Page:Thus Spake Zarathustra - Alexander Tille - 1896.djvu/255

 THE WANDERER 221

And while thus speaking Zarathustra laughed with melancholy and bitterness at himself. " What ! Zara- thustra ! " said he. " Art thou about to sing comfort even unto the sea?

Oh, thou kind-hearted fool Zarathustra, thou who art all-too-full of confidence ! But thus thou hast always been : familiarly thou hast ever approached unto all that was terrible.

Thou wert about to caress every monster. A breath of warm breath, a little soft shaggy hair at

the paw, and at once thou wert ready to love and



decoy it.

Love is the danger of the loneliest one, love unto everything if it only live. Laughable, verily, is my folly and my modesty in love ! "

Thus spake Zarathustra laughing withal a second time. But then he remembered his friends he had left, and as though he had done wrong unto them with his thoughts, he was angry with himself because of his thoughts. And a little later it came to pass that the laughing one wept. From anger and longing Zarathustra wept bitterly.

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