Chapter 9 Prologue IX of Zarathustra

Zarathustra slept long; and not only the dawn, but the morning passed over his face.Finally, he opened his eyes, cast a startled glance into the silent forest, and then looked at himself in surprise.Then he stood up quickly, like a sailor who suddenly finds land; and he let out a cry of joy: for he had discovered a new truth.He said to his heart: "A ray of light dawned in me; I needed companions, companions to live Companions—not companions or corpses to carry me anywhere. I need living companions who follow me because they will follow themselves, wherever I go. A ray of light dawned in me: Zarathustra should not speak to the crowd, but to his fellows!Zarathustra should not be the shepherd or the dog of the flock!

To lure many lambs from the flock, for this I came.Crowds and flocks will be enraged by me: Zarathustra is willing to be considered a robber by the shepherds. I call them pastors, but they call themselves good and upright.I call them pastors, and they call themselves followers of the true faith. Behold the good and the upright!Who do they hate the most?Most of all they hate the man who breaks their scale of values, the breaker, the breaker of the laws:—but this man is the Creator. Look at believers of all faiths!Who do they hate the most?Most of all they hate the man who breaks their scale of values, the breaker, the breaker of the laws:—but this man is the Creator.

It is companions the Creator seeks, not dead bodies, nor flocks or believers.What creators are looking for is co-creators.They write the new value to the new table. What the creator is looking for are companions and co-harvesters: he sees everything ripe and waiting to be harvested.But he lacks a hundred sickles: so he plucks the ears angrily. What the Creator is looking for are companions and those who are good at sharpening the scythe.They shall be called Destroyers and Despisers of Good and Evil.But they will be the ones who harvest and celebrate the harvest. What Zarathustra seeks is a co-creator, what Zarathustra seeks is a co-reaper and a co-celebrator of the harvest: what use is he to the shepherd of the flock and the corpse!

But you, my first companion, rest in peace!I have carefully buried you in this empty tree; I have hidden you from hungry wolves. But the time has come for me to leave you.Between the two dawns, I had a proclamation of a new truth. I should not be a shepherd or a gravedigger.Never again will I speak to crowds; and for the last time, I will speak to a dead man. I will join the crowd of the creators, I will join the crowd of those who reap and celebrate the harvest; I will point them to the rainbow and the ladder of the Superman. I will sing to the solitary and to the double; and whoever has ears to hear what he has not heard, I will fill his heart with my blessings.

I advance toward my purpose, I follow my way; I overtake the hesitating and the laggards.My advance will be their downfall. "