scene The stillest hour speaks
The voiceless voice commands Zarathustra to speak his unspoken thought; he leaves his friends.
4 passages
Do ye know the terror of him who falleth asleep?— To the very toes he is terrified, because the ground giveth way under him, and the dream beginneth. This do I speak unto you in parable. Yesterday at the stillest hour…
In a dream-like terror, as the ground gives way, a voice without sound asks 'Thou knowest it, Zarathustra?' He admits he knows but says he will not speak it and pleads that it is beyond his power.
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Then was there again spoken unto me without voice: “What matter about their mockery! Thou art one who hast unlearned to obey: now shalt thou command! Knowest thou not who is most needed by all? He who commandeth great…
The voice calls his refusal to rule his most unpardonable obstinacy. He says he lacks the lion's voice; it replies that the stillest words bring the storm.
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It is the stillest words which bring the storm.
The voice answers Zarathustra's lack of a lion's voice with a line about quiet thoughts that guide the world.
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And I answered: “I am ashamed.” Then was there again spoken unto me without voice: “Thou must yet become a child, and be without shame. The pride of youth is still upon thee; late hast thou become young: but he who…
Ashamed, Zarathustra again says 'I will not.' Laughter lacerates him, and the voice sends him back to solitude to grow mellow. He lies drenched in sweat.
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