Page:Thus Spake Zarathustra - Alexander Tille - 1896.djvu/406

 3/2 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV

" It doth honour unto thee," said Zarathustra looking down sullenly aside. " It doth thee honour that thou soughtest for greatness, but it also betrayeth thee. Thou art not great.

Thou bad old wizard, that is the best and most honest thing I honour in thee, that thou becamest weary of thyself and hast pronounced it : ' I am not great.'

Therein I honour thee as a penitent of spirit. And if thou wert genuine only for a breath and a twinkle, for this one moment thou wert so.

But say, what seekest thou here in my forests and rocks ? And if thou hast put thyself in my way, in what didst thou desire to try me ? Wherein didst thou tempt me?"

Thus spake Zarathustra, his eyes sparkling. But the old wizard was silent for a while. Then he said : " Did I tempt thee ? I seek only.

O Zarathustra, I seek one who is genuine, one right, one simple, who hath only one meaning, a man of entire honesty, a vessel of wisdom, a saint of per- ception, a great man !

Knowest thou not, O Zarathustra ? I seek Zara- thustra"

Then a long silence arose between the two. But Zarathustra sank deep into himself so that he shut his eyes. Thereafter, returning unto him with whom he had spoken, he seized the hand of the wizard and spake full of politeness and artfulness :

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