Thus Spoke Zarathustra (45 page)

40
.
Würgerin
is the feminine form of ‘strangler’ or ‘throttler’; but the word also means the ‘shrike’. It is in the feminine form because
die Sünde =
sin, is feminine.

41
. A play upon
Geduld
= patience, and
dulden
= to endure, to suffer in patience.

42
. A play upon two meanings of
Probe
: ‘proof or test’ and ‘exhibition’.

43
.
Verstuben
means both’ to test’ and’ to tempt’.

44
.
Unter vier Augen gesprochen
= between ourselves (literally ‘spoken beneath four eyes’). The last pope, however, is blind in one eye.

45
. A play upon
verfolgen
= to persecute,
andfolgea
= to follow.

46
. A play upon
Suchung
= seeking,
Heim
= home, and
Helm- suchung
= affliction.

47
.
Reif means
both ‘ring’ and ‘ripe’.

48
.
Tagedieb
(lazy bones) means literally ‘thief of daytime’.

49
. A play upon the similar sound of
deutscb
= German, and
deutlich
= clearly.
Deutschreden
, used idiomatically, means ‘to speak clearly’ (compare ‘in plain English’).

50
.
Abendmahl
, the word employed here and in the title of the chapter, is an old form of
Abendessen
, that is, ‘supper’. But it is also the normal word for ‘Holy Communion’, which is of course an imitation of Christ’s last meal with his followers, called in English ‘The Last Supper’. The pun upon ‘supper’ and ‘Holy Communion’ is not translatable, except perhaps in the way I have attempted.

51
. A play upon
Sprünge
= leaps, and
Seitensprunge
= literally ‘side leaps’, idiomatically ‘escapades’.

52
. Ich kann nicbt anders, Gott belfe atirl — Luther’s famous words before the Diet of Worms.

53
.
Leib-Farbe
means literally ‘body colour’, but idiomatically ‘favourite colour’.

*
I owe this insight to Mr Marvin Rintala, who in his review of my biography of Nietzsche in
The Review of Polities
, January 1969, said I had failed to understand in what the essence of Lutheran Pietism consisted, which was true, and then went on to expound it. ‘The great petition of the Lord’s Prayer,’ says Mr Rintala, ‘is for Pietists: “Thy will be done”’. This is so much in line with the Christian origin of the conceptions of
Zarathustra
that I ought to have
guessed
it even if I did not know it.

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Chronology

Introduction

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Further Reading

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

PART ONE

ZARATHUSTRA’S PROLOGUE

ZARATHUSTRA’S DISCOURSES

Of the Three Metamorphoses

Of the Chairs of Virtue

Of the Afterworldsmen

Of the Despisers of the Body

Of Joys and Passions

Of the Pale Criminal

Of Reading and Writing

Of the Tree on the Mountainside

Of the Preachers of Death

Of War and Warriors

Of the New Idol

Of the Flies of the Market-place

Of Chastity

Of the Friend

Of the Thousand and One Goals

Of Love of One’s Neighbour

Of the Way of the Creator

Of Old and Young Women

Of the Adder’s Bite

Of Marriage and Children

Of Voluntary Death

Of the Bestowing Virtue

PART TWO

The Child with the Mirror

On the Blissful Islands

Of the Compassionate

Of the Priests

Of the Virtuous

Of the Rabble

Of the Tarantulas

Of the Famous Philosophers

The Night Song

The Dance Song

The Funeral Song

Of Self-Overcoming

Of the Sublime Men

Of the Land of Culture

Of Immaculate Perception

Of Scholars

Of Poets

Of Great Events

The Prophet

Of Redemption

Of Manly Prudence

The Stillest Hour

PART THREE

The Wanderer

Of the Vision and the Riddle

Of Involuntary Bliss

Before Sunrise

Of the Virtue that Makes Small

On the Mount of Olives

Of Passing By

Of the Apostates

The Home-Coming

Of the Three Evil Things

Of the Spirit of Gravity

Of Old and New Law-Tables

The Convalescent

Of the Great Longing

The Second Dance Song

The Seven Seals (or: The Song of Yes and Amen)

PART FOUR

The Honey Offering

The Cry of Distress

Conversation with the Kings

The Leech

The Sorcerer

Retired from Service

The Ugliest Man

The Voluntary Beggar

The Shadow

At Noontide

The Greeting

The Last Supper

Of the Higher Man

The Song of Melancholy

Of Science

Among the Daughters of the Desert

The Awakening

The Ass Festival

The Intoxicated Song

The Sign

Notes

Footnotes

INTRODUCTION

Page 28