"
('"Plain language and plainly?
('"Plain language and plainly?
Nietzsche - v11 - Thus Spake Zarathustra
' Thus spake I once and thought myself
wise. But it was a blasphemy: that have I now
learned. Wise fools speak better.
The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the
lightest thing, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a whisk,
an eye-glance-little maketh up the best happiness.
Hush!
## p. 339 (#523) ############################################
LXX. —NOON-TIDE.
339
-What hath befallen me: Hark! Hath time
flown away? Do I not fall? Have I not fallen
-hark! into the well of eternity?
-What happeneth to me? Hush! It stingeth
me-alas—to the heart? To the heart! Oh, break
up, break up, my heart, after such happiness, after
such a sting!
- What? Hath not the world just now become
perfect ? Round and ripe? Oh, for the golden
round ring—whither doth it fly? Let me run
after it! Quick!
Hush- _" (and here Zarathustra stretched
himself, and felt that he was asleep. )
“Up! ” said he to himself, “thou sleeper! Thou
noon-tide sleeper! Well then, up, ye old legs! It
is time and more than time; many a good stretch
of road is still awaiting you-
Now have ye slept your fill; for how long a time?
A half-eternity! Well then, up now, mine old
heart! For how long after such a sleep mayest
thou-remain awake? ”.
(But then did he fall asleep anew, and his soul
spake against him and defended itself, and lay down
again)—“ Leave me alone! Hush! Hath not the
world just now become perfect? Oh, for the golden
round ball! ”—
“Get up," said Zarathustra, “thou little thief,
thou sluggard! What! Still stretching thyself,
yawning, sighing, falling into deep wells?
Who art thou then, O my soul! ” (and here he
became frightened, for a sunbeam shot down from
heaven upon his face. )
"O heaven above me,” said he sighing, and sat
## p. 339 (#524) ############################################
338 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
—As a ship that putteth into the calmest
cove:—it now dravveth up to the land, weary of long
voyages and uncertain seas. Is not the land more
faithful?
As such a ship huggeth the shore, tuggeth the
shore:—then it suffketh for a spider to spin its
thread from the ship to the land. No stronger
ropes are required there.
As such a weary ship in the calmest cove, so do
I also now repose, nigh to the earth, faithful, trust-
ing, waiting, bound to it with the lightest threads.
O happiness! O happiness! Wilt thou perhaps
sing, O my soul? Thou liest in the grass. But
this is the secret, solemn hour, when no shepherd
playeth his pipe.
Take care! Hot noon-tide sleepeth on the fields.
Do not sing! Hush! The world is perfect.
Do not sing, thou prairie-bird, my soul! Do not
even whisper! Lo—hush! The old noon-tide
sleepeth, it moveth its mouth: doth it not just now
drink a drop of happiness—
—An old brown drop of golden happiness,
golden wine? Something whisketh over it, its
happiness laugheth. Thus—laugheth a God.
Hush! —
—' For happiness, how little suffketh for happi-
ness! ' Thus spake I once and thought myself
wise. But it was a blasphemy: that have I now
learned. Wise fools speak better.
The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the
lightest thing, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a whisk,
an eye-glance—little maketh up the best happiness.
Hush!
## p. 339 (#525) ############################################
LXX. —NOON-TIDE. 339
—What hath befallen me: Hark! Hath time
flown away? Do I not fall? Have I not fallen
—hark! into the well of eternity?
—What happeneth to me? Hush! It stingeth
me—alas—to the heart? To the heart! Oh, break
up, break up, my heart, after such happiness, after
such a sting!
—What? Hath not the world just now become
perfect? Round and ripe? Oh, for the golden
round ring—whither doth it fly? Let me run
after it! Quick!
Hush— —" (and here Zarathustra stretched
himself, and felt that he was asleep. )
"Up! " said he to himself, " thou sleeper! Thou
noon-tide sleeper! Well then, up, ye old legs! It
is time and more than time; many a good stretch
of road is still awaiting you—
Now have ye slept your fill; for how long a time?
A half-eternity! Well then, up now, mine old
heart! For how long after such a sleep mayest
thou—remain awake? "
(But then did he fall asleep anew, and his soul
spake against him and defended itself, and lay down
again)—" Leave me alone! Hush! Hath not the
world just now become perfect? Oh, for the golden
round ball! "—
"Get up," said Zarathustra, "thou little thief,
thou sluggard! What! Still stretching thyself,
yawning, sighing, falling into deep wells?
Who art thou then, O my soul! " (and here he
became frightened, for a sunbeam shot down from
heaven upon his face. )
"O heaven above me," said he sighing, and sat
## p. 340 (#526) ############################################
340 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
upright, “thou gazest at me? Thou hearkenest
unto my strange soul ?
When wilt thou drink this drop of dew that fell
down upon all earthly things,—when wilt thou
drink this strange soul-
-When, thou well of eternity! thou joyous,
awful, noon-tide abyss ! when wilt thou drink my
soul back into thee? ”
Thus spake Zarathustra, and rose from his couch
beside the tree, as if awakening from a strange
drunkenness : and behold! there stood the sun still
exactly above his head. One might, however, rightly
infer therefrom that Zarathustra had not then
slept long.
LXXI. —THE GREETING.
It was late in the afternoon only when Zarathus-
tra, after long useless searching and strolling about,
again came home to his cave. When, however, he
stood over against it, not more than twenty paces
therefrom, the thing happened which he now least
of all expected: he heard anew the great cry of
distress. And extraordinary! this time the cry
came out of his own cave. It was a long, manifold,
peculiar cry, and Zarathustra plainly distinguished
that it was composed of many voices : although
heard at a distance it might sound like the cry out
of a single mouth.
Thereupon Zarathustra rushed forward to his
cave, and behold! what a spectacle awaited him
after that concert! For there did they all sit
## p. 341 (#527) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 34I
rogether whom he had passed during the day: the
king on the right and the king on the left, the old
magician, the pope, the voluntary beggar, the
shadow, the intellectually conscientious one, the
sorrowful soothsayer, and the ass; the ugliest man,
however, had set a crown on his head, and had put
round him two purple girdles,—for he liked, like all
ugly ones, to disguise himself and play the hand-
some person. In the midst, however, of that
sorrowful company stood Zarathustra's eagle, ruffled
and disquieted, for it had been called upon to
answer too much for which its pride had not any
answer; the wise serpent however hung round its
neck.
All this did Zarathustra behold with great
astonishment; then however he scrutinised each
individual guest with courteous curiosity, read their
souls and wondered anew. In the meantime the
assembled ones had risen from their seats, and
waited with reverence for Zarathustra to speak.
Zarathustra however spake thus:
"Ye despairing ones! Ye strange ones! So it
was your cry of distress that I heard? And now do
I know also where he is to be sought, whom I have
sought for in vain to-day: the higher man—:
—In mine own cave sitteth he, the higher man!
But why do I wonder! Have not I myself allured
him to me by honey-offerings and artful lure-calls
of my happiness?
But it seemeth to me that ye are badly adapted
for company: ye make one another's hearts fretful,
ye that cry for help, when ye sit here together? There
is one that must first come,
## p. 342 (#528) ############################################
342
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
-One who will make you laugh once more, a
good jovial buffoon, a dancer, a wind, a wild romp,
some old fool :-what think ye?
Forgive me, however, ye despairing ones, for
speaking such trivial words before you, unworthy,
verily, of such guests! But ye do not divine what
maketh my heart wanton :-
-Ye yourselves do it, and your aspect, forgive it
me! For every one becometh courageous who
beholdeth a despairing one. To encourage a
despairing one—every one thinketh himself strong
enough to do so.
To myself have ye given this power,-a good
gift, mine honourable guests! An excellent guest's-
present! Well, do not then upbraid when I also
offer you something of mine.
This is mine empire and my dominion : that
which is mine, however, shall this evening and to-
night be yours. Mine animals shall serve you: let
my cave be your resting-place!
At house and home with me shall no one despair :
in my purlieus do I protect every one from his wild
beasts. And that is the first thing which I offer
you: security!
The second thing, however, is my little finger.
And when ye have that, then take the whole hand
also, yea, and the heart with it! Welcome here,
welcome to you, my guests! ”.
Thus spake Zarathustra, and laughed with love
and mischief. After this greeting his guests bowed
once more and were reverentially silent; the king
on the right, however, answered him in their name.
“O Zarathustra, by the way in which thou hast
## p. 343 (#529) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 343
given us thy hand and thy greeting, we recognise
tViee as Zarathustra. Thou hast humbled thyself
before us; almost hast thou hurt our reverence—:
—Who however could have humbled himself as
rhou hast done, with such pride? That uplifteth
us ourselves; a refreshment is it, to our eyes and
hearts.
To behold this, merely, gladly would we ascend
higher mountains than this. For as eager beholders
have we come; we wanted to see what brighteneth
dim eyes.
And lo! now is it all over with our cries of
distress. Now are our minds and hearts open and
enraptured. Little is lacking for our spirits to
become wanton.
There is nothing, O Zarathustra, that groweth
more pleasingly on earth than a lofty, strong will: it
is the finest growth. An entire landscape refresheth
itself at one such tree.
To the pine do I compare him, O Zarathustra,
who groweth up like thee—tall, silent, hardy,
solitary, of the best, supplest wood, stately,—
—In the end, however, grasping out for its
dominion with strong, green branches, asking
weighty questions of the wind, the storm, and
whatever is at home on high places;
—Answering more weightily, a commander, a
victor! Oh! who should not ascend high moun-
tains to behold such growths?
At thy tree, O Zarathustra, the gloomy and ill-
constituted also refresh themselves; at thy look
even the wavering become steady and heal their
hearts.
## p. 344 (#530) ############################################
344
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
And verily, towards thy mountain and thy tree
do many eyes turn to-day; a great longing hath
arisen, and many have learned to ask: 'Who is
Zarathustra ? '
And those into whose ears thou hast at any time
dripped thy song and thy honey': all the hidden
ones, the lone-dwellers and the twain-dwellers, have
simultaneously said to their hearts :
‘Doth Zarathustra still live? It is no longer
worth while to live, everything is indifferent, every-
thing is useless: or else—we must live with
Zarathustra ! ""
Why doth he not come who hath so long
announced himself? ' thus do many people ask ;
hath solitude swallowed him up? Or should
we perhaps go to him? '
Now doth it come to pass that solitude itself
becometh fragile and breaketh open, like a grave
that breaketh open and can no longer hold its dead.
Everywhere one seeth resurrected ones.
Now do the waves rise and rise around thy
mountain, O Zarathustra. And however high be
thy height, many of them must rise up to thee: thy
boat shall not rest much longer on dry ground.
And that we despairing ones have now come
into thy cave, and already no longer despair :-it
is but a prognostic and a presage that better ones
are on the way to thee,–
-For they themselves are on the way to thee,
the last remnant of God among men—that is to
say, all the men of great longing, of great loathing,
of great satiety,
-All who do not want to live unless they learn
## p. 345 (#531) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 345
again to hope—unless they learn from thee, O Zara-
thustra, the great hope! "
Thus spake the king on the right, and seized
the hand of Zarathustra in order to kiss it; but
Zarathustra checked his veneration, and stepped
back frightened, fleeing as it were, silently and
suddenly into the far distance. After a little while,
however, he was again at home with his guests,
looked at them with clear scrutinising eyes, and
said:
"My guests, ye higher men, I will speak plain
language and plainly with you. It is not for you
that I have waited here in these mountains.
"
('"Plain language and plainly? ' Good God ! " said
here the king on the left to himself; "one seeth he
doth not know the good Occidentals, this sage out
of the Orient!
But he meaneth ' blunt language and bluntly'—
well! That is not the worst taste in these days ! ")
"Ye may, verily, all of you be higher men," con-
tinued Zarathustra; "but for me—ye are neither
high enough, nor 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 appertain to me, still it is not as my
right arm.
For he who himself standeth, like you, on sickly
and tender legs, wisheth above all to be treated
indulgently, whether he be conscious of it or hide it
from himself.
My arms and my legs, however, I do not treat
indulgently, / do not treat my warriors indulgently:
how then could ye be fit for my warfare?
## p. 346 (#532) ############################################
346 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
With you I should spoil all my victories. And
many of you would tumble over if ye but heard the
loud beating of my drums.
Moreover, ye are not sufficiently beautiful and
well-born for me. I require pure, smooth mirrors
for my doctrines; on your surface even mine own
likeness is distorted.
On your shoulders presseth many a burden,
many a recollection; many a mischievous dwarf
squatteth in your corners. There is concealed
populace also in you.
And though ye be high and of a higher type,
much in you is crooked and misshapen. There is
no smith in the world that could hammer you
right and straight for me.
Ye are only bridges: may higher ones pass over
upon you! Ye signify steps: so do not upbraid
him who ascendeth beyond you into his height!
Out of your seed there may one day arise for
me a genuine son and perfect heir: but that time
is distant. Ye yourselves are not those unto whom
my heritage and name belong.
Not for you do I wait here in these mountains;
not with you may I descend for the last time. Ye
have come unto me only as a presage that higher
ones are on the way to me,—
—Not the men of great longing, of great
loathing, of great satiety, and that which ye call
the remnant of God;
—Nay! Nay! Three times Nay! For others
do I wait here in these mountains, and will not
lift my foot from thence without them;
—For higher ones, stronger ones, triumphanter
## p. 347 (#533) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 347
ones, merrier ones, for such as are built squarely
in body and soul: laughing lions must come!
O my guests, ye strange ones—have ye yet
heard nothing of my children? And that they
are on the way to me?
Do speak unto me of my gardens, of my Happy
Isles, of my new beautiful race,—why do ye not
speak unto me thereof?
This guests'-present do I solicit of your love,
that ye speak unto me of my children. For them
am I rich, for them I became poor: what have I
not surrendered,
—What would I not surrender that I might
have one thing: these children, this living planta-
tion, these life-trees of my will and of my highest
hope! "
Thus spake Zarathustra, and stopped suddenly
in his discourse: for his longing came over him,
and he closed his eyes and his mouth, because of
the agitation of his heart. And all his guests also
were silent, and stood still and confounded: except
only that the old soothsayer made signs with his
hands and his gestures.
LXXII. —THE SUPPER.
For at this point the soothsayer interrupted the
greeting of Zarathustra and his guests: he pressed
forward as one who had no time to lose, seized
Zarathustra's hand and exclaimed: "But Zara-
thustra!
## p. 348 (#534) ############################################
348 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
One thing is more necessary than the other, so
sayest thou thyself: well, one thing is now more
necessary unto me than all others.
A word at the right time: didst thou not invite
me to table? And here are many who have made
long journeys. Thou dost not mean to feed us
merely with discourses?
Besides, all of you have thought too much about
freezing, drowning, suffocating, and other bodily
dangers: none of you, however, have thought of my
danger, namely, perishing of hunger—"
(Thus spake the soothsayer. When Zarathustra's
animals, however, heard these words, they ran away
in terror. For they saw that all they had brought
home during the day would not be enough to fill
the one soothsayer. )
"Likewise perishing of thirst," continued the
soothsayer. "And although I hear water splash-
ing here like words of wisdom—that is to say,
plenteously and unweariedly, I—want wine!
Not every one is a born water-drinker like
Zarathustra. Neither doth water suit weary and
withered ones: we deserve wine—it alone giveth
immediate vigour and improvised health! "
On this occasion, when the soothsayer was
longing for wine, it happened that the king on the
left, the silent one, also found expression for once.
"We took care," said he, "about wine, I, along
with my brother the king on the right: we have
enough of wine,—a whole ass-load of it. So there
is nothing lacking but bread. "
"Bread," replied Zarathustra laughing when he
spake, "it is precisely bread that anchorites have
## p. 349 (#535) ############################################
LXXII. —THE SUPPER. 349
not. But man doth not live by bread alone, but
also by the flesh of good lambs, of which I have
two:
— These shall we slaughter quickly, and cook
spicily with sage: it is so that I like them. And
there is also no lack of roots and fruits, good
enough even for the fastidious and dainty,—nor of
nuts and other riddles for cracking.
Thus will we have a good repast in a little while.
But whoever wish to eat with us must also give a
hand to the work, even the kings. For with Zara-
thustra even a king may be a cook. "
This proposal appealed to the hearts of all of
them, save that the voluntary beggar objected to
the flesh and wine and spices.
"Just hear this glutton Zarathustra! " said he
jokingly: "doth one go into caves and high
mountains to make such repasts?
Now indeed do I understand what he once taught
us: 'Blessed be moderate poverty! ' And why he
wisheth to do away with beggars. "
"Be of good cheer," replied Zarathustra, " as I am.
Abide by thy customs, thou excellent one: grind
thy corn, drink thy water, praise thy cooking,—if
only it maketh thee glad!
I am a law only for mine own; I am not a law
for all. He, however, who belongeth unto me
must be strong of bone and light of foot,—
—Joyous in fight and feast, no sulker, no John o'
Dreams, ready for the hardest task as for the feast,
healthy and hale.
The best belongeth unto mine and me; and if
it be not given us, then do we take it:—the best
## p. 350 (#536) ############################################
350
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
food, the purest sky, the strongest thoughts, the
fairest women ! ”-
Thus spake Zarathustra; the king on the right
however answered and said: “Strange! Did one
ever hear such sensible things out of the mouth
of a wise man?
And verily, it is the strangest thing in a wise
man, if over and above, he be still sensible, and not
an ass. "
Thus spake the king on the right and wondered ;
the ass however, with ill-will, said YE-A to his
remark. This however was the beginning of that
long repast which is called “The Supper” in the
history-books. At this there was nothing else
spoken of but the higher man.
LXXIII. -THE HIGHER MAN.
1.
the market-ple folly, the great me, then
When I came unto men for the first time, then
did I commit the anchorite folly, the great folly : I
appeared on the market-place.
And when I spake unto all, I spake unto none.
In the evening, however, rope-dancers were my
companions, and corpses; and I myself almost a
corpse.
With the new morning, however, there came unto
me a new truth: then did I learn to say: "Of what
account to me are market-place and populace and
populace-noise and long populace-cars! ”
Ye higher men, learn this from me: On the
## p. 351 (#537) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 351
market-place no one believeth in higher men. But
if ye will speak there, very well! The populace,
however, blinketh: "We are all equal. "
"Ye higher men,"—so blinketh the populace—
"there are no higher men, we are all equal; man
is man, before God—we are all equal! "
Before God! —Now, however, this God hath
died. Before the populace, however, we will not
be equal. Ye higher men, away from the market-
place!
2.
Before God ! —Now however this God hath died!
Ye higher men, this God was your greatest danger.
Only since he lay in the grave have ye again
arisen. Now only cometh the great noontide, now
only doth the higher man become—master!
Have ye understood this word, O my brethren?
Ye are frightened: do your hearts turn giddy?
Doth the abyss here yawn for you? Doth the
hell-hound here yelp at you?
Well! Take heart! ye higher men! Now
only travaileth the mountain of the human future.
God hath died: now do we desire—the Superman
to live.
3.
The most careful ask to-day: "How is man to
be maintained? " Zarathustra however asketh, as the
first and only one: "How is man to be surpassed? "
The Superman, I have at heart; that is the first
and only thing to me—and not man: not the
neighbour, not the poorest, not the sorriest, not the
best—
## p. 352 (#538) ############################################
352 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
O my brethren, what I can love in man is that
he is an over-going and a down-going. And also in
you there is much that maketh me love and hope.
In that ye have despised, ye higher men, that
maketh me hope. For the great despisers are the
great reverers.
In that ye have despaired, there is much
to honour. For ye have not learned to submit
yourselves, ye have not learned petty policy.
For to-day have the petty people become master:
they all preach submission and humility and policy
and diligence and consideration and the long et
cetera of petty virtues.
Whatever is of the effeminate type, whatever
originateth from the servile type, and especially
the populace-mishmash:—that wisheth now to be
master of all human destiny—O disgust! Disgust!
Disgust!
That asketh and asketh and never tireth: "How
is man to maintain himself best, longest, most
pleasantly? " Thereby—are they the masters of
to-day.
These masters of to-day—surpass them, O my
brethren—these petty people: they are the Super-
man's greatest danger!
Surpass, ye higher men, the petty virtues, the
petty policy, the sand-grain considerateness, the
ant-hill trumpery, the pitiable comfortableness, the
"happiness of the greatest number "—!
And rather despair than submit yourselves.
And verily, 1 love you, because ye know not
to-day how to live, ye higher men! For thus do
ye live—best!
## p. 353 (#539) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 353
4-
Have ye courage, O my brethren? Are ye stout-
hearted? Not the courage before witnesses, but
anchorite and eagle courage, which not even a God
any longer beholdeth?
Cold souls, mules, the blind and the drunken, I
do not call stout-hearted. He hath heart who
knoweth fear, but vanquisheth it; who seeth the
abyss, but with pride.
He who seeth the abyss, but with eagle's eyes,—
he who with eagle's talons graspeth the abyss: he
hath courage.
5-
"Man is evil"—so said to me for consolation, all
the wisest ones. Ah, if only it be still true to-day!
For the evil is man's best force.
"Man must become better and eviler "—so do /
teach. The evilest is necessary for the Superman's
best.
It may have been well for the preacher of the
petty people to suffer and be burdened by men's
sin. I, however, rejoice in great sin as my great
consolation. —
Such things, however, are not said for long ears.
Every word, also, is not suited for every mouth.
These are fine, far-away things: at them sheep's
claws shall not grasp!
G.
Ye higher men, think ye that I am here to put
right what ye have put wrong?
Or that I wished henceforth to make snugger
Z
## p. 353 (#540) ############################################
352
--•&! . j-*'
O my br
he is an oi
you there i
In that
maketh me
great revere
In that
to honour,
yourselves, y
For to-day
they all preac
and diligence
cetera of petty
Whatever is
originateth fro
the populace-n i
master of all hui
Disgust!
T/ial asketh an
is man to main
pleasantly? " Th
to-day.
These masters o
brethren—these pet
man's greatest dangi
Surpass, ye highe;
petty policy, the sari
ant-hill trumpery, the
"happiness of the great'
And rather despair
And verily, I love yoi.
to-day how to live, ye hi
ye live—best!
,zsnr -nt
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## p. 353 (#541) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 355
ccially when they will great things! For
>ivaken distrust in great things, these subtle
coiners and stage-players :—
ntil at last they are false towards themselves,
-eyed, whited cankers, glossed over with
words, parade virtues and brilliant false
, good care there, ye higher men! For
is more precious to me, and rarer, than
is to-day not that of the populace? The
2 however knoweth not what is great or
mall, what is straight or what is honest:
cently crooked, it ever lieth.
9.
good distrust to-day, ye higher men, ye
d ones! Ye open-hearted ones! And
reasons secret! For this to-day is that
lace.
e populace once learned to believe
ons, who could—refute it to them
easons?
e market-place one convinceth with
reasons make the populace dis-
uth hath once triumphed there, then
vith good distrust: "What strong
t for it? "
;uard also against the learned!
because they are unproductive!
ithered eyes before which every
## p. 354 (#542) ############################################
354 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
couches for you sufferers? Or show you restless,
miswandering, misclimbing ones, new and easier
footpaths?
Nay! Nay! Three times Nay! Always more,
always better ones of your type shall succumb,—
for ye shall always have it worse and harder. Thus
only—
—Thus only groweth man aloft to the height
where the lightning striketh and shattereth him:
high enough for the lightning!
Towards the few, the long, the remote go forth
my soul and my seeking: of what account to me
are your many little, short miseries!
Ye do not yet suffer enough for me! For ye
suffer from yourselves, ye have not yet suffered
from man. Ye would lie if ye spake otherwise!
None of you suffereth from what / have
suffered.
wise. But it was a blasphemy: that have I now
learned. Wise fools speak better.
The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the
lightest thing, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a whisk,
an eye-glance-little maketh up the best happiness.
Hush!
## p. 339 (#523) ############################################
LXX. —NOON-TIDE.
339
-What hath befallen me: Hark! Hath time
flown away? Do I not fall? Have I not fallen
-hark! into the well of eternity?
-What happeneth to me? Hush! It stingeth
me-alas—to the heart? To the heart! Oh, break
up, break up, my heart, after such happiness, after
such a sting!
- What? Hath not the world just now become
perfect ? Round and ripe? Oh, for the golden
round ring—whither doth it fly? Let me run
after it! Quick!
Hush- _" (and here Zarathustra stretched
himself, and felt that he was asleep. )
“Up! ” said he to himself, “thou sleeper! Thou
noon-tide sleeper! Well then, up, ye old legs! It
is time and more than time; many a good stretch
of road is still awaiting you-
Now have ye slept your fill; for how long a time?
A half-eternity! Well then, up now, mine old
heart! For how long after such a sleep mayest
thou-remain awake? ”.
(But then did he fall asleep anew, and his soul
spake against him and defended itself, and lay down
again)—“ Leave me alone! Hush! Hath not the
world just now become perfect? Oh, for the golden
round ball! ”—
“Get up," said Zarathustra, “thou little thief,
thou sluggard! What! Still stretching thyself,
yawning, sighing, falling into deep wells?
Who art thou then, O my soul! ” (and here he
became frightened, for a sunbeam shot down from
heaven upon his face. )
"O heaven above me,” said he sighing, and sat
## p. 339 (#524) ############################################
338 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
—As a ship that putteth into the calmest
cove:—it now dravveth up to the land, weary of long
voyages and uncertain seas. Is not the land more
faithful?
As such a ship huggeth the shore, tuggeth the
shore:—then it suffketh for a spider to spin its
thread from the ship to the land. No stronger
ropes are required there.
As such a weary ship in the calmest cove, so do
I also now repose, nigh to the earth, faithful, trust-
ing, waiting, bound to it with the lightest threads.
O happiness! O happiness! Wilt thou perhaps
sing, O my soul? Thou liest in the grass. But
this is the secret, solemn hour, when no shepherd
playeth his pipe.
Take care! Hot noon-tide sleepeth on the fields.
Do not sing! Hush! The world is perfect.
Do not sing, thou prairie-bird, my soul! Do not
even whisper! Lo—hush! The old noon-tide
sleepeth, it moveth its mouth: doth it not just now
drink a drop of happiness—
—An old brown drop of golden happiness,
golden wine? Something whisketh over it, its
happiness laugheth. Thus—laugheth a God.
Hush! —
—' For happiness, how little suffketh for happi-
ness! ' Thus spake I once and thought myself
wise. But it was a blasphemy: that have I now
learned. Wise fools speak better.
The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the
lightest thing, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a whisk,
an eye-glance—little maketh up the best happiness.
Hush!
## p. 339 (#525) ############################################
LXX. —NOON-TIDE. 339
—What hath befallen me: Hark! Hath time
flown away? Do I not fall? Have I not fallen
—hark! into the well of eternity?
—What happeneth to me? Hush! It stingeth
me—alas—to the heart? To the heart! Oh, break
up, break up, my heart, after such happiness, after
such a sting!
—What? Hath not the world just now become
perfect? Round and ripe? Oh, for the golden
round ring—whither doth it fly? Let me run
after it! Quick!
Hush— —" (and here Zarathustra stretched
himself, and felt that he was asleep. )
"Up! " said he to himself, " thou sleeper! Thou
noon-tide sleeper! Well then, up, ye old legs! It
is time and more than time; many a good stretch
of road is still awaiting you—
Now have ye slept your fill; for how long a time?
A half-eternity! Well then, up now, mine old
heart! For how long after such a sleep mayest
thou—remain awake? "
(But then did he fall asleep anew, and his soul
spake against him and defended itself, and lay down
again)—" Leave me alone! Hush! Hath not the
world just now become perfect? Oh, for the golden
round ball! "—
"Get up," said Zarathustra, "thou little thief,
thou sluggard! What! Still stretching thyself,
yawning, sighing, falling into deep wells?
Who art thou then, O my soul! " (and here he
became frightened, for a sunbeam shot down from
heaven upon his face. )
"O heaven above me," said he sighing, and sat
## p. 340 (#526) ############################################
340 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
upright, “thou gazest at me? Thou hearkenest
unto my strange soul ?
When wilt thou drink this drop of dew that fell
down upon all earthly things,—when wilt thou
drink this strange soul-
-When, thou well of eternity! thou joyous,
awful, noon-tide abyss ! when wilt thou drink my
soul back into thee? ”
Thus spake Zarathustra, and rose from his couch
beside the tree, as if awakening from a strange
drunkenness : and behold! there stood the sun still
exactly above his head. One might, however, rightly
infer therefrom that Zarathustra had not then
slept long.
LXXI. —THE GREETING.
It was late in the afternoon only when Zarathus-
tra, after long useless searching and strolling about,
again came home to his cave. When, however, he
stood over against it, not more than twenty paces
therefrom, the thing happened which he now least
of all expected: he heard anew the great cry of
distress. And extraordinary! this time the cry
came out of his own cave. It was a long, manifold,
peculiar cry, and Zarathustra plainly distinguished
that it was composed of many voices : although
heard at a distance it might sound like the cry out
of a single mouth.
Thereupon Zarathustra rushed forward to his
cave, and behold! what a spectacle awaited him
after that concert! For there did they all sit
## p. 341 (#527) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 34I
rogether whom he had passed during the day: the
king on the right and the king on the left, the old
magician, the pope, the voluntary beggar, the
shadow, the intellectually conscientious one, the
sorrowful soothsayer, and the ass; the ugliest man,
however, had set a crown on his head, and had put
round him two purple girdles,—for he liked, like all
ugly ones, to disguise himself and play the hand-
some person. In the midst, however, of that
sorrowful company stood Zarathustra's eagle, ruffled
and disquieted, for it had been called upon to
answer too much for which its pride had not any
answer; the wise serpent however hung round its
neck.
All this did Zarathustra behold with great
astonishment; then however he scrutinised each
individual guest with courteous curiosity, read their
souls and wondered anew. In the meantime the
assembled ones had risen from their seats, and
waited with reverence for Zarathustra to speak.
Zarathustra however spake thus:
"Ye despairing ones! Ye strange ones! So it
was your cry of distress that I heard? And now do
I know also where he is to be sought, whom I have
sought for in vain to-day: the higher man—:
—In mine own cave sitteth he, the higher man!
But why do I wonder! Have not I myself allured
him to me by honey-offerings and artful lure-calls
of my happiness?
But it seemeth to me that ye are badly adapted
for company: ye make one another's hearts fretful,
ye that cry for help, when ye sit here together? There
is one that must first come,
## p. 342 (#528) ############################################
342
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
-One who will make you laugh once more, a
good jovial buffoon, a dancer, a wind, a wild romp,
some old fool :-what think ye?
Forgive me, however, ye despairing ones, for
speaking such trivial words before you, unworthy,
verily, of such guests! But ye do not divine what
maketh my heart wanton :-
-Ye yourselves do it, and your aspect, forgive it
me! For every one becometh courageous who
beholdeth a despairing one. To encourage a
despairing one—every one thinketh himself strong
enough to do so.
To myself have ye given this power,-a good
gift, mine honourable guests! An excellent guest's-
present! Well, do not then upbraid when I also
offer you something of mine.
This is mine empire and my dominion : that
which is mine, however, shall this evening and to-
night be yours. Mine animals shall serve you: let
my cave be your resting-place!
At house and home with me shall no one despair :
in my purlieus do I protect every one from his wild
beasts. And that is the first thing which I offer
you: security!
The second thing, however, is my little finger.
And when ye have that, then take the whole hand
also, yea, and the heart with it! Welcome here,
welcome to you, my guests! ”.
Thus spake Zarathustra, and laughed with love
and mischief. After this greeting his guests bowed
once more and were reverentially silent; the king
on the right, however, answered him in their name.
“O Zarathustra, by the way in which thou hast
## p. 343 (#529) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 343
given us thy hand and thy greeting, we recognise
tViee as Zarathustra. Thou hast humbled thyself
before us; almost hast thou hurt our reverence—:
—Who however could have humbled himself as
rhou hast done, with such pride? That uplifteth
us ourselves; a refreshment is it, to our eyes and
hearts.
To behold this, merely, gladly would we ascend
higher mountains than this. For as eager beholders
have we come; we wanted to see what brighteneth
dim eyes.
And lo! now is it all over with our cries of
distress. Now are our minds and hearts open and
enraptured. Little is lacking for our spirits to
become wanton.
There is nothing, O Zarathustra, that groweth
more pleasingly on earth than a lofty, strong will: it
is the finest growth. An entire landscape refresheth
itself at one such tree.
To the pine do I compare him, O Zarathustra,
who groweth up like thee—tall, silent, hardy,
solitary, of the best, supplest wood, stately,—
—In the end, however, grasping out for its
dominion with strong, green branches, asking
weighty questions of the wind, the storm, and
whatever is at home on high places;
—Answering more weightily, a commander, a
victor! Oh! who should not ascend high moun-
tains to behold such growths?
At thy tree, O Zarathustra, the gloomy and ill-
constituted also refresh themselves; at thy look
even the wavering become steady and heal their
hearts.
## p. 344 (#530) ############################################
344
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
And verily, towards thy mountain and thy tree
do many eyes turn to-day; a great longing hath
arisen, and many have learned to ask: 'Who is
Zarathustra ? '
And those into whose ears thou hast at any time
dripped thy song and thy honey': all the hidden
ones, the lone-dwellers and the twain-dwellers, have
simultaneously said to their hearts :
‘Doth Zarathustra still live? It is no longer
worth while to live, everything is indifferent, every-
thing is useless: or else—we must live with
Zarathustra ! ""
Why doth he not come who hath so long
announced himself? ' thus do many people ask ;
hath solitude swallowed him up? Or should
we perhaps go to him? '
Now doth it come to pass that solitude itself
becometh fragile and breaketh open, like a grave
that breaketh open and can no longer hold its dead.
Everywhere one seeth resurrected ones.
Now do the waves rise and rise around thy
mountain, O Zarathustra. And however high be
thy height, many of them must rise up to thee: thy
boat shall not rest much longer on dry ground.
And that we despairing ones have now come
into thy cave, and already no longer despair :-it
is but a prognostic and a presage that better ones
are on the way to thee,–
-For they themselves are on the way to thee,
the last remnant of God among men—that is to
say, all the men of great longing, of great loathing,
of great satiety,
-All who do not want to live unless they learn
## p. 345 (#531) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 345
again to hope—unless they learn from thee, O Zara-
thustra, the great hope! "
Thus spake the king on the right, and seized
the hand of Zarathustra in order to kiss it; but
Zarathustra checked his veneration, and stepped
back frightened, fleeing as it were, silently and
suddenly into the far distance. After a little while,
however, he was again at home with his guests,
looked at them with clear scrutinising eyes, and
said:
"My guests, ye higher men, I will speak plain
language and plainly with you. It is not for you
that I have waited here in these mountains.
"
('"Plain language and plainly? ' Good God ! " said
here the king on the left to himself; "one seeth he
doth not know the good Occidentals, this sage out
of the Orient!
But he meaneth ' blunt language and bluntly'—
well! That is not the worst taste in these days ! ")
"Ye may, verily, all of you be higher men," con-
tinued Zarathustra; "but for me—ye are neither
high enough, nor 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 appertain to me, still it is not as my
right arm.
For he who himself standeth, like you, on sickly
and tender legs, wisheth above all to be treated
indulgently, whether he be conscious of it or hide it
from himself.
My arms and my legs, however, I do not treat
indulgently, / do not treat my warriors indulgently:
how then could ye be fit for my warfare?
## p. 346 (#532) ############################################
346 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
With you I should spoil all my victories. And
many of you would tumble over if ye but heard the
loud beating of my drums.
Moreover, ye are not sufficiently beautiful and
well-born for me. I require pure, smooth mirrors
for my doctrines; on your surface even mine own
likeness is distorted.
On your shoulders presseth many a burden,
many a recollection; many a mischievous dwarf
squatteth in your corners. There is concealed
populace also in you.
And though ye be high and of a higher type,
much in you is crooked and misshapen. There is
no smith in the world that could hammer you
right and straight for me.
Ye are only bridges: may higher ones pass over
upon you! Ye signify steps: so do not upbraid
him who ascendeth beyond you into his height!
Out of your seed there may one day arise for
me a genuine son and perfect heir: but that time
is distant. Ye yourselves are not those unto whom
my heritage and name belong.
Not for you do I wait here in these mountains;
not with you may I descend for the last time. Ye
have come unto me only as a presage that higher
ones are on the way to me,—
—Not the men of great longing, of great
loathing, of great satiety, and that which ye call
the remnant of God;
—Nay! Nay! Three times Nay! For others
do I wait here in these mountains, and will not
lift my foot from thence without them;
—For higher ones, stronger ones, triumphanter
## p. 347 (#533) ############################################
LXXI. —THE GREETING. 347
ones, merrier ones, for such as are built squarely
in body and soul: laughing lions must come!
O my guests, ye strange ones—have ye yet
heard nothing of my children? And that they
are on the way to me?
Do speak unto me of my gardens, of my Happy
Isles, of my new beautiful race,—why do ye not
speak unto me thereof?
This guests'-present do I solicit of your love,
that ye speak unto me of my children. For them
am I rich, for them I became poor: what have I
not surrendered,
—What would I not surrender that I might
have one thing: these children, this living planta-
tion, these life-trees of my will and of my highest
hope! "
Thus spake Zarathustra, and stopped suddenly
in his discourse: for his longing came over him,
and he closed his eyes and his mouth, because of
the agitation of his heart. And all his guests also
were silent, and stood still and confounded: except
only that the old soothsayer made signs with his
hands and his gestures.
LXXII. —THE SUPPER.
For at this point the soothsayer interrupted the
greeting of Zarathustra and his guests: he pressed
forward as one who had no time to lose, seized
Zarathustra's hand and exclaimed: "But Zara-
thustra!
## p. 348 (#534) ############################################
348 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
One thing is more necessary than the other, so
sayest thou thyself: well, one thing is now more
necessary unto me than all others.
A word at the right time: didst thou not invite
me to table? And here are many who have made
long journeys. Thou dost not mean to feed us
merely with discourses?
Besides, all of you have thought too much about
freezing, drowning, suffocating, and other bodily
dangers: none of you, however, have thought of my
danger, namely, perishing of hunger—"
(Thus spake the soothsayer. When Zarathustra's
animals, however, heard these words, they ran away
in terror. For they saw that all they had brought
home during the day would not be enough to fill
the one soothsayer. )
"Likewise perishing of thirst," continued the
soothsayer. "And although I hear water splash-
ing here like words of wisdom—that is to say,
plenteously and unweariedly, I—want wine!
Not every one is a born water-drinker like
Zarathustra. Neither doth water suit weary and
withered ones: we deserve wine—it alone giveth
immediate vigour and improvised health! "
On this occasion, when the soothsayer was
longing for wine, it happened that the king on the
left, the silent one, also found expression for once.
"We took care," said he, "about wine, I, along
with my brother the king on the right: we have
enough of wine,—a whole ass-load of it. So there
is nothing lacking but bread. "
"Bread," replied Zarathustra laughing when he
spake, "it is precisely bread that anchorites have
## p. 349 (#535) ############################################
LXXII. —THE SUPPER. 349
not. But man doth not live by bread alone, but
also by the flesh of good lambs, of which I have
two:
— These shall we slaughter quickly, and cook
spicily with sage: it is so that I like them. And
there is also no lack of roots and fruits, good
enough even for the fastidious and dainty,—nor of
nuts and other riddles for cracking.
Thus will we have a good repast in a little while.
But whoever wish to eat with us must also give a
hand to the work, even the kings. For with Zara-
thustra even a king may be a cook. "
This proposal appealed to the hearts of all of
them, save that the voluntary beggar objected to
the flesh and wine and spices.
"Just hear this glutton Zarathustra! " said he
jokingly: "doth one go into caves and high
mountains to make such repasts?
Now indeed do I understand what he once taught
us: 'Blessed be moderate poverty! ' And why he
wisheth to do away with beggars. "
"Be of good cheer," replied Zarathustra, " as I am.
Abide by thy customs, thou excellent one: grind
thy corn, drink thy water, praise thy cooking,—if
only it maketh thee glad!
I am a law only for mine own; I am not a law
for all. He, however, who belongeth unto me
must be strong of bone and light of foot,—
—Joyous in fight and feast, no sulker, no John o'
Dreams, ready for the hardest task as for the feast,
healthy and hale.
The best belongeth unto mine and me; and if
it be not given us, then do we take it:—the best
## p. 350 (#536) ############################################
350
THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
food, the purest sky, the strongest thoughts, the
fairest women ! ”-
Thus spake Zarathustra; the king on the right
however answered and said: “Strange! Did one
ever hear such sensible things out of the mouth
of a wise man?
And verily, it is the strangest thing in a wise
man, if over and above, he be still sensible, and not
an ass. "
Thus spake the king on the right and wondered ;
the ass however, with ill-will, said YE-A to his
remark. This however was the beginning of that
long repast which is called “The Supper” in the
history-books. At this there was nothing else
spoken of but the higher man.
LXXIII. -THE HIGHER MAN.
1.
the market-ple folly, the great me, then
When I came unto men for the first time, then
did I commit the anchorite folly, the great folly : I
appeared on the market-place.
And when I spake unto all, I spake unto none.
In the evening, however, rope-dancers were my
companions, and corpses; and I myself almost a
corpse.
With the new morning, however, there came unto
me a new truth: then did I learn to say: "Of what
account to me are market-place and populace and
populace-noise and long populace-cars! ”
Ye higher men, learn this from me: On the
## p. 351 (#537) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 351
market-place no one believeth in higher men. But
if ye will speak there, very well! The populace,
however, blinketh: "We are all equal. "
"Ye higher men,"—so blinketh the populace—
"there are no higher men, we are all equal; man
is man, before God—we are all equal! "
Before God! —Now, however, this God hath
died. Before the populace, however, we will not
be equal. Ye higher men, away from the market-
place!
2.
Before God ! —Now however this God hath died!
Ye higher men, this God was your greatest danger.
Only since he lay in the grave have ye again
arisen. Now only cometh the great noontide, now
only doth the higher man become—master!
Have ye understood this word, O my brethren?
Ye are frightened: do your hearts turn giddy?
Doth the abyss here yawn for you? Doth the
hell-hound here yelp at you?
Well! Take heart! ye higher men! Now
only travaileth the mountain of the human future.
God hath died: now do we desire—the Superman
to live.
3.
The most careful ask to-day: "How is man to
be maintained? " Zarathustra however asketh, as the
first and only one: "How is man to be surpassed? "
The Superman, I have at heart; that is the first
and only thing to me—and not man: not the
neighbour, not the poorest, not the sorriest, not the
best—
## p. 352 (#538) ############################################
352 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
O my brethren, what I can love in man is that
he is an over-going and a down-going. And also in
you there is much that maketh me love and hope.
In that ye have despised, ye higher men, that
maketh me hope. For the great despisers are the
great reverers.
In that ye have despaired, there is much
to honour. For ye have not learned to submit
yourselves, ye have not learned petty policy.
For to-day have the petty people become master:
they all preach submission and humility and policy
and diligence and consideration and the long et
cetera of petty virtues.
Whatever is of the effeminate type, whatever
originateth from the servile type, and especially
the populace-mishmash:—that wisheth now to be
master of all human destiny—O disgust! Disgust!
Disgust!
That asketh and asketh and never tireth: "How
is man to maintain himself best, longest, most
pleasantly? " Thereby—are they the masters of
to-day.
These masters of to-day—surpass them, O my
brethren—these petty people: they are the Super-
man's greatest danger!
Surpass, ye higher men, the petty virtues, the
petty policy, the sand-grain considerateness, the
ant-hill trumpery, the pitiable comfortableness, the
"happiness of the greatest number "—!
And rather despair than submit yourselves.
And verily, 1 love you, because ye know not
to-day how to live, ye higher men! For thus do
ye live—best!
## p. 353 (#539) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 353
4-
Have ye courage, O my brethren? Are ye stout-
hearted? Not the courage before witnesses, but
anchorite and eagle courage, which not even a God
any longer beholdeth?
Cold souls, mules, the blind and the drunken, I
do not call stout-hearted. He hath heart who
knoweth fear, but vanquisheth it; who seeth the
abyss, but with pride.
He who seeth the abyss, but with eagle's eyes,—
he who with eagle's talons graspeth the abyss: he
hath courage.
5-
"Man is evil"—so said to me for consolation, all
the wisest ones. Ah, if only it be still true to-day!
For the evil is man's best force.
"Man must become better and eviler "—so do /
teach. The evilest is necessary for the Superman's
best.
It may have been well for the preacher of the
petty people to suffer and be burdened by men's
sin. I, however, rejoice in great sin as my great
consolation. —
Such things, however, are not said for long ears.
Every word, also, is not suited for every mouth.
These are fine, far-away things: at them sheep's
claws shall not grasp!
G.
Ye higher men, think ye that I am here to put
right what ye have put wrong?
Or that I wished henceforth to make snugger
Z
## p. 353 (#540) ############################################
352
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## p. 353 (#541) ############################################
LXXIII. —THE HIGHER MAN. 355
ccially when they will great things! For
>ivaken distrust in great things, these subtle
coiners and stage-players :—
ntil at last they are false towards themselves,
-eyed, whited cankers, glossed over with
words, parade virtues and brilliant false
, good care there, ye higher men! For
is more precious to me, and rarer, than
is to-day not that of the populace? The
2 however knoweth not what is great or
mall, what is straight or what is honest:
cently crooked, it ever lieth.
9.
good distrust to-day, ye higher men, ye
d ones! Ye open-hearted ones! And
reasons secret! For this to-day is that
lace.
e populace once learned to believe
ons, who could—refute it to them
easons?
e market-place one convinceth with
reasons make the populace dis-
uth hath once triumphed there, then
vith good distrust: "What strong
t for it? "
;uard also against the learned!
because they are unproductive!
ithered eyes before which every
## p. 354 (#542) ############################################
354 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV.
couches for you sufferers? Or show you restless,
miswandering, misclimbing ones, new and easier
footpaths?
Nay! Nay! Three times Nay! Always more,
always better ones of your type shall succumb,—
for ye shall always have it worse and harder. Thus
only—
—Thus only groweth man aloft to the height
where the lightning striketh and shattereth him:
high enough for the lightning!
Towards the few, the long, the remote go forth
my soul and my seeking: of what account to me
are your many little, short miseries!
Ye do not yet suffer enough for me! For ye
suffer from yourselves, ye have not yet suffered
from man. Ye would lie if ye spake otherwise!
None of you suffereth from what / have
suffered.
