4 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, I
In their ears our steps sound too lonely through the streets. And just when during the night in their beds they hear a man going long before sunrise they sometimes ask : whither goeth that thief?
Go not to men, but tarry in the forest! Rather go to the animals ! Why wilt thou not be like me, a bear among bears, a bird among birds?"
"And what doth the saint in the forest?" asked Zarathustra.
The saint answered : "I make songs and sing them, and making songs I laugh, cry, and hum: I praise God thus.
With singing, crying, laughing, and humming I praise that God who is my God. But what gift bringest thou to us ? "
Having heard these words Zarathustra bowed to the saint and said : " What could I give to you ! But let me off quickly, lest I take aught from you." And thus they parted from each other, the old man and the man like two boys laughing.
When Zarathustra was alone, however, he spake thus unto his heart : "Can it actually be possible ! This old saint in his forest hath not yet heard aught of God being dead!"
3
Arriving at the next town which lieth nigh the forests Zarathustra found there many folk gathered in
