing, alas !— for what would
they cry ! Their maintenance — that is their proper en-
tertainment. And they shall have a hard life !
Beasts of prey they are. In their ' working ' — there
is even preying, in their ' earning' — there is even out-
witting ! Therefore they shall have a hard life !
Thus they shall become better beasts of prey, finer,
cleverer, more like man. For man is the best beast of
prey.
From all animals man hath plundered their virtues.
The reason is that man hath had the hardest life of all
animals.
Only the birds surpass him. And if man would
288 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
learn to fly in addition, alas, whither — would his lust
of prey fly upwards!
23
Thus would I have man and woman : fit for warfare
the one, fit for giving birth the other, but both fit for
dancing with head and legs;
And be that day reckoned lost on which we did not
dance once ! And be every truth called false with
which no laughter was connected !
24
Your concluding of marriages — see to it that it be
not a bad concluding ! Ye have concluded too quickly ;
thus followeth therefrom — adultery !
And yet better is adultery than bending marriage,
lying in marriage ! Thus spake a woman unto me :
' True, I brake marriage, but first marriage brake — me ! '
Ill-coupled ones I always found to be the worst
revengeful. They take revenge on the whole world,
because they no longer walk about singly.
Therefore I will that honest ones speak unto each
other : ' We love each other. Let us see to it thm we
keep ourselves in love ! Or shall our mutual promise
be a mistake ? '
'Give us a term and a small marriage, that we may
see to it whether we are fit for the great marriage ! It
is a great thing to be always in pairs ! '
Thus I counsel all honest ones. And what would
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 289
be my love unto beyond-man and unto all that is to
come, if I should counsel and speak differently !
Not only shall ye propagate yourselves, but ye shall
propagate upwards. Thereto, O my brethren, let the
garden of marriage aid you !
Lo ! he who became wise concerning old origins,
will at last seek for the fountains of the future and for
new origins.
O my brethren, it will not be long that new peoples
shall arise and new springs gush down into new depths.
For the earthquake — encumbereth many wells, and
createth much languishing. That will also bring to
light inner powers and hidden things.
The earthquake maketh new springs appear. In the
earthquake of old peoples new springs gush forth.
And whoever crieth : ' Behold, here is one well for
many thirsty ones, one heart for many longing ones,
one will for many tools' — round him gathereth a
people, i.e., many trying.
Who is able to command, who is obliged to obey —
that is tested there! Alas, with what long seeking and
guessing and failing and learning and testing anew !
Human society — it is an attempt ; thus I teach, — it
is a long seeking. But it seeketh the commander !
An attempt, O my brethren ! And no ' contract ! '
Break, break such a word of soft-hearts and half-and-
half ones !
20
290 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
26
O my brethren ! With whom is the greatest danger
for the whole human future ? Is it not with the good
and just ?
Because they are those who speak and feel in their
heart : ' We know already what is good and just ; we
have it in addition. Alas, for those who still seek
for it!'
And whatever harm the wicked may do, the harm
of the good is the most harmful harm !
And whatever harm the calumniators of the world
may do, the harm of the good is the most harmful
harm !
O my brethren, once upon a time a man looked
into the heart of the good and just, and said : 'They
are the Pharisees.' But he was not understood.
The good and just themselves were not allowed to
understand him. Their mind was imprisoned in their
good conscience. The stupidity of the good is un-
fathomably clever.
But this is the truth ; the good must be Pharisees.
They have no choice !
The good must crucify him who inventeth his own
virtue ! That is the truth !
But the second one who discovered their land, the
land, heart and soil of the good and just— he it was
who asked : ' Whom do they hate most ? '
The creator they hate most, — him who breaketh
tables and old values, the breaker. They call him a
criminal.
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 291
For the good cannot create. They are always the
beginning of the end.
They crucify him who writeth new values on
new tables ; they sacrifice unto themselves the future ;
they crucify the whole human future !
The good — they have always been the beginning
of the end.
27
O my brethren, understood ye this word ? And
what once I said of the last man ?
With whom is the greatest danger for the whole
human future ? Is it not with the good and just !
Break, break the good and just! O my brethren,
understood ye this word ?
28
Ye flee from me ? Ye are terrified ? Ye tremble
in the presence of this word ?
O my brethren, when I bade you break the good
and the tables of the good — it was then only that I
put man on board ship for his high sea.
Only now cometh the great terror unto him, the
great look round, the great illness, the great loathing,
the great sea-sickness.
False shores and false securities ye were taught
by the good. In the lies of the good ye were born
and hidden. Through the good everything hath become
deceitful and crooked from the bottom.
But he who discovered the land 'man,' discovered
292 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
also the land ' human future/ Now ye shall be unto
me sailors, brave, patient ones !
Walk upright in time, O my brethren, learn how
to walk upright ! The sea stormeth. Many wish to
raise themselves with your help.
The sea stormeth. Everything is in the sea. Up !
Upwards ! Ye old sailor hearts !
What ? A fatherland ? Thither striveth our rudder,
where our children's land is. Out thither, stormier
than the sea, our great longing stormeth !
29
' Why so hard ? ' said once the charcoal unto the
diamond, ' are we not near relations ? '
Why so soft ? O my brethren, thus I ask you.
Are ye not — my brethren ?
Why so soft, so unresisting, and yielding ? Why
is there so much disavowal and abnegation in your
hearts ? Why is there so little fate in your looks ?
And if ye are unwilling to be fates, and inexorable,
how could ye conquer with me someday ?
And if your hardness would not glance, and cut,
and chip into pieces — how could ye create with me
someday ?
For all creators are hard. And it must seem blessed-
ness unto you to press your hand upon millenniums
as upon wax —
Blessedness to write upon the will of millenniums
as upon brass— harder than brass, nobler than brass.
The noblest only is perfectly hard.
OF OLD AND NEW TABLES 293
This new table, O my brethren, I put over you :
' Become hard ! '
30
Oh, thou my will ! Thou change of all needs, thou,
my necessity ! Save me from all small victories !
Thou decree of my soul called fate by myself !
Thou within-me ! Thou above me ! Save and spare
me for one great fate !
And thy last greatness, O my will, spare for thy
last, in order to be inexorable in thy victory ! Alas,
who was not conquered by his victory !
Alas ! whose eye did not grow dim in this drunken
dawn ? Alas ! whose foot did not stagger and forget
how to — stand in victory !
That one day I may be ready and ripe in the
great noon ; ready and ripe like glowing ore, like a
cloud pregnant with a lightning, and a swelling milk-
udder ;
Ready unto myself and unto my most secret
will ; a bow eager for its arrow ; an arrow eager for
its star;
A star, ready and ripe in its noon, glowing, perforated,
blessed with destroying arrows of the sun.
A sun himself and an inexorable will of a sun,
ready for destroying in victory !
O will, thou change of all needs, thou my necessity !
Reserve me for one great victory ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE CONVALESCENT ONE
ONE morning, not long after his return into the cave,
Zarathustra jumped up from his couch like a mad-
man. He cried with a terrible voice, and behaved as
if some one else was lying on the couch and would
not get up from it. And so sounded Zarathustra's voice
that his animals ran unto him in terror, and that from
all caves and hiding places which were nigh unto Zara-
thustra's cave all animals hurried away, flying, flutter-
ing, creeping, jumping, according to the kind of foot
or wing they had been given. But Zarathustra spake
these words :
" Up, abyss-like thought, from my depth ! I am thy
cock and morning-dawn, O sleepy worm ! Up ! Up I
My voice shall crow thee awake !
Untie the fetter of thine ears ! Hearken ! For I will
hear thee ! Up ! Up ! Here is thunder enough so that
even graves learn to listen !
And wipe the sleep and all that is dim and blind
from thine eyes ! Listen unto me with thine eyes
also ! My voice is a medicine even for the born blind.
294
THE CONVALESCENT ONE 295
And if thou art once awake, thou shall remain
awake for ever. Not my way is it to awaken great-
grandmothers from sleep in order to ask them to
sleep on !
Thou movest, thou stretchest thyself, thou rattiest ?
Up ! Up ! Not rattle — speak thou shalt unto me 1
Zarathustra, the ungodly, calleth thee !
I, Zarathustra, the advocate of life, the advocate of
suffering, the advocate of the circle — I call thee, my
most abyss-like thought !
Hail unto me ! Thou comest ; I hear thee ! Mine
abyss speaketh ! My last depth have I turned round
unto the light !
Hail unto me ! Come nigh ! Shake hands ha !
Leave me, hahaha ! Loathing, loathing, loathing !
Alas, for me ! "
No sooner had Zarathustra said these words than
he fell down like one dead, and remained long like
one dead. But when he again became conscious,
he was pale and trembled, and remained lying, and for
a long while would neither eat nor drink. This state
of his lasted seven days. But his animals left him
not, day or night, unless that the eagle flew off
to get food. And whatever prey he fetched and
caught, he laid on Zarathustra's couch so that at last
Zarathustra was buried under yellow and red berries,
grapes, rose-apples, sweet-smelling pot-herbs and pine-
cones. But at his feet two lambs were spread which
296 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
the eagle had, with much trouble, carried off from their
shepherd.
At last, after seven days, Zarathustra rose on his
couch, took a rose-apple in his hand, smelt it, and
found its odour sweet. Then his animals thought the
time had come for speaking unto him.
"O Zarathustra," said they, "now thou hast lain like
that for seven days, with heavy eyes. Wilt thou not
now stand again on thy feet ?
Step out from thy cave ; the world waiteth for
thee like a garden. The wind playeth with heavy
odours longing for thee; and all brooklets would fain
run after thee.
All things long for thee, because thou remainedst
seven days alone. Step out from thy cave ! All things
wish to be thy physicians !
Hath a new perception come unto thee, a sour hard
one ? Like a dough mixed with leaven thou didst lie
there. Thy soul rose and overflowed all its margins."
" O mine animals," answered Zarathustra, " talk on
like that and let me listen 1 It refresheth me to hear
talking like that. Where there is talk, the world lieth
like a garden unto me.
How lovely it is that words and tunes exist ! Are
not words and tunes rainbows and seeming bridges
between things eternally separated ?
Unto each soul belongeth a different world ; for
each soul, every other soul is a back-world.
Between things most like unto each other, semblance
telleth the most beautiful lies. For the smallest gap is
the most difficult to bridge over.
THE CONVALESCENT ONE 297
For me — how could there be an out-of-me ? There
is no outside ! But we forget that when hearing any
tunes. How lovely it is that we forget !
Are things not given names and tunes, in order
that man may find recreation in things ? Speech is a
beautiful folly. Thereby man danceth over all things.
How love'ly is all speech and all lying of tunes !
With tunes our love danceth on many-coloured rain-
bows."
" O Zarathustra," then said the animals. " Unto such
as think like us, all things themselves dance. They
come, and shake hands and laugh and flee — and return.
Everything goeth, everything returneth. Forever
rolleth the wheel of existence. Everything dieth,
everything blossometh again. Forever runneth the
year of existence.
Everything breaketh, everything is joined anew.
Forever the same house of existence buildeth itself.
All things separate, all things greet each other again.
Forever faithful unto itself the ring of existence re-
maineth.
At every moment existence beginneth. Round every
Here rolleth the ball There. The midst is everywhere.
Crooked is the path of eternity."
" O ye buffoons and barrel-organs," answered Zara-
thustra, and smiled again, " how well ye know what
had to be done in seven days —
And how that monster crept into my throat and
choked me ! But I bit its head off and spat it away
from me.
And ye — ye have already made out of it a barrel-
298 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
organ song ? But now I lie here, weary from that
biting and spitting away, sick still with mine own
salvation.
And ye were the spectators of all that f O mine
animals, are even ye cruel ? Did ye like to look at
my great pain, as men do ?' For man is the cruellest
animal.
When gazing at tragedies, bullfights and crucifix-
ions, he hath hitherto felt happier than at any other
time on earth. And when he invented hell for himself,
lo, hell was his heaven upon earth.
When the great man crieth, swiftly the small
man runneth thither. And his tongue hangeth out of
his throat from lustfulness. But he calleth it his
'pity.'
The small man, in particular the poet, — how eagerly
doth he in words accuse life ! Hearken unto him, but
fail not to hear the lust which is contained in all that
accusing !
Such accusers of life — they are overcome by life
with a blinking of the eye. ' Thou lovest me ? ' saith
the impudent one. ' Wait a little ; I have no time yet
for thee.'
Man is the cruellest animal towards himself. And
in all who call themselves 'sinners' and ' bearers of
the cross ' and ' penitents,' ye shall not fail to hear the
lust contained in that complaining and accusing !
And myself ? — will I thereby be the accuser of
man ? Alas, mine animals, that alone I have learnt
hitherto, that the wickedest in man is necessary for
the best in him —
THE CONVALESCENT ONE 299
That all that is wicked, is his best power and the
hardest stone unto the highest creator ; and that man
must become better and more wicked.
Not unto that stake of torture was I fixed, that
I know : man is wicked. But I cried, as no one hath
ever cried :
' Alas, that his wickedest is so very small ! Alas,
that his best is so very small ! '
The great loathing of man, — it choked me, it had
crept into my throat ; and what the fortune-teller
foretold : 'All is equal, nothing is worth while, know-
ledge choketh.'
A long dawn limped in front of me, a sadness
weary unto death, drunken from death, and speaking
with a yawning mouth.
Eternally he recurreth, man, of whom thou weari-
est, the small man. Thus yawned my sadness and
dragged its foot and could not fall asleep.
A cave became the human earth for me, its chest
fell in, all that liveth became unto me mould of men
and bones and a rotten past.
My sighing sat on all liuman graves and could no
longer get up ; my sighing and questioning cried like
a toad, and choked, and gnawed, and complained by
day and night :
' Alas, man recurreth eternally ! The small man
recurreth eternally ! '
Once I had seen both naked, the greatest man and
the smallest man — all-too-like unto each other — all-too-
human even the greatest man !
All-too-small the greatest one ! That was my satiety
300 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
of man ! And eternal recurrence even of the smallest
one ! That was my satiety of all existence.
Alas ! loathing ! loathing ! loathing ! " Thus spake
Zarathustra, and sighed and shuddered ; for he remem-
bered his illness. But his animals would not allow
him to speak further.
" Speak not further, thou convalescent one ! " Thus
his animals answered. " But go out where the world
waiteth for thee like a garden.
Go out unto the roses and bees and flocks of doves !
But especially unto the singing birds, that thou mayest
learn singing from them !
For singing is good for the convalescent ; the healthy
one may speak. And when the healthy one wanteth
song also, he wanteth other songs than the convalescent
one."
" O ye buffoons and barrel-organs, be silent 1 " Zara-
thustra answered and smiled at his animals. " How
will ye know what comfort I invented for myself in
seven days !
That I was compelled to sing again — that comfort
I invented for myself and that convalescence. Are ye
going to make at once a barrel-organ song even out
of that ? "
" Speak no further," his animals answered once more.
1 Rather, thou convalescent one, make first a lyre, a new
lyre!
For, behold, O Zarathustra ! For thy new songs new
lyres are requisite.
THE CONVALESCENT ONE 301
Sing and foam over, O Zarathustra, heal thy soul
with new songs, that thou mayest carry thy great
fate that hath not yet been any man's fate !
For thine animals know well, O Zarathustra, who
thou art and must become. Behold, thou art the
teacher of eternal recurrence. That is now thy fate !
That thou hast to be the first to teach this doctrine
— how should this great fate not also be thy greatest
danger and illness ?
Behold, we know what thou teachest ; that all
things recur eternally, ourselves included ; and that we
have been there infinite times before, and all things
with us.
Thou teachest that there is a great year of becoming,
a monstrous, great year. It must, like an hour-glass,
ever turn upside down again in order to run down
and run out —
So that all these years are like unto each other,
in the greatest and in the smallest things ; so that in
every great year we are like unto ourselves, in the
greatest and in the smallest things.
And if thou wouldst now die, O Zarathustra — be-
hold, we even know what thou wouldst then say unto
thyself. But thine animals pray thee not to die yet !
Thou wouldst speak, and without trembling, on the
contrary breathing deeply with happiness. For a great
burden and sultriness would be taken from thee, thou
most patient one !
' Now I die and vanish/ thou wouldst say, ' and in
a moment I shall be nothing. Souls are as mortal
as bodies.
302 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
But the knot of causes recurreth in which I am
twined. It will create me again ! I myself belong unto
the causes of. eternal recurrence.
I come back, with this sun, with this earth, with
this eagle, with this serpent — not for a new life, or a
better life or an eternal life.
I come eternally back unto this one and the same
life, in the greatest things and in the smallest things,
in order to teach once more the eternal recurrence
of all things ;
In order to speak again the word of the great noon
of earth and man ; in order to proclaim again beyond-
man unto man.
I have spoken my word ; I break from my word.
Thus willeth mine eternal fate. As a proclaimer I
perish !
The hour hath come now, when the perishing one
blesseth himself. Thus — endeth Zarathustra's destruc-
tion.' "
The animals having said these words, were silent
and waited to see whether Zarathustra would say
anything unto them. But Zarathustra did not hear
that they were silent. On the contrary : he lay still,
with his eyes closed, like one asleep, although he did
not sleep. For he was communing with his soul. But
the serpent and the eagle, finding him thus silent,
respected the great stillness round him and cautiously
withdrew.
OF GREAT LONGING
" O MY soul, I taught thee to say ' to-day/ as well as
' once ' and ' long ago/ and to dance thy jig over all
Here and There and Elsewhere.
O my soul, I redeemed thee from all corners ! I
brushed down from thee dust, spiders and twilight.
O my soul, I washed the small shame and corner
virtue down from thee, and persuaded thee to stand
naked before the eyes of the sun !
With the storm which is called ' spirit,' I blew over
thine undulating sea. All clouds I blew away and
throttled even the throttler called ' sin.'
O my soul, I gave thee the right to say Nay like
the storm, and to say Yea as the open sky doth ! Still
like light, now thou standest and walkest through
denying storms.
O my soul, I gave thee back freedom over created
and not created things ! And who knoweth, as thou
dost, the lust of what is to come ?
O my soul, I taught thee the despising that cometh
not like the gnawing of worms, the great, loving de-
spising that loveth most where it despiseth most.
O my soul, I taught thee thus to persuade, so that
thou even persuadedst the reasons unto thy side — like
303
304 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
the sun which even persuadeth the sea to ascend unto
his height !
O my soul, I took from thee all obeying, bending
of knees and saying lord ! I myself gave thee the
names ' change of needs ' and ' fate.'
O my soul, I gave thee new names and many-
coloured toys ! I called thee ' fate ' and 4 orbit of orbits '
and ' navel-cord of time ' and ' azure bell.'
O my soul, unto thy soil gave I all wisdom to
drink, all new wines, and also all beyond-memory old,
strong wines of wisdom !
O my soul, every sun I poured out over thee, and
every night, and every silence, and every longing !
Then thou grewest up unto me like a vine plant.
O my soul, over-rich and heavy thou standest there,
a vine plant with swelling udders and close brown
grapes —
Close and pressed from thy happiness, waiting
because of abundance, and bashful even because of
thy waiting.
O my soul, there is certainly now here a soul more
full of love, readier to embrace and more comprehen-
sive ! Where could the future and what is past be
closer together than with thee ?
O my soul, I gave thee all, and all my hands have
become empty through giving unto thee ! And now ! —
now thou sayest unto me, smiling and full of melan-
choly : ' Which of us has to thank the other ?
Hath the giver not to thank the taker for taking ? Is
giving not a necessity ? Is taking not pity ? '
O my soul, I understand the smile of thy melancholy.
OF GREAT LONGING 305
Thine over-great riches themselves now stretch out
longing hands !
Thy fulness gazeth over roaring seas and seeketh and
waiteth. The longing of over-abundance gazeth from
the smiling heaven of thine eyes !
And, verily, O my soul ! Who could see thy smile
and not melt into tears ? Angels themselves melt into
tears because of the over-kindness of thy smile.
Thy kindness and over-kindness wanteth not to com-
plain and cry ! And yet, O my soul, thy smile longeth
for tears, and thy trembling mouth longeth to sob.
' Is not all crying a complaining ? And all complain-
ing an accusing ? ' Thus thou speakest unto thyself,
and therefore, O my soul, thou likest better to smile
than to pour out thy sorrow —
To pour out in gushing tears all thy sorrow over
thine abundance, and over all the longing of the vine
plant for vine-dressers and vine-knives !
But it thou wilt not cry, nor give forth in tears thy
purple melancholy, thou wilt have to sing, O my soul !
Behold, I myself smile who foretell such things unto
thee.
Thou wilt have to sing with a roaring song, until
all seas are stilled in order to hearjcen unto thy long-
ing—
Until over still, longing seas the boat glideth, the
golden wonder, round the gold of which all good, bad,
strange things hop —
Also many large and small animals, and whatever hath
light, strange feet, so that it can run on paths of violet
blue.
21
306 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
Until it reacheth the golden wonder, the voluntary
boat and its master. But he is the vine-dresser who
waiteth with diamond vine-knife—
Thy great liberator, O my soul, the nameless one for
whom future songs only will find names ! And, verily,
already thy breath smelleth of future songs.
Already thou glowest and dreamest ; already thou
drinkest thirstily from all deep, sounding wells of
comfort ; already thy melancholy resteth in the bliss of
future songs !
O my soul, now I have given thee all, and even my
last, and all my hands have been emptied by giving unto
thee ! My bidding thee sing, lo, that was the last thing
I had!
My bidding thee sing — say, say : which of us hath now
to thank the other ? But still better : sing unto me,
sing, O my soul ! And let me thank ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE SECOND DANCE-SONG
" INTO thine eye I gazed of late, O life ! Gold I saw
shine in thy night-like eye. My heart stood still because
of that lust.
A golden boat saw I shine on night-like waters, a
golden, swinging boat, sinking, drinking, shining
again.
At my foot which is frantic to dance thou castest
thy glance, a swinging glance, laughing, asking,
melting.
Twice only thou movedst thy rattle with small hands.
There my foot already swung frantic to dance.
To understand thee, my toes did hearken, my
heels did rear. For the dancer weareth in his toes his
ear !
Unto thy side I jumped. Then thou Reddest back
from my bound. And towards me played the tongue
of thy hair fleeing, flying round !
Away from thee and from thy serpents, I made my
dances. Then thou stoodest there, half turned round,
the eye full of longing glances.
307
308 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
With crooked blinking, thou teachest me crooked
courses. On crooked courses my foot learneth artful
thinking.
I love thee when thou art far ; I fear thee when thou
art nigh. Thy flight decoyeth me ; thy seeking annoyeth
me. I suffer ; but for thee what suffer gaily would
not I!
Her coldness inflameth ; her hatred seduceth; her
flight tameth ; sympathy her mocking produceth.
Who would not hate thee, thou great binder, twiner,
tempter, seeker, finder ! Who would love thy ways,
thou innocent, impatient, storm-like hurrying sinner
with a child's gaze ?
Where dost thou now draw me, thou unruly paragon ?
And now thou fleest from me again, thou sweet tom-boy
and thankless one !
I dance after thee. Even on slight traces I follow
thee. Where art thou ? Give me thy hand ! Or even
a single finger give me !
Here are caves and thickets. We shall go astray !
Halt ! Stand still 1 Seest thou not owls and bats flutter
their way ?
Thou bat ! Thou art going to fool me ? Thou owl !
Where are we ? From dogs thou learnedst thus to bark
and howl !
With little white teeth thou grinnest at me in thy sweet
wise. From thy little curly mane spring forth against
me thine evil eyes !
This is a dance over stone and log ! I am the hunts-
man. Wilt thou be my chamois or my dog ?
Now beside me ! Thou wicked springer, and quick !
THE SECOND DANCE-SONG 309
Now up ! Now over it ! — Alas ! In springing I fell
myself over the stick !
Oh, look at me lying here, thou tomboy, how for grace
I pray ! Fain would I go with thee on a much sweeter
way !
The way of love through bushes many-coloured, still,
and dim ! Or there along the lake, where the goldfish
dance and swim!
Thou art weary now ? Yonder there are evening reds
and sheep ! When the shepherds play the flute, is it
not goodly then to sleep ?
Thou art sore wearied ? I carry thee there. Let
thine arms now sink ! And if thou art thirsty, — I have
something. But thy mouth liketh it not to drink !
Oh, this cursed swift pliant snake and witch hiding
at every turn ! Whither art thou gone ? But in my
face I feel from thy hand red spots and double blotches
burn !
I am weary indeed of being ever a stupid shepherd
for thee ? Thou witch, if I have hitherto sung unto
thee, thou shalt now — cry unto me !
Unto the rhythm of my whip shalt thou now dance
and cry ! Did I remember my whip ? Ay ! '
Then life answered me thus, keeping both her neat
ears shut:
4 O Zarathustra ! Do not crack thy whip so terribly !
For thou knowest : noise murdereth thought. And
even now very tender thoughts come unto me.
3io THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
We are the proper pair of good-for-evil things and
good-for-good things. Beyond good and evil we found
our island and our green meadow — we two alone !
Therefore we have to be fond of each other !
And although we do not love each other from the
bottom — must folk quarrel, if they love not each other
from the bottom ?
And that I am fond of thee, and often too fond, — that
thou knowest. And the reason is that I am jealous of
thy wisdom. Alas, this mad old fool, wisdom !
If one day thy wisdom should run away from thee,
alas ! my love also would then quickly run away from
thee.'
Then life looked thoughtfully behind herself and
round herself, and said gently : ' O Zarathustra, thou art
not faithful enough unto me !
Thou lovest me not so much by far as thou sayest.
I know, thou thinkest of leaving me soon.
There is an old heavy humming bell ; it hummeth in
the night upwards unto thy cave.
If thou nearest that clock at midnight strike the
hour, thou thinkest of it between one and twelve.
Thou thinkest, O Zarathustra, I know it, of soon
leaving me ! '
' Yea,' I answered hesitating, ' but thou also knowest—'
And I told her something into her ear, in the midst
of all the confused, yellow, stupid tresses of her
hair.
' Thou knowest that, O Zarathustra ? That no one
knoweth.'
And we gazed at each other, and looked at the
THE SECOND DANCE-SONG 311
green meadow over which the cool even was spread-
ing, and wept together. Then life was dearer unto
me than all my wisdom had ever been unto me."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
3
"One !
0 man ! Lose not sight !
Two !
What saith the deep midnight ?
Three !
1 lay in sleep, in sleep ;
Four!
From deep dream I woke to light.
Five !
The world is deep,
Six!
And deeper than ever day thought it might.
Seven !
Deep is its woe —
Eight !
And deeper still than woe — delight.
Nine !
Saith woe : ' Pass, go !
Ten !
Eternity's sought by all delight —
Eleven !
Eternity deep — by all delight ! '
Twelve ! "
THE SEVEN SEALS
(OR THE SONG OF YEA AND AMEN)
" IF I am a fortune-teller and full of that foretelling
spirit that wandereth on a high mountain ridge be-
tween two seas, —
That wandereth between what is past and what is
to come, as a heavy cloud, — an enemy unto sultry
low lands and all that is weary and can neither die
nor live-
Ready for the lightning in the dark bosom, and
for the redeeming beam of light, charged with light-
nings that say Yea ! that laugh Yea ! — ready for fore-
telling lightnings —
(But blessed is he who is thus charged! And,
verily, a long time must he hang as a heavy thunder-
storm on the mountain, he who shall one day kindle
the light of the future ! )
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
312
THE SEVEN SEALS 313
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
For I love thee, 0 Eternity !
If my wrath hath ever broken graves, removed
landmarks, and rolled down into steep depths old
tables broken ;
If my scorn hath ever blown into pieces mouldered
words, and I have ever come as a brush unto cross-
spiders, and as a roaring wind unto old dampish grave-
chambers ;
If I have ever sat rejoicing where old Gods lie
buried ; if I have ever sat blessing the world, loving
the world, beside the monuments of old calumniators
of the world ;
(For even churches and graves of Gods I love,
when once the sky gazeth with its pure eye through
their broken ceilings. I love to sit on broken churches,
like the grass and the red poppy.)
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
For I love thee, 0 Eternity !
314 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
If there hath ever come unto me a breath of
creative breath, and of that heavenly necessity that
compelleth chance itself to dance star dances ;
If I have ever laughed with the laughter of
creative lightning, that is followed by the long thunder
of the deed, rumbling though willingly ;
If I have ever played at dice with Gods at the
godlike table of earth, so that the earth trembled and
brake and hissed up streams of fire ;
(For a godlike table is earth, and trembling from
creative new words and dice-casts of Gods.)
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
For I love thee, 0 Eternity !
4
If I have ever drunk a full draught from that
foaming spice-mixture-vessel in which all things are
mixed ;
If my hand hath ever poured what is remotest
into what is nighest, and fire into spirit, and lust into
woe, and wickedest into kindest ;
If I myself am a grain of that redeeming salt
that maketh all things mix well in the vessel of mix-
ture ;
THE SEVEN SEALS 315
(For there is a salt that bringeth together what is
good and what is evil ; and even the wickedest is
worthy of serving as seasoning, and as a means for
the last foaming over.)
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
Fot I love theey 0 Eternity/
If I am fond of the sea, and of all that is of the
sea's kin ! and if I am fondest if it contradicteth me
angrily ;
If that seeking lust is within me, that driveth the
sails after the undiscovered ; if there is a sailor's lust
in my lust ;
If my rejoicing hath ever cried : ' The shore hath
disappeared ! Now the last chain hath fallen down
from me !
The limitless roareth round me ! Far, far away
shine unto me space and time ! Up ! upwards ! old
heart ! '—
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
3i6 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity I
For I love thee, 0 Eternity !
If my virtue is a dancer's virtue, and I have often
leaped with both feet into golden-emerald rapture ;
If my wickedness is a laughing wickedness, feeling
at home under rose-slopes and lily-hedges ;
(For in laughter there is gathered all that is
wicked, but proclaimed holy and free through its
own bliss.)
And if it be mine Alpha and mine Omega that all
that is heavy should become light, all that is body
become a dancer, all that is spirit become a bird. And,
verily, that is mine A and mine O ! —
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
For I love thee, 0 Eternity !
7
If I have ever spread out above me still skies, and
have ever flown into mine own skies by mine own
wings ;
If I have hovered playfully in deep light-distances
and there hath come the bird-wisdom of my freedom ;
THE SEVEN SEALS 3'7
(Thus speaketh bird-wisdom : ' Behold, here is
no above, no below 1 Throw thyself to and fro, out,
back, thou light one ! Sing ! Speak no more !
Are not all words made for the heavy ? Lie not all
words unto the light one ! Sing ! Speak no more ! ' — )
Oh ! how could I fail to be eager for eternity,
and for the marriage ring of rings, the ring of re-
currence ?
Never yet have I found the woman by whom I
should have liked to have children, unless it be this
woman I love. For I love thee, O Eternity !
For I love thee, O Eternity!"
THE FOURTH AND LAST PART
"Alas! where in the world have greater follies hap-
pened than with the pitiful? And what in the world
hath done more harm than the follies of the pitiful ?
Woe unto all loving ones who do not possess an
elevation which is above their pity/
Thus the devil once said unto me: 'Even God hath
his own hell : that is his love unto men.'
And recently I heard the word said : ' God is dead ;
he hath died of his pity fot men.'
ZaratJmstra, II
Of The Pitiful
THE HONEY-OFFERING
AND again months and years passed over Zarathustra's
soul, and he took no notice of it. But his hair grew
white. One day, when he sat on a stone before his
cave and silently gazed (there one looketh out on the
sea and away over winding abysses) his animals went
thoughtfully round him and at last stood in front of
him.
" O Zarathustra," they said, " dost thou peradventure
look out for thy happiness ? " " What is happiness
worth ? " he answered. " For a long time I have not
ceased to strive for my happiness ; now I strive for
my work." " O Zarathustra," the animals said once
more, " Thou sayest so as one who hath more than
enough of what is good. Dost thou not lie in a sky-
blue lake of happiness ? " " Ye buffoons," answered
Zarathustra smiling, " how well ye chose that simile !
But ye also know that my happiness is heavy, and is
not like a liquid wave of water. It presseth me, and
will not part from me, and behaveth like melted pitch."
Then the animals again went thoughtfully round him
and once more stood in front of him. " O Zarathustra,"
they said, "we see, it is for that reason that thou
growest ever yellower and darker, though thy hair
22 3"
322 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
will soon look white and flaxy ? Behold, thou sittest
in thy pitch ! " " What say ye now, mine animals ? "
said Zarathustra laughing. "Verily, I reviled when
speaking of pitch. What I experience is experienced
by all fruits which grow ripe. The honey in my veins
thickeneth my blood and stilleth my soul also." " Thus
it will be, O Zarathustra ! " answered the animals and
thronged round him. " But art thou not going up a
high mountain to-day ? The air is pure, and this
day one seeth more of the world than ever before."
"Yea, mine animals," he answered, "ye guess well
and according to my wishes. This day I am going
up a high mountain. But take care that there be
honey at my disposal, yellow, white, good, golden
comb-honey as cool as ice. For learn, at the top I
am going to make the honey-offering."
But when Zarathustra had reached the summit, he
sent home his animals which had led him, and found
that now he was alone. Then he laughed from the
bottom of his heart, looked round and spake thus.
"That I spake of offering and of honey-offerings,
was merely my stratagem of speech, and, verily, a useful
stupidity ! On this summit one is allowed to speak a
little freer than before hermit-caves and an hermit's
domestic animals.
Why sacrifice ! I waste what I am given. A waster
with a thousand hands am I. How could I dare to
call that offering !
And when I asked for honey, I merely wanted to
have a bait and sweet slime and phlegm, for which
THE HONEY-OFFERING 323
even growling bears and strange, morose, evil birds
smack their lips —
To have the best bait that is requisite for huntsmen
and fishers. For if the world is like a dark forest of
animals, and a pleasure-ground of all wild huntsmen,
it seemeth unto me to be still more, and preferably,
a bottomless, rich sea —
A sea full of many-coloured fish and crabs, by which
even Gods might be tempted to become fishers there
and throw out their nets. So rich is the world in
strange things, great and small !
In particular the world of men, the sea of men !
For that I now throw out my golden fishing rod,
saying : ' Open, O thou abyss of men !
Open and throw into my hands thy fish and glitter-
ing crabs ! With my best bait this day I bait the
strangest human fish !
My happiness itself I throw out into all distances
and remote places, between east, south, and west, to
try whether on the hook of my happiness many human
fish will learn to pull and wriggle.
Until they, biting on my pointed hidden hooks, are
forced to come up unto my height, the most many-
coloured abyss-groundlings, unto the most malicious
one of all catchers of human fish.'
For this I am from the bottom and from the begin-
ning, pulling, pulling unto me, pulling up unto me,
bringing up — a puller, breeder and governor, who not in
vain once counselled himself : * Become what thou art ! '
Thus men may now come up unto me. For I am
still waiting for the signs indicated that it is time for
324 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
my going down. Not yet do I perish among men, as
I must do.
For that I wait here, artful and mocking on high
mountains, not impatient, not patient ; on the contrary,
one who hath among other things unlearnt patience,
because he suffereth no more.
For my fate alloweth me plenty of time. Did it
forget me ? Or doth it sit behind a large stone in the
shadow catching flies ?
And, verily, I am well disposed towards it, towards
mine eternal fate, for that reason that it doth not hunt
and press me, but leaveth me time for fibs and tricks ;
so that this day I have gone up this high mountain to
catch fish.
Hath ever a man caught fish on high mountains ?
And though what I seek and do up here be a folly, it
is better to do this than by waiting down there to
become solemn and green and yellow —
To become by waiting a sprawling one who panteth
for wrath, a holy howling storm from the mountains,
an impatient one who shouteth down into the valleys :
'Listen, otherwise I shall whip you with the scourge
of God!'
Not that I waxed angry with such wrathful ones.
As an occasion of laughter, they are good enough unto
me ! Impatient they must be, the big noise-drums,
who find language to-day or never !
But I and my fate, we speak not unto To-day. Nor
do we speak unto Never. For speaking we have
patience and time and too-much-time. For one day
it must come and will not be allowed to pass by.
THE HONEY-OFFERING 325
Who must come one day and will not be allowed
to pass by ? Our great Hazar, i.e.9 our great far off
kingdom of man, the Zarathustra-kingdom of a thousand
years.
How far may that 'far' be? What doth it concern
me ? But on that account it is no less sure unto me.
With both feet I stand safely on that ground —
On an eternal ground, on hard primary rock, on
these highest, hardest primitive mountains, unto which,
as unto a point of separation for thunder-clouds, the
winds come asking : Where ? and Whence ? and
Whither ?
Here laugh, laugh, O my bright, unscathed wicked-
ness ! Down from high mountains throw thy glitter-
ing mocking laughter ! Bait for me with thy glittering
the finest human fish !
And whatever belongeth unto me in all seas, my
in-and-for-me in all things — fish that out for me, bring
that up unto me ! For it I wait, the most malicious
of all fish-catchers.
Out, out, my hook ! In, down, bait of my happiness !
Drop thy sweetest dew, honey of my heart ! Bite, my
hook, into the womb of all black affliction 1
Out, out, mine eye ! Oh, how many seas round
about me, what dawning futures of men ! And above
me what rose-red stillness ! What cloudless silence ! "
THE CRY FOR HELP
THE following day Zarathustra sat again on his stone
before the cave, while the animals strayed outside in
the world in order to bring home fresh food, including
fresh honey. For the old honey had been spent and
wasted unto the last drop by Zarathustra. But when
he thus sat there with a stick in his hand, and copied
the shadow of his figure on the ground, meditating
(and, verily, not upon himself and his shadow), suddenly
he was terrified and gave a start. For beside his
shadow he saw another shadow. And when he looked
round quickly and arose, behold, there the fortune-
teller stood beside him, the same unto whom he once
had given food and drink at his table, the announcer
of the great weariness, who taught :t " Everything is
equal ; nothing is worth while ; the world is without
sense ; knowledge choketh." But in the meantime
his face had changed. And when Zarathustra looked
into his eyes, his heart was terrified once more. So
many evil prophecies and ashen-gray lightnings
passed over that face.
The fortune-teller, who had noticed what was going
on in Zarathustra's soul, wiped his face with his hand,
326
THE CRY FOR HELP 327
as if he were going to wipe it out. The same did
Zarathustra. And when both of them had in silence
recovered and reassured themselves, they shook hands
to show that they wished to recognise each other.
" Welcome unto me/' said Zarathustra, "thou prophet
of the great weariness ! Not in vain shalt thou have
once been the friend of my table and house. Eat and
drink in the same way this day with me and forgive
a happy old man for sitting down to dinner with thee I "
" A happy old man ? " answered the fortune-teller,
shaking his head. " Whatever thou art or desirest to
be, O Zarathustra, that thou hast been up here the
largest part of thy sojourn. Thy boat shall in a little
while sit no longer on dry ground ! " " Do I sit on
the dry ground ? " asked Zarathustra, laughing. " The
waves round thy hill," answered the fortune-teller,
"rise and rise, the waves of great need and affliction.
They will soon raise thy boat like others and carry thee
off." After that Zarathustra was silent and wondered.
" Dost thou not hear anything yet ? " the fortune-teller
continued. " Is there not a rustling and roaring up
from the depth ? " Zarathustra was silent again and
hearkened. Then he heard a long, long cry, which the
abysses threw and passed on from the one unto the
other. For none had any desire to keep it ; so horrid
it sounded.
" Thou evil announcer," at last Zarathustra said, " that
is a cry for help, and the cry of a man. -It may well
spring from a black sea. But what doth human danger
concern me ! My last sin, the sin that was kept for
me> — peradventure thou knowest what is its name?"
328 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
" Pity I " answered the fortune-teller with over-
flowing heart and lifted both his hands. "O Zara-
thustra, I have come to seduce thee unto thy last sin ! "
And scarce had these words been uttered, when the
cry sounded again, and longer and more anxious than
before, and also much nigher. " Hearest thou ?
Hearest thou, O Zarathustra ? " the fortune-teller cried.
" The cry is meant to be heard by thee ; thee it calleth,
Come, come, come ! It is time, it is high time ! "
Then Zarathustra was silent and confused and
agitated. At last he asked like one hesitating : " And
who is it who there calleth me ? "
" Thou knowest well," answered the fortune-teller
hotly. " Why dost thou hide thyself ? The higher man
it is who calleth for thee ! "
"The higher man ?" shouted Zarathustra, horror-
stricken. " What wanteth he f What wanteth he ? The
higher man ! What wanteth he here ? " And sweat
brake out over his skin.
But the fortune-teller answered not the anxious cries
uttered by Zarathustra, but hearkened and hearkened
towards the depth. But when all was still there for
a long while, he turned his look back and saw Zara-
thustra stand trembling.
"O Zarathustra," he began with a sad voice, "thou
dost not stand there like one made giddy by his
happiness. Thou wilt have to dance in order not to
fall down !
But even if thou wert to dance in my presence and
leap all thy side-leaps, nobody shall be allowed to say :
( Behold, here danceth the last gay man ! '
THE CRY FOR HELP 329
In vain would he come unto this height who would
seek such a one here. True, he would find caves and
back caves, hiding-places for hidden ones, but not mines
of happiness and treasure-chambers and new golden
veins of happiness.
Happiness — how could one find happiness with such
interred ones and hermits ? Must I yet seek the last
happiness on blissful islands, and far away among
forgotten seas ?
But everything is equal ; nothing is worth while ; no
seeking is any good ; there are no longer any blissful
islands besides 1 "
Thus sighed the fortune-teller; but with his last sigh
Zarathustra became once more bright and assured,
like one who cometh unto the light out of a deep
gulf. " Nay ! Nay ! Three times Nay ! " he cried with
a strong voice, and stroked his beard. " I know better !
There are still blissful islands ! Speak not of such
things, thou sighing sack of sadness !
Cease to splash about that, thou rain-cloud in the
forenoon ! Stand I not already here, wet with thine
affliction, and moistened like a dog ?
Now I shake myself and run away from thee, in jf
order to become dry again. At that thou must not
be astonished ! Do I seem to be discourteous unto
thee ? But here is my court.
And concerning thy higher man — up ! I shall seek
him quickly in those forests. From them came his cry.
Perhaps an evil beast harasseth him.
He is in my sphere. There he shall not meet with
330 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
any accident ! And, verily, there are many evil animals
with me."
With these words Zarathustra turned himself unto
his journey. Then the fortune-teller said : " O Zara-
thustra, thou art a rogue !
I know it well : thou wouldst fain be rid of me !
Rather than tarry with me, thou runnest into the
forests and liest in wait for evil animals 1
But of what good is it for thee ? In the evening
thou wilt have me back ; in thine own cave shall I sit,
patient and heavy like a block, and wait for thee 1 "
" Thus shall it be ! " Zarathustra cried back in depart-
ing, "and what is my property in my cave, is thy
property also, my friend and guest !
But if thou shouldst find there any honey, up ! Lick
it up, thou growling bear, and sweeten thy soul ! For
in the evening we two will be gay together —
Gay and happy, because this day hath come unto an
end ! And thou thyself shalt dance unto my songs, as
my dancing bear.
Thou dost not believe it ? Thou shakest thy head ?
Up ! Up ! Old bear, I also am a fortune-teller."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
CONVERSATION WITH THE KINGS
ZARATHUSTRA had not yet been an hour on his way
through his mountains and forests, when all at once he
saw a strange procession. Even on the way by which
he was going down, there came two kings, adorned
with crowns and purple belts, and many-coloured, like
flamingo-birds. The kings drove in front of them an ass
with a burden. " What do these kings want in my
kingdom ? " Zarathustra in astonishment said unto his
heart, and hid quickly behind a bush. But when the
kings came close unto him, he said with a half voice,
like one who speaketh only unto himself : " Strange !
Strange ! How accordeth this ? Two kings I see, and
one ass only ! "
Then the two kings stopped, smiled, gazed in the
direction of the spot whence the voice came, and then
looked into each other's faces. " Such things are thought
among us also, it is true," said the king on the right side,
"but one doth not say them."
But the king on the left side shrugging his shoulders
said : " He will probably be a goat-herd. Or a hermit
331
332 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
who hath lived too long among rocks and trees. For
no society at all spoileth good manners also."
" Good manners ? " the other king replied angrily and
bitterly. " Out of whose way have we gone ? Is it not
' good manners/ our ' good society ? '
Verily, rather would I dwell among hermits and goat-
herds than with our mob gilded over, false, with painted
cheeks, although it call itself ' good society ' —
Although it call itself ' nobility/ But there all is false
and rotten, above all the blood, owing unto old evil
diseases and still worse physicians.
He who is best for me and dearest unto me to-day is a
healthy peasant, coarse, artful, hard-necked, enduring.
That is, to-day, the noblest tribe.
To-day the peasant is the best. And the peasant's
tribe should dominate ! But it is the kingdom of the
mob ; I no longer allow any imposition. But mob —
that meaneth mish-mash.
Mob-like mish-mash therein is all mixed up with all,
saint and rogue and gentleman and Jew and every
animal from Noah's Ark.
Good manners ! With us, all is false and rotten.
Nobody knoweth any longer how to revere. It is from
this exactly that we seek to escape. They are oversweet,
forward dogs ; they gild palm-leaves.
I choke with loathing that even we kings have
become false, dressed up and disguised with the old
withered pomp of our grandfathers, medals for the
most stupid and the most cunning, and whoever to-day
chaffereth with power !
We are not the first ; and yet have to represent them.
CONVERSATION WITH THE KINGS 333
Of this cheatery at last we have grown weary and
disgusted.
We have gone out of the way of the rabble, those
brawlers and blue-bottles of writing, the stench of shop-
keepers, the wriggling of ambition, the evil breath.
Ugh ! to live among the rabble !
Ugh ! to represent the first among the rabble ! Oh !
loathing ! loathing ! loathing ! What do we kings matter
any longer ? "
"Thine old disease attacketh thee," said here the
king on the left. "Loathing attacketh thee, my poor
brother. But thou knowest well somebody hearkeneth
unto us."
Zarathustra, whose ears and eyes had opened with
surprise at these speeches, rose from his hiding-place,
stepped towards the kings, and began thus :
" He who hearkeneth unto you, he who willingly
hearkeneth unto you, ye kings, is called Zarathustra.
I am Zarathustra who once said : ' What do kings any
longer matter ? ' Forgive me, I was happy when ye said
unto each other : ' What do we kings matter ? '
But here is my kingdom and my dominion. I
wonder what ye seek in my kingdom ? Perhaps ye
have found on the way what / seek, namely the
higher man."
When the kings heard this, they beat their breast and
said as with one mouth : " We have been recognised !
With the sword of this word thou severedst the
thickest darkness of our hearts. Thou hast discovered
our need. For behold ! we are on the way, in order
to find the higher man —
334 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
The man who is higher than we are, although we be
kings. Unto him we lead this ass. For the highest man
shall also be the highest lord on earth.
There is no harder lot in all human fate, than when
the powerful of the earth are not at the same time the
first men. There everything becometh false and warped
and monstrous.
And when, worst of all, they are the last men, and
more beast than man — there the price of the mob riseth
and riseth, and at last the virtue of the mob saith :
' Behold, I alone am virtue ! ' "
" What did I hear just now?" answered Zarathustra.
" What wisdom with kings ! I am ravished, and, verily,
this very moment I feel the desire to make a stanza.
Even if it should become a stanza that is not good for
everybody's ears. Long ago I have unlearnt to pay heed
unto long ears. Up ! Up ! "
(Here it came to pass that the ass also could make
a remark. And it said distinctly and maliciously
Hee-haw !)
" Once — in the year of the Lord one, I opine —
The Sybil spake thus, she was drunk, without wine :
' Alas ! Now all goeth wrong on its way !
Ne'er so deep sank the world ! Decay ! Decay !
Rome grew a whore, a brothel she grew,
Rome's Caesar a beast, and God — a Jew ! ' "
2
At these lines of Zarathustra the king rejoiced. But
CONVERSATION WITH THE KINGS 335
the king on the right said : " O Zarathustra, how well
it was that we went out to see thee !
For thine enemies showed us thy picture in their
looking glass. There thou lookedst with a devil's
grimace and scornful laughter, so that we were afraid
of thee.
But of what good was it ! Ever again thou stungest
us in ear and heart with thy sayings. Then at last we
said : ' What matter how he may look ! '
We must hear him, him who teacheth : ' Ye shall love
peace as a means for new wars, and a short peace better
than a long ! '
Nobody hath ever said such warlike words : ' What is
good ? To be brave is good ! It is the good war that
halloweth every cause.' ,
O Zarathustra, hearing such words, our fathers' blood
moved in our body. That was like the speech of spring
unto old wine-barrels.
When the swords crossed each other like serpents with
red spots, our fathers grew fond of life. The sun of all
peace seemed unto them to be weak and lukewarm, and
long peace caused them shame.
How they sighed, our fathers, when seeing at the walls
swords glittering, but dry as dry ! Like unto them they
thirsted for war. For a sword desireth to drink blood
and sparkleth with desire."
When thus the kings spake eagerly and gossiped of
their fathers' happiness, Zarathustra was seized by no
small desire to mock at their eagerness. For apparently
very peaceful kings they were whom he saw before
him, kings with old and refined faces. But he mastered
336 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
himself. " Up ! " he said, " in that direction leadeth the
way. There lieth the cave of Zarathustra. And this day
shall have a long evening ! But now a cry for help
calleth me in haste away from you.
It will honour my cave if kings come to sit and
wait in it. But, it is true, ye will have to wait for
long.
Heed not! What matter! Where doth one to-
day learn better to wait than at courts ? And the
whole virtue of kings, the whole virtue that is left
unto them, is it not called to-day — to be able to
wait ? "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE LEECH
AND deliberately Zarathustra went further and deeper
through forests and past moory vales. But, as cometh
to pass with all who meditate on hard things, he stepped
on a man unawares. And, behold, all at once a cry
of pain and two curses and twenty evil abusive words
splashed into his face, so that, in his terror, he lifted his
stick and beat him on whom he had trodden. But
immediately afterwards he recovered his senses, his heart
laughing at the folly just done by him.
" Forgive," said he unto the trodden one, who had got
up angrily and sat down again. " Forgive, and above
all, listen unto a parable.
As a wanderer who dreameth of distant things on
a lonely road, striketh unawares against a sleeping dog,
a dog which is lying in the sun ;
As both of these, terrified unto death, start and snap
at each other, like unto mortal enemies : thus it came to
pass unto us.
And yet ! And yet ! How little was lacking for them
to fondle each other, that dog and that lonely one ! For
both are lonely ! "
23 337
338 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
" Whoever thou mayest be," said the trodden one still
angrily, "thou tramplest upon me, with thy parable as
well as with thy foot!
Behold, am I a dog ? " And thereupon the sitting one
got up and drew his naked arm out of the swamp. For
previously he had lain on the ground, stretched out,
hidden and not recognisable like such as lie in wait for
swamp deer.
" But what dost thou ? " cried Zarathustra terrified.
For he saw that much blood streamed over the naked
arm. " What hath happened unto thee ? Did an evil
beast bite thee, thou unhappy one ? "
The bleeding one laughed, still in anger. "What
doth that concern thee ? " he said and was about to
go his way. " Here am I at home, and in mine own
province. Ask me whoever liketh, but I shall scarcely
answer a boor."
" Thou art mistaken," said Zarathustra with pity, and
held him tight. "Thou art mistaken. Here thou art
not at home, but in my kingdom, and there nobody shall
suffer any damage.
But heed not, call me as thou choosest, I am he that
I must be. But I call myself Zarathustra.
Up ! Up there goeth the way unto Zarathustra's
cave. It is not far. Wilt thou not in my home take care
of thy wounds ?
Thou hast been ill off, thou unhappy one, in this
life. First a beast bit thee, and then a man trod on
thee."
But when the trodden one heard the name of Zara-
thustra, he changed. " Oh ! what happeneth unto me ! "
THE LEECH 339
he exclaimed. " Who else is of any account unto me in
this life but this one man, Zarathustra, and that one beast
which liveth on blood, the leech ?
For the sake of the leech I lay here at this swamp, like
a fisherman ; and mine arm thrown out had already
been bitten ten times. A still more beautiful leech
biteth me for my blood, Zarathustra himself I
Oh, happiness ! Oh, wonder ! Praised be this day
which allured me into this swamp ! Praised be the best
live cupping-glass alive this day ! Praised be the great
leech of conscience, Zarathustra ! "
Thus spake the trodden one ; and Zarathustra rejoiced
at his words and their fine respectful style. "Who
art thou ? " he asked, and shook his hand. " Between
us many things remain to be cleared up and brightened.
But already, methinketh, it becometh pure, broad day-
light."
" I am the conscientious one of the spirit" answered
he who had been asked, and in matters of the spirit,
scarcely any one taketh things more severely, more
narrowly, and harder than I, except thee from whom
I learned it, Zarathustra himself.
Rather know nothing than know many things by
halves ! Rather be a fool on one's own account than
a wise man on other folk's approbation ! I examine
things down unto the ground.
What matter whether it be great or small ? Whether
it be called swamp or sky ? A hand's breadth of ground
is enough for me ; if it only be actually a ground and
bottom !
A hand's breadth of ground — thereon one can stand.
340 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
In the proper conscientiousness of knowledge there is
nothing great and nothing small."
" Thus thou art perhaps the perceiver of the leech ? "
asked Zarathustra ; " and thou followest the leech unto
its last ground, thou conscientious one ? "
" O Zarathustra," answered he who had been trodden
on, "that would be something immense ! How could I
dare to undertake that ?
The thing whose master and knower I am — that is the
leech's brain. That is my world !
And it is a world as others are ! But forgive my pride
finding expression here. For here I have not my like.
Therefore I said : ' Here am I at home.'
How long have I followed out that one thing, the
leech's brain, that the slippery truth might no more
escape me here ! Here is my kingdom !
To get at that, I have thrown away everything else ;
for the sake of it everything else hath become indifferent
unto me ; and close unto my knowledge dwelleth my
dense ignorance.
The conscience of my spirit demandeth from me
that I should know one thing and not know every-
thing else that is. I loathe all the half ones of the
spirit, all the vaporous, hovering, enthusiastic.
Where mine honesty ceaseth, I am blind and will
be blind. But where I intend to know, I will also be
honest, i.e., hard, severe, narrow, cruel, inexorable.
Because thou once saidst, O Zarathustra : ' Spirit
is the life that cutteth itself into life, I was led and
seduced unto thy doctrine. And, verily, with mine
own blood have I increased mine own knowledge ! "
THE LEECH 34*
" As appearance teacheth," Zarathustra interrupted
him. For the blood was still streaming down from
the naked arm of the conscientious one. For ten
leeches had bit themselves into it.
"O thou strange fellow, how much am I taught
by this appearance, i.e.f by thyself ! And perhaps I
might not dare to pour all that into thy strict ears !
Up ! let us part 1 But I should like to find thee
again. Up there leadeth the way unto my cave. This
night thou shalt be my dear guest there !
Fain would I also make amends on thy body, for
Zarathustra treading on thee with his feet. On that I
meditate. But now a cry for help calleth me in haste
away from thee."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE WIZARD
BUT when Zarathustra had gone round a rock he
saw not far below him on the same road as himself
a man who threw his limbs about like a madman, and
at last fell down to the ground upon his stomach.
" Halt ! " then said Zarathustra unto his heart, f The
man there seerneth to be the higher man ; from him
came that horrid cry for help. I will see whether I
can be of any help." But when he came unto the
place where the man lay on the ground, he found a
trembling old man with his eyes fixed. And although
Zarathustra took all the pains he could to get him up
and put him on his legs again, it was in vain. The
unhappy one seemed not to notice that anybody was
by his side. On the contrary, he continually looked
round with moving gestures, like one forsaken and
left solitary by all the world. But at last, with much
trembling, twitching, and curling himself up, he began
thus to lament :
" Who warmeth me, who loveth me still ?
Give hot hands !
Give heart's coal-pans !
THE WIZARD 343
Stretched out, shivering,
Like one half dead whose feet are warmed,
Shaken, alas 1 by unknown fevers,
Trembling from the icy, pointed arrows of frost,
Hunted, thought, by thee !
Unutterable ! Veiled ! Horrid one !
Thou huntsman behind the clouds !
Struck to the ground by thee,
Thou mocking eye that gazeth at me from the dark !
Thus I lie,
Bend, writhe, tortured
By all eternal tortures,
Smitten
By thee, cruellest of huntsmen,
Thou unknown God . . .
Smite harder !
Smite once more !
Sting, break to pieces this heart !
What meaneth this torturing
With its blunt-toothed arrows ?
Why gazest thou again,
Never weary of human pain,
With the malicious lightning eyes of a God ?
Thou wilt not kill,
Only torture, torture ?
Wherefore torture me,
Thou malicious, unknown God ?
Ha i Ha !
Thou creepest nigh
344 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
In such a midnight ?
What wilt thou ?
Speak !
Thou crushest me, thou pressest me,
Ha ! already much too nigh !
Thou nearest me breathe,
Thou hearkenest unto my heart,
Thou jealous one !
Jealous of what ?
Away, away !
The ladder for what ?
Wilt thou step in,
Step into my heart,
Step into the loneliest
Of my thoughts ?
Shameless one ! Unknown one ! Thief !
What wilt thou steal for thyself ?
What wilt thou hearken for thyself ?
What wilt thou get by torturing,
Thou torturer !
Thou hangman's God !
Or shall I roll myself before thee
Like the dog,
Wag love unto thee with the tail,
Giving myself, in eager frenzy ?
In vain !
Sting on 1
Cruellest of stings !
Not a dog — thy game merely am I,
Cruellest of huntsmen !
THE WIZARD 345
Thy proudest prisoner,
Thou robber behind the clouds . . .
Speak at last !
Thou who art veiled in lightnings ! Unknown ! Speak 1
What wilt thou, waylayer, from me f
What ?
A ransom ?
What wilt thou ransom ?
Demand much ! Thus my pride counselleth !
And be brief ! Thus mine other pride counselleth !
Ha ! Ha !
Myself— wilt thou ? myself ?
Myself ? the whole of me ?
Ha! Ha!
And thou torturest me, fool that thou art !
Torturest my pride to pieces ?
Give love unto me ! Who still warmeth me ?
Who still loveth me ?
Give hot hands,
Give heart's coal-pans !
Give me, the loneliest,
Who by ice, alas ! by sevenfold ice,
Am taught to thirst for enemies,
For enemies themselves,
Give, yea, give thyself up,
Cruellest enemy,
Unto me !
Away I
There he fled himself,
346 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
My sole companion,
My great enemy,
Mine unknown one,
My hangman's God ! . . .
Nay!
Come back !
With all thy tortures !
Oh, come back
Unto the last of all lonely ones !
All my tears run
Their course unto thee ;
And the last flame of my heart —
Up it gloweth unto thee !
Oh, come back,
Mine unknown God, my pain !
My last happiness !...."
2
But then Zarathustra could no longer restrain
himself, but took his stick and, with all his might,
struck the wailing one. "Stop," he cried unto him,
with wrathful laughter. " Stop, thou actor ! Thou
false coiner ! Thou liar from the bottom ! I know
thee well !
I shall make thy legs hot, thou evil wizard ! I
understand well how to make it hot for such as thou
art!"
"Cease," said the old man and leaped from the
ground, " strike no more, O Zarathustra ! I did it merely
for fun I
Such things are part of mine art. Thyself I in-
THE WIZARD 347
tended to try, when I gave thee this sample ! And,
verily, thou hast well found me out !
But even thou hast given me no small sample
of thyself. Thou art hard, thou wise Zarathustra !
Hard thou strikest with thy ' truths.' Thy stick forceth
this truth to come out of me ! "
" Flatter not," said Zarathustra, still excited and
looking sullen, " thou actor from the bottom ! Thou
art false. Why speakest thou of truth ?
Thou peacock of peacocks, thou sea of vanity,
what didst thou play before me, thou evil wizard ? In
whom was it purposed to make me believe, when thou
wailedst in such a shape ? "
"The penitent of spirit" said the old man. "He it
was whom I played; (thou didst once thyself invent
this word) —
The poet and wizard who at last turneth his spirit
against himself, the changed one who freezeth to death
because of his evil knowledge and his evil conscience.
And now confess it ! It took thee a long time, O
Zarathustra, to find out mine art and lie ! Thou be-
lievedst in my need, when thou heldest my head with
both hands.
I heard thee wail : ' They have loved him too
little, they have loved him too little ! ' In deceiving
thee so far, my wickedness rejoiced within me."
" Probably thou hast deceived more acute ones than
I am," said Zarathustra sternly. " I am not on the
watch for deceivers, I must be without prudence. Thus
my lot willeth.
But thou must deceive. So far I know thee. Thou
348 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
must always have two, three, four or five meanings !
Even what thou hast now confessed, was not nearly
true enough or false enough for me !
Thou evil false coiner, how couldst thou do other-
wise 1 The very cheeks of thy disease thou wouldst
paint, when thou wouldst show thyself naked unto
thy physician.
Thus thou hast now in my presence painted the
cheeks of thy lie, when thou saidst : ' I did it merely
for fun ! ' There was also some seriousness in it.
Thou art somewhat of a penitent of spirit !
Indeed I have found thee out. Thou hast become
the enchanter of all ; but for use against thyself thou
hast no lie and no artfulness left. Thou art disen-
chanted in thine own eyes !
Thou hast reaped loathing as thine one truth. No
word in thee is genuine any more. But thy mouth is
— i.e., the loathing is that cleaveth unto thy mouth."
" Who art thou ! " then cried the old wizard with a
defiant voice. " Who dareth to speak thus unto me, the
greatest one, who liveth this day ? " And a green
lightning shot from his eye at Zarathustra. But im-
mediately thereafter he changed and said sadly.
"O Zarathustra, I am weary of it, I loathe mine
arts. I am not great. Why do I dissemble ? But thou
knowest well : I sought for greatness !
I desired to seem a great man and persuaded many.
But that lie went beyond my power. On it I go to
pieces.
O Zarathustra, everything in me is a lie. But that
I go to pieces — this my going to pieces is genuine!"
THE WIZARD 349
" It doth honour unto thee," said Zarathustra looking
down sullenly aside. " It doth thee honour that thou
soughtest for greatness, but it also betrayeth thee
Thou art not great.
Thou bad old wizard, that is the best and most
honest thing I honour in thee, that thou becamest
weary of thyself and hast pronounced it : * I am not
great.'
Therein I honour thee as a penitent of spirit. And
if thou wert genuine only for a breath and a twinkle,
for this one moment thou wert so.
But say, what seekest thou here in my forests and
rocks ? And if thou hast put thyself in my way, in
what didst thou desire to try me ? Wherein didst thou
tempt me f "
Thus spake Zarathustra, his eyes sparkling. But the
old wizard was silent for a while. Then he said : " Did
I tempt thee ? I seek only.
O Zarathustra, I seek one who is genuine, one right,
one simple, who hath only one meaning, a man of
entire honesty, a vessel of wisdom, a saint of percep-
tion, a great man !
Knowest thou not, O Zarathustra ? / seek Zara-
thustra"
Then a long silence arose between the two. But
Zarathustra sank deep into himself so that he shut
his eyes. Thereafter, returning unto him with whom
he had spoken, he seized the hand of the wizard and
spake full of politeness and artfulness :
" Up ! Up there leadeth the way, there lieth the
350 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
cave of Zarathustra. In it thou mayest seek him whom
thou wouldst find.
And ask mine animals for their counsel, mine eagle
and my serpent ! They shall help thee to seek. My
cave is large.
Myself, it is true, I have not yet seen a great man.
What is great, for that to-day the eye of the finest is
crude. It is the kingdom of the mob.
Many a one I have found, who strained himself
and puffed himself up. And the folk cried : ' Behold
there, a great man ! ' But of what good are any bellows !
At last the wind escapeth from them.
At last the frog bursteth which puffed itself up over-
long. Then the wind escapeth from it. To stab the
womb of a swollen one, that I call good pastime.
Hearken unto that, ye boys !
To-day is of the mob. Who knoweth any longer
what is great, what is small ? Who could have good
luck seeking for greatness there ? A fool only. Fools
have good luck.
Thou seekest for great men, thou strange fool ? Who
taught thee that ? Is to-day the time for it ? Oh, thou
evil seeker, why dost thou tempt me ? "
Thus spake Zarathustra, comforted in his heart, and
went his way onwards, laughing.
OFF DUTY
BUT not long after Zarathustra had rid himself of
the wizard, he again saw someone sitting by the way
he went, namely a black tall man with a lean, pale
face. He annoyed him sorely. " Alas ! " said he unto
his heart, "there sitteth affliction disguised. That
seemeth unto me to be of the tribe of priests. What
want they in my kingdom ?
What ! Scarce have I escaped from that wizard, until
another necromancer is fated to cross my path, some
sorcerer with laying on of hands ; an obscure wonder-
worker by the grace of God ; an anointed calumniator
of the world whom the devil seize !
But the devil is never on the spot proper for him.
He always cometh too late, that cursed dwarf and
club-foot ! "
Thus Zarathustra impatiently swore in his heart and
meditated how, with his face turned away, he might
pass unseen by the black man. But behold, it came
to pass otherwise. For in the same moment the sit-
ting one had seen him, and not unlike one who meeteth
with an unlocked for happiness, he jumped up and
walked towards Zarathustra.
351
352 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
"Whosoever thou art, thou wanderer," he said,
" help one who hath gone astray, a seeker, an old man
who may easily suffer injury here !
This world is strange and remote from me. Besides
I heard wild beasts howl. And he who could have
given me protection, liveth no more.
I was in search of the last pious man, a saint and
hermit, who alone had not heard in his forest what
all the world knoweth to-day."
" What knoweth all the world to-day ? " asked Zara-
thustra. " Is it that the old God liveth no more, in
whom all the world once believed."
"Thou sayest it," answered the old man sadly.
"And I served this old God until his last hour.
But now I am off duty, without a master, and yet
neither free nor happy for a single hour, except in
memory.
I have ascended these mountains, to arrange at
last a festival for myself once more, as behoveth an
old pope and church-father (for be it known unto thee ;
I am the last pope !) — a festival of pious memories
and services.
But now even he is dead, the most pious man, that
saint in the forest who constantly praised his God with
singing and humming.
Himself I found no more when I found his hut.
But I found two wolves therein which howled because
of his death. For all animals loved him. Then I hasted
away.
Had I come in vain into these forests and mount-
ains ? Then my heart resolved to seek another, the
OFF DUTY 353
most pious of all those who believe not in God, — to
seek Zarathustra ! "
Thus said the old man and gazed with keen eyes
on him who stood in front of him. But Zarathustra
seized the hand of the old pope and contemplated it
a long while with admiration.
Then he said : " See there, thou venerable one, what
a beautiful long hand ! It is the hand of one that hath
always given the benediction. But now it holdeth him
tight whom thou seekest, myself, Zarathustra.
It is I, ungodly Zarathustra, who say: 'Who is un-
godlier than I, that I may enjoy his teaching ? ' '
Thus spake Zarathustra and pierced with his glance
the thoughts and back-thoughts of the old pope, who
at last began :
" He who loved him and possessed him most, hath
now lost him most !
Behold, I myself am probably at present of us two
the godlier one? But who could rejoice over that?"
"Thou servedst him unto the very last," asked
Zarathustra thoughtfully after a deep silence, "thou
knowest, how he died ? Is it true what folk say, that
he was suffocated by pity ?
That he saw how man hung on the cross, and could
not endure that his love unto man should become his
hell and at last his death ? "
But the old pope answered not, but gazed aside shyly
and with sullen cheer.
" Let him go," said Zarathustra after long meditation,
still gazing straight into the old man's eye.
" Let him go, he is gone. And although it doth
24
354 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
honour unto thee that thou speakest well of this dead
one, thou knowest, as I do, who he was, and that he
went strange ways."
" Spoken under three eyes," said the old pope cheer-
fully (for he was blind of an eye), " in matters of God
I am more enlightened than Zarathustra himself, and
may well be so.
My love served him long years ; my will followed
all his will. And a good servant knoweth everything,
and even many things which his master hideth from
himself.
He was a hidden God, full of secrecy. Verily, even
his son he begat not otherwise than by a secret way.
At the door of belief in him standeth adultery.
Whoever praiseth him as a God of love, thinketh
not highly enough of love itself. Did that God not
also wish to be a judge ? But the loving one loveth
beyond reward and retaliation.
When he was young, that God from the East, he
was hard and revengeful, and built up his hell for the
delight of those he loved best.
But at last he grew old and soft and mellow and
full of pity, more like a grandfather than a father, but
most like a shaky old grandmother.
There he sat, withered, at his fireside, grieved
because of his weak legs, weary of the world, weary
of will, and one day suffocated by his all-too-great
pity."
" Thou old pope," said Zarathustra interrupting, " hast
thou seen that with thine own eyes ? It might
have come to pass like that ; like that, and otherwise
OFF DUTY 355
as well. When Gods die, they always die divers kinds
of death.
But up ! This way or that, this way and that ; —
he is gone ! He was contrary unto the taste of mine
ears and eyes. Worse I should not like to say of him.
I love everything that gazeth brightly and speaketh
honestly. But he — thou knowest well, thou old priest,
there was something of thy tribe in him, of the priestly
tribe. He had many meanings.
Besides, he was indistinct. How angry he was
with us, this out-breather of wrath, because he thought
we understood him ill. But why did he not speak
more cleanly !
And if the fault was of our ears, why did he give
us ears that heard badly ? And if there was mud in
our ears, go to ! who had put it there ?
In too many things he failed, this potter who had
not served his apprenticeship ! But in taking revenge
on his pots and creations, for having turned out ill,
he committed a sin against good taste.
There is good taste in piety also. And at last that
good taste said : 'Away with such a God ! Rather have
no God, rather be a fate for one's self, rather be a
fool, rather be God one's self 1 ' "
" What do I hear ! " said then the old pope, prick-
ing up his ears ; " O Zarathustra, thou art more pious
than thou believest, with such an unbelief ! Some God
within thee hath converted thee unto ungodliness.
Is it not thy piety itself that letteth thee no longer
believe in a God? And thine over-great honesty will
one day lead thee even beyond good and evil ! p Lo,
356 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
what hath been reserved for thee ? Thou hast eyes
and hand and mouth. They have been predestined
from eternity for bestowing benedictions. One bestow-
eth benedictions not with the hand alone.
Although thou wouldst have thyself the ungodliest
one, I perceive, when thou art nigh, a secret, holy, and
goodly smell of long benedictions. From it I feel weal
and woe.
Let me be thy guest, O Zarathustra, for a single
night ! Nowhere on earth do I now feel better than
with thee 1 "
" Amen ! So let it be 1 " said Zarathustra in great
astonishment. " Up there leadeth the way ; there lieth
the cave of Zarathustra.
Verily, with joy would I lead thee there myself,
thou venerable one ; for I love all pious men. But
now a cry for help calleth me in haste away from
thee.
In my province no one shall suffer injury. My cave
is a good harbour. And best of all would I like to
set every sad one on firm land and on firm legs once
more.
\
But who would take thy melancholy off thy shoul-
ders ? For that I am too weak. A long time, verily,
we should have to wait before one would re-awaken
thy God.
For this old God liveth no more. He is quite
dead."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE UGLIEST MAN
AND again Zarathustra's feet traversed the hills and
mountains, and his eyes sought and sought, but nowhere
could they find him whom they longed to see, the
great sufferer and crier for help. But all the way
he rejoiced in his heart and was grateful. "What
good things," said he, "have been given unto me by
this day, to make up for it beginning so ill. What
strange speech-makers I found !
Over their words I will now chew for a long time,
as over good corn. Into morsels shall my tooth grind
them and crush them, until they flow into my soul
like milk ! "
But when the road again went round a rock, at
once the landscape changed, and Zarathustra entered
a kingdom of death. Here black and red cliffs faced
sternly upwards. No grass, no tree, no voice of bird.
For it was a valley, shunned by all animals, even by
the beasts of prey. Only a kind of ugly, thick, green
snakes came thither, when they grew old, in order to
die. Therefore that valley was called by the herdsmen
"Death of Snakes."
But Zarathustra sank into dark recollections, for
he felt as though he had stood in this valley once
357
358 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
before. And many heavy things lay upon his mind, so
that he walked slowly and ever more slowly, and
finally stood still. Then, suddenly, opening his eyes,
.he saw sitting on the wayside a something shaped
like a man, but scarcely like a man, a something
unutterable. And straightway Zarathustra was seized
by a great shame for having cast his eyes upon such
a thing. Blushing up unto his white hair, he turned
his look aside, and lifted his foot to leave that evil spot.
But then the dead desert took voice. For from the
ground something gushed up gurgling and rattling, as
water in the night gurgleth and rattleth through stopped
water-pipes. And at last that something developed
into a human voice and a human speech which
sounded thus :
" Zarathustra ! Zarathustra ! Read my riddle ! Speak,
speak ! What is the revenge on the witness !
I tempt thee to return. Here is smooth ice ! See
unto it, see unto it, that thy pride do not here break
its legs !
Thou seemest wise unto thyself, O proud Zara-
thustra ! Read the riddle, read it, thou hard cracker
of nuts, — the riddle which I am ! Say, say ; who
am / f "
But when Zarathustra had heard these words,—
what think ye happened then unto his soul ? Pity
attacked him. And all at once he fell down like an
oak tree that hath long resisted many wood-cutters, —
heavily, suddenly, unto the terror even of those about
to fell it. But forthwith he rose from the ground, and
his face grew hard.
THE UGLIEST MAN 359
"I know thee well/' he said with a brazen voice
" Thou art the murderer of God ! Let me go !
Thou didst not endure him who saw theet who
saw thee always, and through and through, thou ugliest
man ! Thou tookest revenge on this witness ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra and was departing. But
the unutterable one grasped after the tail of his coat
and began again to gurgle and seek after words.
" Stay ! " he said at last.
" Stay ! Pass not by ! I have found out what axe
hath laid thee low. All hail unto thee, O Zarathustra,
because thou standest again !
Thou foundest out, I know well enough, the mood
of His slayer, the mood of the murderer of God.
Stay ! Sit down beside me. It is not in vain.
Unto whom did I intend to go, if not unto thee ?
Stay, sit down ! But look not at me. Honour in that
way my ugliness !
They persecute me. Thou art now my last refuge.
Not with their hatred, not with their catchpoll. Oh,
I would scoff at such a persecution ! I would be
proud and rejoice at it !
Hath not all success hitherto been with the well
persecuted ? And whoever persecuteth well, learneth
easily how to follow. For he is behind somebody !
But it is their pity —
It is their pity from which I flee, and flee unto
thee. O Zarathustra, protect me, thou my last refuge,
thou only one who didst find me out !
Thou didst find out the mood of His slayer. Stay !
And if thou wilt depart, thou impatient one, take not
the way I have come. That way is bad.
360 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Art thou angry with me, because I have minced
my words too long ? Because I have counselled thee
already ? Be it known unto thee : it is I, the ugliest
man, —
Who have also the largest, heaviest feet. Where
/ have gone, the road is bad. I trample unto death,
and ruin all roads.
But that thou didst pass me by, silent; that thou
didst blush, I saw well. Thereby I knew thee to be
Zarathustra.
Any other man would have thrown his alms unto
me, his pity, with look and speech. But for that I
am not beggar enough, as thou didst find out.
For that I am too rich, rich in great things, in
terrible things, in the most ugly things, in the most
unutterable things ! Thy blushing, O Zarathustra,
honoured me !
With much trouble I have got away from the
thronging of the pitiful, in order to find the only
one who teacheth to-day : ' Pity is an intruder.' To
find thyself, O Zarathustra !
Be it a God's, be it men's pity : pity is contrary unto
shame. And not to will to help may be nobler than
that virtue which readily giveth assistance.
But that is to-day called virtue indeed by all petty
folk : namely, pity. They feel no reverence for great
misfortune, for great ugliness, for great failure.
Over all these I gaze into the distance, as a dog gazeth
over the backs of dense flocks of sheep. They are
petty gray folk, with good wool and good will.
As a heron gazeth scornfully over shallow ponds,
THE UGLIEST MAN 361
with its head laid back, thus I gaze on the dense crowd
of gray small waves and wills and souls.
Too long have they been admitted to be right, these
petty folk. Thus at last they have also been given
power. Now they teach : ' Good is only what the
petty folk approve.'
And it is to-day called truth what that preacher
hath said, who sprung from themselves, that strange
saint and advocate of the petty folk who proclaimed of
himself : < I— I am the truth/
This immodest one hath now for a long time reared
the crest of the petty folk — he who taught no small
error when he taught : ' I am the truth.'
Hath an immodest one ever been answered more
politely ? But thou, O Zarathustra, didst pass him by
and say : ' Nay 1 Nay ! Three times Nay ! '
Thou didst warn folk of his error, thou wert the
first to warn against pity — not all, not none, but thyself
and thy tribe.
Thou art ashamed of the shame of the great sufferer.
And, verily, when thou sayest : ' From pity there cometh
a great cloud, ye men beware ; '
When thou teachest : ' All creators are hard, all
great love is raised above their pity ; ' — O Zarathustra,
how well-read thou seemest unto me in weather-omens !
But thyself, — warn also thyself against thy pity !
For many are on the way unto thee, many suffering,
doubting, despairing, drowning, cold folk.
I also warn thee against myself. Thou hast found
out my best, my worst riddle, myself and what I had
done. I know the axe that layeth thee low.
362 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
But He was compelled to die. He looked at things
with eyes that saw everything. He saw the depths and
abysses of man, all his hidden shame and ugliness.
His pity knew no shame. He crept into my foulest
corners. This most curious, over-officious, over-pitiful
one was compelled to die.
He always saw myself. On such a witness I wished
to take revenge, or rather not to live at all !
The God who saw everything, including man — this
God was compelled to die ! Man endureth not that
such a witness should live."
Thus spake the ugliest man. But Zarathustra got
up and prepared to depart. For he was shuddering
unto his very bowels.
" Thou unutterable one," said he, " thou didst warn
me against thy road. In thanks for that I praise mine
unto thee. Behold, up that way lieth Zarathustra's
cave.
My cave is large and deep and hath many corners.
There the best hidden one findeth a hiding place.
And close unto it are an hundred things to slip under
and creep past, for creeping, fluttering and leaping
animals.
Thou outcast who castest thyself out, thou wilt not
stay among men and human pity ? Up, act like me !
Thus thou learnest even from me. The doer alone
learneth.
And speak first, and first of all, with mine animals !
The proudest animal and the wisest animal — they
might be the proper counsellors for us both ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra and went his way, still
THE UGLIEST MAN 363
more thoughtful and slow than before. For he asked
himself many things, and did not easily know the
answer.
" How poor is man after all ! " he thought in his
heart. " How ugly, how rattling, how full of hidden
shame !
I am told that man loveth himself. Alas, how great
must that self-love be ! How much contempt hath
it opposed unto it !
Even that man there loved himself even as he
despised himself. A great lover is he, methinketh, and
a great despiser.
Never yet have I found any one who did despise
himself more deeply. Even that is height. Alas ! can
he have been the higher man whose cry I heard ?
I love the great despisers. But man is a something
that must be surpassed."
THE VOLUNTARY BEGGAR
WHEN Zarathustra had left the ugliest man, he felt
cold and he felt lonely. For many cold and lonely
things passed through his mind, chilling even his limbs.
But when walking on and on, upwards, downwards,
now passing green meadows, then over wild stony strata
where once peradventure an impatient brook had lain
down to sleep, he felt all at once warmer and heartier
again.
" What hath happened unto me ? " he asked himself.
"Something warm and living refresheth me. It must
be nigh unto me.
Already I am less alone. Unconscious companions
and brethren hover round me ; their warm breath
toucheth my soul."
But when he looked round him, and searched for
the comforters of his loneliness, behold, there were
cows standing on a hill together. Their nearness and
smell had warmed his heart. But these cows seemed
to listen eagerly unto a speaker, and took no notice
of him who approached them. But when Zarathustra
was quite nigh unto them, he heard distinctly a human
voice out of the midst of the cows. And apparently
all of them had turned their heads unto the speaker.
364
THE VOLUNTARY BEGGAR 365
Then Zarathustra eagerly hurried up and pushed
the animals aside. For he feared that unto some one
harm had been done, which could scarcely be cured
by the pity of cows. But therein he erred. For be-
hold, there sat a man on the ground, and seemed to
persuade the animals not to be shy of him, — a peaceful
man and mount-preacher, out of whose eyes kindness
itself preached. " What seekest thou here ? " exclaimed
Zarathustra astonished.
"What I seek here?" the man answered. "The
same thing as thou seekest, thou disturber ! happiness
on earth.
For that purpose I would fain learn from these cows.
For dost thou know ? Already half the morning I
have been addressing them ; and now they were on
the point of giving me their answer. Why disturbest
thou them ?
If we do not turn and become like the cows, we
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. For we
should learn from them one thing : to ruminate.
And, verily, if man were to gain the whole world
and would not learn the one thing, to ruminate — of
what good would it be ? He would not get rid of
his affliction.
Of his great affliction. But that to-day is called
loathing/ Whose heart, mouth and eyes are not filled
to-day with loathing ? Thou also ! Thou also ! But
behold these cows 1 "
Thus spake the mount-preacher, and then turned
his own look unto Zarathustra. For until then it had
clung lovingly unto the cows. Then he suddenly
366 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
changed. " Unto whom do I speak ? " he exclaimed,
terrified, and leaped up from the ground.
" This is the man without loathing, this is Zarathustra
himself, the overcomer of the great loathing. This is
the eye, this is the mouth, this is the heart of Zarathustra
himself."
And speaking thus, he kissed the hands of him unto
whom he spake, with his eyes overflowing, and behaved
like unto one for whom a valuable gift and treasure
hath fallen from heaven unawares. But the cows gazed
at all that and wondered.
" Speak not of me, thou strange one, sweet one ! "
said Zarathustra, restraining his affection. " Speak first
of thyself ! Art thou not the voluntary beggar who
once threw away vast riches, —
Who was ashamed of his riches and of the rich,
and fled unto the poorest in order to give them
his abundance and his heart ? But they accepted
him not."
" But they accept him not," said the voluntary
beggar, " thou knowest it, I see. Thus at last I have
come unto the animals and unto these cows."
" There thou learnedst," said Zarathustra interrupting
the speaker, "how much harder it is to give properly
than to take properly, and that to give well is an art
and the last and cunningest master-art of kindness."
"In particular, nowadays," answered the voluntary
beggar, " i.e., to-day, when all that is low hath become
rebellious and shy and high-minded in its own way,
i.e., in the way of the mob.
For the hour hath come, thou knowest it, for the
THE VOLUNTARY BEGGAR 367
great, bad, long, slow rebellion of the mob and the
slaves. It groweth and groweth !
Now all alms-giving and petty giving make the low
rebellious. And the over-rich ought to be on their
guard !
Whoever to-day letteth drops fall,, as doth a big-
bellied bottle, out of an all-too-narrow neck — the neck
of such a bottle is gladly broken to-day.
Voluptuous greediness, bilious envy, angry revenge,
pride of the mob, — all these things leaped into my face.
It is no longer true that the poor are blessed. But
the kingdom of heaven is with the cows."
" And why is it not with the rich ? " asked Zarathustra
tempting, while keeping back the cows, which familiarly
sniffed at the peaceful one.
" Why dost thou tempt me ? " answered he. " Thou
knowest it thyself still better than I do. What drove
me unto the poorest, O Zarathustra ? Was it not my
loathing of our richest ones ?
Of the convicts guilty of riches, who collect their
profit out of all rubbish heaps, with cool eyes and
voluptuous thoughts — of that rabble that stinketh unto
heaven, —
Of that gilded-over, falsified mob, whose fathers were
thieves or birds of carrion, or rag-gatherers with wives
complaisant, voluptuous, and forgetful (for none of
them hath a far way to go to become a whore) ;
Mob at the top, mob below ! What are to-day ' poor '
and 'rich !' This distinction have I unlearnt. Then
I fled away, further, ever further, until I came unto
these cows."
368 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Thus spake the peaceful one, and snuffed himself, and
perspired over his words, so that the cows wondered
again. But Zarathustra, all the time the man was
speaking so bitterly, gazed with a smile into his face,
and silently shook his head.
"Thou dost violence unto thyself, thou mount-
preacher, in using such bitter words. For such bitter-
ness neither thy mouth nor thine eye was made.
Nor, methinketh, even thy stomach. Unto it all such
anger and hatred and overflowing are repugnant. Thy
stomach desireth gentler things. Thou art not a
butcher.
Thou rather seemest unto me to be an eater of plants
and roots. Perhaps thou grindest corn. But certainly
thou art averse from the pleasures of the flesh and
thou lovest honey."
"Thou hast well found me out," answered the
voluntary beggar with his heart lightened. " I love
honey, I also grind corn, for I sought what tasteth
sweetly and maketh the breath pure.
I sought also what needeth a long time, namely a
day's work and a mouth's work for gentle idlers and
sluggards.
The highest point, it is true, hath been reached by
these cows. They invented ruminating and lying in
the sunshine. They also abstain from all heavy thoughts
that cause flatulence in the heart."
" Go to ! " said Zarathustra. " Thou shouldst see mine
animals as well, mine eagle and my serpent. Their like
doth not exist on earth this day.
Behold, in this direction leadeth the way unto my
THE VOLUNTARY BEGGAR 369
cave. Be this night its guest ! And speak with mine
animals of the happiness of animals, —
Until I return home myself. For now a cry for
help calleth me away from thee in haste. Thou also
wilt find fresh honey with me, golden honey with comb,
as cold as ice. Eat it.
But now take swift farewell of thy cows, thou strange
one, thou sweet one ! although it may be hard unto
thee. For they are thy dearest friends and teachers ! "
"One excepted whom I love still more," answered
the voluntary beggar. "Thou art thyself good, and
better even than a cow, O Zarathustra ! "
" Away, away with thee, thou evil flatterer ! " cried
Zarathustra mischievously. " Why dost thou spoil me
with such praise and honey of flattery ?
Away, away from me ! " he cried once more, and
swung his stick after the affectionate beggar, who ran
hastily away.
THE SHADOW
WHEN the voluntary beggar had hasted away, and
Zarathustra was again alone with himself, behind him
he heard a new voice crying : " Halt ! Zarathustra !
Wait ! Wait ! It is I, O Zarathustra, I, thy shadow ! "
But Zarathustra waited not ; for a sudden annoyance
seized him because of the great crowding and thronging
in his mountains. " Whither hath my loneliness gone ? "
he said.
"This, verily, is becoming too much^for me. These
mountains are overcrowded ; my kingdom is no longer
of this world ; I need new mountains.
My shadow calleth me ? What matter for my
shadow ? Let it run after me ! I run away from it."
Thus spake Zarathustra unto his heart, and ran away.
But he who was behind him, followed him, so that very
soon three runners were on the way, one behind the
other. For in the front was the voluntary beggar, then
followed Zarathustra, and the third and last was his
shadow. Not long had they run, until Zarathustra came
out of his folly and back unto reason, and of a sudden
he shook off all annoyance and disgust.
" What ! " said he, " Have not at all times the most
370
THE SHADOW 371
ridiculous things happened unto us old hermits and
saints ?
Verily, my folly hath grown high in the mountains !
Now I hear rattle behind each other six legs of old
fools !
But is it allowed unto Zarathustra to be afraid of his
shadow ? Besides, methinketh in the long run it hath
longer legs than I."
Thus spake Zarathustra, laughing with eyes and intes-
tines. He stopped and turned quickly round. And,
behold, in so doing he almost threw his follower and
shadow unto the ground. So close did the latter follow
at his heels, and so weak was he. When he looked
intently upon him, Zarathustra was terrified as by a
sudden ghost. So thin, black, hollow and worn-out
looked that follower.
"What art thou ?" asked Zarathustra violently, "What
dost thou here ? And why callest thou thyself my
shadow ? Thou pleasest me not."
"Forgive me," answered the shadow, "that it is I.
And if I please thee not — well, O Zarathustra, in that
respect I praise thee and thy good taste.
A wanderer am I who hath already gone far at thy
heels ; ever on the way, but without a goal and without
a home, so that, verily, I fall little short of being the
eternal, wandering Jew, except that I am neither eternal
nor a Jew.
What ? Must I be ever on the way ? Whirled about
by every wind, unstable, driven away ? O earth, thou
hast grown too round for me !
On every surface I have sat. Like the wearied dust
372 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
I have fallen asleep on looking-glasses and window-
panes. Everything taketh from me, nothing giveth ; I
become thin, I am almost like a shadow.
But after thee, O Zarathustra, I have flown and
travelled longest. And though I hid myself from thee,
yet have I been thy best shadow. Wherever thou hast
sat, there sat I.
With thee I have haunted the remotest, coldest
worlds, like a ghost that voluntarily walketh over wintry
roofs and snow.
With thee have I striven for everything forbidden,
the worst and remotest. And if anything in me is
virtue, it is that I had no fear in the presence of any
prohibition.
With thee have I broken whatever my heart revered ;
all landmarks and images I threw down ; I pursued the
most dangerous wishes. Verily, I have traversed every
crime once.
With thee I unlearned the belief in words and values
and great names. When the devil casteth his skin, doth
not his name fall off as well ? For that is also skin.
Perhaps the devil himself is skin.
'Nothing is true, everything is lawful' thus I spake
unto myself. Into the coldest waters I threw myself
with head and heart. Oh, how often have I stood
naked, red like a crab through so doing !
Alas, whither hath gone all that is good, and all shame,
and all belief in the good ! Alas, whither hath gone
that deceitful innocence I once possessed, the innocence
of the good and of their noble falsehoods !
Too often, verily, I followed truth close on its heel.
THE SHADOW 373
Then it kicked me on the forehead. Sometimes I
thought I lied, and behold ! Only then did I hit upon
truth !
Too many things were made clear unto me. Now
it concerneth me no more. Nothing of what I love
liveth any longer, — why should I love myself still ?
'To live, as I like, or to live not at all/ thus I will,
thus even the holiest one willeth. But alas ! how do
I still like ?
Have / still a goal ? A harbour for which my sail
is trimmed ?
A good wind ? Alas, only he who knoweth whither
he saileth, knoweth also what wind is good, and what
is his fair wind.
What is left unto me ? A heart weary and insolent ;
an unstable will ; fluttering wings ; a broken back-
bone.
This seeking after my home, O Zarathustra, knowest
thou ? — this seeking was my punishment, it eateth me up.
' Where is my home ? ' Thus I ask and seek and have
sought. I have found it not. Oh, eternal Everywhere !
Oh, eternal Nowhere! Oh, eternal In-vain!"
Thus spake the shadow, and Zarathustra's face grew
longer when he heard his words. "Thou art my
shadow ! " he said sadly at last.
"Thy danger is not small, thou free spirit and wan-
derer ! Thou hast had a bad day. See unto it, that
a worse evening be not added.
Unto such unstable ones, as thou art, at last even a
prison seemeth bliss. Sawest thou ever how captured
374 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
criminals sleep ? They sleep quietly ; they enjoy their
new security.
Beware lest at last a narrow creed catch thee, a hard,
severe illusion 1 For thou art now seduced and tempted
by everything narrow and firm.
Thou hast lost thy goal. Alas ! how wilt thou bear
and brook that loss ? By it thou hast also lost the
way !
Thou poor wandering one, thou fleeting one, thou
weary butterfly ! Wilt thou have this night a place of
rest and home ? If so, go up unto my cave !
Yonder goeth the way unto my cave. And now I
will quickly run away from thee. Already something
lieth on me like a shadow.
I will run alone, so that it may again grow light
around me. For that purpose I must be yet a long
while gaily on my legs. But in the evening at my
home there will be a dance ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
AT NOON
AND Zarathustra ran, and still ran, finding no one else,
and was alone ever finding himself again. And he en-
joyed and sipped his loneliness, thinking of good things,
through many hours. But about the hour of noon,
when the sun stood exactly over Zarathustra's head, he
passed by an old crooked and knaggy tree which was
embraced round about by the rich love of a vine-plant
and hidden from itself. From it an abundance of yellow
grapes hung down, offering themselves unto the wan-
derer. Then he felt a desire to quench a little thirst
and to break off a grape. When he had stretched out
his arm for it, he felt a still stronger desire for something
else, to lie down beside the tree, about the hour of
perfect noon, and to sleep.
Zarathustra did so. And no sooner did he lie down
on the grouqd, in the stillness and secrecy of the many-
coloured grass, than he forgot his little thirst and fell
asleep. For, as Zarathustra's saying hath it : " One
thing is more necessary than the other." Only his eyes
remained open. For they could not satisfy themselves
with looking at the tree^and at the love of the vine-
plant, and in praising them. But when falling asleep,
Zarathustra spake thus unto his heart :
375
376 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
" Hush ! Hush ! Hath the world not this moment
become perfect ? Oh, what happeneth unto me ?
As a neat wind unseen danceth on the panelled sea,
light, light as a feather, thus danceth sleep on me.
Nor doth it shut mine eye ; it leaveth my soul awake.
Light it is, verily, as light as a feather.
It persuadeth me, I know not how. It toucheth me
from the inside with a flattering hand. It compelleth
me. Yea, compelleth me, so that my soul stretcheth
itself out.
How long and weary it groweth unto me, my strange
soul ! Did the evening of a seventh day come unto it
just at noon ? Hath it already walked too long happy
among good and ripe things ?
It stretcheth itself out, long, long, longer ! It lieth
still, my strange soul. Too many good things it hath
tasted before. This golden sadness presseth upon it ;
it maketh a wry mouth.
Like a ship that hath entered her calmest bay (Now
she leaneth towards the land, weary of the long voyages
and the uncertain seas. Is not the land more faithful ?
As such a ship putteth to the shore and goeth close
in ; then it is enough that a spider spin its thread
unto it from the land. No stronger ropes are required
there ;)
Like such a weary ship in the calmest bay, I now
rest nigh unto the land, faithful, trusting, waiting, moored
unto it with the gentlest threads.
O happiness ! O happiness ! Wilt thou sing, O my
soul ? Thou liest in the grass. But this is the secret,
solemn hour, when no herdsmen playeth on his flute.
AT NOON 377
Keep off ! Hot noon sleepeth on the fields. Sing
not ! Hush ! The world is perfect.
Sing not, thou grass-bird, O my soul ! Whisper not
even ! Behold 1 Hush ! The old noon sleepeth, it
moveth its mouth. Doth it not this moment drink a
drop of happiness —
An old brown drop of golden happiness, of golden
wine ? Something glideth across it, its happiness laugh-
eth. Thus laugheth a God. Hush !
' For happiness — how little is required for happiness ! '
Thus I said once, and thought myself wise. But it
was a blasphemy. I have now learnt that. Wise fools
speak better.
Just what is least, gentlest, lightest, the rustling of a
lizard, a breath, a moment, a twinkling of the eye — little
maketh the quality of the best happiness. Hush !
What hath befallen me ? Hearken ! Did time fly
away ? Do I not fall ? Did I not fall — hearken ! — into
the well of eternity ?
What befalleth me ? Hush ! It stingeth me— alas I—
unto the heart ? Unto the heart ! Oh, break, break,
heart, after such happiness, after such a sting !
What ? Hath the world not just become perfect ?
Round and ripe ? Oh, for the golden round ring !
Whither doth it fly ? Run after it ! Away !
Hush 1" (And here Zarathustra stretched himself
out, feeling that he slept.)
"Up !" he said unto himself, "thou sleeper ! Thou
sleeper at noon ! Up ! Up ! ye old legs ! Time it is
and only too much time. Many a long stretch of road
is still reserved for you !
3/8 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Now ye have slept your fill. How long ? Half an
eternity ! Up ! Up ! now, mine old heart ! How long
wilt thou, after such a sleep, be allowed to have thy
fill of wakefulness ? "
But then he fell asleep afresh, and his soul spake
against him, and defended itself, and lay down again.
" Oh, let me alone ! Hush ! Hath not the world be-
come perfect this moment ? Oh, for the golden, round
ball!
Get up," said Zarathustra, "thou little thief, thou
thief of days ! What ! Still longer wilt thou stretch
thyself out, yawn, sigh, fall down into deep wells ?
Who art thou ? O my soul ! " (And here he was
terrified ; for a sun-beam fell down from the sky upon
his face.)
" O sky above me 1 " said he sighing and sat upright.
" Thou gazest at me ? Thou hearkenest unto my strange
soul?
When drinkest thou this drop of dew that hath fallen
down on all things earthly ? When drinkest thou this
strange soul ?
When, well of eternity ? Thou gay, shuddering abyss
of noon ! When drinkest thou my soul back into
thyself?"
Thus spake Zarathustra and arose from his resting-
place nigh unto the tree, as from a strange drunkenness.
And behold ! there the sun still stood exactly above his
head. And from that, some one might duly suppose
that Zarathustra had not slept long.
SALUTATION
LATE in the afternoon it was when Zarathustra after
having searched and strayed about for a long time in
vain, returned unto his cave. But when he stood over
against unto it, no longer twenty steps distant from it,
that thing came to pass which he expected least. Anew
he heard the great cry for help. And, astounding ! this
time it came from his own cave. And it was a long,
manifold, strange cry. And Zarathustra distinguished
clearly that it was composed of many voices, though,
when heard from a distance, it might sound like a cry
from a single mouth.
Then Zarathustra hasted unto his cave, and behold,
what spectacle awaited him there after that concert !
For there they all sat together whom he had passed by
during the day : the king on the right and the king on
the left ; the old wizard ; the pope ; the voluntary
beggar ; the shadow ; the conscientious one of the
spirit ; the sad fortune-teller ; and the ass. And the
ugliest man had put a crown on his head, and tied
round himself two purple belts. For, like all ugly folk,
he liked to disguise himself and play the gallant. But
in the midst of that sad company stood Zarathustra's
379
38o THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
eagle, its feathers ruffled and itself disquieted. For it
had been asked to answer many questions for which
its pride knew no answer. And the wise serpent hung
round its neck.
At all this Zarathustra looked with great astonish-
ment. Then he examined each of his guests with
gracious curiosity, read the contents of their souls and
was once more astonished. In the meantime they
who had gathered there, had arisen from their seats
and waited with reverence till Zarathustra should
speak. And Zarathustra spake thus :
" Ye despairing ones ! Ye strange ones ! Then it
was your cry for help I heard ? And now also I know
where he is to be sought whom I this day sought for
in vain : the higher man.
In mine own cave sitteth he, the higher man ! But
why am I astonished ? Have not I myself allured him
unto myself, by honey offerings, and cunning, enticing
calls of my happiness ?
But methinketh, ye are not very suitable to form
a company, ye make each other's hearts angry, ye
criers for help, when sitting together here ? One must
first come —
One who will make you laugh again, a good, gay
clown, a dancer, and a wind and romp, some old fool.
What think ye ?
Forgive me, ye despairing ones, that in your pre-
sence I speak with such small words, unworthy, verily,
of such guests ! But ye find not out what maketh my
heart wanton.
Ye yourselves do so, and your look, forgive me !
SALUTATION 381
For every one becometh brave who looketh at a de-
spairing one. To encourage a despairing one — for that
every one thinketh himself strong enough.
Unto myself ye have given this power, a good
gift, my lofty guests ! An honest guest's gift ! Well
then, be not angry at me now offering you something
of what is mine also.
This here is my kingdom and my dominion. But
whatever is mine shall be yours for this evening and
this night. Mine animals shall serve you. My cave
shall be your resting place !
In mine own home and house no one shall despair.
In my province I protect every one from his own wild
beasts. And this is the first thing I offer you : se-
curity !
But the second thing is my little finger. And if
ye once have it, take the whole hand in addition, yea,
and the heart with it ! Welcome here, welcome, my
guests and friends ! ",
Thus spake Zarathustra, laughing with love and
wickedness. After this salutation his guests bowed
again and were silent in reverence. And the king
on the right answered him in their name.
" From the way, O Zarathustra, that thou offeredst
us thy hand and greeting, we know thee to be Zara-
thustra. Thou didst humble thyself in our presence.
Thou didst almost wound our reverence for thee.
But who could, like thee, humble himself with such
pride ? That uplifteth even us ; a refreshment is it
unto our eyes and hearts.
To behold this alone, we would gladly ascend
382 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
higher mounts than this mount is. For we have come
as eager sight-seers, we longed to see what maketh
dim eyes bright.
And behold, all our crying for help is past. Our
sense and heart stand open and are enraptured. Little
is lacking for our courage to become wanton.
Nothing more agreeable, O Zarathustra, groweth on
earth than a high, strong will. It is the most beautiful
product of earth. A whole landscape is refreshed by
one tree like that.
With the pine, O Zarathustra, I compare him who
groweth up like thee : tall, silent, hard, alone, of the
best and most flexible wood, magnificent —
And who at last graspeth with strong, green boughs
after his own dominion, asking strong questions in
presence of winds and thunderstorms, and whatever
is at home on heights —
And who giveth stronger answers, a commander,
a victorious one 1 Oh ! who would not ascend high
mounts in order to see such products ?
In thy tree, O Zarathustra, even the gloomy one,
the ill-constituted one, rejoiceth ; at sight of thee even
the restless one becometh sure and healeth his heart.
And, verily, unto thy mount and thy tree this day
many eyes direct themselves ; a great longing hath
arisen, and many folk learned to ask : ' Who is Zara-
thustra ? '
And they into whose ear thou hast ever dropped
thy song and thy honey, all the hidden, the hermits,
and hermits in pairs, spake all at once unto their
hearts thus :
SALUTATION 383
< Liveth Zarathustra still ? It is no longer worth
while to live. Everything is equal, everything is in
vain. If that is to be not so, we must live with Zara-
thustra !
Why cometh not he who hath announced himself
so long ? ' thus many ask. ' Did loneliness devour
him ? Or peradventure we meant to come unto him ? '
Now it cometh to pass that loneliness itself waxeth
mellow and breaketh like a grave, which breaketh and
can no longer keep its dead. Everywhere one seeth
risen ones.
Now rise and rise the waves around thy mount,
O Zarathustra ! And however high be thy height, many
must ascend unto thee. Thy boat shall not long sit on
the dry ground !
And that we despairers have now come into thy
cave, and already despair no more — it is merely a sign
and omen that better ones are on the way unto thee.
For itself is on the way unto thee, the last relic
of God among men, i.e., all the men of the great
longing, of the great loathing, of the great satiety —
All those who do not wish to live, unless they
learn to hope again ; unless they learn from thee, O
Zarathustra, the great hope ! "
Thus spake the king on the right, and seized Zara-
thustra's hand in order to kiss it. But Zarathustra
hindered his doing reverence and stepped back terri-
fied, as silent and suddenly as though he fled into far
distances. But in a little while he was once more
with his guests, gazed at them with bright questioning
eyes, and said :
384 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
" My guests, ye higher men, I will speak in German
and clearly unto you. Not for you have I waited
here in these mounts."
("'In German and clearly?' God-a-mercy ! " said
then the king on the left, secretly. " One seeth that he
knoweth not the dear Germans, this sage from the East !
But he meaneth ' in German and coarsely.' Well !
that is nowadays not quite the worst taste ! ")
"Verily, all of you may be higher men," continued
Zarathustra. "But for me, ye are not high and strong
enough.
For me, that is to say, for the inexorable which
is now silent in me, but will not always be silent.
And if ye belong unto me, ye do so not as my
right arm doth.
For whoever standeth himself on sick and weak
legs, like you, wisheth above all (whether he knoweth
it or hideth it from himself) to be spared.
But mine arms and my legs I spare not, my
warriors I spare not. How could ye be fit for my
warfare ?
By you I should spoil every victory of mine.
And many a one of you would fall unto the ground
on hearing the loud noise of my drums.
Besides ye are not beautiful and well-born enough
for me. I need pure, smooth mirrors for my doctrines.
On your surface even mine own image is distorted.
Your shoulders are pressed by many a burden,
many a memory. Many an evil dwarf squatteth in
your corners. There is hidden mob within even
you.
SALUTATION 385
And though ye be high and of a higher tribe,
many things in you are crooked and misshapen. There
is no blacksmith in the world to hammer you into
shape and straightness.
Ye are only bridges. Would that higher ones
would stride over you unto the other side ! Ye signify
stairs. Then be not angry with him who riseth above
you unto his own height ! ^ _
From your seed one day there may spring unto
me a genuine son and perfect heir. But that is remote.
Ye yourselves are not those unto whom belong mine
heirship and name.
Not for you wait I in these mounts ; not with
you am I allowed to step down for the last time. Ye
have come unto me merely as omens, that higher ones
are on the way unto me.
Not the men of the great longing, of the great
loathing, of the great satiety, and what you called the
relic of God.
Nay ! Nay ! Three times Nay ! For others I wait
here in these mounts, and will not lift my feet to
depart without them.
I wait for higher ones, stronger ones, more victorious
ones, more cheerful ones, such as are built square
in body and soul. Laughing lions must come !
O my friends and guests, ye strange ones ! Heard
ye nothing of my children ? And that they are on
the way unto me ?
Speak, speak of my gardens, of my blissful islands,
of my new beautiful kin. Why speak ye not of them
unto me ?
26
386 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
This guest-gift I request from your love, that ye
speak of my children. Therefore am I rich, there-
fore become I poor. What have I not given away ?
What would I not give away, in order to have
one thing : these children, this living plantation, these
trees of life of my will and of my highest hope ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra and suddenly stopped in
his speech. For he was seized by his longing, and he
closed his eyes and mouth against the movement of
his heart. And all his guests were silent also and
stood still and confounded. Only the old fortune-teller
made signs with hands, and gestures.
THE SUPPER
FOR at that point the fortune-teller interrupted the
salutation between Zarathustra and his guests. He
pressed forward like one who hath no time to lose,
seized Zarathustra's hand, and cried : " But, Zara-
thustra !
' One thing is more necessary than another : ' thus
thou thyself sayest. Go to ! One thing is now more
necessary for me than any other.
A word at the proper time : didst thou not invite
me to a meal ? And here are many who have made
long journeys. I suppose thou meanest not to feed
us with speeches merely ?
Besides all of you have thought far too much
for my taste about dying of cold, by drowning, by
suffocation, and about other sorts of bodily danger. But
no one thought of my sort of danger, i.e.t of dying of
hunger."
(Thus spake the fortune-teller. But when Zara-
thustra's animals heard these words, they ran away
with terror. For they saw that all they had brought in
during the day would not be sufficient to fill even this
one fortune-teller's stomach.)
" Including dying from thirst," the fortune-teller
387
388 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
went on. "And although I hear water gurgle here,
like speeches of wisdom, i.e., abounding and never
tired — I want wine I
Not everyone is a born water-drinker like Zara-
thustra. Neither is water good for weary and withered
ones. For us wine is proper. Only it giveth us a
sudden vigour and health there and then ! "
Whereupon, when the fortune-teller asked for wine,
it came to pass that the king on the left, the silent
one, for once had a chance to speak. " Wine/' he said,
"hath been provided by us, by myself and my brother,
the king on the right. We have enough of wine, a
whole ass-ful. So nothing is lacking but bread."
"Bread!" answered Zarathustra laughing. "It is
just bread that hermits lack. But man liveth not by
bread alone, but also by the flesh of good lambs, of
which I have two.
They shall be killed swiftly and cooked spicily,
with sage. That is my taste. Neither are roots nor
fruits lacking. There is enough of them even for
gormandisers and epicures. Nor are nuts lacking, or
other riddles to crack.
Thus in a little while we will have a good
meal. But he who meaneth to eat with us, must
also put his hand unto the work, the kings included.
For in Zarathustra's home even a king may be a
cook."
This proposal met the wishes of the hearts of all ;
only that the voluntary beggar was against meat and
wine and spices.
" Now listen unto this glutton Zarathustra ! " he said
THE SUPPER 389
jesting. "Doth one go into caves and high mounts
to have such meals ?
It is true, I understand now what we were once
taught by him : ' Let petty poverty be praised ! ' And
why he seeketh to abolish beggars."
" Be of good cheer/' answered Zarathustra, " as I
am so. Be true unto thine own custom, thou excellent
man, grind thy corn, drink thy water, praise thine
own cookery, if it only make thee gay 1
I am a law only for those who are mine, I am
not a law for all. But whoever belongeth unto me,
must be of strong bones, and of light feet, —
Gay for warfare and festivals, no obscurantist, no
dreamer, one ready for what is hardest, like unto his
festival, healthy and whole.
What is best, belongeth unto my folk and myself.
And if we are not given it, we take it, the best
food, the purest sky, the strongest thoughts, the most
beautiful women ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra. But the king on the right
answered :
" Strange ! Have such clever things ever been heard
from the mouth of a wise man ?
And, verily, that is the strangest thing in a wise
man, if over and above he is clever and not an ass."
Thus spake the king on the right, and wondered.
But the ass spitefully said Hee-Haw unto his speech.
Thus began that long meal which is called " The
Supper " in history books. And during that meal
nothing was spoken of but higher man.
OF HIGHER MAN
"WHEN, for the first time, I went unto men, I
committed the hermit folly, the great folly. I stood in
the market-place.
And speaking unto all, I spake unto none. But
in the evening, rope-dancers were my companions,
and corpses ; and I myself was almost a corpse.
But with the new morning a new truth came unto
me. Then I learned to say : 'What matter for me
market and mob, and mob's noise and the mob's long
ears ! '
Ye higher men, learn this from me. In the market
no one believeth in higher men. And if ye are going
to speak there, it is well ! But the mob blink : ''We
are all equal ! '
' Ye higher men,' — thus the mob blink — ' there are
no higher men ; we are all equal ; man is man ; in the
presence of God we are all equal ! "
In the presence of God ! But now that God hath
died. But in the presence of the mob we do not wish
to be equal. Ye higher men, depart from the market !
390
OF HIGHER MAN 391
In the presence of God ! But now hath that God
died ! Ye higher men, this God hath been your
greatest danger.
Only since he hath lain in the grave, ye have
arisen. Now only cometh the great noon, now only
higher man becometh master !
Understood ye this word, O my brethren? Ye
are terrified. Do your hearts grow giddy ? Yawneth
here an abyss for you ? Barketh unto you here the
hell-dog ?
Up 1 Up ! Ye higher men ! It is only now that
the mount of man's future giveth birth unto any-
thing. God hath died. Now we wish beyond-man
to live.
3
The most careful ask to-day : ' How is man pre-
served ? ' But Zarathustra asketh as the only and first
one : ' How is man surpassed f '
Beyond-man is my care ; with me, he and not
man is the first and only thing. Not the neighbour,
not the poorest one, not the greatest sufferer, not the
best one.
O my brethren, what I can love in man, is that he
is a transition and a destruction. And even in you
there are many things which make me love and hope.
That ye had scorn, ye higher men, that maketh me
hope. For the great scorners are the great reverers.
That ye despaired, therein is much to honour. For
392 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
ye did not learn how to give yourselves up ; ye did
not learn petty policies.
For to-day the petty folk have become master. They
all preach submission and resignation and policy and
diligence and regard and the long etcetera of petty
virtues.
Whatever is of the women's tribe, whatever descendeth
from the slaves' tribe, and especially from the mish-mash
of the mob — these will now become master of all human
fate. Oh, loathing ! loathing ! loathing !
These ask, and ask, and weary not with asking :
' How doth man preserve himself best, longest and
most agreeably ? ' Thereby they are the masters of
to-day.
Surpass these masters of to-day, O my brethren,
— the petty folk. They are the greatest danger for
beyond-man !
Surpass, ye higher men, the petty virtues, the petty
policies, the grains-of -sand-regards, the swarming of
ants, the miserable ease, the ' happiness of the greatest
number ! '
And rather despair than give in ! And, verily, I
love you for the very reason that ye know not how to
live to-day, ye higher men ! For thus ye live best !
Have ye courage, O my brethren ? Are ye stout-
hearted ? I do not mean courage in the presence of
witnesses, but the courage of hermits and eagles, on
which not even a God looketh any more.
Cold souls, mules, blind folk, drunk folk I do not
OF HIGHER MAN 393
call stout-hearted. Courage hath he who knoweth fear
but subdueth fear ; he who seeth the abyss, but with
pride.
He who seeth the abyss, but with an eagle's eyes ;
he who graspeth the abyss with an eagle's claws ; he
hath courage.
5
' Man is evil ' — thus all the wisest men said unto me,
as a comfort. Alas, if that be still true to-day ! For
what is evil, is man's best power.
1 Man must become better and more evil,' — thus /
teach. The evilest is necessary for the best of beyond-
man.
It may have been well for that petty folk's preacher
to suffer and bear the burden of man's sin. But I
rejoice in the great sin as in my great comfort.
But such things are not said for long ears. Every
word hath not its proper place in every mouth. These
are fine, remote things. For them sheep's claws must
not grasp 1
6
Ye higher men, think ye that I live to make well
what ye made badly ?
Or think ye that I meant to pillow you sufferers
more comfortably for the future ? Or to show new
and easier footpaths unto you restless, gone astray on
roads and mountains ?
Nay ! Nay ! Three times Nay 1 Ever more, ever
better ones of your tribe shall perish. For ye shall
have ever a worse and harder life. Only thus —
394 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Only thus man groweth up unto that height where
the lightning striketh and breaketh him ; high enough
for the lightning !
Towards few things, towards long things, towards
remote things, my mind and my longing turn. What
concern hath your petty, manifold short misery for
me !
v Ye do not yet suffer enough ! For ye suffer from
^yourselves, ye have never yet suffered from man. Ye
would lie, did ye say otherwise ! None of you suffereth
from what / have suffered.
7
It is not enough for me, that the lightning causeth
no more damage. I do not want to conduct it into
the ground. It shall learn to work for me.
My wisdom hath for long gathered like a cloud ;
it becometh stiller and darker. So doth every wisdom
that shall one day give birth unto lightnings.
Unto these men of to-day I do not seek to be a
light, nor to be called a light by them. Them I will
blind. O lightning of my wisdom ! Gouge their
eyes out !
8
Will nothing beyond your capacity. There is an
evil falsehood in such as will beyond their capa-
city.
In particular if they will great things. For they
cause mistrust towards great things, these fine false
coiners and actors —
OF HIGHER MAN 395
Until at last they grow false to themselves, have
squinting eyes, and are a whited worm-eaten ness,
hidden under strong words, under show-off-virtues,
under shining false actions.
Take great care with such, ye higher men ! For
nothing is to-day regarded by me as more valuable
and rare than honesty.
Is this To-day not of the mob ? But the mob know
not what is great, small, straight, and honest. They
are innocently crooked, they always lie.
9
Have to-day a good mistrust, ye higher men, ye
courageous ! Ye with open hearts ! And keep your
reasons secret ! For to-day is of the mob.
But what the mob did not learn to believe without
reason, who could upset that for them by reason ?
In the market-place one convinceth by gestures.
But reasons make the mob mistrustful.
And when in that field truth hath once won a
victory, ask yourselves with good mistrust : ' What
powerful error hath fought the battle for it ? '
Take care also of scholars ! They hate you. For
they are sterile ! They have cold, dried-out eyes.
Before them every bird lieth unfeathered.
Such folk boast that they do not lie. But impotence
to lie is by no means love unto truth. Take care !
Freedom from fever is by no means perception !
I do not credit anything from minds chilled through
and through. He who cannot lie, knoweth not what
truth is. "^ • — ' • — -
396 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
10
If ye want to rise high, use your own legs I Do
not let yourselves be carried upwards, sit not down
on strange backs and heads !
But thou didst mount a horse ? Now thou swiftly
ridest up unto thy goal ? Up ! my friend. But thy
lame leg sitteth with thee on horseback !
When thou hast reached thy goal ; when thou
alightest from thy horse ; exactly on thy height, thou
higher man ; thou wilt stumble !
ii
Ye creators, ye higher men ! One is pregnant
only of one's own child.
Let nothing be said in your presence, be not per-
suaded by anything ! Who then is your neighbour ?
And even suppose ye act 'for the neighbour,' — ye
do not create for him !
Unlearn this ' for/ I pray, ye creators ! Your very
virtue wanteth you to do nothing with 'for' and 'for
the sake of and 'because/ To protect yourselves
from these deceitful little words, ye shall glue up
your ear.
That 'for the neighbour' is the virtue merely of
the petty folk. They say : ' like and like ' and ' hand
washeth hand/ They have neither the right nor the
power for your self-interest !
In your self-interest, ye creators, is the caution
and providence of the child-bearing ones ! What no
OF HIGHER MAN 397
one hath ever seen with his eyes, the fruit, is protected
and spared and nourished with all your love.
Where all your love is, with your child, there also
is all your virtue ! Your work, your will is your
' neighbour.' Allow not yourselves to be talked into
false values !
12
Ye creators, ye higher men ! He who must give
birth is ill. But he who hath given birth is impure.
Ask women ! One giveth not birth because the giving
of birth causeth pleasure. The pain causeth hens and
poets to cackle.
Ye creators, in you is much impure. The reason is
that ye were compelled to be mothers.
A new child ! Oh, how much new dirt hath with
it been born into the world ! Go unto one side ! He
who hath given birth shall wash his soul pure !
13
Be not virtuous beyond your ability ! And demand
nothing from yourselves contrary unto probability !
Walk in the footsteps in which your fathers' virtue
hath gone ! How could ye rise high, if your fathers'
will riseth not with you ?
But he who desireth to be a firstling, may see unto
it, that he may not become a lastling also ! And where
the vices of your fathers are, therein ye shall not strive
to be saints.
He whose fathers liked women and strong wines
398 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
and wild boars — what, if he were to demand chastity of
himself ?
It would be a folly ! It is much, verily, methinketh,
for such an one, if he be the husband of one, or two,
or three women.
And if he would found monasteries and write over
their gates : ' The way unto what is holy,' — yet I
would say : ' Wherefore ? It is a new folly !
He hath founded for himself a penitentiary and
refuge. Much good may it do him ! But I do not
believe in it.'
In loneliness groweth whatever is brought by one
into it, including the inner beast also. On account of
that, many are counselled against loneliness !
Hath there ever been anything dirtier on earth than
the saints of the desert ? Round them not only the
devil was set free, but the swine also.
Shy, ashamed, clumsy, like the tiger foiled in his
leap — thus, ye higher men, I have seen you often steal
aside. A cast of yours had failed.
But what matter ye dice-players ? Ye learned not
play and mockery, as one must play and mock ! Sit
we not ever at a great table of mocking and playing ?
And if ye have failed in great things, are ye, for
that reason, yourselves a failure ? But if man is a
failure — up ! up !
15
The higher its kin is, the seldomer doth a thing
succeed. Ye higher men here, are ye not all failures ?
OF HIGHER MAN 399
Be of good cheer ! What matter ? How many
things are still possible ! Learn to laugh at yourselves,
as one must laugh !
What wonder that ye have failed and half-failed,
ye half-broken ones ! In yourselves, doth not man's
future throng and push ?
Man's remotest, deepest, star-highest essence, his
immense power — do they not all seethe against each
other in your pot ?
What wonder that many a pot breaketh ! Learn
to laugh at each other, as one must laugh ! Ye higher
men, how many things are still possible !
And, verily ! how many things have already suc-
ceeded. How rich is this earth in small, good, perfect
things, in well-constituted things !
Put small, good, perfect things round yourselves, ye
higher men ! Their golden ripeness healeth the heart.
Perfect things teach hope.
16
What hath hitherto been the greatest sin on earth ?
Was it the word of him who said : ' Woe unto those
who laugh here ? '
Did he himself find no reasons for laughing on
earth ? If so, he sought but ill. A child even findeth
reasons here.
He did not love enough. Otherwise he would have
loved us also, the laughers ! But he hated and mocked
at us. Howling and gnashing of teeth we were promised
by him.
Must one curse outright, where one doth not love ?
400 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
That, meseemeth, is bad taste. But thus he did, this
unconditioned one. He sprang from the mob.
And he himself merely loved not enough. Other-
wise he would have been less angry because he was
not loved. All great love wanteth not love, it wanteth
more.
Go out of the way of all such unconditioned ones !
That is a poor, sick tribe, a mob-tribe. They look with
illwill on this life ; they have the evil eye for this
earth.
Go out of the way of all such unconditioned ones !
They have heavy feet and sultry hearts. They know
not how to dance. How could earth be light unto
such 1
J7
Crookedly all good things draw nigh unto their goal.
Like cats they arch their backs, they purr inside with
their near happiness. All good things laugh.
The step betrayeth whether one walketh already on
his own road. See me walk ! But whoever draweth
nigh unto his goal, danceth.
And, verily, I have not become a statue. Not yet I
stand, benumbed, blunt, like a stone, as a pillar. I love
quick running.
And although earth hath moors and thick affliction,
he who hath light feet runneth even over mud, and
danceth as on well-swept ice.
Raise your hearts, my brethren, high, higher ! And
forget not your legs ! Raise also your legs, ye good
dancers 1 Moreover it is better still if ye stand on your
heads 1
OF HIGHER MAN 401
18
This crown of the laugher, the crown of rose-wreaths
— I myself have put this crown on my head ; I myself
have proclaimed my laughter holy. No other one I
found to-day strong enough for that.
Zarathustra, the dancer, Zarathustra, the light one
who waveth with his wings, a preparer of flight, waving
unto all birds, prepared and ready, a blissful-frivolous
one ;
Zarathustra, the fortune-teller, Zarathustra, the true
laugher, not impatient, not unconditioned ; one who
loveth leaps and leaps aside — I myself have put this
crown on my head !
19
Raise your hearts, my brethren, high ! higher ! And
forget not your legs ! Raise also your legs, ye good
dancers. Moreover it is better still if ye stand on your
heads !
There are heavy animals in happiness, as in other
things. There are club-feet from the beginning.
Queerly they exert themselves, like an elephant which
exerteth itself to stand on its head.
But it is better still to be foolish with happiness
than foolish with misfortune ; better to dance clumsily
than to walk lame. Learn my wisdom from me, I pray.
But even the worst thing hath two good reverse sides.
Even the worst thing hath good dancing-legs.
Learn, I pray, ye higher men, how to put yourselves
on your right legs !
Unlearn, I pray, all the horn-blowing of affliction,
27
402 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
and all mob-sadness ! Oh, how sad seem unto me
to-day the mob's buffoons ! But to-day is of the mob.
20
Do like the wind when it rusheth forth from its
mountain caves. Unto its own pipe it will dance. The
seas tremble and leap beneath its footsteps.
Praised be that good unruly spirit which giveth
wings unto asses ; which. milketh lionesses; which com-
eth like a stormblast unto all To-day and all mob ;
Which is an enemy unto all heads of thistles, and
minds that pry into things, and unto all withered leaves
and tares ! Praised be that wild, good, free spirit of
the storm which danceth on moors and afflictions as
on meadows ;
Which hateth the dwindling dogs of the mob, and
all the ill-constituted gloomy brood ! Praised be this
spirit of all free spirits, the laughing storm which
bloweth dust into the eyes of all black-sighted, sup-
purative ones !
Ye higher men, what is worst in you is, that
none of you hath learnt to dance, as one must dance
— to dance beyond yourselves ! What matter that ye
are failures ?
How many things are still possible ! Learn, I pray,
to laugh beyond yourselves ! Raise your hearts, ye
good dancers, high ! higher ! And forget not the good
laughter !
This crown of the laugher, this crown of rose- wreaths
— unto you, my brethren, I throw this crown ! The
laughter I have proclaimed holy. Ye higher men, learn
how to laugh ! "
THE SONG OF MELANCHOLY
WHEN making these speeches, Zarathustra stood close
unto the entrance of his cave. But when uttering the
last words, he escaped from his guests and fled for a
short while into the open air.
" Oh, pure odours round me ! " he exclaimed, " Oh,
blessed stillness round me ! But where are mine
animals ? Come nigh, come nigh, mine eagle and my
serpent !
Tell me, mine animals. These higher men altogether
—think ye, do they not smell well ? Oh, pure odours
round me ! Now only I know and feel how I love
you, mine animals ! "
And Zarathustra repeated : " I love you, mine ani-
mals ! " But the eagle and the serpent pressed round
him, when he spake these words, and looked up unto
him. In this way they were all three together at
peace, and snuffed and drew in the good air together.
For outside the air was better than among the higher
men.
2
But scarce had Zarathustra left his cave, when the
403
404 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
old wizard got up, looked round cunningly and said :
" He is gone out !
And straightway, ye higher men, (let me like him
tickle you with this name of praise and flattery), —
straightway mine evil spirit of deceitfulness and en-
chantment attacketh me, my melancholy devil ;
Who is a fiend from the bottom unto this Zarathustra.
Forgive him ! Now he will practise magic in your
presence ; it is exactly his hour. In vain I struggle
with this evil spirit.
Unto all of you, whatever honours ye may attribute
unto yourselves in words, whether ye call yourselves
'the free spirits/ or 'the truthful/ or 'the penitent of
spirit/ or ' the freed from fetters ' or ' the great longers — '
Unto all of you who, like myself, suffer from the
great loathing, for whom the old God hath died and
no new God yet lieth in cradles and napkins — unto
all of you is mine evil spirit and magic devil friendly.
I know you, ye higher men ; I know him. I also
know that fiend whom I love involuntarily, this Zara-
thustra. He himself seemeth often unto me to be like
a beautiful mask of a saint —
Like a new strange masquerade in which mine evil
spirit, the melancholy devil, is pleased. I love Zara-
thustra— thus it seemeth often unto me — for the sake
of mine evil spirit.
But even now he attacketh me and constraineth me,
this spirit of melancholy, this devil of the evening. And,
verily, ye higher men, he longeth—
Open your eyes !— he longeth to appear naked,
whether masculine, or feminine, I know not yet. But
THE SONG OF MELANCHOLY 405
he cometh, he constraineth me, alas ! Open your
senses !
The sound of the day dieth away. Unto all things,
now cometh the evening, even unto the best things.
Listen now and look, ye higher men, what devil he
is, this spirit of evening melancholy, whether man 01
woman ! "
Thus spake the old wizard, looked round cunningly,
and then seized his harp.
3
"When the air hath become clear,
When the comfort of the dew
Gusheth down upon earth,
Unseen, unheard,
(For tender shoes are worn
By the dew, the comforter, as by all who shed mild
comfort)
Rememberest thou, then, rememberest thou, O hot
heart,
How once thou thirstedst
For heavenly tears and the dropping of dew,
How thou thirstedst, scorched and weary,
Whilst on yellow grass-paths
Wicked evening-like sun-glances
Ran round thee through black trees,
Blinding malicious glances of sun-glow ?
< The suitor of truth f Thou ? ' Thus they mocked.
' Nay I Merely a poet ! '
406 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA IV
An animal, a cunning, preying, stealing one,
Which must lie,
Which must lie, consciously, voluntarily,
Longing for prey,
Disguised in many colours,
A mask unto itself,
A prey unto itself.
That— the suitor of truth ?
Only a fool ! a poet !
Only a speaker in many colours,
Speaking in many colours out of fools' masks
Stalking about on deceitful word-bridges,
On deceitful rain-bows,
Between false heavens
Wandering, stealing about —
Only a fool ! a poet !
That-— the suitor of truth ?
Not still, numb, smooth, cold,
Not become an image,
A statue of a God ;
Not set up in front of temples,
A God's usher.
Nay ! an enemy unto such statues of virtue,
More at home in any wilderness than in temples
Full of a cat's wantonness,
Leaping through every window,
Swiftly, into every chance,
Led by its scent into every primeval forest,
In order to roam about in primeval forests,
Among many-coloured shaggy beasts of prey,
THE SONG OF MELANCHOLY 407
Sinfully-healthy and beautiful and many-coloured,
To run about with longing lips,
Blissfully-mocking, blissfully-hellish, blissfully-blood-
thirsty,
Preying, stealing, lying.
Or like the eagle that long,
Long gazeth benumbed into abysses,
Into its own abysses !
Oh, how they here wriggle downwards,
Down, down
Into ever deeper depths !
Then,
Suddenly,
With straight flight,
With a sharp attack,
Swoop down on lambs,
Head foremost, greedy,
Longing for lambs,
Angry with all lamb-souls,
In sore anger with whatever gazeth
Virtuous, sheeplike, with curly wool,
Stupid with the benevolence of lamb's milk !
Thus,
Like eagles, like panthers,
Are the poet's longings,
Are thy longings under a thousand masks,
Thou fool ! Thou poet !
Who sawest man
408 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
As a God and a sheep —
To tear the God in man,
Like the sheep in man,
And to laugh in tearing.
That, that is thy bliss,
A panther's and an eagle's bliss,
A poet's and a fool's bliss !
When the air hath become clear,
And the sickle of the moon,
Green between purple reds
And envious stealeth along,
An enemy unto day,
Sweeping her sickle secretly
Along hammocks of roses,
At every step, until they sink,
Sink down, pale, down into the night —
Thus I once fell downwards,
Out of mine insanity of truth,
Out of my longing of the day,
Weary of the day, sick from the light,
Fell, downwards, towards the night, towards the
shadow,
Burnt by, and thirsty for
One truth.
Rememberest thou, rememberest thou, hot head,
How then thou thirstedst ?
In order to be excluded
From all truth !
Only a fool! Only a poet!"
OF SCIENCE
THUS sang the wizard. And all who were there
assembled fell unawares like birds into the net of
his cunning and melancholy lust. Only the conscien-
tious one of the spirit had not been caught. He
quickly took the harp from the wizard, crying : " Air !
Let good air come in ! Let Zarathustra come in !
Thou makest this cave sultry and poisonous, thou bad
old wizard !
Thou seducest, thou false one, thou refined one,
unto unknown desires and wilderness. And, alas, that
folk like thee should make much trouble and many
words with truth !
Alas, for all free spirits, who are not on their guard
against such wizards ! Gone is their freedom. Thou
teachest and thereby allurest back into prisons !
Thou old melancholy devil, in thy wailing soundeth
an alluring pipe. Thou art like unto such as with
their praise of chastity secretly invite unto lust ! "
Thus spake the conscientious one. But the old
wizard looked round him, rejoicing in his victory, and
swallowed the anger caused him by the conscientious
one. " Be quiet ! " he said with modest voice. " Good
409
4io THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
songs want good echo. After good songs one shall be
silent long.
Thus do all these, the higher men. But thou seemest
to have understood little of my song ? In thee is little
of an enchanting spirit.
"Thou praisest me," answered the conscientious
one, " by separating me from thee. Go to ! But ye
others, what do I see ? Ye all still sit there with lustful
eyes.
Ye free souls, whither is your freedom gone ! Me-
thinketh, ye are almost like such as have long looked
at evil, dancing, naked girls. Your souls themselves
dance !
In you, ye higher men, there must be more of what
the wizard calleth his evil spirit of enchantment and
deceit. We seem to be very different.
And, verily, we spake and thought enough together,
before Zarathustra came home unto his cave, to enable
me to know : we are different.
We seek different things, even up here, ye and I.
For I seek more security. Therefore have I come unto
Zarathustra. For he is the firmest tower and will —
To-day when everything is shaken, when the whole
earth trembleth. But, when I see the eyes ye make,
methinketh almost, ye seek more insecurity,
More shuddering, more danger, more earthquake.
Methinketh almost, ye long (forgive my haughtiness,
ye higher men) —
Ye long after the evilest, most dangerous life, that
causeth me the most fear, after the life of wild beasts,
after forests, caves, steep mountains and labyrinthine
abysses.
OF SCIENCE 411
And ye are not pleased best by those who lead you
out of a danger, but by those who lead you away from
all paths, by seducers. But if such a longing is
truth in you, it nevertheless seemeth unto me im-
possible.
For fear — that is man's hereditary and fundamental
feeling. By fear everything is explained, original sin
and original virtue. Out of fear also hath grown my
virtue, which is called Science.
For the fear of wild beasts hath been bred in man
for the longest time, including the beast he containeth
and feareth in himself. Zarathustra calleth it ' the beast
inside.'
Such long, old fear, at last become refined, spiritual,
intellectual, to-day, methinketh, it is called Science."
Thus spake the conscientious one. But Zarathustra,
who had just returned into his cave and had heard the
last speech and guessed its sense, threw a handful
of roses at the conscientious one, laughing at his
" truths." " What ? " he called. " What did I hear just
now ? Verily, methinketh, thou art a fool, or I am
one myself. And thy ' truth ' I turn upside down with
one blow, and that quickly.
For fear is our exception. But courage and adven-
ture, and the joy of what is uncertain, what hath
never been dared — courage, methinketh, is the whole
prehistoric development of man.
From the wildest, most courageous beasts he hath,
by his envy and his preying, won all their virtues.
Only thus hath he become a man.
This courage, at last become refined, spiritual, in-
4i2 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
tellectual, this human courage with an eagle's wings
and a serpent's wisdom — it, methinketh, is called to-
day—"
" Zarathustra ! " cried all who sat together there,
as from one mouth, making a great laughter withal.
But a something was lifted from them like a heavy
cloud. The wizard also laughed and said shrewdly :
" Up ! He is gone, mine evil spirit !
And did not I myself warn you of him, when I said
that he was a deceiver, a spirit of lying and deceit ?
And quite especially, if he show himself naked. But
are his intrigues my fault ? Did / create him and the
world ?
Up ! Let us be good again and of good cheer !
And although Zarathustra gazeth angrily, look at him !
He is angry with me.
Before night come, he will once more learn how
to love and praise me. He cannot live long without
doing such follies.
He loveth his enemies. This art he knoweth best
of all whom I have seen. But he taketh revenge for
that on his friends ! "
Thus spake the old wizard, and the higher men
applauded him, so that Zarathustra went about and
shook hands with his friends, mischievously and lovingly,
as though he were one with amends to make unto
everyone for something, who hath to obtain forgive-
ness from all. But when he thus doing reached once
more the door of his cave, behold, he felt again a desire
for the good air out there and for his animals, and
tried to steal outside again.
AMONG DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT.
" Go not away ! " said then the wanderer who called him-
self Zarathustra's shadow. " Remain with us ; other-
wise we might be attacked again by the old gloomy
affliction.
That wizard hath already shown us something of
his worst, and, behold, the good pious pope there hath
tears in his eyes, and hath again set full sail for the sea
of melancholy.
These things there, it is true, will in our presence
still display good humour, which they have learnt
to-day better than any of us ! But if they had no
witness, I wager, with them also the evil game would
begin anew.
The evil game of wandering clouds, of damp melan-
choly, of veiled heavens, of stolen suns, of howling
autumn-storms ;
The evil game of our howling and crying for help !
Stay with us, O Zarathustra ! Here is much hidden
misery that will speak, much evening, much cloud,
much damp air !
413
4H THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Thou hast nourished us with strong men's food
and powerful sayings. Do not let us at dessert be
attacked again by tender, effeminate spirits !
Thou alone makest the air round thee strong and
clear ! Have I ever found on earth air so good as
with thee, in thy cave ?
Many different lands have I seen, my nose hath
learnt to examine and estimate many kinds of air ;
but with thee my nostrils taste their highest de-
light !
Unless it be, — unless it be — oh, forgive an old
reminiscence ! Forgive me an old desert song I once
composed among daughters of the desert.
For with them there was the same good bright
oriental air ! There was I furthest from cloudy, damp,
melancholy Old-Europe !
Then I loved oriental girls of that tribe, and other
blue kingdoms of heaven, over which hung no clouds
and no thoughts.
Ye will not believe how prettily they sat there,
when they did not dance ; deep, but without thoughts ;
like little secrets ; like riddles with ribbons ; like nuts
at dessert ;
; Many-coloured and strange, verily ! but without
clouds ; riddles that can be read. To please such
girls I then invented my desert psalm."
Thus spake the wanderer who called himself Zara-
thustra's shadow. And before anybody could answer
him, he had seized the old wizard's harp, crossed
his legs, and looked round, worthy and wise. And
with his nostrils he slowly and questioningly drew in
AMONG DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT 415
the air, like one who tasteth new air in new countries.
Then he began to sing with a kind of roar.
2
" The desert groweth. Woe unto him who contain-
eth deserts!
Ha!
Solemn !
A worthy beginning !
In African solemnity !
Worthy of a lion,
Or of a moral howling monkey,
But nothing for you,
Ye sweetest girl-friends,
At the feet of whom
I am permitted to sit,
An European under palm-trees. Selah !
Wonderful, verily !
There sit I now
Nigh unto the desert, and already
So far away from the desert,
Not yet ruined in anything.
For I am swallowed down
By this smallest oasis.
It hath just opened yawning
Its sweet mouth,
The best smelling of all little mouths.
Then I fell into it,
Down, through it, among you,
Ye sweetest girl friends ! Selah !
416 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Hail ! hail ! unto that whale,
If it made life for its guest
So pleasant ! ( Ye understand
My learned allusion ? )
Hail unto its belly,
If it was thus
A sweet belly of an oasis,
Like this one! (which I doubt however).
| The reason is : I come from Europe,
I Which is more sceptical than any little wife.
May God mend things !
Amen !
There sit I now
In this smallest oasis,
Like a date,
Brown, sweetened through, suppurative with gold,
Desirous for the round mouth of a girl,
But still more for girl-like,
Ice-cold, snow-white, cutting,
Biting teeth. For after these pine
The hearts of all hot dates. Selah !
Like, all-too-like,
Unto the southern fruits mentioned,
Here I lie.
Round about dance and play
Little winged beetles,
And in the same way still smaller,
Still more foolish and wicked
Wishes and fancies.
AMONG DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT 417
Round about lie ye,
Ye mute, ye prophetic
Girl-cats,
Dudu and Suleika.
Ye sphinx round me ( to stuff
Into one word many feelings.
May God forgive me
This sin against grammar !)
Here sit I smelling the best air,
Verily, the air of paradise,
Bright, light air with golden stripes,
As good air as ever fell down
From the moon,
Be it by chance, —
Or befell it by wantonness,
As the old poets tell the tale ?
But I, a doubter, doubt it.
j The reason is : I come
From Europe,
1 Which is more sceptical than any little wife.
May God mend things 1
Amen !
Breathing this finest air,
My nostrils expanded like cups,
Without a future, without memories,
Here sit I, ye
Sweetest girl-friends,
And look at this palm-tree,
How it, like a dancer,
Boweth and bendeth and swingeth its hips
28
4iB THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
(One doth the same, if one look at it too long),
Like a dancer who (it would seem unto me),
Too long already, dangerously long,
Had always, always stood on one little leg !
Then so doing she forgot (it would seem unto me)
The other little leg !
At least in vain
Sought I the missing
Twin-jewel
— To wit, the other little leg —
In the holy nearness
Of her very sweetest, very neatest
Little skirt with its fanning, fluttering, and shining.
Yea, if ye will believe me wholly,
Ye beautiful girl-friends :
She hath lost it !
Hu! Hu! Hu! Hu 1 Hu !
It is gone,
Gone for ever,
The other little leg !
\ Oh, what a pity for this other sweet little leg !
i Where doth it dwell and mourn forsaken,
\ This lonely little leg ?
Perhaps in fear of a ferocious,
Yellow, fair-haired, curly,
Lion-monster ? Or perhaps even
Gnawed at and nibbled at —
Miserable, alas ! alas ! Nibbled at ! Selah !
Oh, weep not
Soft hearts !
AMONG DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT 419
Weep not, ye
Date-hearts ! Milk-bosoms !
Ye little licorice-heart's
Purses !
Be a man; Suleika ! Courage, courage !
Weep no more,
Pale Dudu !
Or might peradventure
Something strengthening, heart-strengthening
Be in the right place ?
Some anointed saying ?
Some solemn persuasion ?
Ha!
Up, dignity 1
Blow, blow again,
Bellows of virtue !
Ha!
Brawl once more,
Brawl morally,
Brawl as a moral lion in the presence of daughters
of the desert !
For virtue-brawling,
Ye sweetest girls,
Is more than all else
European fervency, European voracity !
And there I stand already,
As an European,
I cannot do differently. So help me God !
Amen !
The desert groweth. Woe unto him who containeth
deserts ! "
THE AWAKENING
AFTER the song of the wanderer and shadow the
cave became all at once full of noise and laughter,
and the guests assembled speaking all at the same
time, and the ass in the face of such an encourage-
ment no longer remaining silent, Zarathustra was
seized by some displeasure and ridicule of his visitors,
although he rejoiced in their gaiety. For it seemed
unto him to be a token of convalescence. Thus he
stole out into the open air and spake unto his animals.
" Whither now hath their trouble gone ? " said he,
and immediately he breathed again after his little
displeasure. " In my dwelling, methinketh, they have
unlearnt to cry for help !
Although, I grieve to say, not yet to cry altogether."
And Zarathustra shut his ears with his hands, for just
then the Hee-haw of the donkey mixed strangely with
the joyous noise of these higher men.
"They are gay," he began again, "and who know-
eth ? perhaps at the expense of their host. And if
they have learnt from me how to laugh, it is not yet
my laughter they have learnt.
420
THE AWAKENING 421
But what matter ! They are old folk. They recover
in their way, they laugh in their way. Mine ears have
before suffered worse things and have not been
angered.
This day is a victory. He yieldeth, he flieth, the
spirit of gravity, mine old archfiend ! How well
is this day going unto an end, which began so ill
and heavily !
And it is going unto an end. Already the evening
cometh. It rideth over the sea unto us, the good
rider ! How he swingeth, the blessed one, the return-
ing one, in his purple saddles !
The sky looketh bright on it, the world lieth deep.
O all ye strange ones who came unto me, it is well
worth while to live with me !"
Thus spake Zarathustra. And then again the crying
and laughter of the higher men came from the cave.
Then he began anew.
" They bite at it. My bait hath its effect. From them
also parteth their enemy, the spirit of gravity. Already
they learn to laugh at themselves. Hear I aright ?
My men's food hath its effect, my saying of power
and vigour ! And, verily, I fed them not with flatulent
vegetables ! But with warriors' food, with conquerors'
food. New desires I awakened.
New hopes are in their arms and legs. Their heart
stretcheth itself out. They find new words, soon will
their spirit breathe wantonness.
Such a food may, it is true, not be for children,
nor for longing little women, old and young. Their
422 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
intestines are persuaded differently. I am not their
physician and teacher.
The loathing leaveth these higher men. Up! That
is my victory. In my kingdom they grow secure. All
stupid shame fleeth away. They pour themselves out.
They pour out their heart. Good hours return unto
them. They cease from labour and ruminate. They
grow thankful.
This I take as the best sign : they grow thankful.
Ere long, they will invent festivals and put up stones
in memoriam of their old enjoyments.
They are convalescent!" Thus spake Zarathustra
gaily unto his heart and gazed out. But his animals
thronged round him, and honoured his happiness and
his silence.
2
But suddenly Zarathustra's ear was terrified. For
the cave, which had hitherto been full of noise and
laughter, became all at once as still as death. And
his nose smelt the sweet-scenting smoke and frank-
incense, as if it sprang from burning pine-cones.
"What happeneth ? What do they?" he asked him-
self and stole unto the entrance in order to be able
to look at his guests, unobserved. But wonder over
wonder ! What had he then to look at with his own
eyes!
"All of them have become pious again, they pray,
they are insane !" he said and was extremely astonished.
And, verily, all these higher men, the two kings, the
pope off duty, the evil wizard, the voluntary beggar,
the wanderer and shadow, the old fortune-teller, the
THE AWAKENING 423
conscientious one of the spirit, and the ugliest man —
they were all, like children and faithful old women,
down on their knees adoring the ass. And that very
moment the ugliest man began to gargle and snort, as
if something unutterable was about to come forth from
him. But when he had actually reached the point of
speaking, behold, it was a pious, strange litany in praise
of the adored and incense-sprinkled ass. And this litany
sounded thus :
" Amen ! And praise and honour and wisdom and
thanks and glory and strength be given unto our God,
from everlasting unto everlasting ! "
But the ass cried Hee-haw.
" He carrieth our burden, he hath taken the form
of a slave, he is patient in his heart, and never saith
Nay. And he who loveth his God, chastiseth him."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
"He speaketh not, unless it be that he for ever saith
Yea unto the world he created. Thus he praiseth his
world. His policy it is not to speak. Thus he is rarely
declared to be wrong."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
" Without splendour he goeth through the world.
Gray is the colour of his body, in which he wrappeth
his virtue. If he hath spirit, he hideth it. But every
one believeth in his long ears."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
"What hidden wisdom is in his wearing long ears
and ever saying only Hee-haw and never Nay ! Hath
he not created the world after his own image, i.e., as
stupid as possible ? "
424 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
"Thou goest straight and crooked ways. It con-
cerneth thee little what exactly appeareth straight or
crooked unto us men. Beyond good and evil is thy
kingdom. It is thine innocence not to know what
innocence is."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
" Behold, how thou pushest away none from thee,
neither beggars nor kings. The little children thou
lettest come unto thee, and when the bad boys allure
thee, thou simply sayest Hee-haw."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
"Thou lovest she-asses and fresh figs, thou art no
despiser of food. A thistle tickleth thy heart, when
thou chancest to be hungry. Therein lieth a God's
wisdom."
But the ass cried Hee-haw !
THE ASS-FESTIVAL
i
AT this point of the litany, Zarathustra could no longer
master himself. He himself cried Hee-haw still louder
than the ass, and leaped into the midst of his guests
who had gone mad. "What do ye here, ye children
of men ? " he called, tearing up from the ground the
praying ones. "Alas, if anybody else should look at
you save Zarathustra !
Everyone would judge that, with your new belief,
ye were the worst blasphemers or the most foolish of
all little old women !
And thou thyself, thou old pope, how agreeth it with
thee thus to adore an ass as God ? "
" O Zarathustra " answered the pope, " forgive me !
But in matters of God I am more enlightened than
thou. And it is right it should be thus.
Rather adore God in this shape than in no shape !
Meditate over this saying, my lofty friend ! Thou findest
out quickly : there is wisdom in such a saying.
He who said : ' God is a spirit,' hath hitherto made
the greatest step and leap unto unbelief on earth. It
is not easy to make on earth amends for such a word !
425
426 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Mine old heart leapeth and hoppeth because there
is still something to be adored on earth. Forgive that,
O Zarathustra, unto the old pious heart of a pope ! "
"And thou/' said Zarathustra unto the wanderer
and shadow, "thou callest and thinkest thyself a free
spirit ? And thou dost here such idolatry and service
of priests ?
Worse, verily, thou dost here than with thine evil
brown girls, thou evil new believer ! "
" It is bad enough," answered the wanderer and
shadow, " thou art right. But how is it my fault ? The
old God liveth again, O Zarathustra, thou mayest say
whatever thou likest.
All this is the fault of the ugliest man. He hath
awakened him again. And if he saith that he hath
slain him, — with gods death is always only a pre-
judice."
" And thou," said Zarathustra, " thou evil old wizard,
what didst thou ? Who shall, in this time of freedom,
believe any more in thee, if thou believest in such god-
doltishnesses ?
It was a stupidity thou didst. How couldst thou,
thou prudent one, do such a stupidity ! "
" O Zarathustra," answered the prudent wizard, " thou
art right, it was a stupidity. Besides, it hath been hard
enough upon me."
"And even thou," said Zarathustra unto the con-
scientious one of the spirit, " meditate and put thy finger
unto thy nose ! Doth nothing here go contrary unto
thy conscience ? Is thy spirit not too cleanly for this
praying and the smell of these bigots ? "
THE ASS-FESTIVAL 427
" There is something in that," answered the con-
scientious one, putting his finger unto his nose, " there
is something in this spectacle that gratifieth even my
conscience.
Perhaps I may not be allowed to believe in God.
But certain it is that in this shape God seemeth unto
me to be the most credible of all.
God is said to be eternal according unto the testimony
of the most pious. He who hath much time, taketh
his time. As slow and as stupid as possible. Thereby
such an one can nevertheless go very far.
And he who hath too much of the spirit might well
be infatuated with stupidity and folly. Meditate on
thyself, O Zarathustra 1
Thyself, verily ! even thou mightest become an ass
out of abundance and wisdom.
Doth not a perfect wise man prefer to walk by the
most crooked roads ? Appearances teach thus, O Zara-
thustra,— thine appearances ! "
"And last of all thou," said Zarathustra, turning
towards the ugliest man, who still lay on the ground
raising his arm unto the ass (for he gave it wine to
drink). "Say, thou unutterable one, what didst thou
there !
Thou seemest unto me to be changed ; thine eye
gloweth ; the mantle of what is sublime lieth round
thine ugliness. What didst thou ?
Is it really true, what these say, that thou awakenedst
Him again ? And wherefore ? Was he not slain and
put aside with good reason ?
Tl|ou thyself seemest unto me to be awakened. What
428 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
didst thou ? What didst thou turn round ? Why wert
thou converted ? Say, thou unutterable one ! "
" O Zarathustra," answered the ugliest man, " thou
art a villain !
Whether He is still alive, or liveth again, or is
thoroughly dead, which of us two knoweth that best ?
I ask thee.
But one thing I know. From myself I once learned
it, O Zarathustra. He who wanteth to kill most
thoroughly, laugheth.
1 Not through wrath, but through laughter one
slayeth ' thus saidst thou once. O Zarathustra, thou
hidden one, thou destroyer without wrath, thou dan-
gerous saint, thou art a villain 1 "
Then it came to pass that Zarathustra, astonished
at such mere villains' answers, leaped back unto the
door of his cave and, turning towards all his guests,
cried with a strong voice.
" O ye buffoons assembled, O ye clowns ! Why do
ye dissemble and hide in my presence ?
How the hearts of all of you bounded with delight
and wickedness, because ye at last became once more
like the little children, i.e.f pious, —
That at last ye did again as children do, i.e.t prayed,
folded your hands, and said ' dear God ! '
But now leave unto me this nursery, mine own cave,
where to-day all childishness is at home. Cool down
here outside your hot children's wantoning and noise
of hearts !
THE ASS-FESTIVAL 429
True, if ye become not like the little children, ye will
not go into that kingdom of heaven." (And Zarathustra
pointed upwards with his hands.)
" But we do not want to go into the kingdom of
heaven ! We have become men. Thus we will the
kingdom of earth."
3
And once more began Zarathustra to speak. " O my
new friends," said he, " ye strange ones, ye higher men,
how well am I pleased by you, —
Since ye have become gay again ! Verily, ye all
have begun to blossom. Methinketh, for such flowers
as ye are, new festivals are required, —
Some little downright nonsense, some God-service
and ass-festival, some old gay Zarathustra fool, a whirl-
wind that fanneth your souls into brightness.
Forget not this night and this ass-festival, ye higher
men ! That was invented by you in my home ; that
is taken by me as a good omen. Such things are
invented solely by convalescent ones !
And if ye celebrate it again, this ass-festival, do it
for the sake of your own love, do it also for the sake of
my love ! And unto my memory ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra.
THE DRUNKEN SONG
IN the meantime one after the other had stepped out
into the open air and into the cool, thoughtful night.
Zarathustra himself led the ugliest man by the hand,
in order to show him his night-world and the great
round moon and the silvery waterfalls nigh unto his
cave. There at last they stood silently together, all old
men, but with comforted, brave hearts, and astonished
at themselves, because they felt so well on earth. But
the secrecy of night came nigher and nigher unto their
hearts. And once more Zarathustra thought in his
mind : " Oh, how well am I now pleased with them,
these higher men ! " But he did not say it aloud, for
he honoured their happiness and their silence.
Then a thing came to pass, the most astonishing of
that astonishing long day. The ugliest man began once
more, and for the last time, to gargle and snort. And
when he had found words, behold, a question sprang
round and clean from his mouth, a good, deep, clear
question, which moved the heart in the body of all
who listened.
" Mine assembled friends," said the ugliest man, " what
430
THE DRUNKEN SONG 431
think ye ? For the sake of this day, / am for the first
time content to have lived the whole of life.
And to bear witness for so much is not yet enough
for me. It is worth while to live on earth. One day,
one festival with Zarathustra, taught me to love earth.
' Hath that been life ? ' I shall say unto death. < Up !
Once more ! '
My friends, what think ye ? Will ye not, like me, say
unto death : ' Hath that been life ? For Zarathustra's
sake, up ! Once more ! ' "
Thus spake the ugliest man. But it was not far from
midnight. And what think ye then befell ? As soon
as the higher men had heard his question, all at once
they became conscious of their change and convales-
cence and who occasioned them. Then they leaped
towards Zarathustra, thanking, revering, fondling, kissing
his hands, each in his own peculiar way, so that some
laughed and some cried. But the old wizard danced
with pleasure. And though he then, as some tale-tellers
think, was full of sweet wine, he was certainly still fuller
of sweet life and had renounced all weariness. There
are even such as tell that then even the ass danced.
For not in vain had the ugliest man (it is said) given
it wine to drink before. This may be so, or it may be
otherwise. And if in truth the ass did not dance that
night, greater and stranger wonders happened, than the
dancing of an ass would have been. In short, as Zara-
thustra's saying goeth, " What matter ! "
2
When this came to pass with the ugliest man, Zara-
432 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
thustra stood there like one drunken. His look was
dimmed, his tongue stammered, his feet staggered.
And who could guess what thoughts then passed over
Zarathustra's soul ? But his spirit apparently retreated
and fled before him, and was in far distances, and, as
it were, " walking like a heavy cloud on a high ridge/'
as it is written,
" Between two seas, between what is past and what
is to come." But by and by, while the higher men
held him in their arms, he came back somewhat unto
himself, and with his hands hindered the throng of
the revering and anxious ones. But he spake not. All
at once he swiftly turned his head, for he seemed to
hear something. Then he laid his finger on his mouth
and said : " Come ! "
And immediately it grew still and homelike round
about. But from the depth there rose slowly the sound
of a bell. Zarathustra listened unto it, like the higher
men. But then, for a second time, he laid his finger
on his mouth and said again : " Come ! come ! It is
nigh unto midnight!" And his voice had changed.
But not yet did he move from the spot. Then it grew
still quieter and more homelike, and everything heark-
ened, including the ass and Zarathustra's animals of
honour, the eagle and the serpent ; and likewise Zara-
thustra's cave, and the great cool moon, and the night
itself. But Zarathustra, for a third time, laid his hand
on his mouth and said :
" Come ! Come ! Come ! Let us walk now ! It is the
hour ! Let us walk into the night !
THE DRUNKEN SONG 433
3
Ye higher men, it is nigh unto midnight. Now I
will say something into your ears, as that old bell
telleth it into mine ;
As familiarly, as terribly, as heartily, as speaketh unto
me that midnight-bell which hath seen more than any
man ;
Which hath long ago counted the pulses of your
fathers' heart-beat, and pain. Alas ! alas ! how it sigh-
eth ! how it laugheth in dream ! the old, deep, deep
midnight !
Hush ! Hush ! Then many things are heard which
are not permitted to become audible in day time. But
now, in the cool air, after even all noise of your hearts
hath been stilled ;
Now they speak, now they are heard, now they steal
into night-like over-wakeful souls. Alas ! alas ! how
midnight sigheth, how it laugheth in dream !
Hearest thou not, how it familiarly, terribly, heartily
speaketh unto thee — old, deep, deep midnight ?
0 man, lose not sight !
4
Woe unto me ! Whither is time gone ? Sank I
not into deep wells ? The world sleepeth.
Alas ! alas ! The dog howleth, the moon shineth.
Rather will I die, die than tell you what my midnight-
heart thinketh this moment.
Now I have died. It is gone. Spider, why spinnest
thou round me ? Wouldst thou have blood ? Alas !
alas ! The dew falleth, the hour cometh !
29
434 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
The hour when I feel cool and cold, which asketh
and asketh and asketh : ' Who hath courage enough ?
Who shall be the master of earth ? Who will say :
" Thus shall ye flow, ye great and small streams ! " '
The hour approacheth ! O man, thou higher man,
lose not sight ! This speech is for fine ears, for thine
ears. What saith the deep midnight?
5
I am carried away. My soul danceth. Work of the
day ! Work of the day ! Who shall be the master
of earth ?
The moon is cool, the wind is silent. Alas 1 alas !
Have ye hitherto flown high enough ? Ye danced.
But ye see, a leg is not a wing.
Ye good dancers, now all lust is gone. Wine be-
came less, every cup became mellow, the graves stammer.
Ye have not flown high enough. Now the graves
stammer : ' Redeem the dead ! Why is it night so
long ? Doth the moon not make us drunken ? '
Ye higher men, redeem the graves, awaken the
corpses ! Alas ! Why diggeth the worm ? The hour
approacheth, approacheth.
The bell hummeth, even the heart purreth, even the
wood-worm, the heart-worm, diggeth. Alas ! alas !
The world is deep !
6
Sweet lyre ! Sweet lyre ! I love thy tone, thy
drunken tone of toads ! From what time, from what
distance, come thy tones unto me, from a far distance,
from the ponds of love ?
THE DRUNKEN SONG 435
Thou old bell, thou sweet lyre ! Every pain made
a gap in thy heart, the pain of the father, the pain of
the fathers, the pain of the forefathers. Thy speech
hath become ripe ;
Ripe as a golden autumn and afternoon, as my hermit-
heart. Now speakest thou : ' The world itself hath be-
come ripe, the grape becometh brown.
Now it wanteth to die, to die of happiness.' Ye
higher men, do ye not smell it? Secretly an odour
springeth up.
A smell and odour of eternity, a smell blissful as
roses, brown, like golden wine, an odour of old
happiness !
An odour of the drunken happiness of midnight-
death, that singeth : ' The world is deep, and deeper
than ever day thought it might ! '
7
Leave me ! Leave me ! I am too pure for thee !
Touch me not ! Hath my world not this moment be-
come perfect ?
My skin is too pure for thy hands. Leave me, thou
stupid, doltish, sultry day ! Is midnight not brighter ?
The purest shall be the lords of earth ; the least
recognised, the strongest, the midnight-souls, which are
brighter and deeper than any day.
O day, thou graspest after me ? Thou gropest for
my happiness ? For thee I am rich, lonely, a treasure
pit, a gold chamber ?
O world, thou wantest me f Am I of the world for
436 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
thee ? Am I spiritual for thee ? Am I divine for thee ?
But day and world, ye are too bulky.
Have cleverer hands ; grasp for deeper happiness,
for deeper misfortune ; grasp for any God, grasp not
for me !
My misfortune and my happiness are deep, thou
strange day, and yet I am no God, no God's hell.
Deep is its woe.
8
God's woe is deeper, thou strange world ! Grasp
for God's woe, not for me ! What am I ? A drunken
sweet lyre.
A midnight-lyre, a bell-toad, understood by no one,
but compelled to speak, before deaf ones, ye higher
men ! For ye understand me not !
Gone ! Gone ! Oh, youth ! Oh, noon ! Oh, after-
noon ! Now evening and night and midnight have
come. The dog howleth, the wind.
Is the wind not a dog ? It whimpereth, barketh,
howleth. Alas ! alas ! How midnight sigheth ! How
it laugheth, how it rattleth and panteth, midnight !
How it now speaketh soberly, this drunken poet !
Did it overdrink its drunkenness ? Did it become
over-wakeful ? Doth it ruminate ?
It ruminateth upon its woe in dream, the old deep
midnight. And it still more ruminateth upon its delight.
For delight,— if woe be deep, be deep already— Deeper
is still than woe — delight.
9
Thou vine-plant ! Why praisest thou me ? Did I
THE DRUNKEN SONG 43;
not cut thee ? I am cruel, thou bleedest. What mean-
eth thy praise of my drunken cruelty ?
'Whatever hath become perfect, all that is ripe,
wanteth to die ! ' thou sayest. Be the vine-knife
blessed, blessed ! But all that is unripe, wanteth to
live ! Alas !
Saith woe : ' Pass, go ! Away, thou woe ! ' But
everything that suffereth wanteth to live in order to
become ripe and gay and longing, —
Longing for what is more distant, higher, brighter.
' I want heirs,' thus saith everything that suffereth, ' I
want children, I want not myself.'
But delight wanteth not heirs, not children. Delight
wanteth itself, wanteth eternity, wanteth recurrence,
wanteth everything to be eternally equal unto itself.
Saith woe : ' Break, bleed, heart ! Walk, leg ! Wing,
fly ! Up ! Upward ! Pain ! ' Up ! Up ! Oh, mine old
heart ! Saith woe : ' Pass, go ! '
10
Ye higher men, what appeareth unto you ? Am I a
prophet ? A dreamer ? A drunken one ? An inter-
preter of dreams ? A midnight-bell ?
A drop of dew ? A smell and odour of eternity ?
Hear ye not ? Smell ye not ? This moment hath my
world become perfect. Midnight is noon also !
Pain is a delight also ! Curse is a blessing also.
Night is a sun also. Go off ! Otherwise ye will learn :
A wise man is a fool also.
Said ye ever Yea unto one delight ? O my friends,
438 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
if ye did, ye have also said Yea unto all woe. All
things are chained, knotted, in love.
If ye ever wanted to have one time twice, if ye ever
said : 'Thou pleasest me, O happiness, O instant, O
moment ! ' ye wished everything to come back !
Everything anew, everything eternal, everything
chained, knotted, in love. Oh ! thus ye loved the
world !
Ye eternal ones, ye love it eternally and for all time.
And even unto woe ye say : ' Pass, go, but return ! '
For eternity's sought by all delight /
ii
Eternity of all things is sought by all delight. Honey,
lees, drunken midnight, graves, comfort of tears at
graves, gilded evening red, are sought by it.
What is not sought by delight ! It is thirstier,
heartier, hungrier, more dreadful, more familiar than
all woe. It seeketh itself, it biteth into itself. The will
of the ring struggleth in it.
It seeketh love ; it seeketh hatred ; it is over-rich ;
it giveth ; it throweth away ; it beggeth, that one may
take it ; it thanketh him who taketh ; it would fain be
hated.
So rich is delight, that it thirsteth for me, for hell,
for hatred, for shame, for the cripple, for world, for
this world ! Oh, ye know it !
Ye higher men, for yourselves it longeth, delight,
the unruly, blissful one, — for your woe, ye ill-constituted !
For failures all eternal delight longeth !
For all delight seeketh itself. Therefore it also
THE DRUNKEN SONG 439
seeketh woe ! Oh, happiness ! Oh, pain ! Oh, break,
heart 1 Ye higher men, learn that eternity is sought
by delight.
Eternity of all things is sought by delight, eternity
deep— by all delight!
12
Have ye now learnt my song ? Guessed ye what
it seeketh ? Up ! Up ! Ye higher men, sing now my
roundelay !
Sing now yourselves the song whose name is
' Once more/ whose sense is ' For all eternity ! ' Sing
ye higher men, Zarathustra's roundelay !
0 man ! Lose not sight !
What saith the deep midnight f
'I lay in sleep, in sleep;
From deep dream 1 woke to light.
The world is deep,
And deeper than ever day thought it might.
Deep is its woe — ,
And deeper still than woe — delight.
Saith woe : t Pass, go !
Eternity's sought by all delight — ,
Eternity deep— by all delight ! ' "
THE SIGN
BUT the morning after that night, Zarathustra jumped
up from his couch, girded his loins, and stepped out
of his cave, glowing and strong, like a morning sun
coming from dark mountains.
"Thou great star" he said, as he had said once,
"thou deep eye of happiness, what would be all thy
happiness, if thou hadst not those for whom thou
shinest !
And if they would remain in their chambers,
while thou art awake and comest and givest and
distributest, how angry would thy proud shame be
at that !
Up ! They sleep still, these higher men, whilst /
am awake. They are not my proper companions ! Not
for them wait I here in my mountains.
Unto my work will I go, unto my day. But they
understand not what are the signs of my morning.
My step is for them not a call that awaketh them
from sleep !
They sleep still in my cave. Their dream drinketh
still at my drunken songs. The ear that hearkeneth for
me, the obeying ear, is lacking in their limbs."
This had Zarathustra said unto his heart, when
440
THE SIGN 44i
the sun rose. Then he asking looked upward, for he
heard above him the sharp cry of his eagle. " Up ! "
he shouted upward, "thus it pleaseth me and is
due unto me. Mine animals are awake, for I am
awake.
Mine eagle is awake and, like me, honoureth the
sun. With an eagle's claws he graspeth for the new
light. Ye are my proper animals. I love you.
But my proper men are still lacking unto me ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra. Then it came to pass
that he heard of a sudden that he was surrounded by
numberless birds that swarmed and fluttered. But the
whizzing of so many wings, and the thronging round
his head were so great that he shut his eyes. And,
verily, like a cloud something fell upon him, like a
cloud of arrows discharged over a new enemy. But,
behold, here it was a cloud of love, and it hovered
over a new friend.
" What happeneth unto me ? " Zarathustra thought
in his astonished heart, and slowly sat down on the
big stone which lay beside the exit of his cave. But
while he grasped with his hands round himself, and
above himself, and below himself, and kept back the
tender birds, behold, something still stranger happened
unto him. He unawares laid hold of dense warm
shaggy hair. At the same time a roaring was heard
before him, a gentle, long roaring of a lion.
"The sign cometh" said Zarathustra, and his heart
changed. And, in truth, when it grew light before
him, there lay a yellow powerful animal at his feet,
442 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
and clung with its head at his knees, and would not
leave him, and did this out of love, and did as a dog
doth when he findeth his own master again. But the
doves with their love were no less eager than the
lion. And every time when a dove flew quickly
across the nose of the lion, the lion shook its head
and wondered and laughed.
Whilst all this went on, Zarathustra said but one
thing : " My children are nigh, my children." Then he
became quite mute. But his heart was loosened, and
from his eyes tears dropped and fell upon his hands.
And he no more took notice of any thing and sat
there unmoved, and without keeping the animals back
any more. Then the doves flew to and fro and sat
down on his shoulder, and fondled his white hair, and
weaned not with tenderness and rejoicing. But the
strong lion always licked the tears which fell down
on Zarathustra's hands, and roared and hummed shyly.
Thus did these animals.
This all took a long time or a short time. For,
properly speaking, for such things there is no time on
earth. But in the meantime the higher men had
awakened in Zarathustra's cave and arranged them-
selves into a procession in order to go to meet Zara-
thustra and to offer him their morning greeting. For
they had found, when they awoke, that he no more
dwelt among them. But when they came unto the
door of the cave, and the sound of their steps went
before them, the lion, terribly startled, turned all at
once away from Zarathustra, and leaped, wildly roaring,
towards the cave. But the higher men, when they
THE SIGN 443
heard him roar, all cried out as with one mouth, and
fled back and vanished in a moment.
But Zarathustra himself, stunned and strange, rose
from his seat, looked round, stood there astonished,
asked his heart, remembered, and was alone. "What
heard I ? " he at last said slowly. " What happened unto
me this moment ? "
And immediately his memory came back, and with
one look he understood all that had happened be-
tween yesterday and to-day. " Here is the stone," he
said, and stroked his beard. " On // I sat yester-
morning. And here the fortune-teller stepped unto
me ; and here for the first time I heard the cry I
heard this moment, the great cry for help.
O ye higher men, of your need it was that
yester-morning that old fortune-teller told me his
tale.
Unto your need he tried to seduce me and tempt
me. ' O Zarathustra/ he said unto me, ' I come to
seduce thee unto thy last sin.'
Unto my last sin ?" cried Zarathustra, and angrily
laughed at his own word. " What hath been reserved
for me as my last sin ? "
And once more Zarathustra sank into himself and
again sat down on the great stone and meditated.
Suddenly he jumped up.
"Pity! Pity for the higher man!" he cried out,
and his face turned into brass. " Up ! That hath had
its time !
My woe and my pity, what matter ? Do I seek
for happiness ? I seek for my work !
444 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV
Up ! the lion hath come. My children are nigh.
Zarathustra hath ripened. Mine hour hath come !
This is my morning. My day beginneth ! Come up,
then, come up, thou great noon ! "
Thus spake Zarathustra, and left his cave, glowing
and strong, like a morning sun which cometh from
dark mountains.
THE END
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