2 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
thou givest light to the lower regions, thou resplendent star!
I must, like thee, go down, as men say men to whom I would descend.
Then bless me, thou impassive eye that canst look without envy even upon over-much happiness!
Bless the cup which is about to overflow so that the water golden-flowing out of it may carry everywhere the reflection of thy rapture.
Lo! this cup is about to empty itself again, and Zarathustra will once more become a man."
Thus Zarathustra's going down began.
2
Zarathustra stepped down the mountains alone and met with nobody. But when he reached the woods, suddenly there stood in front of him an old man who had left his hermitage to seek roots in the forest. And thus the old man spake unto Zarathustra:
"No stranger to me is the wanderer : many years ago he passed here. Zarathustra was his name; but he hath changed.
Then thou carriedst thine ashes to the mountains: wilt thou to-day carry thy fire to the valleys? Dost thou not fear the incendiary's doom?
Yea, I know Zarathustra again. Pure is his eye, nor doth any loathsomeness lurk about his mouth. Doth he not skip along like a dancer?
