Page:Dawn of the Day.pdf/222

186 his curious, bad style. For its nature is a kernel wrapped up so many times that it barely peeps out, bashfully and inquisitively—like "young women peeping through their veils," to use the words of Æschylas, the ancient mysogenist: but that kernel is a witty, oftimes indiscret sally on the most intellectual subjects, a smart, bold compound of worlds, as befits the society of thinkers as a sweetmeat to science—but wrapped up as it is it presents itself as a very abstruse science and altogether as a highly moral tediousness. There the Germans had found a permissible form of wit, which they enjoyed with such exuberant delight as to baffle Schopenhauer's excellent understanding—all his lifetime he has thundered against the spectacle which the Germans presented to him, and yet he never was able to account for it. —The comparatively slight success of the teachers of morals may be accounted for by the fact that they wanted too much at one time, that is, they were too ambitious, and too fond of giving precepts to all. Which means, they roam through boundless regions, delivering speeches to the animals, for the purpose of turning them into huruan beings: No wonder that the animals should deem this tedious! We ought to select limited circles, seeking and promoting morals on their behalf; we ought to deliver