Page:Thus Spake Zarathustra - Alexander Tille - 1896.djvu/482

 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, IV

It hath just opened yawning

Its sweet mouth,

The best smelling of all little mouths.

Then I fell into it,

Down, through it, among you,

Ye sweetest girl-friends ! Sela.

Hail ! hail ! unto that whale,

If it made life for its guest

So pleasant ! (Ye understand

My learned allusion ?)

Hail unto its belly,

If it was thus

A sweet belly of an oasis,

Like this one ! (which I doubt however).

The reason is : I come from Europe,

Which is more sceptical than any little wife.

May God mend things !

Amen!

There sit I now,

In this smallest oasis,

Like a date

Brown, sweetened through, suppurative with gold,

Desirous for the round mouth of a girl,

But still more for girl-like,

Ice-cold, snow-white, cutting,

Biting teeth. For after these pine

The hearts of all hot dates. Sela.

�� �