Page:Thus Spake Zarathustra - Alexander Tille - 1896.djvu/302

 268 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, III

One unlearneth men when living among men. Too much foreground is in all men what could far-seeing, far-searching eyes do there !

And when they mistook me fool that I was, I spared them on that account more than I spared myself! For I was accustomed to be hard upon myself, and often even took revenge on myself for that sparing.

Stung all over by poisonous flies, and hollowed like a stone by many drops of wickedness, I sat among them and tried to persuade myself : ' Innocent of its smallness is everything small ! '

Especially those who call themselves ' the good ' I found to be the most poisonous flies. They sting in all innocence, they lie in all innocence. How could they be just unto me!

Whoever liveth among the good, is taught to lie by pity. Pity maketh the air damp unto all free souls. For the stupidity of the good is unfathomable.

To hide myself and my riches that I have learnt down there ; for every one I found to be poor in spirit. That was the lie of my pity, that I knew about every one,

That I saw and smelt at once in every one how much of spirit was enough for him, and how much of spirit was too much for him !

Their stiff wise men I called them wise, not stiff. Thus I learned to swallow words. Their grave-diggers

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