n thy back. On every simile dost thou here ride to
every truth.
Uprightly and openly mayest thou here talk to all things: and verily,
it soundeth as praise in their ears, for one to talk to all
things--directly!
Another matter, however, is forsakenness. For, dost thou remember, O
Zarathustra? When thy bird screamed overhead, when thou stoodest in the
forest, irresolute, ignorant where to go, beside a corpse:--
--When thou spakest: 'Let mine animals lead me! More dangerous have I
found it among men than among animals:'--THAT was forsakenness!
And dost thou remember, O Zarathustra? When thou sattest in thine isle,
a well of wine giving and granting amongst empty buckets, bestowing and
distributing amongst the thirsty:
--Until at last thou alone sattest thirsty amongst the drunken ones, and
wailedst nightly: 'Is taking not more blessed than giving? And stealing
yet more blessed than taking?'--THAT was forsakenness!
And dost thou remember, O Zarathustra? When thy stillest hour came and
drove thee forth from thyself, when with wicked whispering it said:
'Speak and succumb!'--
--When it disgusted thee with all thy waiting and silence, and
discouraged thy humble courage: THAT was forsakenness!"--
O lonesomeness! My home, lonesomeness! How blessedly and tenderly
speaketh thy voice unto me!
We do not question each other, we do not complain to each other; we go
together openly through open doors.
For all is open with thee and clear; and even the hours run here on
lighter feet. For in the dark, time weigheth heavier upon one than in
the light.
Here fly open unto me all being's words and word-cabinets: here all
being wanteth to become words, here all becoming wanteth to learn of me
how to talk.
Down there, however--all talking is in vain! There, forgetting and
passing-by are the best wisdom: THAT have I learned now!
He who would understand everything in man must handle everything. But
for that I have too clean hands.
I do not like even to inhale their breath; alas! that I have lived so
long among their noise and bad breaths!
O blessed stillness around me! O pure odours around me! How from a deep
breast this stillness fetcheth pure breath! How it hearkeneth, this
blessed stillness!
But down there--there speaketh everything, there is everything misheard.
If one announce one's wisdom with bells, the shopmen in the market-place
will out-jingle it with pennies!
Everything among them talketh; no on
|