It was late in the afternoon only when Zarathustra, 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…
Returning home, Zarathustra hears the cry of distress again, this time from his own cave. He finds all the men he met that day sitting there, and greets them with courteous curiosity.
Read in the book →“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,…
Zarathustra says he allured the higher man with his happiness. He offers his cave, his animals and security, then his little finger and the whole hand.
Read in the book →“O Zarathustra, by the way in which thou hast given us thy hand and thy greeting, we recognise thee as Zarathustra. Thou hast humbled thyself before us; almost hast thou hurt our reverence—: —Who however could have…
The king on the right says Zarathustra's humility uplifts them, compares him to a tall pine, and says many are asking who he is. He asks for the great hope they need to live.
Read in the book →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…
Zarathustra steps back when the king tries to kiss his hand, then returns and promises plain language. The king on the left aside takes this to mean bluntness.
Read in the book →Ye are only bridges: may higher ones pass over upon you!
Zarathustra says the guests are not his right arm: they are too tender, too burdened and crooked, and no smith could hammer them straight. They are only bridges and steps.
Read in the book →LAUGHING LIONS must come!
He says the guests are only a presage, and denies they are the men of great longing or the remnant of God. He waits for others, asks to hear of his children and Happy Isles, and says what he would surrender for them.
Read in the book →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…
Zarathustra stops mid-speech, overcome by longing, and closes his eyes and mouth. The guests fall silent, and only the old soothsayer makes signs.
Read in the book →This is an experiment in interactive reading, and in using AI to help you grow. Thus Spake Zarathustra is notoriously difficult for a modern reader; yet taken as a set of mental exercises, it is guaranteed to transform your thinking by the time you reach the end. Along the way you will have help from the companion, who is always beside the book.
Do you accept the challenge?
What the critics said
Ludovici holds that Zarathustra's greeting confirms his thesis that the philosophy aims to give higher men the great hope, but harshly: Nietzsche would be a hard bed to higher men, making them harder, not easing their way.