,,the ,,life ,,of ,,friedrich           
,,nietzsche    ,,by    ,,daniel         
,,hal,,vy    ,,translated ,,by ,j4 ,m4  
,,mone    ,,with ,,an ,,introduction    
,,by    ,t4 ,m4 ,,kettle1 ,m4,p4        
,t4 ,,fischer ,,unwin    ,,london3      
,,adelphi ,,terrace  ,,leipsic3         
,,inselstrasse #bj    #aiaa             
,,contents    ,,introduction            
,,chapter ,i  ,,childhood    ,,chapter  
,,ii  ,,years ,,of ,,youth    ,,chapter 
,,iii  ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche ,,and    
,,richard ,,wagner--,,triebschen        
,,chapter ,,iv  ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche 
,,and ,,richard ,,wagner--,,bayreuth    
,,chapter ,v  ,,crisis ,,and            
,,convalescence    ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,the
 ,,labour ,,of ,,zarathustra            
,,chapter ,,vii  ,,the ,,final          
,,solitude    ,,index                   
,,introduction      ,the duel between   
,nietzsche and civilisation is long     
since over2  and that high poet and     
calamitous philosopher is now to be     
judged  as he appears in the serene     

atmosphere of history1 which--need it   
be said8--he infinitely despised4 ,the  
crowd1 the common herd1 the             
multitude--which he also despised--has  
recorded its verdict with its  usual    
generosity to the dead1 and that verdict
 happens to be an ample  revenge4 ,it   
has dismissed ,nietzsche's ideas in     
order to praise his  images4 ,it has    
conceded him in literature a brilliant  
success1 and  has treated his philosophy
 as fundamental nonsense of the sort    
that  calls for no response except a    
shrug of the shoulders4 ,the immoralist 
who sought to shatter all the ,tables of
 all the ,laws1 and to achieve  a       
,transvaluation of all ,values1 ends by 
filling a page in ,die ,ernte  and other
 ,anthologies for the ,young4 ,and in   
certifying his style to  be that of a   
rare and real master the crowd has      
followed a true  instinct4 ,more than   
,schopenhauer1 more even than ,goethe1  
,nietzsche is  accounted by the critics 
of his country to have taught ,german   

prose  to speak1 as ,falstaff says1 like
 a man o' this world4 ,the ungainly     
sentences1 many-jointed as a dragon's   
tail1 became short1 definite1  arrowy4  
,we must ',mediterraneanise' ,german    
music1 he wrote to ,peter  ,gast1 and in
 fact he did indisputably               
,mediterraneanise the style of  ,german 
literature4 ,that edged and glittering  
speech of his owed much to  his         
acknowledged masters1 ,la               
,rochefoucauld1 ,voltaire1 and          
,stendhal1  the lapidaries of ,french4  
,but it was something very intimately   
his  own2 he was abundantly dowered with
 the insight of malice1 and malice      
always writes briefly and well4 ,it has 
not the time to be obscure4  ,nietzsche 
had this perfection of utterance1 but a 
far richer range and  volume4 ,he was a 
poet by grace divine1 and a true        
,romantic for all the  acid he dropped  
on ,romanticism2 the life of his soul   
was an incessant  creative surge of     
images1 metaphors1 symbolisms1          

mythologies4 ,these two  tendencies     
produced as their natural issue that    
gnomic and aphoristic  tongue which     
sneers1 preaches1 prophesies1 chants1   
intoxicates and  dances through the     
pages of ,also ,sprach ,zarathustra4    
,german critics  have applied to        
,nietzsche1 and with even greater       
fitness1 ,heine's  characterisation of  
,schiller3 ,with him thought celebrates 
its orgies4  ,abstract ideas1 crowned   
with vine-leaves1 brandish the thyrsus  
and  dance like bacchantes2 they are    
drunken reflections4 ,of many aspects   
of his own personality ,nietzsche may   
have thought not wisely but too  well2  
but in this regard it appears that he   
did not exaggerate himself4  ,after     
,luther and ,goethe1 he wrote to ,rohde1
 a third step remained  to be taken4444 
,i have the idea that with ,zarathustra 
,i have brought  the ,german language to
 its point of perfection4 ,the ,german  
world of  letters has not said ,no6 to a
 claim so proud as to seem mere vanity4 

,friedrich ,nietzsche holds a safe1 and 
even a supreme position in the  history 
of literature4    ,what is to be said of
 his place in the history of philosophy8
 ,hffding  allows him a high symptomatic
 value1 but only that4 ,his work has    
the merit of a drama1 in which the      
contradictions of modern thought1       
vibrant with passion1 clash and crash   
together in a tumultuous  conflict      
which1 unhappily1 has no issue4 ,m4     
,alfred ,fouille1 who has  contrasted   
him with ,guyau--that noblest of modern 
thinkers--in his  book ,nietzsche et    
l'immoralisme1 draws out a table of     
antitheses1  and cancelling denials     
against affirmations1 arrives at a      
result that  looks remarkably like zero4
 ,nietzsche in truth was a man of       
ecstasies  and intuitions1 rather than  
of consequent thought4 ,he troubled     
little  to purge himself of             
self-contradictions1 as became a writer 
whose first  word had been a vehement   
assault on that ,socratic rationalism   

which1  as he believed1 had withered up 
the vital abundance of ,greece4 ,his    
instincts were those of an oracle1 a    
mystagogue2 and mystagogues do  not     
argue4 ,heinrich von ,stein1 in styling 
his first book an ,essay in  ,lyrical   
,philosophy1 spoke in terms of his      
master's mind4    ,with ,nietzsche      
reason deliberately abdicates1 bearing  
with it into  exile its categories of   
good and evil1 cause and end4           
,schopenhauer  had suggested to him that
 the true key to the riddle of existence
 was  not intellect but will2 behind the
 mask of phenomena the illuminated      
spirit discerned not a ,contriving but a
 ,striving1 a monstrous ,will1  blind as
 old dipus1 yearning like him through   
blood and anguish  to a possible        
redemption4 ,but in time he cast off    
,schopenhauer and  pessimism4 ,the ,will
 to ,live he construed in an optimistic 
sense1 and  it darkened into that other 
mystery1 at once vaguer and more malign1
  the ,will to ,power4 ,the problem     

remained to find a ground for optimism1 
and a clue to the harmony1 to the       
recurring rhythms and patterns of       
reality as we know it4 ,so was born what
 is perhaps the characteristic  idea of 
,nietzsche4 ,the universe is not a      
phenomenon of ,will1 it is a  phenomenon
 of ,art4 ,in my preface to the book on 
,wagner ,i had already1  wrote          
,nietzsche in #ahhf1 presented art1 and 
not morality1 as the  essentially       
metaphysical activity of man3 in the    
course of the present  book ,i reproduce
 in many forms the singular proposition 
that the world  is only to be justified 
as an artistic phenomenon4 ,for the     
optimist  quand-mme this interpretation 
has many advantages4 ,cruelty1 sorrow   
and disaster need no longer dismay him2 
since a world may at the same  time be a
 very bad world and a very good tragedy4
 ,it may be1 the  lyricist1 turned      
philosopher1 wrote later1 that my       
,zarathustra ought  to be classified    
under the rubric ,music4 ,these two     

passages1 with a  hundred others1       
determine the atmosphere into which we  
are introduced4  ,we have to deal not   
with a thinker who expounds a system1   
but with a  prophet who dispenses a     
,revelation3 ,nietzsche is not the      
apologist but  the mystic of            
,neo-,paganism4    ,coming to closer    
range1 we may dismiss at once a great   
part of his  polemical writings4 ,they  
were a sort of perpetual bonfire in     
which  from time to time ,nietzsche     
burned what he had once adored1 and much
  more beside4 ,they bear witness to    
that proud independence1 one may  almost
 say that savage isolation1 which was   
the native climate of his  soul4        
,niemandem war er ,untertan1 he was no  
man's man1 he wrote  of ,schopenhauer1  
and that iron phrase expressed his own  
ideal and  practice4 ,his brochures of  
abuse he regarded as a mode1 though an  
unhappy mode1 of liberation4 ,he had    
little love of them himself in his      
creative moments3 he desired with a     

fierce desire to rid his soul of        
hatreds and negatives and rise to a     
golden affirmation4 ,i have been  a     
fighter1 declares ,zarathustra1 only    
that ,i might one day have my  hands    
free to bless4 ,in dying ,i would offer 
men the richest of my  gifts4 ,it was   
from the sun ,i learned that1 from the  
sun who when he  sets is so rich2 out of
 his inexhaustible riches he flings gold
 into  the sea1 so that the poorest     
fishermen row with golden oars4 ,it is  
not the ,will to ,power that speaks     
here1 but that older and more sacred    
fountain of civilisation1 the ,will to  
,love4 ,but if ,nietzsche had  that     
inspiration one is tempted to say of him
 what he said of ,renan3  ,he is never  
so dangerous as when he loves4 ,the     
truth is that he had  the genius of     
belittlement4 ,it was the other side of 
his vanity1 a  vanity so monstrous that 
it seems from the first to have eaten of
 the  insane root4 ,there is no humour1 
no integral view of things1 behind  his 

critical work4 ,it is sick with         
subjectivity4 ,and yet ,zarathustra  in 
a temper is1 by times1 far more amusing 
than sinister4 ,what could  be better   
than some of the characterisations in ,a
 ,psychologist's  ,hedge-,school1       
,seneca1 the ,toreador of virtue 444    
,rousseau1 or the  return to nature in  
impuris naturalibus4 444 ,john ,stuart  
,mill2 or  wounding lucidity8 ,but when1
 in this mood1 he gnaws and nibbles     
about  the sanctuaries of life2 when he 
tells us that the true ,fall of ,man    
was the ,redemption1 that the two most  
noxious corruptions known to  history   
are ,christianity and alcohol2 when he  
presses his anti-,feminism  to a point  
that goes beyond even the gross ,german 
tradition of which  ,luther's ,table    
,talk is a monument1 the best that one  
can do for him  is to remember that he  
often took too much chloral4 ,it may be 
that  to the circles in these countries 
to whom the cult of ,nietzscheanism     
appeals1 this strain of his thought also

 appeals4 ,this particular  music is not
 played on many trumpets1 but every     
,superman ought to know  it4 ,and he    
ought to know further that ,zarathustra1
 being brave1 gibes  not only at ,st4   
,paul1 but even at ,herbert ,spencer1   
and has no more  toleration for the     
gospel according to ,marx than for that 
according to  ,matthew4    ,what is the 
gospel of this ambiguous prophet8 ,it   
is1 he himself  declares1 a long        
,memento vivere4 ,his own experience    
taught him  that the characteristic of  
life1 in its highest moments1 is to  be 
unimaginably alive4 ,from a mere process
 it becomes a sudden  intoxication1 and 
on the psychology of that intoxication1 
which is the  psychology of the artist  
and also that of the lover and the      
saint1  he has written pages which are a
 wonder of pure light4 ,from this       
standpoint he criticises justly the     
mechanical theory of adjustments  in    
which there is nothing to adjust1 of    
adaptations in which there  is nothing  

to adapt1 the whole ab extra            
interpretation of life  popularised by  
,darwin1 ,spencer1 and the ,english     
school in general4 ,the  living unit is 
more than a mere node or knot in a      
tangle of natural  selection2 it is a   
fountain of force1 of spontaneity1      
constantly  overflowing4 ,the general   
aspect of life is not indigence and     
famine1  but on the contrary richness1  
opulence1 even an absurd prodigality4   
,to live is for ,nietzsche1 as for the  
,scholastics1 to be a centre of         
self-movement4 ,with the ,pragmatists he
 asserts the primacy of life over       
thought4 ,but this tension of           
consciousness1 this ,dionysiac          
drunkenness1  is only a foundation1 it  
is not yet a philosophy4 ,philosophy1 or
 at all  events moral philosophy1 begins
 with the discovery that there are other
  people in the world4 ,your ego1 thus  
drunken and expansive1 collides  sharply
 with another ego1 equally drunken and  
expansive1 and it becomes  at once      

necessary to frame a code of relations1 
a rule of the road4 ,is  this force and 
spontaneity of the individual to flow   
out towards others  through the channel 
of domination or through that of love8  
,zarathustra had marched with the       
,germans over prostrate ,france1 he had 
said in his ,gargantuan egoism3 ,if     
there were ,gods1 how could ,i bear  not
 to be a ,god8 ,consequently there are  
no ,gods4 ,if the ,goths and  the       
,vandals had read ,hegelian metaphysics1
 observes ,fouille1 they  would have    
answered this question as ,nietzsche    
answered it4 ,the living  unit          
accumulates a superabundance of force in
 order to impose its power  on others   
444 an andern ,macht auslassen4 ,the    
,will to ,power is the  sole source of  
human activity4 ,the strong must live as
 warriors and  conquerors1 adopting as  
their three cardinal virtues pride1     
pleasure1  and the love of domination4  
,pity is the deepest of corruptions2 it 
but  doubles pain1 adding to the pain of

 him who suffers the pain of him  who   
pities4 ,if you have helped any one1 you
 must wash the hands that  helped him1  
for they are unclean4 ,the ,crusaders   
brought home but one  treasure1 the     
formula1 namely1 of the ,assassins1     
,nothing is true1  everything is        
permitted4 ,science is mere illusionism2
 but the warrior1  knowing how to be    
hard--for that is the new law--will     
impose his own  arbitrary values on all 
things1 and will make life so good that 
he will  desire it to be indefinitely   
repeated4 ,the earth1 thus disciplined1 
will bring forth the ,superman1 who1    
having danced out his day1 will         
disappear to be recreated by the        
,eternal ,return4 ,thus spake           
,zarathustra4    ,the greatest          
difficulty that one experiences before  
such a doctrine  as this is the         
difficulty of taking it seriously4      
,nietzsche1 who had  a tendency to      
believe that every reminiscence was an  
inspiration1  is by no means as original

 as he thought4 ,after all1 there were  
sceptics1 optimists1 tyrants and poets  
before ,zarathustra4 ,the common  herd  
may not be given to discussing ethical  
dualism1 but it knows  that since       
society began there have been two laws1 
one for the rich  and another for the   
poor4 ,scepticism as to the objectivity 
of human  values1 moral and             
intellectual1 is no new heresy1 but a   
tradition as  old as science1 and almost
 as old as faith4 ,the notion of an     
,eternal  ,return1 crystallised by      
,plato from a mist of earlier           
speculation1 had  exercised many modern 
thinkers2 one has only to name ,heine1  
,blanqui1  von ,naegeli1 ,guyau1        
,dostoievsky4 ,the ,romantics had1 at   
the beginning  of ,nietzsche's century1 
as ,schlegel wrote1 transcended all the 
ends  of life1 and1 fascinated with the 
idea of mere power1 had filled the      
imagination of ,europe with seas and    
storms that raged for the sole  sake of 
raging4 ,there was no ,scholastic       

compiler of a text-book on  ,ethics but 
had posed morality as a problem1 and    
asked in his first  qustio whether there
 was a science of good and evil4 ,the   
,superman  so passionately announced by 
,nietzsche had already been created by  
the enigmatic and dilettante fancy of   
,renan4 ,the name itself was  as old as 
,goethe1 though it is to be recalled    
that not ,goethe but  ,mephistopheles   
applies it to ,faust as a sneer and a   
temptation4  ,zarathustra is not a      
prophet nor even a pioneer2 he brings   
but a new  mode of speech1 his          
triumphant and dancing phrase sweeps    
into its  whirl a thousand ghosts and   
phantoms4 ,and what is to be said of the
  doctrine itself8 ,perhaps the most    
adequate answer to ,nietzsche1 on the   
plane of his own ideas1 is that of      
,guyau4 ,both were poets1 strayed  into 
philosophy1 both seize upon life as the 
key to all reality4 ,but  ,guyau finds  
in the spontaneous outflow of individual
 life1 itself the  spring of            

sociability1 fraternity1 love4 ,an      
organism is more perfect  as it is more 
sociable1 there can be no full intensity
 without wide  expansion4 ,there is a   
certain generosity inseparable from     
existence1  without which one withers up
 interiorly and dies4 ,the mind must    
flower2  morality1 altruism are the     
flower of human life4 ,the reduction of 
all consciousness to one mode--in       
,nietzsche the ,will to ,power--is      
neither new nor difficult4 ,la          
,rochefoucauld tracked down behind all  
motives the motive of self-interest1 and
 modern simplifiers have amused         
themselves by analysing passion into    
unconscious thought4 ,the soul1  as ,st4
 ,augustine tells us1 is all in every   
part2 and since the same  self is always
 present1 it is obviously possible in   
some fashion or  another to translate   
any one mood of its life into any other4
 ,but such  suppression of the finer    
details1 while interesting as a tour de 
force1  is not scientific psychology4   

,the ,will to ,power is not sufficiently
  definite to serve the turn of a       
moralist or even an immoralist4 ,power  
is of many kinds4 ,love hath its        
victories not less renowned than  hate4 
,had ,cleopatra's nose been shorter1    
history would1 says ,pascal1  have been 
different1 and in the phrase of the     
,french chanson there  are often more   
conquests ambushed in the hair of       
,delilah than in  that of ,samson4      
,nietzsche himself perceived that it was
 necessary to  establish a hierarchy of 
values as between different             
manifestations  of power1 but this      
,umwerthung aller ,werthe was never     
either  achieved or achievable4 ,the    
evangel of ,zarathustra dissolves into  
mere  sound and fury for lack of what   
the ,court of ,equity calls reasonable  
particularity4 ,most notable is this in 
regard to the two laws4 ,am ,i a        
,superman--or rather a potential        
ancestor of the ,superman1 for in this  
case hereditary privilege runs          

backwards--with the right to found my   
life on pride1 pleasure1 and the love of
 power1 or am ,i a slave with no  right 
except to remain a slave8 ,the test is  
astral1 and even nebulous4  ,if you can 
compel the stars to circle about you as 
their centre1 if you  have a chaos in   
you and are about to beget a dancing    
star1 then you  are of the seed of the  
,superman4 ,unhappily1 the only people  
who could  seriously entertain such an  
estimate of themselves are the very     
wealthy  and the very mad4 ,zarathustra 
derides the mob in order to flatter the 
snob2 he is malgr lui the casuist of the
 idle rich1 the courtier of             
international finance4    ,friedrich    
,nietzsche was an optimist4 ,it was a   
paradox of courage4 ,there  is nothing  
nobler or more valiant in the history of
 thought than his  refusal to let the   
sun be dimmed by the mist of his own    
suffering4 ,no  invalid has the right to
 be a pessimist4 ,let them beware3 the  
years  in which my vitality sank to its 

minimum were those in which ,i ceased   
to be a pessimist4 ,that is magnificent1
 but it is not philosophy4 ,if          
,nietzsche by his insomnia and his      
wounded eyes is pledged on the point  of
 honour to optimism1 is not             
,schopenhauer by his fixed income and   
excellent digestion similarly pledged to
 pessimism8 ,but ,zarathustra's         
optimism is not merely positive1 it is  
ecstatic3 to express its fulness  he    
creates the formula of the ,eternal     
,return4 ,he claps his hands and  cries 
,encore6 to life4 ,he is drunken with   
joy as men are in the  taverns with corn
 and the grape1 and he shouts ,the same 
again6    ,this ,eternal ,return is     
presented to us as a conclusion of      
mathematical  physics and spectrum      
analysis4 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas taught1 
following  ,aristotle1 that the stars   
were composed of a substance nobler than
  that of earth1 not subject to birth or
 death1 and so immune from  corruption4 
,but ,fraunhofer and his successors     

have1 with their prisms  and telescopes1
 discovered in the stars the same       
eighty-one or  eighty-two elements which
 constitute the earth4 ,since then we   
have  but a finite number of            
indestructible elements and forces1 and 
an  infinite space and time--or at least
 a space and time to which we can       
conceive no limits--it must follow that 
the same combinations will  repeat      
themselves incessantly both in space and
 time4 ,there is not only  an ,eternal  
,return1 but an ,infinite               
,reduplication4 ,and if thought1 as     
,nietzsche assumed1 is only the         
phosphorescence accompanying certain    
arrangements of matter1 the same        
conscious life must also repeat  itself4
 ,one does not stay to discuss this     
phantasy of mathematics  except to say  
that whoever was entitled to entertain  
it ,zarathustra  was not4 ,if science   
is1 as he held1 a mere linked           
illusionism1 how can  it give so        
absolute a prophecy8 ,to ,nietzsche it  

was no conclusion1 but  a reminiscence  
from ,greek speculation which came to   
him1 disguised in  the flame of an      
inspiration1 under that pyramidal rock  
near ,sorlei1  six thousand feet above  
men and time4 ,he accepted it because it
  seemed to him the supreme formula of  
optimism4 ,his mind was incited  to it  
perhaps by that sombre passage in which 
his rejected master1  ,schopenhauer1    
declares that if you were to knock on   
the graves1 with  power to summon forth 
the dead to rise up and live their lives
 again1  none would answer to your call4
 ,christianity agrees with              
,schopenhauer2  for though ,christianity
 is an optimism1 it is founded on       
pessimism4 ,it  is an optimism poised on
 a centre that does not lie within the  
walls  of space and time4 ,christianity 
called a new world into existence to    
redress the balance of the old2 and were
 this old world all--a closed  circuit1 
a rounded whole--,zarathustra might     
dance and chant through all  its ,campo 

,santos without finding more than a very
 few to rise up and  follow him4    ,the
 practical consequences to which        
,nietzsche was led were in his own      
phrase inactual1 out of time and out of 
season4 ,zarathustra is1 by a  natural  
kinship1 a prophet of the ,anarchists1  
but he hated ,anarchism2  by a strange  
transformation1 the genius of a certain 
school of  ,socialists1 but he despised 
,socialism4 ,german officials in ,poland
 may  find in him a veritable           
,oppressors' ,handbook2 he danced       
through the  streets at the victory over
 ,france1 but he derided the ,german    
,state  and ,empire as a new idol4 ,he  
contemned women1 but praised            
indissoluble  marriage4 ,he preached    
pleasure1 but celebrated chastity in a  
noble  hymn4 ,he was all for authority  
and inequality1 a ,joseph de ,maistre1  
says ,fouille1 who believes in the      
hangman without believing in the  ,pope2
 but when he looked at a criminal on    
trial he acquitted everybody  except    

only the judge4 ,he denounced ,bismarck 
and the ,kaiser for being  too          
democratic2 he regarded ,science1 too1  
as disastrously democratic1  because it 
subjected all phenomena1 great and      
small1 to the same  uniform laws4 ,will 
was his god1 but he saw the world under 
the aspect  of a ,mahometan determinism1
 and submitted himself to a resignation1
  an adoption of the hostile ways of    
existence1 an amor fati which a  ,stoic 
might think extravagant4 ,a ,german     
proletarian1 full of ,german            
prejudices1 he thought himself ,polish  
and noble1 and boasted of being a       
sans-patrie and a good ,european4 ,pity1
 generosity1 self-immolation1  the whole
 ritual of civilisation1 were condemned 
by ,zarathustra and  practised by him4  
,in brief1 ,nietzsche never rose above a
 sort of  philosophical cinematograph2  
he had the glitter but never the hard   
definiteness of the diamond which he    
chose as his symbol4    ,but it would be
 very superficial to suppose that a     

thought so  passionate could be         
altogether unreal4 ,zarathustra is a    
counter-poison  to sentimentalism1 that 
worst ailment of our day4 ,he brings a  
sort of  ethical strychnine which taken 
in large doses is fatal1 but in small   
doses is an incomparable tonic4 ,he     
disturbed many who were woefully at     
ease in ,zion1 and was a poet of the    
heroic life4 ,germany1 so apt to  lose  
herself in the jungle of scholarship1   
needed to be reminded that  erudition   
exists for the sake of life and not life
 for the sake of  erudition4 ,to        
literature1 when he wrote in conformity 
with its settled  and common tradition1 
he gave great chants of courage1        
loneliness  and friendship4 ,in ,m4     
,halvy's book1 founded on that of       
,madame  ,frster-,nietzsche1 we have in 
,english for the first time a portrait  
of him in the intimacies of his life and
 thought4 ,it exhibits him as  better   
than his gospel1 a hundred times better 
than most of those  disturbers of       

civilisation who call themselves his    
disciples4    ,t4 ,m4 ,,kettle          
,the ,life of ,friedrich ,nietzsche     
,,chapter ,i      ,,childhood           
,karl-,ludwig ,nietzsche1 a young       
clergyman of the ,lutheran ,church1     
came of an ecclesiastical family4 ,his  
father and his grandfather had  taught  
theology4 ,his wife was the daughter and
 the granddaughter of  clergy-men4      
,ignoring modern thought and all the    
agitations and desires  of his time1 he 
followed the safe path of the double    
tradition1  which had at once been      
revealed by ,god to the faithful and    
indicated  by ,princes to their         
subjects4 ,his superiors thought highly 
of him4  ,frederick ,william ,,iv41     
,king of ,prussia1 condescended to take 
him under  his wing1 and he might have  
hoped for a fine career had he not      
suffered  from headaches and nerves4 ,as
 it was1 rest became essential4    ,he  
asked for a country parish1 and that of 
,rcken was confided to  him4 ,the       

situation of this poor village1 whose   
little houses uprear  themselves in a   
vast plain on the confines of ,prussia  
and ,saxony1 was  melancholy2 but       
,karl-,ludwig ,nietzsche liked the      
place1 for solitude was  acceptable to  
him4 ,he was a great musician1 and      
often1 at the fall of  day1 would shut  
himself up in his church and improvise  
upon the rustic  organ whilst the good  
folk of his parish stood without and    
listened in  admiration4    ,the pastor 
and his young wife waited four years for
 their first child1  who was born on    
,october #ae1ahdd1 the ,king's birthday4
 ,the coincidence  increased the        
father's joy4 ,o month of ,october1     
blessed month1 he  wrote in his church  
register1 ever have you overwhelmed me  
with joy4  ,but of all the joys that you
 have brought me1 this is the deepest1  
the most magnificent3 ,i baptize my     
first child4444 ,my son1 ,friedrich     
,wilhelm1 such shall be your name on    
earth in remembrance of the royal       

benefactor whose birthday is yours4     
,the child soon had a brother1 then a   
sister4 ,there are women who  remember  
,friedrich's infancy1 and those quickly 
passing days of joy  round the          
,nietzsches' hearth4 ,friedrich was slow
 in learning to speak4  ,he looked at   
everything with grave eyes1 and kept    
silent4 ,at the age  of two and a half  
he spoke his first word4 ,the pastor    
liked his silent  boy1 and was glad to  
have him as a companion of his walks4   
,never did  ,friedrich ,nietzsche forget
 the sound of distant bells ringing over
 the  immense pool-strewn plain as he   
wandered with his father1 his hand      
nestled in that strong hand4            
,misfortune came very quickly4 ,in      
,august1 #ahdh1 ,nietzsche's father fell
  from the top of the stone steps       
leading up to his door1 and struck his  
head violently against the edge of one  
of them4 ,the shock brought on a        
terrible attack1 or1 perhaps1 for one   
cannot be certain1 only hastened  its   

approach3 ,karl-,ludwig ,nietzsche lost 
his reason1 and1 after a year  of       
aberration and decline1 died4 ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche was then four  years old4   
,the incidents of this tragic time made 
a deep impression  upon his mind3       
night-alarms1 the weeping in the house1 
the terrors of  the closed chamber1 the 
silence1 the utter abandonment to woe2  
the  tolling bells1 the hymns1 the      
funeral sermons2 the coffin engulfed    
beneath the flagstones of the church4   
,his understanding of such things  had  
come too early1 and he was shaken by it4
 ,his nights were troubled  with        
visions1 and he had a presentiment of   
some early disaster4 ,he had            
dreams--here is the nave recital that he
 makes in his fourteenth year3    ,when 
one despoils a tree of its crown it     
withers and the birds desert  its       
branches4 ,our family had been despoiled
 of its crown2 joy departed  from our   
hearts1 and a profound sadness entered  
into possession of us4  ,and our wounds 

were but closing when they were         
painfully reopened4  ,about this time ,i
 had a dream in which ,i heard mournful 
organ music1  as if at a burial4 ,and as
 ,i was trying to discover the cause of 
this  playing1 a tomb opened sharply and
 my father appeared1 clad in his        
shroud4 ,he crossed the church1 and     
returned with a little child in his     
arms4 ,the tomb opened again1 my father 
disappeared into it1 and the  stone     
swung back to its place4 ,at once the   
wail of the organ ceased1  and ,i awoke4
 ,the next morning ,i told the dream to 
my dear mother4 ,a  short while after1  
my little brother ,joseph fell ill1 and 
after a  nervous crisis of a few hours1 
he died4 ,our grief was terrible4 ,my   
dream was exactly fulfilled1 for the    
little body was placed in the arms  of  
its father4 ,after this double calamity 
the ,lord in heaven was our  sole       
consolation4 ,it was towards the end of 
,january1 #ahej4    ,in the spring of   
this year the pastor's widow left the   

parochial house  and went to reside in  
the neighbouring town of                
,naumburg-zur-,saale1  where she was    
near her own people4 ,relations of hers 
lived in the  neighbouring countryside4 
,her husband's mother and his sister    
came to  stay with her in the small     
house1 to which the children1 who at    
first  had been disconsolate1 gradually 
grew accustomed4    ,naumburg was a     
royal city1 favoured by the             
,hohenzollerns and devoted  to their    
dynasty4 ,a bourgeois society of        
officials and pastors1 with  some       
officers' families and a few country    
squires1 lived within the  grass-grown  
ramparts1 pierced with five gates1 which
 were closed every  evening4 ,their     
existence was grave and measured4 ,the  
bell of the  metropolitan church1       
flinging its chimes across the little   
town1 awoke  it1 sent it to sleep1      
assembled it to ,state and religious    
festivals4  ,as a small boy ,nietzsche  
was himself grave and measured4 ,his    

instincts  were in accord with the      
customs of ,naumburg1 and his active    
soul was  quick to discover the beauties
 of his new life4 ,he admired the       
military  parades1 the religious        
services with organ and choir1 the      
majestic  anniversary celebrations4 ,he 
found himself deeply moved every year by
  the return of ,christmas4 ,his        
birthday stirred him less deeply1 but   
was  a source of great joy4    ,my      
birthday being also that of our beloved 
,king1 he wrote1 ,i am  awakened that   
day by military music4 ,i receive my    
presents3 the  ceremony is quickly over1
 and we go together to the church4      
,although  the sermon is not directed to
 my special benefit1 ,i choose the best 
of  it and apply it to myself4          
,afterwards we all assemble at the      
school to  celebrate the great          
festival4444 ,before the break-up a fine
 patriotic  chorus is sung1 and the     
director concilium dimisit4 ,then comes 
for  me the best moment of all2 my      

friends arrive and we spend a happy day 
together4    ,friedrich did not forget  
his father1 and wished to follow his    
example  and to become1 like all the men
 of his race1 a pastor1 one of the      
elect who live near ,god and speak in   
,his name4 ,he could conceive no  higher
 vocation1 nor any more congenial to    
himself4 ,young as he was1  he had an   
exacting and meticulous conscience4 ,the
 slightest scolding  pained him1 and he 
liked to take his own line1 unaided4    
,whenever he  felt a scruple he would   
retire to some obscure hiding-place and 
examine  his conscience1 nor would he   
resume his play with his sister until   
he had deliberately arrived at a        
condemnation or a justification of  his 
conduct4 ,one day1 when it was raining  
in torrents1 his mother saw  him coming 
back from school with slow1 regular     
steps1 although he  was without umbrella
 or cloak4 ,she called him1 and he came 
sedately  up to her4 ,we have always    
been told not to run in the streets1 he 

explained4 ,his companions nicknamed him
 the little pastor1 and  listened1 in   
respectful silence1 when he read them   
aloud a chapter from  the ,bible4    ,he
 was careful of his prestige4 ,when one 
is master of oneself1 he  gravely taught
 his sister1 then one is master of the  
whole world4 ,he  was proud1 and        
believed in the nobility of the         
,nietzsches4 ,this was  a family legend 
which his grandmother loved to relate1  
and of which  he and his sister ,lisbeth
 used to dream4 ,remote ancestors of    
theirs1  ,counts1 ,nietzski by name1 had
 lived in ,poland4 ,during the          
,reformation  they defied persecution1  
and broke with the ,catholic ,church4   
,thereafter  they wandered wretchedly   
for three years1 outcasts1 pursued from 
village to village4 ,with them was their
 son1 who had been born on  the eve of  
their flight4 ,the mother nursed this   
child with devoted  constancy1 and he   
thus acquired1 in spite of all ordeals1 
wonderful  health1 lived to a great age1

 and transmitted to his line the double 
virtue of strength and longevity4       
,friedrich was never tired of listening 
to so fine an adventure4 ,often  also he
 asked to be told the history of the    
,poles4 ,the election of the  ,king by  
the ,nobles1 gathered together on       
horseback in the midst of a  great      
plain1 and the right which the meanest  
of them had to oppose his  veto to the  
will of all the rest1 struck him with   
admiration3 he had no  doubt that this  
race was the greatest in the world4 ,a  
,count ,nietzski  must not lie1 he      
declared to his sister4 ,indeed1 the    
passions and the  powerful desires      
which1 thirty or forty years later1 were
 to inspire  his work1 already animated 
this child with the bulging forehead and
 the  big eyes1 whom unhappy women loved
 to fold in their tender caresses4      
,when he was nine years old his tastes  
widened1 and music was revealed  to him 
by a chorus from ,handel1 heard at      
church4 ,he studied the piano4  ,he     

improvised1 he accompanied himself in   
chanting the ,bible1 and his  mother1   
remembering her husband's fate1 was     
troubled1 for he1 too1 like  the child1 
used to play and improvise on the organ 
at ,rcken4    ,the instinct of          
creation--an instinct that was already  
tyrannical--seized hold of him2 he      
composed melodies1 fantasies1 a         
succession of mazurkas1 dedicated to his
 ,polish ancestors4 ,he wrote  verses1  
and mother1 grandmother1 aunts1 sister1 
received1 every  anniversary1 a poem    
with his music4 ,games themselves became
 the  pretext for work4 ,he drew up     
didactic treatises1 containing rules    
and advice1 which he handed over to his 
comrades4 ,first he taught  them        
architecture2 then1 in #ahed1 during the
 siege of ,sebastopol1  the capture of  
which made him weep--for he loved all   
,slavs and hated  the revolutionary     
,french--he studied ballistics and the  
defence of  fortified places4 ,at the   
same time1 he and two friends founded a 

theatre of arts1 in which they played   
dramas of antiquity and of  primitive   
civilisations1 of which he was the      
author3 ,the ,gods of  ,olympus and an  
,orkadal4    ,he left school to enter   
college at ,naumburg4 ,there he showed  
from the  first such conspicuous ability
 that his professors advised his mother 
to send him to study in a superior      
institute4 ,the poor woman hesitated4   
,she would have liked to keep her child 
near her4    ,this was in #aheh4        
,nietzsche's vacation was of rather a   
serious  character4 ,he spent it as     
usual in the village of ,pobles1 under  
the  shadow of wooded hills1 on the     
banks of the fresh and lazy ,saale1 in  
which each morning he bathed4 ,his      
maternal grandparents had him and his   
sister ,lisbeth to stay with them4 ,he  
was happy1 with a heaped abundance  of  
life2 but his mind was preoccupied with 
the uncertainty of his  future4         
,adolescence was coming2 and perhaps he 
was about to leave his own  people and  

change his friends and his home4 ,with  
some anxiety he  foresaw the new course 
which his life was going to follow4 ,he 
called  to mind his boyish past1 all the
 long years of childhood1 at which one  
should not smile--thirteen years filled 
with the earliest affections  and the   
earliest sorrows1 with the first proud  
hopes of an ambitious  soul1 with the   
splendid discovery of music and poetry4 
,memories came1  numerous1 vivid1 and   
touching3 ,nietzsche1 who had a lyric   
soul1  suddenly became1 as it were1     
intoxicated with himself4    ,he took up
 his pen1 and in twelve days the history
 of his childhood was  written4 ,he was 
happy when he had finished4    ,now ,i  
have brought my first notebook to a     
proper end1 he writes1 and  ,i am       
content with my work4 ,i have written   
with the greatest pleasure  and without 
a moment's fatigue4 ,it is a grand thing
 to pass in review  before one the      
course of one's first years1 and to     
follow there the  development of one's  

soul4 ,i have sincerely recounted all   
the truth  without poetry1 without      
literary ornamentation4 ,that ,i may    
write many  more like it6    ,four      
little verses followed3          ,ein   
,spiegel ist das ,leben      ,in ihm    
sich zu erkennen1      ,mcht' ich das   
erste nennen      ,wonach wir nur auch  
streben4#a        #a ,life is a mirror4 
,i might say that the recognition of    
ourselves in  it is the first object to 
which we all strive4           99       
99       99       99       99    ,the   
school of ,pforta is situated five miles
 from ,naumburg1 on the bank  of the    
,saale4 ,ever since a ,germany has      
existed there have been teachers  and   
scholars in ,pforta4 ,some ,cistercian  
monks1 come in the twelfth  century from
 the ,latin ,west to convert the ,slavs1
 obtained possession  of this property1 
which lies along both banks of the      
river4 ,they built  the high walls which
 surround it1 the houses1 the church1   
and founded  a tradition which is not   

extinct4 ,in the sixteenth century they 
were  expelled by the ,saxon princes1   
but their school was continued1 and     
their methods conserved by the          
,lutherans who were installed in their  
place4    ,the children shall be brought
 up to the religious life1 says an      
instruction of #aedj4 ,for six years    
they shall exercise themselves  in the  
knowledge of letters1 and in the        
disciplines of virtue4 ,the  pupils were
 kept separated from their families1    
cloistered with their  teachers4 ,the   
school had its fixed rules and customs3 
anything in the  shape of easy manners  
was forbidden4 ,there was a certain1    
established  hierarchy3 the oldest      
scholars had charge of the youngest and 
each  master was the tutor of twenty    
pupils4 ,religion1 ,hebrew1 ,greek1 and 
,latin were taught4 ,in this old        
monastery ,german rigour1 the spirit  of
 humanism1 and the ethic of             
,protestantism formed a singular and    
deep-rooted alliance1 a fruitful type of

 life and sentiment4 ,many              
distinguished men owed their education  
to ,pforta3 ,novalis1 the  ,schlegels1  
,fichte--,fichte1 philosopher1 educator1
 patriot1 and chief  glory of the       
school4 ,nietzsche had long desired to  
study at ,pforta1 and  in ,october1     
#aheh1 a scholarship being awarded him1 
he left his family  to enter the school4
    ,he now disappears for a time from  
our ken4 ,an heroic and boyish  anecdote
 is the sole memory of his first year4  
,the story of ,mucius  ,scvola seemed an
 improbable one to some of his comrades2
 they denied  it3 ,no man would have the
 courage to put his hand in fire1 opined
  these young critics4 ,nietzsche did   
not deign to answer1 but seized from    
the stove a flaming coal and placed it  
in the palm of his hand4 ,he  always    
carried the mark of this burn1 the more 
visible because he had  taken care to   
keep in repair and enlarge so glorious a
 wound by letting  melted wax run over  
it4    ,assuredly1 he did not easily    

endure this new life of his4 ,he played 
little1 not caring to attach himself to 
unfamiliar people2 moreover1  the tender
 customs of the maternal hearth had ill 
prepared him for  the disciplines of    
,pforta4 ,he only went out once a week1 
on ,sunday  afternoon4 ,then his mother1
 his sister1 and two ,naumburg friends  
of his  came to meet him at the school  
door1 and spent the day with him in a   
neighbouring inn4    ,in ,july1 #ahei1  
,nietzsche had a month's liberty4 ,the  
holidays of pupils  at ,pforta were     
never longer4 ,he revisited the people  
and places that he  liked1 and made a   
rapid voyage to ,jena and ,weimar4 ,for 
a year he had  written only what he had 
to write as a task1 but now the         
inspiration  and delight of the pen     
returned to him1 and he composed out of 
his  impressions of summer a sentimental
 fantasy which is not barren of  pathos4
    ,the sun has already set1 he writes1
 when we leave the dark  enclosure4     
,behind us1 the sky is bathed in gold2  

above us1 there is  a glow of rosy      
clouds3 before us1 we see the town1     
lying at rest  under the gentle breeze  
of evening4 ,ah1 ,wilhelm1 ,i say to my 
friend1  is there any joy greater than  
that of wandering together across the   
world8 ,oh1 pleasure of friendship1     
faithful friendship3 oh1 breath  of this
 magnificent summer night1 perfume of   
flowers1 and redness of  evening6 ,do   
you not feel your thoughts soar upward1 
to perch like the  jubilant lark on a   
throne of golden clouds8 ,the wonder of 
these evening  landscapes6 ,it is my own
 life that unveils itself to me4 ,so are
 my  own days arranged3 some shut within
 the dark penumbra1 others lifted  up in
 the air of liberty6 ,at this moment our
 ears are pierced by a  shrill cry3 it  
comes from the madhouse which stands    
near our path4 ,our  hands join in a    
tighter clasp1 as if some evil genius   
had touched us  with a sweep of menacing
 wings4 ,go from us1 ye powers of ,evil6
 ,even  in this beautiful world there   

are unhappy souls6 ,but what1 then1 is  
unhappiness8    ,at the beginning of    
,august he returned to ,pforta1 as sadly
 as he had  gone there in the first     
instance4 ,he could not accept the      
brusque  constraint of the place1 and1  
being unable to cease thinking of       
himself1 he kept for some weeks an      
intimate diary which shows us how he    
employed his time and what his humours  
were from one day to another4  ,we find1
 to begin with1 certain courageous      
maxims against ennui1 given  him by his 
professor and transcribed2 then a       
recital of his studies1  his            
distractions1 his readings1 and the     
crises which depress him4  ,the poetic  
soul of the child now resists1 now      
resigns itself to its  impressions and  
bows painfully beneath a discipline4    
,when emotion  urges him he abandons    
prose1 which is not musical enough to   
express  his melancholy4 ,rhythm and    
rhyme appear2 under an inspiration he   
makes  a few verses1 a quatrain1 a      

sextain2 but he does not seek after the 
lyrical impulse1 nor hold to it2 he     
merely follows it when it rises  within 
him2 and1 as soon as it weakens1 prose  
takes its place1 as in a  ,shakesperean 
dialogue4    ,life at ,pforta was1      
however1 brightened by hours of simple  
and youthful  joy4 ,the pupils went out 
for walks1 sang in chorus1 bathed4      
,nietzsche  took part in these delights1
 and related them4 ,when the heat was   
too  heavy1 the life of the water       
replaced the life of study4 ,the two    
hundred scholars would go down to the   
river1 timing their steps to the  tunes 
they had struck up4 ,they would throw   
themselves into the water1  following   
the current without upsetting the order 
of their ranks1  accomplish a swim long 
enough to try1 and yet elate1 the       
youngest  members of the party1 then    
clamber up the bank at their master's   
whistle1 put on their uniforms1 which a 
ferry boat had convoyed in  their wake2 
then1 still singing1 still in good      

order1 would march back  to their work  
and to the old school4 ,it is absolutely
 stunning1 says  ,nietzsche in effect4  
,so time went by1 and the end of ,august
 came4 ,the ,journal is silent for      
eight days1 then for six1 then for a    
whole month4 ,when he reopens his       
notebook1 it is to bring it to an end4  
,since the day on which ,i began this   
,journal my state of mind has           
completely changed4 ,then we were in the
 green abundance of the  late summer3   
now1 alas6 we are in the late autumn4   
,then ,i was an  unter-tertianer 7a     
lower form boy72 now ,i am in a higher  
form4444 ,my  birthday has come and     
gone1 and ,i am older--time passes like 
the rose  of spring1 and pleasure like  
the foam of the brook4    ,at this      
moment ,i feel myself seized by an      
extraordinary desire for  knowledge1 for
 universal culture4 ,that impulse comes 
to me from  ,humboldt1 whom ,i have just
 read4 ,may it prove as lasting as my   
love for  poetry6    ,he now mapped out 

a vast programme of study in which      
geology1 botany1  and astronomy were    
combined with readings in the ,latin    
stylists1  ,hebrew1 military science1   
and all the techniques4 ,and above all  
things1 said he1 ,religion1 the         
foundation of all knowledge4 ,great is  
the domain of knowledge1 infinite the   
search after truth4    ,a winter and    
spring-time sped away while the boy     
worked on4 ,but now  came his second    
holidays1 then the third return to      
school2 it was when  autumn had denuded 
the great oaks on the estate of ,pforta4
 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche is seventeen    
years of age1 and he is sad4 ,too long  
had  he imposed upon himself a painful  
obedience2 he had read ,schiller1       
,hlderlin1 ,byron2 he dreams of the     
,gods of ,greece1 and of the sombre     
,manfred1 that all-powerful magician    
who1 weary of his omnipotence1  vainly  
sought repose in the death which his art
 had conquered4 ,what  cares ,nietzsche 
for the lessons of his professors8 ,he  

meditates on the  lines of the romantic 
poet3          ,sorrow is knowledge2    
they who know the most      ,must mourn 
the deepest o'er the fatal truth1       
,the tree of knowledge is not that of   
life4      ,he grows weary at last4 ,he 
longs to escape from the routine of     
classes1  from tasks which absorb his   
whole life4 ,he would listen to his soul
  alone1 and thus come to understand the
 dreams with which his mind  overflows4 
,he confides in his mother and his      
sister1 and declares that  his projects 
for the future have changed4 ,the       
thought of the ,university  bores him2  
he now wants to be not a professor1 but 
a musician4 ,his  mother reasons with   
him1 and succeeds in appeasing him a    
little4 ,but  her success is not for    
long4 ,the death of a master to whom he 
had  been attached completes his        
confusion of mind4 ,he neglects his     
work1  isolates himself1 and meditates4 
,he writes4 ,from his earliest childhood
 he had had the instinct of  the phrase 

and the word1 the instinct of visible   
thought4 ,he writes  incessantly1 and   
not one shade of his unrest has remained
 hidden  from us4 ,he surveys the vast  
universe of romanticism and of science1 
sombre1 restless1 and loveless4 ,this   
monstrous vision fascinates and         
frightens him4 ,the pious ways of his   
boyhood still hold him under their      
influence2 he reproaches himself for his
 inclinations towards audacity  and     
negation1 as if for sins4 ,he strives to
 retain his religious faith1  which is  
dwindling day by day4 ,he does not break
 with it sharply in the  ,french and    
,catholic manner1 but slowly and        
fearfully detaches himself2  slowly1    
because he venerates those dogmas or    
symbols which stand for  all his past1  
for his memories of his home and his    
father2 fearfully1  because he knows    
that in renouncing the old security he  
will find not  a new security to take   
its place1 but a surging throng of      
problems4  ,weighing the supreme gravity

 of the choice imposed on him1 he       
meditates3    ,such an enterprise1 he   
writes1 is the work not of a few weeks  
but  of a life-time3 can it be that1    
armed solely with the results of a      
boy's reflections1 any one will venture 
to destroy the authority of two         
thousand years1 guaranteed as it is by  
the deepest thinkers of all the         
centuries8 ,can it be that with his own 
mere fancies and rudiments of  thought  
any one will venture to thrust aside    
from him all that anguish  and          
benediction of religion with which      
history is profoundly penetrated8    ,to
 decide at a stroke those philosophical 
problems about which human  thought has 
maintained an unending war for many     
thousands of years2  to revolutionise   
beliefs which1 accepted by men of the   
weightiest  authority1 first lifted man 
up to the level of true humanity2 to    
link  up ,philosophy with the natural   
sciences1 without as much as knowing the
  general results of the one or the     

others2 and finally to derive from      
those natural sciences a system of      
reality1 when the mind has not yet      
grasped either the unity of universal   
history1 or the most essential          
principles--it is a masterpiece of      
rashness4444    ,what then is humanity8 
,we hardly know3 one stage in a whole1  
one  period in a process of ,becoming1  
an arbitrary production of ,god8 ,is    
man aught else than a stone evolved     
through the intermediary worlds of      
flora and fauna8 ,is he from this time  
forward a completed being1 or  what has 
history in reserve for him8 ,is this    
eternal ,becoming to have  no end8 ,what
 are the springs of this great clock8   
,they are hidden2 but  however long be  
the duration of that vast hour which we 
call history1  they are at every moment 
the same4 ,the crises are inscribed on  
the  dial-face3 the hand moves on1 and  
when it has reached the twelfth hour1   
it begins another series3 it inaugurates
 a period in the history of  humanity4  

,to risk oneself1 without guide or      
compass1 on the ocean of doubt is  for a
 young brain loss and madness2 most     
adventurers on it are broken  by the    
storms1 few indeed are the discoverers  
of new lands4444 ,all our  philosophy   
has very often appeared to me a very    
,tower of ,babel4444  ,it has as its    
desolating result an infinite           
disturbance of popular  thought2 we must
 expect a vast upheaval when the        
multitude discovers  that all           
,christianity is founded on gratuitous  
affirmations4 ,the  existence of ,god1  
immortality1 the authority of the       
,bible1 ,revelation1  will for ever be  
problems4 ,i have attempted to deny     
everything3 ah1 to  destroy is easy1 but
 to construct6    ,what a marvellous    
instinct appears in this page6          
,friedrich ,nietzsche  poses the precise
 questions which are later to occupy his
 thought and  gives a foretaste of the  
energetic answers with which he is to   
trouble  men's souls3 humanity is a     

nothing1 an arbitrary production of     
,god2  an absurd ,becoming impels it    
towards recommencements without a term1 
towards eternal returns2 all sovereignty
 is referable in the last  instance to  
force1 and force is blind1 following    
only chance4444    ,friedrich ,nietzsche
 affirms nothing3 he disapproves of     
rapid  conclusions on grave subjects1   
and1 so long as he is hesitant1 likes   
to abstain from them4 ,but when he      
commits himself1 it will be with a      
whole heart4 ,meanwhile he stays his    
thought4 ,but1 despite himself1 it      
overflows at times in its effort towards
 expression4 ,very often1 he  writes1   
submission to the will of ,god and      
humility are but a mantle  thrown over  
the cowardice and pusillanimity which we
 experience at  the moment when we ought
 to face our destiny with courage4 ,all 
the  ,nietzschean ethics1 all the       
,nietzschean heroism are included in    
these  few words4    ,we have named the 
authors who were ,nietzsche's favourites

 at this  time3 ,schiller1 ,byron1      
,hlderlin--of these he preferred        
,hlderlin1  then so little known4 ,he   
had discovered him1 as one discovers1 at
 a  glance1 a friend in a crowd4 ,it was
 a singular encounter4 ,the life of     
this child1 now scarcely begun1 was to  
resemble the life of the poet  who had  
just died4 ,hlderlin1 the son of a      
clergyman1 had wished to  follow his    
father's vocation4 ,in #aghj he is      
studying theology at the  ,university of
 ,tbingen with comrades whose names are 
,hegel1 ,sendling4  ,he ceases to       
believe4 ,he comes to know ,rousseau1   
,goethe1 ,schiller1 and  the            
intoxication of romanticism4 ,he loves  
the mystery of nature1 and  the lucid   
mind of ,greece2 he loves them together1
 and dreams of uniting  their beauties  
in a ,german work4 ,he is poor1 and has 
to live the hard  life of a needy poet4 
,as a teacher1 he endures the ennui of  
wealthy  houses in which he is despised 
generally1 and once is loved too much--a

  brief rapture that ends in distress4  
,he returns to his native village1  for 
its air and its people are pleasant to  
him4 ,he works1 writes at  his leisure1 
but as it pains him to live at the      
expense of his own  family1 he goes away
 again4 ,he has some of his verses      
published2 but  the public shows no     
taste for those fine poems in which the 
genius  of an unknown ,german calls up  
the ,gods of ,olympus to people the deep
  forests of ,suabia and the ,rhineland4
 ,the unhappy ,hlderlin dreams of       
vaster creations1 but goes no farther   
than a dream3 ,germany is a world  in   
itself1 and ,greece is another2 the     
inspiration of a ,goethe is needed  to  
unite them1 and to fix in eternal words 
the triumph of ,faust1 the  ravisher of 
,helen4 ,hlderlin writes fragments of a 
poem in prose3 his  hero is a young     
,greek1 who laments over the ruin of his
 race and1  frail forerunner of         
,zarathustra1 calls for the rebirth of a
 valorous  humanity4 ,he composes three 

scenes of a tragedy1 taking for his hero
  ,empedocles1 tyrant of ,agrigentum1   
poet1 philosopher1 haughty inspirer  of 
the multitude1 a ,greek isolated among  
the ,greeks by reason of his  very      
greatness1 a magician1 who1 possessing  
all nature1 wearies of the              
satisfactions which one life can offer1 
retires to the summit of ,etna1  sends  
away his family1 his friends1 his       
appealing people1 and flings  himself1  
one evening1 at sunset1 into the crater4
    ,the work is full of power2 but     
,hlderlin abandons it4 ,his melancholy  
enfeebles and exalts him4 ,he wishes to 
leave ,germany where he has  suffered so
 much1 and to free his relatives from   
the inconvenience of  his presence4     
,employment is offered to him in        
,france1 at ,bordeaux1 and  he          
disappears4 ,six months later he returns
 home sunburnt and in rags4  ,he is     
questioned1 but he does not reply4      
,enquiries are made and it is1  with    
great difficulty1 discovered that he had

 crossed ,france on foot  under the     
,august sun4 ,his mind is gone1         
swallowed up in a torpor which  is to   
last for forty years4 ,he dies in #ahdc1
 a few months before the  birth of      
,nietzsche4 ,it might please a          
,platonist to think that the same       
genius passed from one body to the      
other4 ,surely the same ,german soul1   
romantic by nature1 and classic in      
aspiration1 broken at length by its     
desires1 animated these two men1 and    
predestined them to the same end4  ,one 
seems to surprise across the tenor of   
their lives the blind labour  of the    
race1 which1 pursuing its monotonous    
bent1 sends into the world1  from       
century to century1 like children for   
like ordeals4    ,that year1 at the     
approach of summer1 ,nietzsche suffered 
severely from  his head and eyes4 ,the  
malady was uncertain in its nature1 but 
possibly  had its origin in the nerves4 
,his holidays were spoilt4 ,but he      
arranged  to be able to stay at         

,naumburg until the end of ,august1 and 
the joys of  a prolonged leisure        
compensated him for previous vexations4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,he returned to ,pforta in a wholesome  
frame of mind4 ,he had not  resolved his
 doubts but he had explored them1 and   
could without  wronging himself become  
once more a laborious student4 ,he was  
careful  not to interrupt his reading1  
which was immense4 ,from month to month 
he sent punctually to his two friends at
 ,naumburg1 poems1 pieces of  dance and 
song music1 essays in criticism and     
philosophy4 ,but these  occupations were
 not allowed to interrupt his work as a 
student4 ,under  the direction of       
excellent masters1 he studied the       
languages and the  literatures of       
antiquity4    ,he would have been happy1
 had not the pressing questions of the  
future  and of a profession begun to    
torment him4    ,i am much preoccupied  
with the problem of my future1 he wrote 
to his  mother in ,may1 #ahfb4 ,many    

reasons1 external and internal1 make it 
appear to me troubled and uncertain4    
,doubtless ,i believe myself to be      
capable of success in whatever province 
,i select4 ,but strength fails  me to   
put aside so many of the diverse objects
 which interest me4 ,what  shall ,i     
study8 ,no idea of a decision presents  
itself to my mind1 and  yet with myself 
alone it lies to reflect and to make my 
choice4 ,what  is certain is that       
whatever ,i study ,i shall be eager to  
probe to its  depths4 ,but this fact    
only renders the choice more difficult1 
since  the question is to discover the  
pursuit to which one can give one's     
whole self4 ,and how often they deceive 
us1 these hopes of ours6 ,how  quickly  
one is put on the wrong track by a      
momentary predilection1  a family       
tradition1 a desire6 ,to choose one's   
profession is to make  one in a game of 
lotto1 in which there are many blanks1  
but only  very few prizes6 ,at this     
moment my position is uncomfortable4 ,i 

have  dispersed my interest over so many
 provinces that if ,i were to satisfy   
my tastes ,i would certainly become a   
very learned man1 but only with  great  
difficulty a professional animal4 ,my   
task is to destroy many of  my present  
tastes1 that is clear1 and1 by the same 
process1 to acquire  new ones4 ,but     
which are the unfortunates that ,i am to
 throw overboard8  ,precisely my dearest
 children1 maybe6 444    ,his last      
holidays slipped by into the beginning  
of his last year4  ,nietzsche returned  
without vexation to the old school which
 he was soon  to leave4 ,the rules had  
grown lighter1 and he had a room to     
himself1  and certain liberties4 ,he    
went out to dine on the invitation of   
this or  that professor1 and thus1 even 
in the monastery1 he had his first taste
  of the pleasures of the world4 ,at the
 house of one of his tutors he met  a   
charming girl2 he saw her again1 and1   
for the first time in his life1  fell in
 love4 ,for some days his dreams were   

all of the books which he  wished to    
lend her1 of the music which he wished  
to play with her4 ,his  emotion was     
delicious4 ,but the girl left ,pforta1  
and ,nietzsche returned  to his work4   
,the ,banquet of ,plato1 the tragedies  
of schylus1 were  his last diversions   
before he gave himself up to the        
ordinary round  of tasks4 ,sometimes he 
sat down to the piano just before the   
supper  hour2 two comrades who were to  
remain his friends1 ,gersdorff and ,paul
  ,deussen1 listening while he played   
them ,beethoven or ,schumann1 or        
improvised4    ,poetry is always by him4
 ,if he has the slightest leisure1 if   
there is  a delay of some hours in his  
work1 the lyricist reappears4 ,on       
,easter  morning he leaves school1      
returns home1 goes straight to his room1
  where he is alone1 dreams for a       
moment2 then finds himself assailed by  
a multitude of impressions4 ,he writes  
with intense pleasure after his  long   
privation4 ,and is not the page1 which  

we transcribe here1 worthy  of          
,zarathustra8    ,here ,i am on the     
evening of ,easter ,day1 seated at my   
fire1 enveloped  in a dressing-gown4    
,outside a fine rain is falling4 ,all   
about me  is solitude4 ,a sheet of white
 paper lies on my table2 ,i look at it  
in a muse1 rolling my pen between my    
fingers1 embarrassed by the             
inextricable multitude of subjects1     
feelings1 thoughts which press  forward 
and ask to be written4 ,some of them    
clamour and make a great  tumult3 they  
are young and eager for life4 ,others   
gesture and struggle  there also3 they  
are old thoughts1 well matured1 well    
clarified2  like elderly gentlemen they 
regard with displeasure the mle of      
young bloods4 ,this struggle between an 
old world and a new it is that          
determines our mood2 and the state of   
combat1 the victory of these1  the      
weakness of those1 we call at any moment
 our state of mind1 our  ,stimmung4444  
,often when ,i play the spy on my       

thoughts and feelings1  and study them  
in religious silence1 ,i am impressed as
 with the hum and  ferment of savage    
factions1 the air shudders and is torn  
across as if a  thought or an eagle had 
shot up towards the sun4    ,combat is  
the food which gives strength to the    
soul4 ,the soul has  skill to pluck out 
of battle sweet and glorious fruits4    
,impelled by the  desire for fresh      
nutriment1 it destroys2 it struggles    
fiercely--but  how gentle it can be when
 it allures the adversary1 gathers it   
close  against itself1 and wholly       
assimilates it4    ,that impression1    
which at this moment makes all your     
pleasure or all  your pain1 will1 it may
 be1 slip off in an instant1 being the  
mere  drapery of an impression still    
more profound1 will disappear before    
something older and higher4 ,thus our   
impressions grave themselves  deeper and
 deeper on our souls1 being ever unique1
 incomparable1  unspeakably young1 swift
 as the instant that brought them4      

,at this moment ,i am thinking of       
certain people whom ,i have loved2      
their names1 their faces pass before my 
mind4 ,i do not mean that  in fact their
 natures become continually more        
profound and more  beautiful2 but it is 
at least true that each of these        
reminiscences1  when ,i recover it1     
leads me on to some acuter impression1  
for  the mind cannot endure to return to
 a level which it has already  passed2  
it has a need of constant expansion4 ,i 
salute you1 dear  impressions1          
marvellous undulations of an agitated   
soul4 ,you are as  numerous as ,nature1 
but more grandiose1 for you increase and
 strive  perpetually--the plant1 on the 
contrary1 gives out to-day the same     
perfume that it gave out on the day of  
creation4 ,i no longer love  now as ,i  
loved a few weeks ago1 and ,i find      
myself in a different  disposition at   
this moment from that in which ,i was   
when ,i took up this  pen4    ,nietzsche
 returned to ,pforta to undergo his last

 examinations4 ,he all  but failed to   
pass2 and1 indeed1 in mathematics he did
 not obtain  the required number of     
marks4 ,but the professors1 overlooking 
this  inadequacy1 granted him his       
diploma4 ,he left his old school1 and   
left  it with pain4 ,his mind easily    
adjusted itself to the places where it  
lived1 and clung with equal force to    
happy memories and to melancholy        
impressions4    ,the break-up of the    
school was a prescribed ceremony4 ,the  
assembled  students prayed together for 
the last time2 then those who were about
  to leave presented their masters with 
a written testimony of gratitude4       
,friedrich ,nietzsche's letter moves one
 by its pathetic and solemn  accent4    
,first he addresses himself to ,god3 ,to
 ,him who has given  me all1 my first   
thanks4 ,what offering should ,i bring  
,him1 if not  the warm gratitude of my  
heart1 confident of ,his love8 ,it is   
,he who  has permitted me to live this  
glorious hour of my life4 ,may ,he1 the 

,all-,bountiful1 continue to watch over 
me4 ,then he thanks the ,king1  through 
whose goodness ,i entered this          
school4442 him and my country  ,i hope  
one day to honour4 ,such is my resolve4 
,then he speaks to his  venerated       
masters1 to his dear comrades1 and      
particularly to you1 my  dear friends3  
what shall ,i say to you at the instant 
of parting8 ,i  understand how it is    
that the plant when torn from the soil  
which has  nourished it can only take   
root slowly and with difficulty in a    
foreign  soil4 ,shall ,i be able to     
disaccustom myself to you8 ,shall ,i be 
able to  accustom myself to another     
environment8 ,adieu6    ,these long     
effusions were not enough1 and he wrote1
 for himself alone1  certain lines in   
which they are repeated3          ,so be
 it--it is the way of the world3        
,let life deal with me as with so many  
others3      ,they set forth1 their     
frail skiff is shattered1      ,and no  
man can tell us the spot where it sank4 

,adieu1 adieu6 the ship's bell calls me1
      ,and as ,i linger the shipmaster  
urges me on4      ,and now to confront  
bravely waves1 storms1 reefs4           
,adieu1 adieu6444            ,,chapter  
,,ii        ,,years ,,of ,,youth        
,in the middle of ,october1 #ahfb1      
,nietzsche left ,naumburg for the       
,university of ,bonn1 accompanied by    
,paul ,deussen1 his comrade1 and a      
cousin of the latter4 ,the young people 
did not hurry4 ,they made a  halt on the
 banks of the ,rhine4 ,they were gay1 a 
little irresponsible  even1 in their    
sudden enjoyment of complete liberty4   
,paul ,deussen1  to-day a professor at  
the ,university of ,kiel1 tells us of   
those days of  exuberant laughter with  
all the satisfaction of a very good     
bourgeois  who brightens up at the      
memory of his far-off pranks4    ,the   
three friends rode on horseback about   
the country-side4  ,nietzsche--perhaps  
he had appreciated too highly the beer  
supplied  at the neighbouring inn--was  

less interested in the beauty of the    
landscape than in the long ears of his  
mount4 ,he measured them  carefully4    
,it's a donkey1 he affirmed4 ,no1       
replied ,deussen and the  other friend1 
it's a horse4 ,nietzsche measured again 
and maintained1  with praiseworthy      
firmness3 ,it's a donkey4 ,they came    
back at the  fall of day4 ,they shouted1
 perorated1 and generally scandalised   
the  little town4 ,nietzsche warbled    
love songs1 and girls1 drawn by the     
noise to their windows and half-hidden  
behind curtains1 peeped out at  the     
cavalcade4 ,finally an honest citizen1  
who had left his house for  the express 
purpose1 cried shame on the roisterers1 
and1 not without  threats1 put them back
 on the road to their inn4    ,the three
 friends installed themselves at ,bonn4 
,the ,universities  enjoyed at that time
 an uncommon prestige4 ,they alone had  
remained  free1 and maintained in a     
divided ,germany a powerful life in a   
weakly  body4 ,they had their history1  

which was glorious1 and their legends1  
which were more glorious still4 ,every  
one knew how the young scholars  of     
,leipsic1 of ,berlin1 of ,jena1 of      
,heidelberg1 and of ,bonn1 kindled  by  
the exhortations of their teachers1 had 
armed themselves against  ,napoleon for 
the salvation of the ,german race2 every
 one also knew that  these valiant      
fellows had fought1 and were still      
fighting1 against  despots and priests  
to lay the foundations of ,german       
liberty2 and  the nation loved these    
grave professors1 these tumultuous      
youths who  represented the ,fatherland 
in its most noble aspect1 the laborious 
,fatherland1 armed for labour4 ,there   
was not a small boy but dreamt  of his  
student years as the finest time of his 
life2 there was not a  tender girl but  
dreamt of some pure and noble student2  
and among all  the dreams of dreamy     
,germany there was none more alluring   
than that  of the ,universities4 ,she   
was infinitely proud of those           

illustrious  schools of knowledge1      
bravery1 virtue1 and joy4 ,their arrival
 at ,bonn  moved ,nietzsche and his     
comrades very deeply4 ,i arrived at     
,bonn1  says one of the numerous essays 
in which ,nietzsche recounts his own    
life to himself1 with the proud sense of
 an inexhaustibly rich future  before   
me4 ,he was conscious of his power1 and 
impatient to make  the acquaintance of  
his contemporaries1 with whom1 and on   
whom1 his  thoughts were to work4       
,most of the students at ,bonn lived    
grouped together in associations4       
,nietzsche hesitated a little before    
following this custom4 ,but from  fear  
of too unsociable a withdrawal should he
 not impose upon himself  some          
obligation of comradeship1 he joined one
 of these ,vereine4 ,it  was only after 
ripe reflection that ,i took this step1 
which1 given  my character1 seemed to me
 an almost necessary one1 he wrote to   
his  friend ,gersdorff4    ,during the  
next few weeks he allowed himself to be 

absorbed by the  course of his new life4
 ,no doubt he never touched either beer 
or  tobacco4 ,but learned discussions2  
boatings upon the river2 hours of       
light-headedness in the riverside inns1 
and1 at evening on the way  home1       
improvised choruses--,nietzsche made the
 best of these simple  pleasures4 ,he   
even wished to fight a duel so that he  
might become a  finished student1 and1  
lacking an enemy1 chose for his         
adversary an  agreeable comrade4 ,i am  
new this year1 said he to him1 and ,i   
want to  fight a duel4 ,i rather like   
you4 ,let us fight4 ,willingly1 said the
  other4 ,nietzsche received a rapier   
thrust4    ,it was impossible that such 
a life should content him for long4 ,the
  mood of infantile gaiety soon passed  
away4 ,at the beginning of ,december  he
 withdrew a little from this life4      
,disquiet was again gaining on him4     
,the festival of ,christmas and that of 
the ,new ,year1 passed far from  his own
 people1 were causes of sadness4 ,a     

letter to his mother lets us  divine his
 emotion3    ,i like anniversaries1 the 
feast of ,st4 ,sylvester or birthdays4  
,to them  we owe those hours in which   
the soul1 brought to a pause1 discovers 
a fragment of its own existence4 ,no    
doubt it is in our own power to         
experience such moments more frequently2
 but we allow ourselves too  few4 ,they 
favour the birth of decisive            
resolutions4 ,at such moments it  is my 
custom to take up again the manuscripts1
 the letters1 of the year  that has just
 gone by1 and to write for myself alone 
the reflections  which come to me4      
,during an hour or two1 one is1 as it   
were1 raised  above time1 drawn out of  
one's own existence4 ,one acquires a    
view of  the past that is brief and     
certain1 one resolves with a more       
valiant  and a firmer heart to strike   
forward on the road once more4 ,and when
  good wishes and family benedictions   
fall like soft rain on the soul's       
intents--,ah6 that is fine6    ,of the  

reflections written by the young student
 for himself alone  we possess some     
traces4 ,he reproaches himself for      
wasted hours1 and  decides upon a more  
austere and concentrated life4          
,nevertheless1 when  the time came for  
him to break with his companions1 he    
hesitated4  ,they were somewhat coarse1 
it is true1 but yet young and brave1    
like  himself4 ,should he keep in with  
them8 ,a delicate fear troubled him2  he
 might1 as the result of long           
indulgence1 accustom himself to their   
low way of living1 and so come to feel  
it less acutely4 ,habit is a  powerful  
force1 he wrote to his friend           
,gersdorff4 ,one has already  lost much 
when one has lost one's instinctive     
distrust of the evil  things which      
present themselves in daily life4 ,he   
took a third course1  a very difficult  
course1 and decided that he would talk  
frankly to his  friends1 that he would  
try to exercise an influence on them1 to
 ennoble  their lives4 ,thus he would   

commence the apostolate which he dreamed
 of  extending one day over the whole of
 ,germany4 ,he proposed therefore a     
reform of the rules of the association2 
he called for the suppression1  or at   
least for a reduction1 of those smoking 
and drinking parties  which provoked his
 disgust4    ,the proposal met with no  
success4 ,the preacher was silenced1 and
 set  aside4 ,nietzsche1 prompt with    
sarcasm1 avenged himself with words     
which  did not win him any love4 ,then  
he knew the worst of solitudes1 the     
solitude of the vanquished4 ,he had not 
retired from the world2 he had  been    
asked to leave it4 ,he was proud1 and   
his stay at ,bonn became a  misery4 ,he 
worked energetically and joylessly4 ,he 
studied philology1  which did not       
interest him4 ,it was an exercise which 
he had taken up  to discipline his mind1
 to correct his tendencies towards a    
vague  mysticism and dispersion of      
thought4 ,but it pleased him in no way1 
this minute analysis of ,greek texts the

 sudden beauty of which he felt  by     
instinct4 ,ritschl1 his master in       
philology1 dissuaded him from any  other
 study4 ,if you wish to become a strong 
man1 he said1 acquire  a speciality4    
,nietzsche obeyed4 ,he renounced the    
idea1 which he had  entertained1 of     
making a deep study of theology4 ,in    
,december he had  composed some         
melodies3 now he decided that he would  
not1 for a whole  year1 allow himself   
the enjoyment of so vain a pleasure2 he 
wished to  submit1 and to break himself 
in to ennui4 ,he was recompensed for his
  pains1 and was able to write a work   
which ,ritschl commended for its  rigour
 and sagacity4    ,a poor pleasure6 ,it 
was thought that ,nietzsche needed4 ,he 
listened  to the talk of the students4  
,some repeated without any ardour of    
conviction the formulas of ,hegel1 of   
,fichte1 of ,schelling3 those great     
systems had lost all their power to     
stimulate4 ,others1 preferring  the     
positive sciences1 read the             

materialistic treatises of ,vogt and    
,bchner4 ,nietzsche read these          
treatises1 but did not re-read them4    
,he was a poet and had need of lyricism1
 intuition1 and mystery2 he  could not  
be contented with the clear and cold    
world of science4 ,those  same young    
people1 who called themselves           
materialists1 also called  themselves   
democrats2 they vaunted the humanitarian
 philosophy of  ,feuerbach2 but         
,nietzsche was again too much of a poet 
and1 by education  or by temperament1   
too much of an aristocrat to interest   
himself in  the politics of the masses4 
,he conceived beauty1 virtue1 force1    
heroism1 as desirable ends1 and he      
desired them for himself4 ,but he had   
never desired a happy life1 a smooth and
 comfortable life3 therefore  he could  
not interest himself in men's happiness1
 in the poor ideal of  moderate joy and 
moderate suffering4    ,little satisfied
 as he was by all the tendencies of his 
contemporaries1  what joy could he      

experience8 ,repelled by a base         
politics1 a nerveless  metaphysics1 a   
narrow science1 whither could he direct 
his mind8  ,certainly he had his clear  
and well-marked preferences4 ,he was    
certain  of his tastes4 ,he loved the   
,greek poets1 he loved ,bach1           
,beethoven1  ,byron4 ,but what was the  
drift of his own thought8    ,he had no 
answer to the problems of life1 and now 
in his twenty-first1  as formerly in his
 seventeenth year1 preferring silence to
 uncertain  speech1 he kept himself     
under a discipline of silence4 ,in his  
writings1  his letters1 his             
conversation1 he was always on his      
guard4 ,his friend  ,deussen suggested  
that prayer has no real virtue1 and only
 gives to  the mind an illusory         
confidence4 ,that is one of the         
asininities of  ,feuerbach1 ,nietzsche  
replied tartly4 ,the same ,deussen was  
speaking  on another occasion of the    
,life of ,jesus which ,strauss had just 
published in a new edition1 and         

expressing approval of the sense  of the
 book4 ,nietzsche refused to pronounce  
upon the subject4 ,the  question is     
important1 said he4 ,if you sacrifice   
,jesus1 you must also  sacrifice ,god4  
,these words would seem to show that    
,nietzsche was still  attached to       
,christianity4 ,a letter addressed to   
his sister removes this  impression4    
,the young girl1 who had remained a     
believer1 wrote to him3  ,one must      
always seek truth at the most painful   
side of things4 ,now  one does not      
believe in the ,christian mysteries     
without difficulty4  ,therefore the     
,christian mysteries are true4 ,she at  
once received from  her brother a reply 
which betrays1 by the harshness of its  
language1  the unhappy condition of his 
soul4    ,do you think that it is really
 so difficult to receive and accept all 
the beliefs in which we have been       
brought up1 which little by little  have
 struck deep roots into our lives1 which
 are held as true by all  our own kith  

and kin1 and a vast multitude of other  
excellent people1  and which1 whether   
they be true or not1 do assuredly       
console and  elevate humanity8 ,do you  
think that such acceptance is more      
difficult  than a struggle against the  
whole mass of one's habits1 waged in    
doubt  and loneliness1 and darkened by  
every kind of spiritual depression1 nay 
more1 by remorse2 a struggle which      
leaves a man often in despair1 but      
always loyal to his eternal quest1 the  
discovery of the new paths that  lead to
 the ,true1 the ,beautiful1 and the     
,good8    ,what will be the end of it   
all8 ,shall we recover those ideas of   
,god1  the world1 and redemption which  
are familiar to us8 ,to the genuine     
seeker must not the result of his       
labours appear as something wholly      
indifferent8 ,what is it we are seeking8
 ,rest and happiness8 ,no1 nothing  but 
,truth1 however evil and terrible it may
 be4    444 ,so are the ways of men     
marked out2 if you desire peace of soul 

and  happiness1 believe2 if you would be
 a disciple of ,truth1 enquire 444      
,nietzsche tried to endure this painful 
life4 ,he walked in the country4  ,alone
 in his room he studied the history of  
art and the life of  ,beethoven4 ,they  
were vain efforts2 he could not forget  
the people of  ,bonn4 ,twice he went to 
listen to the musical festivals at      
,cologne4 ,but  each return added to his
 malaise4 ,in the end he left the town4 
,i left ,bonn like a fugitive4 ,at      
midnight ,i was on the quay of the      
,rhine accompanied by my friend ,m4 ,i  
was waiting for the steamship which     
comes from ,cologne1 and ,i did not     
experience the slightest impression  of 
pain at the moment of leaving a         
country-side so flourishing1 a  place so
 beautiful1 and a band of young         
comrades4 ,on the contrary1 ,i  was     
actually flying from them4 ,i do not    
wish to begin again to judge  them      
unjustly1 as ,i have often done4 ,but my
 nature could find no  satisfaction     

among them4 ,i was still too timidly    
wrapt up in myself1  and ,i had not the 
strength to stick to my rle amid so many
 influences  which were exercising      
themselves on me4 ,everything obtruded  
on me1 and  ,i could not succeed in     
dominating my surroundings4444 ,i felt  
in an  oppressive manner that ,i had    
done nothing for science1 and little for
  life1 and that ,i had only clogged    
myself with faults4 ,the steamer came1  
and took me off4 ,i stayed on the bridge
 in the damp wet night1 and as  ,i      
watched the little lights which marked  
the river bank at ,bonn slowly          
disappear1 everything conspired to give 
me the impression of flight4    ,he went
 to spend a fortnight at ,berlin with a 
comrade whose father was  a rich        
bourgeois1 ready with his censure and   
his regrets4 ,prussia is  lost1 this old
 man affirmed2 the ,liberals and the    
,jews have destroyed  everything with   
their babblings 444 they have destroyed 
tradition1  confidence1 thought itself4 

,young ,nietzsche welcomed these bitter 
words4 ,he judged ,germany from the     
students of ,bonn and saw his own  sick 
discomfort everywhere4 ,at the concert  
he suffered from being in  community of 
impressions with a low public4 ,in the  
cafs whither his  hosts took him he     
would neither drink nor smoke1 nor did  
he address a  word to the people who    
were introduced to him4           99    
99       99       99       99    ,he was
 determined not to see ,bonn again1 and 
decided to go to ,leipsic  to complete  
his studies4 ,he arrived in the unknown 
town and at once  inscribed himself on  
the roll of the ,university4 ,the day   
was a  festival4 ,a ,rector harangued   
the students and told them that on that 
same date a hundred years before ,goethe
 had come to inscribe himself  among    
their elders4 ,genius has its own ways1 
the prudent official  was quick to add1 
and it is dangerous to follow them4     
,goethe was not  a good student2 do not 
take him for model during your years of 

study4  ,hou1 hou6 roared the laughing  
young men2 and ,friedrich ,nietzsche1   
lost in the crowd1 was glad at the      
chance that had brought him thither  at 
the moment of such an anniversary4      
,he resumed work1 burnt some verses     
which had remained among his papers1    
and disciplined himself by studying     
philology according to the most         
rigorous methods4 ,alas1 weariness at   
once laid hold of him again4 ,he  feared
 a year similar to that at ,bonn1 and   
one long complaint filled  his letters  
and notebooks4 ,soon there was an end1  
and this is the event  which delivered  
his soul4 ,on a bookstall he picked up  
and turned over  the pages of a work by 
an author then unknown to him3 it was   
,arthur  ,schopenhauer's ,the ,world as 
,will and ,idea4 ,the vigour of a       
phrase1  the precision and flair of a   
word struck him4 ,i do not know1 he     
wrote1 what demon whispered to me1 ',go 
home and take that book with  you4'     
,hardly had ,i entered my room when ,i  

opened the treasure which ,i  had thus  
acquired1 and began to submit myself to 
the influence of that  energetic and    
sombre genius4    ,the introduction to  
the book is grandiose3 it consists of   
the three  prefaces which the neglected 
author wrote at long intervals1 for each
  of the three editions of #ahah1 #ahdd1
 and #ahei4 ,they are haughty and       
bitter1 but in no way unquiet2 rich in  
profound thoughts1 and in the  sharpest 
sarcasm2 the lyricism of a ,goethe shows
 itself in union with  the cutting      
realism of a ,bismarck4 ,they are       
beautiful with that classic  and        
measured beauty which is rare in ,german
 literature4 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche was 
conquered by their loftiness1 their     
artistic feeling1  their entire liberty4
 ,i think1 wrote ,schopenhauer1 that the
 truth  which a man has discovered1 or  
the light which he has projected on some
  obscure point1 may1 one day1 strike   
another thinking being1 may move1       
rejoice1 and console him2 and it is to  

this man one speaks1 as other  spirits  
like to ours have spoken to us and      
consoled us in this desert  of life4    
,nietzsche was moved3 it seemed to him  
that a strayed genius  was addressing   
him alone4    ,the world which          
,schopenhauer describes is formidable4  
,no ,providence  guides it1 no ,god     
inhabits it1 inflexible laws draw it in 
chains  through time and space2 but its 
eternal essence is indifferent to  laws1
 a stranger to reason3 it is that blind 
,will which urges us into  life4 ,all   
the phenomena of the universe are rays  
from that ,will1 just  as all the days  
of the year are rays from a single sun4 
,that ,will is  invariable1 it is       
infinite2 divided1 compressed in space4 
,it nourishes  itself upon itself1 since
 outside of it there is nothing1 and    
since  it is a famishing ,will4         
,therefore1 it tortures itself and      
suffers4  ,life is a desire1 desire is  
an unending torment4 ,the good souls of 
the  nineteenth century believe in the  

dignity of man1 in ,progress4 ,they are 
the dupes of a superstition4 ,the ,will 
ignores men1 the last comers on  the    
earth who live on an average thirty     
years4 ,progress is a stupid  invention 
of the philosophers1 under the          
inspiration of the crowd3  ,will1 an    
offence to reason1 has neither origin   
nor end2 it is absurd1  and the universe
 which it animates is without sense4444 
,friedrich ,nietzsche read greedily the 
two thousand pages of this  metaphysical
 pamphlet1 which had struck at all the  
nave beliefs of  the nineteenth century 
with terrible force1 and had struck from
 the  head of puerile humanity all its  
crown of dreams4 ,he experienced a      
strange and almost startling emotion4   
,schopenhauer condemns life1 but  so    
vehement an energy is in him that in his
 accusing work it is yet  life that one 
finds and admires4 ,for fourteen days   
,nietzsche scarcely  slept2 he went to  
bed at two o'clock1 rose at six1 spent  
his days  between his book and the      

piano1 meditated1 and1 in the intervals 
of  his meditations1 composed a ,kyrie4 
,his soul was full to the brim3 it  had 
found its truth4 ,that truth was hard1  
but what matter8 ,for a long  time his  
instinct had warned and prepared him for
 this4 ,what do we  seek8 he had written
 to his sister4 ,is it repose or        
happiness8 ,no1  truth alone1 however   
terrible and evil it may be4 ,he        
recognised the  sombre universe of      
,schopenhauer4 ,he had had a            
presentiment of it in  the reveries of  
his boyhood1 in his readings of schylus1
 of ,byron1  and of ,goethe2 he had     
caught a glimpse of it across the       
symbolism  of ,christianity4 ,what was  
this evil ,will1 the slave of its       
desires1  but under another name1 that  
fallen nature pictured by the ,apostle1 
yet more tragic1 now that it was        
deprived of the divine ray which a      
,redeemer had left to it8 ,the young    
man1 in alarm at his inexperience  and  
his temerity1 had recoiled before so    

formidable a vision4 ,now  he dared to  
look it in the face4 ,he no longer      
feared1 for he was no  longer alone4 ,by
 trusting in ,schopenhauer's wisdom he  
satisfied at  last one of the           
profoundest of his desires--he had a    
master4 ,he struck  even a graver note  
in giving to ,schopenhauer the supreme  
name in  which his orphaned childhood   
had enshrined a mystery of strength and 
tenderness--he called him his father4   
,he was exalted2 then1 suddenly  swept  
by a desolating regret4 ,six years      
earlier ,schopenhauer still  lived2 he  
might have approached him1 listened to  
him1 told him of his  veneration4       
,destiny had separated them6 ,intense   
joy mixed with intense  sorrow          
overwhelmed him2 and he was shattered by
 a nervous excitement4  ,he grew        
alarmed1 and it needed an energetic     
effort on his part to bring  him back to
 human life1 to the work of the day1 to 
the sleep of the  night4    ,young      
people experience a need to admire1 it  

is a form of love4 ,when  they admire1  
when they love1 all the servitudes of   
life become easy to  bear4 ,it was as   
,schopenhauer's disciple that ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche knew  his first happiness4  
,philology caused him less weariness4   
,some pupils  of ,ritschl1 his comrades1
 founded a society of studies4 ,he      
joined  with them1 and1 on the #ahth of 
,january1 #ahff1 some weeks after his   
great reading of ,schopenhauer1 he      
expounded to them the result of his     
researches on the manuscripts and the   
vari lectiones of ,theognis4  ,he spoke 
with vigour and freedom1 and was        
applauded4 ,nietzsche liked  success and
 tasted it with the simple vanity which 
he always avowed4 ,he  was happy4 ,when 
he brought his memoir to ,ritschl and   
was congratulated  very warmly upon it1 
he was happier yet4 ,he wished to       
become1 and in  fact did become1 his    
master's favourite pupil4    ,no doubt  
he had not ceased to consider philology 
as an inferior duty1  as a mere         

intellectual exercise and means of      
livelihood1 and his soul  was hardly    
satisfied2 but what vast soul is ever   
satisfied8 ,often1  after a day of      
parching labour1 he was melancholy1 but 
what young and  ardent soul is ignorant 
of melancholy8 ,at least his sadness had
 ceased  to be mournful1 and a fragment 
of a letter like the following1 which   
opens with a complaint and ends in      
enthusiastic emotion1 suggests an       
excessive plenitude rather than pain4   
,three things are my consolations1 he   
wrote in ,april1 #ahff4 ,rare           
consolations6 ,my ,schopenhauer1 the    
music of ,schumann1 and lastly  solitary
 walks4 ,yesterday a heavy storm        
gathered in the sky2 ,i hastened        
towards a neighbouring hill 7it is      
called ,leusch1 can you explain the     
word to me871 ,i climbed it2 at the     
summit ,i found a hut and a man1 who1   
watched by his children1 was cutting the
 throats of two lambs4 ,the  storm broke
 in all its power1 discharging thunder  

and hail1 and ,i felt  inexpressibly    
well1 full of strength and lan1 and ,i  
realised with a  wonderful clearness    
that to understand ,nature one must1 as 
,i had just  done1 go to her to be      
saved1 far from all worries and all our 
heavy  constraints4 ,what mattered to   
me1 then1 man and his troubled ,will6   
,what  mattered to me then the ,eternal 
,thou ,shalt and ,thou ,shalt ,not6 ,how
  different are lightning1 storm1 and   
hail1 free powers without ethics6  ,how 
happy they are1 how strong they are1    
those pure wills which the  mind has not
 troubled6    ,at the beginning of the  
summer of #ahff ,nietzsche was spending 
all  his days in the library of         
,leipsic1 engaged in deciphering        
difficult  ,byzantine manuscripts4      
,suddenly he allowed his attention to be
  distracted by a spectacle of a        
grandiose kind2 ,prussia1 discreetly    
active for fifty years1 reappeared in a 
warlike rle4 ,frederick the  ,great's   
kingdom once more found a chief3        

,bismarck1 the passionate1  irascible1  
and crafty aristocrat who wished to     
realise at last the  dream of all       
,germans and to found an empire above   
all the little  ,states4 ,he quarrelled 
with ,austria1 whom ,moltke humiliated  
after twenty  days of fighting4 ,i am   
finishing my ,theognidea for the        
,rheinisches  ,museum during the week of
 ,sadowa1 we read in a memorandum made  
by  ,nietzsche4 ,he did not stop his    
work1 but political preoccupations      
entered into his thoughts4 ,he felt the 
pride of national victory2 he           
recognised himself as a ,prussian       
patriot1 and a little astonishment  was 
mixed with his pleasure3 ,for me this is
 a wholly new and rare  enjoyment1 he   
writes4 ,then he reflected on this      
victory1 and discerned  its             
consequences1 which he enunciated with  
lucidity4    ,we hold the cards2 but as 
long as ,paris remains the centre of    
,europe1  things will remain in the old 
condition4 ,it is inevitable that we    

should make an effort to upset this     
equilibrium1 or at least to try to      
upset it4 ,if we fail1 then let us hope 
to fall1 each of us1 on a field  of     
battle1 struck by some ,french shell4   
,he is not troubled by this view of the 
future1 which satisfies his  taste for  
the sombre and the pathetic4 ,on the    
contrary1 he grows  animated and is     
ready to admire4    ,at certain moments1
 he writes1 ,i make an effort to free my
 opinions  from the turn which my       
momentary passion and my natural        
sympathies for  ,prussia give them1 and 
then what ,i see is this3 an action     
conducted  with grandeur by a ,state1 by
 a chief2 an action carved out of the   
true  substance of which history is     
really made2 assuredly by no means      
moral2  but1 for him who contemplates   
it1 sufficiently edifying and beautiful4
    ,was it not a similar sentiment     
which he had experienced on that hill   
with the queer name1 ,leusch1 on a      
stormy day1 by the side of that  peasant

 who was cutting the throats of two     
lambs with such calm  simplicity8 ,free 
powers1 without ethics6 ,how happy they 
are1 how  strong1 those pure ,wills     
which the mind has not troubled6        
99       99       99       99       99  
,the second year which he passed at     
,leipsic was perhaps the happiest  of   
his life4 ,he enjoyed to the full that  
intellectual security which  his        
adhesion to his master ,schopenhauer    
assured him4 ,you ask me for  a         
vindication of ,schopenhauer1 he wrote  
to his friend ,deussen2 ,i  will simply 
say this to you3 ,i look life in the    
face1 with courage and  liberty1 since  
my feet have found firm soil4 ,the      
waters of trouble1 to  express myself in
 images1 do not sweep me out of my road1
 because they  come no higher than my   
head2 ,i am at home in those obscure    
regions4    ,it was a year of composure 
and of comradeship4 ,he did not worry   
himself about public affairs4 ,prussia1 
on the morrow of her victory1  fell back

 to the low level of everyday life4 ,the
 babblings of  the tribune and the press
 succeeded the action of great men1 and 
,nietzsche turned away from it all4     
,what a multitude of mediocre  brains   
are occupied with things of real        
importance and real effect6  he writes4 
,it is an alarming thought4 ,perhaps he 
regretted having  allowed himself to be 
seduced by a dramatic incident4         
,nevertheless  he knew--,schopenhauer   
had taught him--that history and        
politics are  illusory games4 ,he had   
not forgotten2 he wrote in order to     
affirm  his thought1 and to define the  
mediocre meaning and value of human     
agitations4    ,what is history but the 
endless struggle for existence of       
innumerable  and diverse interests8 ,the
 great 'ideas' in which many people     
believe  that they find the directing   
forces of this combat are but           
reflections  which pass across the      
surface of the swelling sea4 ,they have 
no action  on the sea2 but it often     

happens that they embellish the waves   
and  thus deceive him who contemplates  
them4 ,it matters little whether this   
light emanates from a moon1 a sun1 or a 
lighthouse2 the waves will be a  little 
more or a little less lit up--that is   
all4    ,his enthusiasm had no other    
object but art and thought1 the study of
  the genius of antiquity4 ,he conceived
 a passion for his master ,ritschl3     
,that man is my scientific conscience1  
said he4 ,he took part in the  friendly 
soires of the ,verein1 spoke1 and       
discussed4 ,he planned more             
undertakings than he had time for1 and  
then proposed them to his  friends4 ,he 
elected to study the sources of         
,diogenes ,laertius--that  compiler who 
has preserved for us such precious      
information with regard  to the         
philosophers of ,greece4 ,he dreamed of 
composing a memoir which  should be     
sagacious and rigorous1 but also        
beautiful3 ,all important  work1 he     
wrote to ,deussen1 you must have felt it

 yourself1 exercises  a moral influence4
 ,the effort to concentrate a given     
material1 and to  find a harmonious form
 for it1 ,i compare to a stone thrown   
into our  inner life3 the first circle  
is narrow1 but it multiplies itself1 and
  other more ample circles disengage    
themselves from it4    ,in ,april       
,nietzsche collected and systematised   
his notes1 wholly  preoccupied with this
 concern for beauty4 ,he did not wish to
 write  in the manner of scholars who   
misunderstand the savour of words1 the  
equilibrium of phrases4 ,he wished to   
write1 in the difficult and  classical  
sense of the word4    ,the scales fall  
from my eyes1 he wrote2 ,i have lived   
too long in  a state of innocence as    
regards style4 ,the categorical         
imperative1  ',thou shalt write1 it is  
necessary that thou writest1' has       
awakened  me4 ,i have tried to write    
well ,it is a thing which ,i had        
forgotten  since leaving ,pforta1 and   
all at once my pen lost its shape       

between  my fingers4 ,i was impotent1   
out of temper4 ,the principles of style 
enunciated by ,lessing1 ,lichtenberger1 
,schopenhauer were scolding in  my ears4
 ,at least ,i remembered1 and it was my 
consolation1 that these  three          
authorities agreed in saying that it is 
difficult to write well1  that no man   
naturally writes well1 and that one     
must1 in order to  acquire a style1 work
 strenuously1 hew blocks of hard        
wood4444 ,above  all1 ,i wish to        
imprison in my style some joyous        
spirits2 ,i shall apply  myself to it as
 ,i apply myself upon the keyboard1 and 
,i hope to play  at length1 not only the
 pieces that ,i have learnt1 but free   
fantasies1  free as far as possible1    
though always logical and beautiful4    
,a sentimental joy completed his        
happiness3 he found a friend4 ,nietzsche
  had long been faithful to the comrades
 of his early childhood3 one  was dead1 
and the other1 their lives and          
occupations having been  separate for   

ten years1 was becoming a stranger to   
him4 ,at ,pforta he  had been fond of   
the studious ,deussen1 the faithful     
,gersdorff3 the  one was studying at    
,tbingen1 the other at ,berlin4 ,he     
wrote to them  with much zeal1 but an   
exchange of letters could not satisfy   
that need  for friendship which was an  
instinct of his soul4 ,finally1 he made 
the acquaintance of ,erwin ,rohde1 a    
vigorous and perspicacious spirit2  he  
liked him at once2 he admired him1 for  
he was incapable of loving  without     
admiring2 he adorned him with the       
sublime qualities with  which his soul  
overflowed4 ,every evening1 after       
laborious hours1 the  young men came    
together4 ,they walked or rode1 talking 
incessantly4 ,i  experience for the     
first time1 wrote ,nietzsche1 the       
pleasure of a  friendship founded on a  
moral and philosophic groundwork4       
,ordinarily1  we dispute strongly1 for  
we are in disagreement on a multitude of
  points4 ,but it suffices for our      

conversation to take a more profound    
turn2 and then at once our dissonant    
thoughts are silenced1 and nothing      
resounds between us but a peaceable and 
total accord4    ,they had promised each
 other that they would spend their first
 holiday  weeks together4 ,at the       
beginning of ,august1 being both free1  
they left  ,leipsic and sought isolation
 in walks in a tramp on the frontiers of
  ,bohemia4 ,it is a region of wooded   
heights1 which recalls1 with less       
grandeur1 the ,vosges4 ,nietzsche and   
,rohde led the life of wandering        
philosophers4 ,their luggage was light1 
they had no books1 they walked  from inn
 to inn1 and1 throughout the days       
unspoilt by a care1 they  talked about  
,schopenhauer1 about ,beethoven1 about  
,germany1 about  ,greece4 ,they judged  
and condemned1 with youthful            
promptitude2 they were  never weary of  
defaming their science4 ,oh childishness
 of erudition6  they said4 ,it was a    
poet1 it was ,goethe1 who discovered the

 genius  of ,greece4 ,he it was who held
 it up to the ,germans1 absorbed always 
on the confines of a dream1 as an       
example of rich and clear beauty1 a     
model of perfect form4 ,the professors  
followed him4 ,they have explained  the 
ancient world1 and1 under their myopic  
eyes1 that wonderful work  of art has   
become the object of a science4 ,what is
 there that they  have not studied8 ,in 
,tacitus1 the ablative case1 the        
evolution of  the gerund in the ,latin  
authors of ,africa2 they have analysed  
to the  last detail the language of the 
,iliad1 determined in what respect  it  
is connected with this other and that   
other ,aryan language4 ,what  does it   
all signify8 ,the beauty of the ,iliad  
is unique2 it was felt  by ,goethe1 and 
they ignore it4 ,we shall stop this     
game2 that will be  our task4 ,we shall 
go back to the tradition of ,goethe2 we 
shall not  dissect the ,greek genius1 we
 shall revitalise it1 and teach men to  
feel it4 ,for long enough the scholars  

have carried out their minute           
enquiries4 ,it is time to make an end4  
,the work of our generation shall  be   
definitive2 our generation shall enter  
into possession of the grand  legacy    
transmitted by the past4 ,and science1  
too1 must serve progress4    ,after a   
month of conversation1 the young men    
left the forest and went  to ,meiningen1
 a little town in which the musicians of
 the ,pessimist  school were giving a   
series of concerts4 ,a letter of        
,friedrich  ,nietzsche's has preserved a
 chronicle of the performance4 ,the ,abb
  ,liszt presided1 he wrote4 ,they      
played a symphonic poem by ,hans von    
,blow1 ,nirvana1 an explanation of which
 was given on the programme  in maxims  
from ,schopenhauer4 ,but the music was  
awful4 ,liszt1 on the  contrary1        
succeeded remarkably in finding the     
character of the ,indian  ,nirvana in   
some of his religious compositions2 for 
example1 in his  ,beatitudes4 ,nietzsche
 and ,rohde separated on the morrow of  

these  festivals1 and returned to their 
families4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,alone at         
,naumburg1 ,nietzsche took up work of   
various kinds and read  widely4 ,he     
studied the works of the young ,german  
philosophers1  ,hartmann1 ,dhring1      
,lange1 ,bahnsen2 he admired them all1  
with the  indulgence of a               
brother-in-arms1 and dreamt of making   
their  acquaintance and collaborating   
with them in a review which they should 
found together4 ,he projected an essay1 
perhaps a sort of manifesto  upon the   
man whom he wished to give to his       
contemporaries as a master1             
,schopenhauer4 ,of all the philosophers1
 he writes1 he is the truest4  ,no false
 sensibility shackles his mind4 ,he is  
brave1 it is the first  quality of a    
chief4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche notes      
rapidly3 ,ours is the  age of           
,schopenhauer3 a sane pessimism founded 
upon the ideal2 the  seriousness of     
manly strength1 the taste for what is   

simple and sane4  ,schopenhauer is the  
philosopher of a revived classicism1 of 
a ,germanic  ,hellenism4444    ,he was  
working ardently1 and then1 suddenly1   
his life was turned upside  down4 ,he   
had been exempted from military service 
on account of his very  short sight4    
,but the ,prussian army in #ahfg had    
great need of men2 and  he was enrolled 
in a regiment of artillery1 in barracks 
at ,naumburg4    ,nietzsche made the    
best of this vexation4 ,it was always a 
maxim of  his that a man should know how
 to utilise the chances of his life1    
extracting from them1 as an artist does1
 the elements of a richer  destiny4     
,therefore1 since he had to be a        
soldier1 he resolved that  he would     
learn his new trade4 ,the military      
obligation had1 in this  time of war1 a 
solemnity which it lacks to-day4        
,nietzsche thought it  a good and       
healthy thing that he should shut his   
dictionaries and  get on horseback2 that
 he should become an artilleryman and a 

good  artilleryman1 a sort of ascetic in
 the service of his fatherland1  etwas  
zu treiben1 he wrote in his ,german1    
mottled  with ,greek4    ,this life is  
full of inconvenience1 he wrote again1  
but1 tasted as  one would an entremets1 
it impresses me as altogether           
profitable4 ,it  is a constant appeal to
 the energy of man which has a value    
above all  as an antidote against that  
paralysing scepticism the effects of    
which  we have observed together4 ,in   
the barracks one learns to know one's   
nature1 to know what it has to give     
among strange men1 the greater  part of 
whom are very rough4444 ,hitherto it has
 appeared to me that  all have felt     
kindly towards me1 captain and privates 
alike2 moreover1  everything that ,i    
must do1 ,i do it with zeal and         
interest4 ,has one not  reason to be    
proud1 if one be noted1 among thirty    
recruits1 as the best  rider8 ,in truth1
 that is worth more than a philological 
diploma4    ,whereupon he cites in full 

the fine ,latin and ,ciceronian         
testimonial  written by old ,ritschl in 
praise of his memoir1 ,de fontibus      
,laertii  ,diogenii4 ,he is happy in his
 success and does not conceal his       
pleasure  at it4 ,the fact amuses him4  
,thus are we made1 he writes2 we know   
what such praise is worth1 and1 in spite
 of everything1 an agreeable  chuckle   
puts a grimace on our countenance4      
,this valiant mood lasted only a short  
time4 ,nietzsche was soon to avow  that 
an artilleryman on horseback is a very  
unhappy animal when he has  literary    
tastes1 and reflected in the mess-room  
on the problems of  ,democritus4    ,he 
deplored his slavery1 and was delivered 
from it by an accident4 ,he  fell from  
his horse and injured his side4 ,he     
suffered1 but he was able  to study and 
meditate at leisure1 which was what he  
liked in life4  ,however1 when the      
exquisite ,may days arrived and he had  
been laid  up for a long month1 he grew 
impatient and sighed for the hours of   

exercise4 ,i who used to ride the most  
difficult mounts6 he wrote to           
,gersdorff4 ,to distract himself he     
undertook a short work on a poem of     
,simonides1 ,the ,complaint of ,dana4   
,he corrected the doubtful words in  the
 text and wrote to ,ritschl about a new 
study3 ,since my schooldays1  he wrote1 
this beautiful song of ,dana has        
remained in my memory as  an            
unforgettable melody3 in this time of   
,may can one do better than  become a   
trifle lyrical oneself8 provided that on
 this occasion at  least you do not find
 in my essay too 'lyrical' a conjecture4
    ,dana occupied him1 and the         
complaints of the goddess1 abandoned    
with  her child to the caprice of       
malevolent billows1 mingled in his      
letters  with his own complaints4 ,for  
he was suffering2 his wound remained    
open1 and a splinter of a bone appeared 
one day with the discharge of  matter4  
,i had a queer impression at the sight1 
he wrote1 and little  by little it      

became clear to me that my plans for the
 examination1 for  a voyage to ,paris1  
might very easily be thwarted4 ,the     
frailty of our  being never appears so  
plainly ad oculos as at the moment when 
one  has just seen a little piece of    
one's own skeleton4    ,the voyage to   
,paris1 here mentioned1 was the last    
conceived1 and the  dearest of his      
dreams4 ,he caressed the idea of it1    
and1 as he was  never able to keep a joy
 to himself alone1 he must write to     
,gersdorff  and then to ,rohde1 and to  
two other comrades1 ,kleimpaul and      
,romundt3  ,after the last year of our  
studies1 he said to them1 let us go to  
,paris together and spend a winter      
there3 let us forget our learning3  let 
us dispedantise ourselves               
7dpdantisons-nous72 let us make the     
acquaintance of the divin cancan1 the   
green absinthe3 we will drink  of it2   
let us go to ,paris and live en         
camarades1 and1 marching the            
boulevards1 let us represent ,germanism 

and ,schopenhauer down there2  we shall 
not be altogether idle3 from time to    
time we will send a  little copy to the 
newspapers1 casting a few ,parisian     
anecdotes  athwart the world2 after a   
year and a half1 after two years he     
never  ceased to prolong the imaginary  
period1 we will come back to pass our   
examination4 ,rohde having promised his 
company1 ,nietzsche bore less           
impatiently the weariness of a          
convalescence which lasted until the    
summer4    ,at last he was cured4 ,in   
the first days of ,october1 feeling a   
lively  need for the pleasures which    
,naumburg had not to offer--music1      
society1  conversation1 the theatre--he 
reinstalled himself at ,leipsic4 ,both  
masters and comrades gave him a warm    
welcome4 ,his re-entry was happy4  ,he  
had scarcely completed his twenty-third 
year and a glorious dawn  already       
preceded him4 ,an important review in   
,berlin asked him for  some historical  
studies1 and he gave them4 ,in ,leipsic 

itself he was  offered the editorship of
 a musical review3 this he refused1     
although  importuned4 ,nego ac pernego1 
wrote he to ,rohde1 now in residence in 
another ,university city4    ,he        
interested himself in everything1 except
 politics4 ,the din and  confusion of   
men in public meeting assembled was     
insupportable to him4  ,decidedly1 said 
he1 ,i am not a  4 ,and he  wrote to his
 friend ,gersdorff1 who had been giving 
him some information  about             
,parliamentary intrigues in ,berlin3    
,the course of events astonishes me2 but
 ,i cannot well understand them1  nor   
take them in1 unless ,i draw out of the 
crowd and consider apart the  activity  
of a determined man4 ,bismarck gives me 
immense satisfaction4 ,i  read his      
speeches as though ,i were drinking a   
strong wine2 ,i hold back  my tongue    
that it may not swallow too quickly and 
that my enjoyment may  last4 ,the       
machinations of his adversaries1 as you 
relate them to me1  ,i conceive without 

difficulty2 for it is a necessity that  
everything  that is small1 narrow1      
sectarian and limited should rebel      
against such  natures and wage an       
eternal war upon them4    ,then to so   
many satisfactions1 new and old1 was    
added the greatest  of joys3 the        
discovery of a new genius1 ,richard     
,wagner4 ,the whole  of ,germany was    
making the same discovery about this    
time4 ,already  she knew and admired    
this tumultuous man1 poet1 composer1    
publicist1  philosopher2 a revolutionary
 at ,dresden1 a damned author at ,paris1
  a favourite at the ,court of ,munich2 
she had discussed his works and  laughed
 over his debts and his scarlet robes4  
,it was by no means easy  to pass a     
clear judgment on this life which was a 
mixture of faith  and insincerity1 of   
meanness and greatness2 on this thought 
which was  sometimes so strong and often
 so wordy4 ,what kind of man was        
,richard  ,wagner8 ,an uneasy spirit8 a 
genius8 ,one scarcely knew1 and         

,nietzsche  had remained for a long time
 in a state of indecision4 ,tristan  and
 ,isolde moved him infinitely2 other    
works disconcerted him4 ,i  have just   
read the ,valkyrie1 he wrote to         
,gersdorff1 in ,october1  #ahff1 and ,i 
find myself impressed so confusedly that
 ,i can reach no  judgment4 ,its great  
beauties and virtutes are               
counterbalanced by so  many defects and 
deformities equally great2 #j  a  7-a7  
gives #j1  all calculations made4       
,wagner is an insoluble problem1 he said
 on  another occasion4 ,the musician    
whom he then preferred was ,schumann4   
,wagner had the art of imposing his     
glory on the world4 ,in ,july1 #ahfh1   
he produced at ,munich the              
,meistersinger1 that noble and familiar 
poem in which the ,german people1 heroes
 of the action1 filled the  stage with  
their arguments1 their sports1 their    
labours1 their loves1  and themselves   
glorified their own art1 music4 ,germany
 was then  experiencing the proud desire

 of greatness4 ,she had the confidence  
and  the lan which dare recognise the   
genius of an artist4 ,wagner was        
acclaimed2 he passed during the last    
months of #ahfh that invisible          
border-line above which a man is        
transfigured and exalted1 above glory   
itself1 into a light of immortality4    
,friedrich ,nietzsche heard the         
,meistersinger4 ,he was touched by  its 
marvellous beauty and his critical      
fancies vanished4 ,to be  just towards  
such a man1 he wrote to ,rohde1 one must
 have a little  enthusiasm4444 ,i try in
 vain to listen to his music in a cold  
and  reserved frame of mind2 every nerve
 vibrates in me4444 ,this miraculous    
art had taken hold of him2 he wished    
that his friends should share his  new  
passion2 he confided his ,wagnerian     
impressions to them3 ,last night  at the
 concert1 he wrote1 the overture to the 
,meistersinger caused  me so lasting a  
thrill that it was long since ,i had    
felt anything like  it4 ,wagner's       

sister1 ,madame ,brockhaus1 was living  
in ,leipsic4 ,she  was a woman out of   
the ordinary2 and her friends affirmed  
that they  recognised in her a little of
 the genius of her brother4 ,nietzsche  
wanted to approach her4 ,this modest    
desire was soon satisfied4    ,the other
 evening1 he writes to ,rohde1 on       
returning home ,i found a  letter       
addressed to me1 a very short note3 ',if
 you would care to meet  ,richard       
,wagner come to the ,caf zum ,theater at
 a quarter to four4--,w4  444 ,,sch4'   
,the news1 if you will forgive me1      
positively turned my head1  and ,i found
 myself as if tossed about by a         
whirlwind4 ,it goes without  saying that
 ,i went out at once to seek the        
excellent ,windisch1 who  was able to   
give me some further information4 ,he   
told me that ,wagner  was at ,leipsic1  
at his sister's1 in the strictest       
incognito2 that the  ,press knew nothing
 about his visit1 and that all the      
servants in the  ,brockhaus household   

were as mute as liveried gravediggers4  
,madame  ,brockhaus1 ,wagner's sister1  
had presented to him only one visitor1  
,madame ,ritschl1 whose judgment and    
penetration of mind you know1 thus      
allowing herself the pleasure of being  
proud of her friend before her  brother 
and proud of her brother before her     
friend1 the happy creature6  ,while     
,madame ,ritschl was in the room ,wagner
 played the ,lied from the              
,meistersinger1 which you know well2 and
 the excellent lady informed  him that  
the music was already familiar to her1  
mea opera4 ,thereupon  pleasure and     
surprise on the part of ,wagner3 he     
expresses a keen desire  to meet me     
incognito4 ,they decide to invite me for
 ,friday evening4  ,windisch explains   
that that day is impossible to me on    
account of my  duties1 my work1 my      
engagements3 and ,sunday afternoon is   
suggested4  ,we went to the house1      
,windisch and ,i1 and found the         
professor's  family there1 but not      

,richard3 he had gone out with his vast 
skull  hidden under some prodigious     
headdress4 ,i was presented to this very
  distinguished family1 and received a  
most cordial invitation for ,sunday     
evening1 which ,i accepted4    ,i spent 
the next few days1 ,i assure you1 in a  
highly romantic mood3  and you must     
admit that this dbut1 this              
unapproachable hero1 have  something    
about them bordering on the world of    
legend4    ,with such an important      
function before me ,i decide to dress in
 my  best4 ,it so chanced that my tailor
 had promised to deliver me on  ,sunday 
a black coat3 everything promised well4 
,sunday was a frightful  day of snow and
 rain4 ,one shuddered at the idea of    
leaving the house4  ,so ,i was far from 
displeased to receive a call during the 
afternoon  from ,r----1 who babbled     
about the ,eleatics and the nature of   
,god in  their philosophy--because as   
candidandus he is going to take the     
thesis prescribed by ,abrens1 ,the      

,development of the ,idea of ,god down  
to ,aristotle1 while ,romundt proposes  
to solve the problem ,of the  ,will1 and
 thereby to win the ,university prize4  
,the evening draws on1  the tailor fails
 to arrive and ,romundt departs4 ,i go  
with him as far  as my tailor's1 and    
entering the shop1 ,i find his slaves   
very busy  on my coat3 they promise that
 it will be delivered in three hours4   
,i leave1 more content with the course  
of things2 on my way home ,i  pass      
,kintschy1 read the ,kladderadatsch1 and
 find with satisfaction  a newspaper    
paragraph to the effect that ,wagner is 
in ,switzerland1  but that a beautiful  
house is being built for him at ,munich4
 ,as for  me1 ,i know that ,i am about  
to see him1 and that a letter arrived   
for  him yesterday from the little      
,king1 bearing the address3 ,to the     
great  ,german composer1 ,richard       
,wagner4    ,i return home2 no tailor4  
,i read very comfortably a dissertation 
on  the ,eudocia1 a little distracted   

from time to time by a troublesome      
though distant noise4 ,at last ,i hear  
the sound of knocking at the old  iron  
grille1 which is closed 444    ,it was  
the tailor2 ,nietzsche tried on the     
suit1 which fitted him well2  he thanked
 the journeyman1 who1 however1 stayed   
on1 and asked to be  paid4 ,nietzsche1  
being short of money1 was of another    
opinion2 the  journeyman repeated his   
demand1 ,nietzsche reiterated his       
refusal2 the  journeyman would not      
yield1 went off with the suit1 and      
,nietzsche1 left  abashed in his room1  
considered with displeasure a black     
frock-coat1  greatly doubting whether it
 would do for ,richard4 ,finally he put 
it  on again3    ,outside the rain is   
falling in torrents4 ,a quarter past    
eight6 ,at half  past ,windisch is to   
meet me at the ,caf zum ,theater4 ,i    
precipitate  myself into the dark and   
rainy night1 ,i too a poor man1 all in  
black1  without a dress coat1 but in the
 most romantic of humours4 ,fortune     

favours me2 there is something          
mysterious and unusual in the very      
aspect of the streets on this night of  
snow4    ,we enter the very comfortable 
parlour of the ,brockhaus's2 there is   
no one there but the closest relations  
of the family1 and we two4 ,i  am       
introduced to ,richard1 to whom ,i      
express my veneration in a few  words2  
he asks me very minutely how ,i became a
 faithful disciple of  his music1 bursts
 out in invectives against all the      
productions of  his work1 those of      
,munich1 which are admirable1 alone     
excepted2 and  gibes of the orchestra   
conductors who counsel paternally3      
',now1 if  you please1 a little passion1
 gentlemen1 a little more passion1 my   
friends6' ,he imitates the accent of    
,leipsic very well4    ,how ,i would    
like to give you an idea of the         
pleasures of the evening1  of our       
enjoyments1 which have been so lively1  
so peculiar1 were it  not that even     
to-day ,i have not yet recovered my old 

equilibrium1 and  cannot do better than 
tell you as ,i chatter along a 'fairy   
tale4'  ,afterwards1 before dinner1     
,wagner played all the principal        
passages  from the ,meistersinger2 he   
himself imitated all the voices3 ,i can 
leave you to imagine that much was lost4
 ,as a talker he is incredibly  swift   
and animated1 and his abundance and     
humour are enough to  convulse with     
gaiety a circle of intimates such as we 
were4 ,between  whiles ,i had a long    
conversation with him about             
,schopenhauer4 ,ah1 you  wall understand
 what a joy it was for me to hear him   
speak with an  indescribable warmth1    
explaining what he owes to our          
,schopenhauer1 and  telling me that     
,schopenhauer1 alone among the          
philosophers1 understood  the essence of
 music4 ,then he wanted to know what is 
the present  attitude of the            
philosophers with regard to             
,schopenhauer2 he laughed  very heartily
 at the ,congress of ,philosophers at   

,prague1 and spoke of  philosophical    
domesticity4 ,afterwards he read us a   
fragment of his  ,memoirs1 which he is  
now writing1 a scene from his           
student-life at  ,leipsic1              
overwhelmingly funny1 of which ,i cannot
 think even now without  laughing4 ,his 
mind is amazingly supple and witty4     
,at last1 as we were preparing to leave1
 ,windisch and ,i1 he gave me a  very   
warm handshake1 and invited me1 in the  
most friendly fashion1 to  pay him a    
visit1 to talk of music and philosophy4 
,he also entrusted  me with the mission 
of making his music known to his sister 
and his  parents3 a mission which ,i    
shall discharge with enthusiasm4 ,i will
  write you of the evening at greater   
length when ,i am able to review  it    
from a little further off1 and more     
objectively4 ,to-day1 a cordial         
greeting and1 for your health1 my best  
wishes4    ,that day of calm            
appreciation1 which ,nietzsche was      
waiting for1 did  not come4 ,he had come

 in contact with a godlike man4 ,he had 
felt the  shock of genius1 and his soul 
remained shaken by it4 ,he studied the  
theoretical writings of ,wagner1 which  
he had hitherto neglected1 and          
meditated seriously on the idea of the  
unique work of art which was to  be a   
synthesis of the scattered beauties of  
poetry1 the plastic arts1  and harmony4 
,he saw the ,german spirit renovated    
through the ,wagnerian  ideal1 and his  
swift mind went off in that direction4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,ritschl said to him one day3 ,i am     
going to surprise you4 ,would  you like 
to be appointed a ,professor in the     
,university of ,basle8  ,nietzsche's    
surprise was1 in fact1 extreme4 ,he was 
in his twenty-fourth  year1 and had not 
obtained his final degrees4 ,the        
astonishing  proposition had to be      
repeated to him ,ritschl explained that 
he had  received a letter from ,basle2  
he was asked what sort of man was ,herr 
,friedrich ,nietzsche1 author of the    

fine essays published in the            
,rheinisches ,museum2 could he be       
entrusted with a ,chair of ,philology8  
,ritschl had answered that ,herr        
,friedrich ,nietzsche was a young man   
who  had ability enough to do anything  
he chose to do4 ,he had even dared to   
write that ,herr ,nietzsche had genius4 
,the matter1 though suspended for  the  
moment1 had already gone pretty far4    
,nietzsche listened to the news with    
infinite anxiety4 ,it made him proud    
and yet left him broken-hearted4 ,the   
whole year of liberty which he  had     
thought to be still before him suddenly 
vanished1 and with it his  projects of  
study1 of vast reading1 of travel4 ,he  
was losing a happy  life swollen with   
dreams4 ,how could he reject so         
flattering an offer8  ,he had1 it       
appears1 contrary to all good sense1 a  
certain hesitation  against which       
,ritschl had to fight4 ,the old savant  
felt a real  tenderness for this        
singular pupil of his1 this sagacious   

philologist1  metaphysician and poet2 he
 loved him and believed in him4 ,but he 
had  one anxiety3 he feared lest        
,nietzsche1 under the incessant         
solicitation  of instincts almost too   
numerous and too fine1 should disperse  
his  energy on too many objects and     
waste his gifts4 ,for four years he  had
 been iterating in his ears the same    
counsel3 ,restrict yourself  in order to
 be strong2 and he now repeated it in   
pressing terms4  ,nietzsche understood1 
and gave way4 ,he wrote at once to      
,erwin ,rohde3  ,as to our ,parisian    
voyage1 think of it no longer2 it is    
certain that  ,i am to be appointed to  
this ,professorship at ,basle2 ,i who   
wished to  study ,chemistry6            
,henceforward ,i must learn how to      
renounce4 ,down there  how much alone ,i
 shall be--without a friend whose       
thought resounds to  mine like beautiful
 thirds1 minor or major6    ,he obtained
 his final diploma without examination1 
in consideration of  his past           

performances and of the unique          
circumstance4 ,the professors of        
,leipsic did not like the notion of     
examining their colleague of ,basle4    
,friedrich ,nietzsche remained some     
weeks at ,naumburg with his own  people4
 ,the family were full of joy and pride3
 so young and a  ,university professor6 
,what great matter is it8 retorted      
,nietzsche  impatiently2 there is an    
usher the more in the world1 that is    
all6 ,on  ,april #acth he writes to his 
friend ,gersdorff3    ,here ,i am at the
 last term1 the last evening that ,i    
shall spend beside  my hearth2 to-morrow
 morning ,i strike out into the great   
world2 ,i  enter a profession which is  
new to me1 in an atmosphere heavy and   
oppressive with duties and obligations4 
,once more ,i must say adieu3  the      
golden time in which one's activities   
are free and unfettered2  in which every
 instant is sovereign2 in which art and 
the world are  spread out before our    
eyes as a pure spectacle in which we    

hardly  participate--that time is past  
beyond recall4 ,now begins the reign of 
the harsh goddess of daily duty4        
,bemooster ,bursche zieh8 ich aus4 444  
,you know that poignant student-song4   
,yes1 yes6 now comes my turn to be  a   
philistine6    ,one day or another1 here
 or there1 the saying always comes true4
  ,offices and dignities are not to be  
accepted with impunity4 ,the whole      
thing is to know whether the chains     
which you are forced to carry  are of   
iron or of thread4 ,and ,i still have   
courage enough to break  some link on   
occasion1 and to risk some plunge or    
other into the  perilous life4 ,of the  
compulsory gibbosity of the professor ,i
 do not  as yet discern in myself any   
trace4 ,to become a philistine1 a man of
  the crowd1  --,zeus and the ,muses    
preserve  me from such a fate6          
,moreover1 ,i find it hard to see how ,i
 could  contrive to become what ,i am   
not4 ,i am more afraid of another kind  
of  philistinism1 the professional      

species4 ,it is only too natural that a 
daily task1 an incessant concentration  
on certain facts and certain  problems1 
should hang like a weight on the free   
sensibility of the  mind1 and strike at 
the roots of the philosophic sense4 ,but
 ,i imagine  that ,i can confront this  
peril more calmly than most             
philologists3  philosophical seriousness
 is too deeply rooted in me3 the true   
and  essential problems of life and     
thought have been too clearly revealed  
to me by the great mystagogue           
,schopenhauer to permit me to be ever   
guilty of shameful treachery to the     
',idea4' ,to vivify my science with     
this new blood2 to communicate to my    
hearers that ,schopenhauerian           
earnestness which glitters on the brow  
of that sublime thinker--such  is my    
desire1 my audacious hope3 ,i want to be
 more than a pedagogue to  honest       
savants4 ,i am thinking of the duties of
 the masters of our time2  ,i look      
forward1 and my mind is filled with the 

thought of that next  generation which  
follows at our heels4 ,since we must    
endure life1 let  us at least endeavour 
so to use it as to give it some worth in
 the eyes  of others when we are happily
 delivered from it4    ,friedrich       
,nietzsche disquieted himself           
needlessly4 ,if he could have  guessed  
what the approaching days held for him1 
his joy would have been  immense4       
,richard ,wagner lived not far from     
,basle1 and was to become his  friend4  
,,chapter ,,iii      ,,friedrich        
,,nietzsche ,,and ,,richard             
,,wagner--,,triebschen      ,nietzsche  
installed himself at ,basle1 selected   
his domicile1 and  exchanged visits with
 his colleagues4 ,but ,richard ,wagner  
was constantly  in his thoughts4 ,three 
weeks after his arrival some friends    
joined with  him in an expedition to the
 shores of the lake of the ,four        
,cantons4 ,one  morning he left them and
 set off on foot by the river bank      
towards the  master's retreat1          

,triebschen4 ,triebschen is the name of 
a little cape  which protrudes into the 
lake2 a solitary villa and a solitary   
garden1  whose high poplars are seen    
from afar1 occupy its expanse4    ,he   
stopped before the closed gate and rang4
 ,trees hid the house4 ,he  looked      
around1 as he waited1 and listened3 his 
attentive ear caught  the resonance of a
 harmony which was soon muffled up in   
the noise  of footsteps4 ,a servant     
opened the door and ,nietzsche sent in  
his  card2 then he was left to hear once
 more the same harmony1 dolorous1       
obstinate1 many times repeated4 ,the    
invisible master ceased for a  moment1  
but almost at once was busy again with  
his experiments1 raising  the strain1   
modulating it1 until1 by modulating once
 more1 he had  brought back the initial 
harmony4 ,the servant returned4 ,herr   
,wagner  wished to know if the visitor  
was the same ,herr ,nietzsche whom he   
had  met one evening at ,leipsic4 ,yes1 
said the young man4 ,then would  ,herr  

,nietzsche be good enough to come back  
at luncheon time8 ,but  ,nietzsche's    
friends were awaiting him1 and he had to
 excuse himself4  ,the servant          
disappeared again1 to return with       
another message4 ,would  ,herr          
,nietzsche spend the ,monday of         
,pentecost at ,triebschen8 ,this        
invitation he was able to accept and did
 accept4    ,nietzsche came to know     
,wagner at one of the finest moments of 
the  latter's life4 ,the great man was  
alone1 far from the public1 from        
journalists1 and from crowds4 ,he had   
just carried off and married the        
divorced wife of ,hans von ,blow1 the   
daughter of ,liszt and of ,madame       
d',agoult1 an admirable being who was   
endowed with the gifts of two  races4   
,the adventure had scandalised all the  
,pharisees of old-fashioned  ,germany4  
,richard ,wagner was completing his work
 in retreat3 a gigantic  work1 a        
succession of four dramas1 every one of 
which was immense3  a work which was not

 conceived for the pleasure of men1 but 
for the  trouble and salvation of their 
souls2 a work so prodigious that no     
public was worthy to hear it1 no company
 of singers worthy to sing  it1 no      
stage1 in short1 vast enough or noble   
enough to make its  representation      
possible4 ,what matter6 ,the world must 
stoop to ,richard  ,wagner2 it was not  
for him to yield to it4 ,he had finished
 ,rhinegold1  and the ,valkyries2       
,siegfried was soon to be completed2 and
 he began  to know the joy of the       
workman who has mastered his work1 and  
is able  at last to view it as a whole4 
,restlessness and anger were mixed with 
his joy1 for he was not of those  who   
are content with the approbation of an  
lite4 ,he had been moved by  all the    
dreams of men1 and he wished in his turn
 to move all men4 ,he  needed the crowd1
 wanted to be listened to by it1 and    
never ceased to  call to the ,germans1  
always heavy and slow-footed in         
following him4  ,aid me1 he cries out in

 his books1 for you begin to be strong4 
,because of your strength do not        
disdain1 do not neglect those who have  
been your spiritual masters1 ,luther1   
,kant1 ,schiller and ,beethoven3 ,i  am 
the heir of these masters4 ,assist me4  
,i need a stage where ,i may  be free2  
give me it6 ,i need a people who shall  
listen to me2 be that  people6 ,aid me1 
it is your duty4 ,and1 in return1 ,i    
will glorify you4    ,we may picture    
this first visit3 ,nietzsche with his   
soft manners1  his nervous voice1 his   
fiery and veiled look2 his face which   
was so  youthful in spite of the long1  
drooping moustache2 ,wagner in the      
strength of the fifty-nine years that he
 carried without sign of  weakness1     
overflowing with intuitions and         
experiences1 desires and  expectations1 
exuberant in language and gesture4 ,what
 was their first  interview like8 ,we   
have no record of it1 but no doubt      
,wagner repeated  what he was writing in
 his books1 and said imperiously3 ,young

 man1 you  too must help me4    ,the    
night was fine and conversation         
spirited4 ,when it was time for         
,nietzsche to go1 ,wagner desired to    
accompany his guest on his way home     
along the river4 ,they went out         
together4 ,nietzsche's joy was great4   
,the  want from which he had long       
suffered was now being supplied2 he had 
needed to love1 to admire1 to listen4   
,at last he had met a man worthy  to be 
his master2 at last he had met him for  
whom no admiration1 no  love could be   
too strong4 ,he gave himself up entirely
 and resolved  to serve this solitary   
and inspired being1 to fight for him    
against  the inert multitude1 against   
the ,germany of the ,universities1 of   
the  ,churches1 of the ,parliaments1 and
 of the ,courts4 ,what was ,wagner's    
impression8 ,no doubt he too was happy4 
,from the very beginning he had         
recognised the extraordinary gifts of   
his young visitor4 ,he could  converse  
with him2 and to converse means to give 

and to receive4 ,and so  few men had    
been able to afford him that joy4    ,on
 the #bbnd of ,may1 eight days after    
this first visit1 a few very  intimate  
friends came from ,germany to           
,triebschen to celebrate the first  day 
of their master's sixtieth year4        
,nietzsche was invited1 but had  to     
decline1 for he was preparing his       
opening lecture and did not like  to be 
distracted at his task4 ,he was anxious 
to express straightway  the conception  
that he had formed of his science and of
 its teaching4  ,for his subject he took
 the ,homeric problem1 that problem     
which is an  occasion of division       
between scholars who analyse antiquity  
and artists  who delight in it4 ,his    
argument was that the scholars must     
resolve this  conflict by accepting the 
judgment of the artists4 ,their         
criticism1  fecund in useful historical 
results1 had restored the legend and the
  vast frame of the two poems4 ,but it  
had decided nothing1 and could have     

decided nothing4 ,after all1 the ,iliad 
and the ,odyssey were there  before the 
world in clear shapes1 and if ,goethe   
chose to say3 ,the two  poems are the   
work of a single poet --the scholar had 
no reply4 ,his  task was modest1 but    
useful and deserving of esteem4 ,let us 
not forget1  said ,nietzsche at the     
conclusion of his inaugural lecture1 how
 but a  few years ago these marvellous  
,greek masterpieces lay buried beneath  
an  enormous accumulation of prejudices4
 ,the minute labour of our students  has
 saved them for us4 ,philology is       
neither a ,muse nor a ,grace2 she has   
not created this enchanted world1 it is 
not she who has composed this  immortal 
music4 ,but she is its virtuoso1 and we 
have to thank her that  these accents1  
long forgotten and almost               
indecipherable1 resound again1  and that
 is surely a high merit4 ,and as the    
,muses formerly descended  among the    
heavy and wretched ,botian peasants1    
this messenger comes  to-day into a     

world filled with gloomy and baneful    
shapes1 filled with  profound and       
incurable sufferings1 and consoles us by
 evoking the  beautiful and luminous    
forms of the ,gods1 the outlines of a   
marvellous1  an azure1 a distant1 a     
fortunate country4444    ,nietzsche was 
highly applauded by the bourgeois of    
,basle1 who had  come in great numbers  
to hear the young master whose genius   
had been  announced4 ,his success       
pleased him1 but his thoughts went      
otherwhere1  towards another marvellous1
 azure1 and distant land--,triebschen4  
,on the  #dth of ,june he received a    
note3    ,come and sleep a couple of    
nights under our roof1 wrote ,wagner4   
,we  want to know what you are made of4 
,little joy ,i have so far from my      
,german compatriots4 ,come and save the 
abiding faith which ,i still  cling to1 
in what ,i call1 with ,goethe and some  
others1 ,german liberty4    ,nietzsche  
was able to spare these two days and    
henceforward was a  familiar of the     

master's4 ,he wrote to his friends3     
,wagner realises all our desires3 a     
rich1 great1 and magnificent  spirit2 an
 energetic character1 an enchanting man1
 worthy of all love1  ardent for all    
knowledge4 444 ,but ,i must stop2 ,i am 
chanting a pan4444    ,i beg you1 he    
says further1 not to believe a word of  
what is written  about ,wagner by the   
journalists and the musicographers4 ,no 
one in the  world knows him1 no one can 
judge him1 since the whole world builds 
on  foundations which are not his1 and  
is lost in his atmosphere4 ,wagner  is  
dominated by an idealism so absolute1 a 
humanity so moving and so  profound1    
that ,i feel in his presence as if ,i   
were in contact with  divinity4444      
99       99       99       99       99  
,richard ,wagner had written1 at the    
request of ,louis ,,ii41 ,king of       
,bavaria1 a short treatise on social    
metaphysics4 ,this singular work1  which
 had been conceived to fascinate a young
 and romantic prince1 was  carefully    

withheld from publicity1 and lent only  
to intimates4 ,wagner  gave it to       
,nietzsche1 and few things surely that  
the latter ever read  went home more    
deeply4 ,as traces of the impression he 
received from it  are to be discovered  
in his work down to the very end1 it    
will be worth  our while to give some   
idea of its nature4    ,wagner starts by
 explaining an old error of his3 in     
#ahdh he had been  a ,socialist4 ,not   
that he had ever welcomed the ideal of a
 levelling  of men2 his mind1 avid of   
beauty and order1 in other words1 of    
superiorities1 could not have welcomed a
 notion of the kind4 ,but he  hoped that
 a humanity liberated from the baser    
servitudes would rise  with less effort 
to an understanding of art4 ,in this he 
was mistaken1  as he now understood4    
,my friends1 despite their fine courage1
 he wrote1 were vanquished2  the        
emptiness of their effort proved to me  
that they were the victims  of a basic  
error and that they had asked from the  

world what the world  could not give    
them4    ,his view cleared and he       
recognised that the masses are          
powerless1  their agitations vain1 their
 co-operation illusory4 ,he had believed
  them capable of introducing into      
history a progress of culture4 ,now he  
saw that they could not collaborate     
towards the mere maintenance of a       
culture already acquired4 ,they         
experience only such needs as are gross1
  elementary1 and short-lived4 ,for them
 all noble ends are unattainable4  ,and 
the problem which reality obliges us to 
solve is this3 how are we  to contrive  
things so that the masses shall serve a 
culture which must  always be beyond    
their comprehension1 and serve it with  
zeal and love1  even to the sacrifice of
 life8 ,all politics are comprised      
within this  question1 which appears    
insoluble1 and yet is not4 ,consider    
,nature3  no one understands her ends2  
and yet all beings serve her4 ,how does 
,nature obtain their adhesion to life8  

,she deceives her creatures4 ,she  puts 
them in hope of an immutable and        
ever-delayed happiness4 ,she  gives them
 those instincts which constrain the    
humblest of animals to  lengthy         
sacrifices and voluntary pains4 ,she    
envelops in illusion all  living beings1
 and thus persuades them to struggle and
 to suffer with  unalterable constancy4 
,society1 wrote ,wagner1 ought to be    
upheld by similar artifices4 ,it is     
illusions that assure its duration1 and 
the task of those who rule men  is to   
maintain and to propagate these         
conserving illusions4 ,patriotism  is   
the most essential4 ,every child of the 
people should be brought up  in love of 
the ,king1 the living symbol of the     
fatherland1 and this  love must become  
an instinct1 strong enough to render the
 most sublime  abnegation an easy thing4
    ,the patriotic illusion assures the 
permanence of the ,state but does  not  
suffice to guarantee a high culture4 ,it
 divides humanity1 it  favours cruelty1 

hatred1 and narrowness of thought4 ,the 
,king1 whose  glance dominates the      
,state1 measures its limits1 and is     
aware of  purposes which extend beyond  
it4 ,here a second illusion is          
necessary1  the religious illusion whose
 dogmas symbolise a profound unity and a
  universal love4 ,the ,king must       
sustain it among his subjects4    ,the  
ordinary man1 if he be penetrated with  
this double illusion1 can  live a happy 
and a worthy life3 his way is made      
clear1 he is saved4  ,but the life of   
the prince and his counsellors is a     
graver and a more  dangerous thing4     
,they propagate the illusions1 therefore
 they judge  them4 ,life appears to them
 unveiled1 and they know how tragic a   
thing  it is4 ,the great man1 the       
exceptional man1 writes ,wagner1 finds  
himself practically every day in the    
same condition in which the  ordinary   
man despairs of life1 and has recourse  
to suicide4 ,the prince  and the        
aristocracy which surrounds him1 his    

nobles1 are forearmed by  their valour  
against so cowardly a temptation4       
,nevertheless1 they  experience a bitter
 need to turn their back on the world4  
,they desire  for themselves a restful  
illusion1 of which they may be at the   
same  time the authors and the          
accessories4 ,here art intervenes to    
save them1  not to exalt the nave       
enthusiasm of the people1 but to        
alleviate the  unhappy life of the      
nobles and to sustain their valour4     
,art1 writes  ,richard ,wagner1         
addressing ,louis ,,ii41 ,i present to  
my very dear friend  as the promised and
 benignant land4 ,if ,art cannot lift us
 in a real and  complete manner above   
life1 at least it lifts us in life      
itself to the  very highest of regions4 
,it gives life the appearance of a game1
 it  withdraws us from the common lot1  
it ravishes and consoles us4    ,only   
yesterday--wrote ,nietzsche to          
,gersdorff on the #dth of ,august1      
#ahfi--;,i was reading a manuscript     

which ,wagner confided to me1 ,of  the  
,state and ,religion1 a treatise full of
 grandeur1 composed in  order to explain
 to 'his young friend1' the little ,king
 of ,bavaria1  his particular way of    
understanding the ,state and ,religion4 
,never did  any one speak to his ,king  
in a tone more worthy1 more             
philosophical2  ,i felt myself moved and
 uplifted by that ideality which the    
spirit of  ,schopenhauer seems          
constantly to inspire4 ,better than any 
other mortal1  the ,king should         
understand the tragic essence of life4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,in ,september1 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1  
after a short stay in ,germany1         
returned to a life divided between      
,basle and ,triebschen4 ,at ,basle  he  
had his work1 his pupils1 who listened  
to him with attention1  the society of  
amiable colleagues4 ,his wit1 his       
musical talent1 his  friendship with    
,richard ,wagner1 his elegant manners   
and appearance1  procured him a certain 

prestige4 ,the best houses liked his    
company1  and he did not refuse their   
invitations4 ,but all the pleasures of  
society are less acceptable than the    
simplest friendship1 and ,nietzsche  had
 not a single friend in this honest     
bourgeois city2 at ,triebschen  alone   
was he satisfied4    ,now1 he writes to 
,erwin ,rohde1 who was living at ,rome1 
,i1 too1 have  my ,italy1 but ,i am able
 to visit it only on ,saturdays and     
,sundays4 ,my  ,italy is called         
,triebschen1 and ,i already feel as if  
it were my home4  ,recently ,i have been
 there four times running1 and into the 
bargain  a letter travels the same road 
almost every week4 ,my dear friend1     
what ,i see and hear and learn there ,i 
find it impossible to tell you4         
,schopenhauer and ,goethe1 ,pindar and  
schylus are1 believe me1 still  alive4  
,each of his returns was an occasion of 
melancholy4 ,a feeling of  solitude     
depressed him4 ,he confided in ,erwin   
,rohde1 speaking at the  same time of   

the hopes he had in his work4    ,alas1 
dear friend1 he said1 ,i have very few  
satisfactions1 and  solitary1 always    
solitary1 ,i must ruminate on them all  
within myself4  ,ah6 ,i should not fear 
a good illness1 if ,i could purchase at 
that price  a night's conversation with 
you4 ,letters are so little use6 444    
,men are  constantly in need of         
midwives1 and almost all go to be       
delivered in  taverns1 in colleges where
 little thoughts and little projects are
 as  plentiful as litters of kittens4   
,but when we are full of our thought  no
 one is there to aid us1 to assist us at
 the difficult accouchment3  sombre and 
melancholy1 we deposit in some dark hole
 our birth of  thought1 still heavy and 
shapeless4 ,the sun of friendship does  
not  shine upon them4    ,i am becoming 
a virtuoso in the art of solitary       
walking1 he says  again2 and he adds3   
,my friendship has something            
pathological about  it4 ,nevertheless he
 is happy in the depths of his being2 he

 says so  himself one day1 and warns his
 friend ,rohde against his own letters3 
,correspondence has this that is        
vexatious about it3 one would like  to  
give the best of oneself1 whereas1 in   
fact1 one gives what is most  ephemeral1
 the accord and not the eternal melody4 
,each time that ,i sit  down to write to
 you1 the saying of ,hlderlin 7the      
favourite author  of my schooldays7     
comes back to my mind3 ',denn liebend   
giebt der  ,sterbliche vom ,besten6'    
,and1 as well as ,i remember1 what have 
you  found in my last letters8          
,negations1 contrarieties1              
singularities1  solitudes4              
,nevertheless1 ,zeus and the divine sky 
of autumn know it1 a  powerful current  
carries me towards positive ideas1 each 
day ,i enjoy  exuberant hours which     
delight me with full perceptions1 with  
real  conceptions--in such instants of  
exalting impressions1 ,i never miss     
sending you a long letter full of       
thoughts and of vows2 and ,i fling it   

athwart the blue sky1 trusting1 for its 
carriage towards you1 to the            
electricity which is between our souls4 
,and we can get a glimpse of these      
positive ideas1 these precious          
impressions1 because we are in          
possession of all the notes and the     
blunders of the young man who was       
acquiring1 at the price of constant     
effort1 strength and mastery4    ,my    
years of study1 he wrote to ,ritschl1   
what have they been for me8  ,a         
luxurious sauntering across the domains 
of philology and art2 hence  my         
gratitude is especially lively at this  
moment that ,i address you who  have    
been till now the 'destiny' of my life2 
and hence ,i recognise how  necessary   
and opportune was the offer which       
changed me from a wandering  into a     
fixed star1 and obliged me to taste anew
 the satisfaction of  galling but       
regular work1 of an unchanging but      
certain object4 ,a  man's labour is     
quite another thing1 when the holy      

anangkei of his  profession helps him2  
how peaceful is his slumber1 and1       
awakening1  how sure is his knowledge of
 what the day demands4 ,there1 there is 
no  philistinism4 ,i feel as if ,i were 
gathering a multitude of scattered      
pages in a book4    ,the ,origin of     
,tragedy proves to be the book the      
guiding ideas of  which ,nietzsche was  
now elaborating4 ,greek thought remains 
the centre  round which his thought     
forms1 and he meditates1 in audacious   
fashion1  on its history4 ,a true       
historian1 he thinks1 should grasp its  
ensemble  in a rapid view4 ,all the     
great advances in ,philology1 he writes 
in  his notes1 are the issue of a       
creative gaze4 ,the eyes of a ,goethe   
discovered a ,greece clear and serene4  
,being still under the domination  of   
his genius1 we continue to perceive the 
image which he has put  before us4 ,but 
we should seek and discover for         
ourselves4 ,goethe  fixed his gaze on   
the centuries of ,alexandrine culture4  

,nietzsche  neglects these4 ,he prefers 
the rude and primitive centuries1       
whither  his instinct1 since his        
eighteenth year1 had led him when he    
elected  to study the distiches of the  
aristocrat1 ,theognis of ,megara4 ,there
 he  inhales an energy1 a strength of   
thought1 of action1 of endurance1 of    
infliction2 a vital poetry1 vital dreams
 which rejoice his soul4    ,finally1 in
 this very ancient ,greece1 he finds    
again1 or thinks that  he finds again1  
the spirit of ,wagner1 his master4      
,wagner wishes to  renew tragedy1 and1  
by using the theatre1 as it were1 as a  
spiritual  instrument1 to reanimate the 
diminished sense of poetry in the human 
soul4 ,the tragic ,greeks had a similar 
ambition2 they wished to  raise their   
race and ennoble it again by the most   
striking evocation  of myths4 ,their    
enterprise was a sublime one1 but it    
failed1 for the  merchants of the       
,pirus1 the democracy of the towns1 the 
vulgar herd of  the market-place and of 

the port1 did not care for a lyrical art
 which  stipulated a too lofty manner of
 thought1 too great a nobleness in      
deed4 ,the noble families were          
vanquished and tragedy ceased to exist4 
,richard ,wagner encounters similar     
enemies--they are the democrats1        
insipid thinkers1 and base prophets of  
well-being and peace4    ,our world is  
being judaised1 our prattling plebs1    
given over to  politics1 is hostile to  
the idealistic and profound art of      
,wagner1  writes ,nietzsche to          
,gersdorff4 ,his chivalrous nature is   
contrary to  them4 ,is ,wagner's art1   
as1 in other times1 schylus's art1 to   
suffer  defeat8 ,friedrich ,nietzsche is
 always occupied with a like combat4    
,he unfolds these very new views to his 
master4 ,we must renew the  idea of     
,hellenism1 he says to him2 we live on  
commonplaces which  are false4 ,we speak
 of the ',greek joy1' the ',greek       
serenity'2 this  joy1 this serenity1 are
 tardy fruits and of poor savour1 the   

graces of  centuries of servitudes4 ,the
 ,socratic subtlety1 the ,platonic      
sweetness1  already bear the mark of the
 decline4 ,we must study the older      
centuries1 the seventh1 the sixth4 ,then
 we touch the nave force1 the  original 
sap4 ,between the poems of ,homer1 which
 are the romance of her  infancy1 and   
the dramas of schylus1 which are the act
 of her manhood1  ,greece1 not without  
long effort1 enters into the possession 
of her  instincts and disciplines4 ,it  
is the knowledge of these times which we
  should seek1 because they resemble our
 own4 ,then the ,greeks believed1  as do
 the ,europeans of to-day1 in the       
fatality of natural forces2 and  they   
believed also that man must create for  
himself his virtues and his  gods4 ,they
 were animated by a tragic sentiment1 a 
brave pessimism1  which did not turn    
them away from life4 ,between them and  
us there is a  complete parallel and    
correspondence2 pessimism and courage1  
and the  will to establish a new        

beauty4444    ,richard ,wagner          
interested himself in the ideas of the  
young man1 and  associated him more and 
more intimately in his life4 ,one day1  
,friedrich  ,nietzsche being present1 he
 received from ,germany the news that   
the  ,rhinegold and the ,valkyries1     
badly executed far from his advice and  
direction1 had had a double failure4 ,he
 was sad and did not hide his           
disappointment2 he was afflicted by this
 depreciation of the immense  work which
 he had destined for a non-existent     
theatre and public1 and  which now      
crumbled before his eyes4 ,his noble    
suffering moved ,nietzsche4             
,nietzsche took part in his master's    
work4 ,wagner was then composing  the   
music of the ,twilight of the ,gods4    
,page after page the work  grew1 without
 haste or delay1 as though from the     
regular overflowing  of an invisible    
source4 ,but no effort absorbed         
,wagner's thought1 and1  during these   
same days1 he wrote an account of his   

life4 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche received   
the manuscript with directions to have  
it secretly  printed1 and to supervise  
the publication of an edition limited to
  twelve copies4 ,he was asked to oblige
 with more intimate services4 ,at       
,christmas1 ,wagner was preparing a     
,punch and ,judy show for his children4 
,he wanted to have pretty figurines1    
devils and angels4 ,madame ,wagner      
begged ,nietzsche to purchase them in   
,basle4 ,i forget that you are a        
professor1 a doctor1 and a philologist1 
she said graciously1 and  remember only 
your five-and-twenty years4 ,he examined
 the figurines  of ,basle1 and1 not     
finding them to his liking1 wrote to    
,paris for the  most frightful devils1  
the most beatific angels imaginable4    
,friedrich  ,nietzsche1 admitted to the 
solemnity of the ,punch and ,judy show1 
spent  the ,christmas festival with     
,wagner1 his wife and family1 in the    
most  charming of intimacies4 ,cosima   
,wagner made him a present2 she gave    

him a ,french edition of ,montaigne1    
with whom1 it seems1 he was not         
acquainted1 and of whom he soon became  
so fond4 ,she was imprudent that  day4  
,montaigne is perilous reading for a    
disciple4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,this winter ,i   
have to give two lectures on the sthetic
 of the ,greek  tragedies1 wrote        
,nietzsche1 about ,september1 to his    
friend the ,baron  von ,gersdorff2 and  
,wagner will come from ,triebschen to   
hear them4  ,wagner did not go1 but     
,nietzsche was listened to by a very    
large public4    ,he described an       
unknown ,greece1 vexed by the mysteries 
and  intoxications of the god           
,dionysius1 and through its trouble1    
through  this very intoxication1        
initiated into poetry1 into song1 into  
tragic contemplation4 ,it seems that he 
wished to define this eternal           
romanticism1 always alike to him1       
whether in ,greece of the sixth  century
 ,b4,c4 or in ,europe of the thirteenth 

century2 the same1 surely1  which       
inspired ,richard ,wagner in his retreat
 at ,triebschen4 ,nietzsche1  however1  
abstained from mentioning this latter   
name4    ,the ,athenian coming to assist
 at the tragedy of the great ,dionysos  
bore in his heart some spark of that    
elementary force from which  tragedy was
 born4 ,this is the irresistible        
outburst of springtime1  that fury and  
delirium of mingled emotions which      
sweeps in springtime  across the souls  
of all simple peoples and across the    
whole life of  nature4 ,it is an        
accepted thing that festivals of ,easter
 and ,carnival1  travestied by the      
,church1 were in their origin spring    
festivals4 ,every  such fact can be     
traced to a most deep-rooted instinct3  
the old soil  of ,greece bore on its    
bosom enthusiastic multitudes1 full of  
,dionysos2  in the ,middle ,ages in the 
same way the dances of the ,feast of    
,saint  ,john and of ,saint ,vitus drew 
out great crowds who went singing1      

leaping  and dancing from town to town1 
gathering recruits in each4 ,it is1 of  
course1 open to the doctors to regard   
these phenomena as diseases of  the     
crowd3 we content ourselves with saying 
that the drama of antiquity  was the    
flower of such a disease1 and if that of
 our modern art does  not fountain forth
 from that mysterious source1 that is   
its misfortune4    ,in his second       
lecture ,nietzsche studied the end of   
tragic art4 ,it is a  singular          
phenomenon2 all the other arts of       
,greece slowly and gloriously  declined4
 ,tragedy had no decline4 ,after        
,sophocles it disappeared1  as though a 
catastrophe had destroyed it4 ,nietzsche
 recounts the  catastrophe1 and names   
the destroyer1 ,socrates4    ,he dared  
to denounce the most revered of men4 ,it
 was he1 the poor  ,athenian1 a man of  
the people1 an ugly scoffer1 who        
suppressed the  ancient poetry4         
,socrates was neither an artist nor a   
philosopher2  he did not write1 he did  

not teach1 he scarcely spoke2 seated in 
the public place1 he stopped the        
passers-by1 astonished them by his      
pleasant logic1 convinced them of their 
ignorance and absurdity1  laughed1 and  
obliged them to laugh at themselves4    
,his irony dishonoured  the nave beliefs
 which gave strength to the ancestors of
 the race1  the myths which upheld their
 virtues4 ,he despised tragedy1 and made
  open declaration of his contempt for  
it2 that was enough4 ,euripides was     
troubled1 and suppressed his            
inspiration1 while the young ,plato1 who
  perhaps would have surpassed          
,sophocles himself1 listened to the new 
master1 burnt his verses1 and renounced 
art4 ,he disconcerted the old           
instinctive lyrical humanity of ,greece2
 and1 by the voice of ,plato1  whom he  
had seduced1 he imposed the illusion1   
unknown to the ancients1  of ,nature as 
accessible to the reason of man1        
altogether penetrated  by it1 and always
 harmonious4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche was  

to insert these  pages in his book upon 
,the ,birth of ,tragedy4    ,this charge
 pronounced against ,socrates surprised 
his audience in  ,basle4 ,wagner knew   
it1 and in ,september1 #ahgj1 wrote to  
,nietzsche an  enthusiastic but         
extremely shrewd letter4    ,as for me1 
,i cry out to you3 ,that's it6 you have 
got hold of the  truth1 you touch the   
exact point with keen accuracy4 ,i await
 with  admiration the series of work in 
which you will combat the errors of     
popular dogmatism4 ,but none the less   
you make me anxious1 and ,i hope  with  
all my heart that you are not going to  
come a cropper4 ,i would  also like to  
advise you not to expound your audacious
 views1 which must  be so difficult to  
establish1 in short brochures of limited
 range4  ,you are1 ,i feel1 profoundly  
penetrated with your ideas3 you must    
gather them together into a larger book 
of much wider scope4 ,then you  will    
find and will give us the mot juste on  
the divine blunders of  ,socrates and   

,plato1 those creators so wonderful as  
to exact adoration  even from us who    
forswear them6 ,our words1 my dear      
friend1 swell into  hymns when we       
consider the incomprehensible harmony of
 those essences1  so strange to our     
world6 ,and what pride and hope animate 
us when1  returning on ourselves1 we    
feel strongly and clearly that we can   
and  should achieve a work1 outside the 
reach even of those masters6    ,none of
 the letters addressed by ,nietzsche to 
,wagner have been  published4 ,have they
 been lost8 ,were they destroyed8 ,or   
are they  merely refused by ,madame     
,cosima ,wagner1 who is perhaps not     
incapable  of rancour8 ,the facts are   
unknown4 ,however1 we may be certain    
that  ,nietzsche begged ,wagner to ally 
himself with him1 to aid him in         
rendering clear those difficult views of
 his4 ,wagner replied3    ,,my ,,dear   
,,friend1--,how good it is to be able to
 exchange such letters6  ,there is no   
one to-day with whom ,i can talk as     

seriously as with  you--the ,unique#a   
excepted4 ,god only knows what would    
happen to me  but for that6 ,but ,i     
should be able to give myself up to the 
pleasure  of fighting with you against  
,socratism only on one condition1 that  
of having an enormous deal of time at my
 disposal1 free from the  temptation of 
any better project--to speak quite      
plainly1 ,i should have  to abandon all 
creative work4 ,division of labour is a 
good thing in  this connection4 ,you can
 do much for me3 you can take on your   
shoulders  a full half of the task      
assigned to me by fate4 ,and so doing1  
you will  perhaps achieve the whole of  
your own destiny4 ,i have never had much
  success in my essays in ,philology3   
you have never had much success in  your
 essays in music3 and it is well that   
things should be so4 ,as a  musician you
 would have come to much the same end to
 which ,i should  have come had ,i stuck
 obstinately to ,philology4 ,but        
,philology remains  in my blood2 it     

directs me in my work as a musician4 ,as
 for you1 remain  a philologist1 and    
keeping to ,philology1 allow yourself to
 be directed  by music4 ,i mean what ,i 
say in a very serious spirit4 ,you have 
taught  me within what base             
preconceptions a professional           
philologist is to-day  expected to      
imprison himself--,i have taught you in 
what an unspeakable  den a genuine      
'absolute' musician must to-day waste   
himself4 ,show us  what ,philology ought
 to be1 and help me to prepare the way  
for that  great ',renaissance' in which 
,plato will embrace ,homer1 and in which
  ,homer1 penetrated by the ideas of    
,plato1 will be at last and for the     
first time the sublime ,homer 444    ,at
 this instant ,nietzsche had conceived  
his work1 and was making  ready to write
 it at a spurt4 ,science1 art1 and      
philosophy grow so  intimately within   
me1 he said in ,february to ,rohde1 that
 ,i am about  to give birth to a        
centaur4    ,professional duties1       

however1 interrupted this flight4 ,in   
,march he was  appointed titular        
professor4 ,the honour flattered him1   
the duties kept  him occupied4 ,at the  
same time he was given the care of a    
class of  higher rhetoric2 then he was  
asked to draw up in the noblest ,latin  
an  address of congratulation to        
,professor ,baumbrach1 of ,fribourg1 who
 had  taught for fifty years in the     
,university of that town4 ,nietzsche1   
who  never shirked anything1 applied    
himself to the preparation of his class 
and the composition of his discourse4   
,in ,april1 more work4 ,ritschl  founded
 a review1 the ,acta societatis         
philologic8 ,lipsi81 and desired  that  
his best pupil should contribute to it4 
,nietzsche did not haggle  over the help
 asked of him4 ,he promised his copy1   
and wrote to ,rohde to  ask for his     
collaboration also4    ,personally1 ,i  
feel most strongly that ,i am under an  
obligation1 he  wrote4 ,and1            
notwithstanding that this work will put 

me out at the  moment1 ,i am quite      
committed to it4 ,we must collaborate   
for the first  number4 ,you are aware   
that certain persons will read it with  
curiosity1  with malevolence4           
,therefore1 it must be good4 ,i have    
promised my  faithful help--answer me4  
,may and then ,june1 #ahgj1 came4       
,friedrich ,nietzsche seems to have been
  occupied1 above all else1 with his    
work for the ,acta4 ,during the         
holidays at ,pentecost1 ,rohde1 on his  
way back from ,italy1 stopped at        
,basle4 ,nietzsche was delighted1 he    
wished ,wagner to make his friend's     
acquaintance1 and brought him to        
,triebschen4 ,they spent a fine day     
together1 on the brink of an abyss which
 none of them apparently  perceived4    
,rohde1 continuing on his road to       
,germany1 left ,basle4  ,nietzsche      
remained alone1 the victim of a foolish 
accident4 ,he had  given himself a      
strain and was forced to be up4         
99       99       99       99       99  

,had he given any attention to the      
rumours of war which troubled ,europe   
in #ahgj8 ,it seems not4 ,he was little 
curious of news1 and scarcely  read the 
newspapers4 ,not that he was indifferent
 to his country1 but  he conceived it1  
in the manner of ,goethe1 as a source of
 art and moral  grandeur4 ,one of his   
thoughts1 one alone1 is perhaps inspired
 by  the public unrest4 ,no war1 he     
writes2 the ,state would become too     
strong thereby4 ,no doubt we have here1 
besides one of ,nietzsche's  own        
impressions1 an echo of the             
conversations of ,triebschen3 ,wagner   
recruited his most ardent admirers in   
,southern ,germany1 in the  ,rhineland1 
in ,bavaria1 where his protector ,louis 
,,ii4 reigned2 the  ,germans of the     
,north appreciated him badly1 the       
,berliners worst of all1  and he had no 
wish for a warlike crisis which would   
certainly have the  effect of adding to 
the weight of ,prussian dictation4 ,the 
,state to  which ,nietzsche pointed in  

his short note was the ,prussian ,state4
 ,he  foresaw1 and like his master      
dreaded1 the imminent hegemony of       
,berlin1  that despised town of         
bureaucrats and bankers1 of journalists 
and ,jews4    ,on ,july #adth1 a        
convalescent1 stretched out on his long 
chair1 he wrote  to his comrade1 ,erwin 
,rohde4 ,he spoke to him of ,richard    
,wagner and of  ,hans von ,blow1 of art 
and of friendship4 ,suddenly he stops in
 the  middle of a phrase1 marking with a
 blank line the interruption of his     
thought4    ,here is a terrible         
thunderclap1 he wrote4 ,the             
,franco-,german war  is declared2 a     
demon alights upon all our culture1     
already worn  threadbare4 ,what are we  
about to experience8    ,friend1 dear   
friend1 we met once more in the twilight
 of peace4 ,to-day  what do all our     
aspirations signify8 ,perhaps we are at 
the beginning of  the end6 ,what a      
gloomy sight4 ,cloisters will become    
necessary4 ,and we  shall be the first  

friars4    ,he signed himself ,the      
,loyal ,swiss4 ,this unexpected         
signature may be  explained in a literal
 manner4 ,in order to be appointed a    
professor at  ,basle1 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche had had to renounce his      
nationality4 ,but  assuredly it         
indicated more than this4 ,it announced 
his detachment of  mind3 he had decided 
on the rle of the contemplator4    ,what
 a misunderstanding of himself6 ,he was 
too young1 too brave1 too  much         
enamoured of his race1 to adopt the part
 of spectator only in  the imminent     
drama4 ,as a loyal ,swiss1 and as such  
dispensed from  military duties1 he     
quietly took up his abode with his      
sister ,lisbeth  in a mountain inn1     
where he wrote out some pages on ,greek 
lyricism4 ,it  was then that he         
formulated for the first time his       
definition of the  ,dionysian and       
,apollonian spirits4 ,nevertheless1 the 
,german armies were  crossing the ,rhine
 and gaining their first victories1 and 

it was not  without emotion that        
,nietzsche heard the news4 ,the thought 
of lofty  deeds in which he had no part1
 of perils from which he was preserved1 
troubled his meditations4    ,on ,july  
#bjth1 writing to ,madame ,ritschl1 he  
expressed the thoughts  which occupied  
his solitude4 ,first he gave expression 
to a fear which1  as it seemed1 the     
memory of a ,greece ruined by the       
conflict of ,sparta  and ,athens        
inspired in him4 ,unhappy1 historical   
analogies teach us  that the very       
traditions of culture may be destroyed  
by the bitterness  of such a war of     
nations4 ,but he also expressed the     
emotion which  had begun to seize him4  
,how ,i am ashamed of this inactivity in
 which  ,i am kept1 now that the instant
 has come when ,i might be applying     
what ,i learned in the artillery4       
,naturally ,i make myself ready for an  
energetic course of action1 in case     
things should take a bad turn2  do you  
know that the students of ,kiel have    

enlisted together1 with  enthusiasm8 ,on
 the morning of ,august #gth he read in 
his paper the  dispatches from ,wrth3   
,german victory3 ,enormous losses4 ,he  
could no  longer remain in his retreat4 
,he returned to ,basle1 asked and       
obtained  from the ,swiss authorities   
permission to serve in the ambulance    
corps1  and proceeded at once to        
,germany to enlist for the war which    
allured  him4    ,he crossed conquered  
,alsace3 he saw the charnel houses of   
,wissembourg  and of ,wrth3 on ,august  
#bith he bivouacked not far from        
,strassburg1  where conflagrations lit  
up the horizon2 then he made his way1 by
  ,lunville and ,nancy1 towards the     
country around ,metz1 now converted     
into an immense ambulance1 where the    
wounded of ,mars-la-,tour1  ,gravelotte 
and ,saint-,privat1 so numerous that it 
was difficult to nurse  them1 were dying
 of their wounds and of infectious      
illnesses4 ,some  unfortunates were     
given into his charge3 he did his duty  

with kindness  and courage1 but         
experienced a singular emotion1 a sacred
 and almost  enthusiastic horror4 ,for  
the first time he considered without    
repulsion  the labour of the masses4 ,he
 watched those millions of beings1 some 
struck down and marked by death1 others 
marching the roads or standing  under   
arms3 he considered them without        
contempt1 he esteemed their  destiny4   
,under the menaces of war1 these men    
have something momentous  about them4   
,they forget their vain thoughts2 they  
march1 they sing1  they obey their      
chiefs2 they die4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche 
was recompensed  for his pains2 a       
fraternal impulse uplifted his soul1 he 
no longer  felt his solitude1 he loved  
the simple people who surrounded him4   
,all  my military passions awake1 he    
writes1 and ,i cannot satisfy them6 ,i  
would have been at ,rezonville1 at      
,sedan1 actively1 passively perhaps4    
,this ,swiss neutrality always ties my  
hands4    ,his passage through ,france  

was rapid4 ,he received orders to convey
 the  wounded in his care to the        
hospital at ,carlsruhe4    ,he set out  
and was shut up1 for three days and     
three nights1 with  eleven men1 lying in
 a market cart closed fast against the  
cold and  the rain4 ,two of the wounded 
who accompanied him were attacked by    
diphtheria1 all had dysentery4 ,to reach
 truth1 says a ,german mystic1  the most
 rapid mount is ,affliction4 ,friedrich 
,nietzsche recalled  this maxim of which
 he was so fond4 ,he tried his courage1 
verified his  thoughts4 ,he dressed the 
sores of his wounded1 he listened to    
their  complaints1 their appeals1 and   
did not interrupt his meditation4 ,till 
now he had known only his books2 now he 
knew life4 ,he relished this  bitter    
ordeal1 always discerning some far-off  
beauty4 ,i1 also1 ,i have  my hopes1 he 
was to write2 thanks to them ,i was able
 to look on at  the war and to pursue my
 meditations without pause1 in presence 
of  the worst horrors4444 ,i recall a   

solitary night during which ,i lay      
stretched out in a market van with the  
wounded men confided to me and  never   
ceased to explore in thought the three  
abysses of tragedy which  have for      
names3 ,wahn1 ,wille1 ,wehe--,illusion1 
,will1 ,affliction4 ,whence  then did ,i
 draw the confident certitude that he   
should undergo in  birth a similar      
ordeal1 the hero to come of tragic      
knowledge and ,greek  gaiety8    ,he    
arrived at ,carlsruhe with his sick and 
wounded2 he had contracted  their       
illness and was attacked by dysentery   
and diphtheria4 ,an unknown  who had    
been his ambulance companion nursed him 
devotedly4 ,as soon as  he was well     
again1 ,nietzsche went to his home at   
,naumburg1 there to  seek not repose1   
but an entire leisure from work and     
thought4    ,yes1 he wrote to his friend
 ,gersdorff1 who was fighting in        
,france--,yes1 that conception of things
 which is common to us has  undergone   
the ordeal by fire4 ,i have had the same

 experience as you4  ,for me1 as for    
you1 these weeks will remain in my life 
as an epoch  in which each one of my    
principles re-affirmed itself in me2 ,i 
would  have risked death with them4444  
,now ,i am at ,naumburg again1 but      
poorly  restored to health so far4 ,the 
atmosphere in which ,i have lived has   
been long over me like a dark cloud2 ,i 
heard an incessant lamentation4    ,once
 already1 in ,july1 #ahfe1 during the   
campaign at ,sadowa1 he had  known war1 
and undergone its allurement4 ,a simple 
and great aspiration  had laid hold of  
him2 and for a moment he had felt       
himself in accord  with his race4 ,i    
feel a patriotic emotion1 he wrote2 it  
is a new  experience for me4 ,he grasped
 at this sudden exaltation and          
cultivated  it4    ,indeed1 his is a    
changed soul4 ,he is no longer the loyal
 ,swiss of  another time2 he is a man   
among men1 a ,german proud of his       
,germany4 ,a  war has transformed him2  
he glorifies war4 ,war awakes the energy

 of  men2 it even troubles their        
spirits4 ,it obliges them to seek in an 
ideal order1 an order of beauty and     
duty1 the ends of a life which is  too  
cruel4 ,the lyric poet1 the sage1       
misunderstood in ages of peace1  are    
heard with respect in ages of war4 ,then
 men have need of them1  and are        
conscious of their need4 ,the same      
necessity which ranges them  behind     
their chiefs renders them attentive to  
genius4 ,humanity is made  truly one1   
and is drawn towards the heroic and the 
sublime1 only under  the pressure of    
war4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 though   
still very weak and suffering1 again    
took  up the notes of his book that he  
might record in it his new ideas4 ,in   
,greece1 he argues1 art was the visible 
form of a society1 disciplined  by      
struggle1 from the workshop1 where the  
captive slave laboured1 up  to the      
gymnasium and the agora1 where the free 
man played with arms4  ,such was that   
winged figure1 that goddess of          

,samothrace1 that had for  companion of 
her flight a bloody trireme4    ,the    
,greek genius emanated from war1 it sang
 war1 it had war for its  comrade4 ,it  
is the people of the tragic mysteries1  
wrote ,friedrich  ,nietzsche1 who strike
 the great blow of the ,persian battles2
 in  return1 the people who have        
maintained these wars need the salutary 
beverage of tragedy4 ,we follow in his  
notes the movement of a  mind which     
wishes to grasp the very idea of the    
tragic1 athwart a  vaguely-known        
,greece4 ,again and again we find this  
word tragic  brought in as if it were a 
fundamental strain which the young      
thinker trains himself to repeat1 like a
 child trying to learn a new            
word3--,tragic ,greece conquers the     
,persians4444 ,tragic man is nature     
itself in its highest strength of       
creation and knowledge3 he trifles  with
 sorrow4444 ,three formulas satisfy his 
research for a moment4  ,the tragic work
 of ,art--the tragic ,man--the tragic   

,state4 ,thus he  determined the three  
essential parts of his book1 which he   
would  entitle as a whole3 ,the ,tragic 
,man4    ,let us not misunderstand the  
real object of his meditations3 this    
society1 this discipline which he       
discerned in the past1 were in  reality 
the ideal forms of the ,fatherland which
 he desired and for  which he dared to  
hope4 ,he saw on the one hand ,latin    
,europe1 weakened  by utilitarianism and
 the softness of life1 on the other     
,germany1 rich  in poets1 in soldiers1  
in myths1 in victories4 ,she was        
suzerain of  those races which were in  
process of decay4 ,how would she        
exercise this  suzerainty8 ,might not   
one augur from her triumph a new era1   
warlike  and tragic1 chivalrous and     
lyric8 ,one could conceive it2 and      
therefore  one should hope for it1 and  
this was enough to dictate one's duty4  
,how  glorious this ,germany would be1  
with ,bismarck as its chief1 ,moltke as 
its soldier1 ,wagner as its poet--its   

philosopher1 too1 existed1 and  was     
called ,friedrich ,nietzsche4 ,this     
belief1 though he expressed it  nowhere1
 he surely had3 for he had not a doubt  
as to his genius4    ,he was elated1 but
 did not let his dreams lead him astray3
 he imagined  an ideal ,fatherland1 yet 
never lost from sight the ,fatherland1  
human1  too human1 which actually       
existed4    ,during ,october and the    
first days of ,november1 alone with his 
own  people in that ,naumburg whose     
provincial virtues he did not love1  he 
bore hardly with the vulgarity of the   
little people1 of the  functionaries    
with whom he mixed4 ,naumburg was a     
small ,prussian town2  ,friedrich       
,nietzsche did not care for this robust 
and vulgar ,prussia4  ,metz had         
capitulated2 the finest army of ,france 
was taken captive3 a  delirium of       
conceit swept all ,germany off its feet4
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche  resisted the    
general tendency4 ,the sentiment of     
triumph was a repose  which his exacting

 soul might not know4 ,on the contrary1 
he was  disgusted and alarmed4    ,i    
fear1 he wrote to his friend ,gersdorff1
 that we shall have to pay  for our     
marvellous national victories at a price
 to which ,i1 for my  part1 will never  
consent4 ,in confidence--,i am of       
opinion that modern  ,prussia is a      
,power highly dangerous to culture4444  
,the enterprise is  not easy1 but we    
must be philosophers enough to keep our 
sang-froid in  the midst of all this    
smoke1 we must keep watch so that no    
robber may  come and steal any part of  
what1 in my opinion1 is commensurable   
with  nothing beside1 not even the most 
heroic of military actions1 not even    
our national exaltation4    ,then a     
document appeared which deeply moved    
,friedrich ,nietzsche4 ,it  was the date
 of the centenary of ,beethoven4 ,the   
,germans1 occupied with  their war1 had 
neglected to commemorate it4 ,richard   
,wagner's voice was  raised1 it alone   
was strong enough to recall to the      

conquerors the  memory of another glory3
 ,germans1 you are brave1 he cried2     
remain  brave in peace4444 ,in this     
marvellous year #ahgj nothing is better 
suited to your pride in being brave than
 the memory of the great  ,beethoven4444
 ,let us celebrate that great pioneer   
and path-hewer1 let  us celebrate him   
worthily1 not less worthily than the    
victory of ,german  courage3 for he who 
gives joy to the world is raised higher 
among men  than he who conquers the     
world4    ,germans1 you are brave2      
remain brave in peace--no saying could  
move  ,friedrich ,nietzsche more deeply4
 ,he desired to be near the master      
again1 and1 though not yet restored to  
health1 he left ,naumburg4           99 
99       99       99       99    ,he saw
 ,richard ,wagner again and was not     
entirely satisfied4 ,this man1  who had 
been so splendid in misfortune1 seemed  
to have lost stature4  ,there was a     
vulgar quality in his joy4 ,well had the
 ,german victory  avenged him for those 

,parisian cat-calls and railleries which
 he had  had to endure2 now he ate      
,frenchmen with an enormous and         
peaceable  relish4 ,nevertheless he     
declined certain offers2 he was promised
 the  highest office and honours if he  
accepted residence in ,berlin4 ,he      
refused1 being unwilling to let himself 
be enthroned as poet-laureate  of a     
,prussian ,empire2 and his disciple was 
thankful for the refusal4    ,friedrich 
,nietzsche found at ,basle an even      
better confidant of his  anxieties4 ,the
 historian ,jacob ,burckhardt1 a great  
scholar of arts and  civilisations1 was 
melancholy2 all brutality was odious to 
him1 and he  detested war and its       
destruction4 ,a citizen of the last city
 in ,europe  which maintained its       
independence and its old customs1 proud 
of this  independence and of these      
customs1 ,jacob ,burckhardt disliked    
those  nations of thirty or forty       
millions of souls which he saw          
establishing  themselves4 ,to the       

designs of ,bismarck and of ,cavour he  
preferred the  counsel of               
,aristotle--,so arrange that the number 
of citizens does not  exceed ten        
thousand2 otherwise they would not be   
able to meet together  on the public    
square4    ,he had studied ,athens1     
,venice1 ,florence1 and ,sienna4 ,he    
held in high  esteem the ancient and    
,latin disciplines1 in very moderate    
esteem  the ,german disciplines3 he     
dreaded ,german hegemony4 ,burckhardt   
and  ,nietzsche were colleagues4 ,they  
often met in the intervals between two  
lectures4 ,then they would talk and1 on 
fine days1 stroll together along  that  
terrace over which all ,european        
travellers lean1 that is between  the   
cathedral of red sandstone and the      
,rhine1 here so young still but  already
 so strong1 as it passes with a long    
murmur of ruffled waters4  ,the         
simply-built ,university is situated    
quite near1 on the slope1  between the  
river and the ,museum4    ,the two      

colleagues were eternally examining     
their common thought4 ,how  should that 
tradition of culture and beauty be      
continued1 that fragile  and oft-broken 
tradition which two tiny ,states1       
,attica and ,tuscany1  have transmitted 
to our care8 ,france had not deserved   
censure2 she  had known how to maintain 
the methods and a school of taste4 ,but 
had  ,prussia the qualities fitting her 
heritage8 ,friedrich ,nietzsche         
repeated the expression of his hope4    
,perhaps1 said he1 this war will  have  
transformed our old ,germany2 ,i see her
 more virile1 endowed with  a firmer and
 more delicate taste4 ,jacob ,burckhardt
 listened4 ,no1  said he1 you are always
 thinking of the ,greeks1 for whom war  
had no  doubt an educative virtue4 ,but 
modern wars are superficial2 they do    
not reach1 they do not correct the      
bourgeois1 laissez-aller style of  life4
 ,they are rare2 their impressions are  
soon effaced2 they are soon  forgotten2 
they do not exercise people's thought4  

,what did ,nietzsche  answer8 ,a letter 
to ,erwin ,rohde enables us to divine   
the ill-assured  accent of his          
observations4 ,i am very anxious1 he    
writes1 as regards  the immediate       
future4 ,i seem to recognise there the  
,middle ,ages in  disguise4444 ,be      
careful to free yourself from this fatal
 ,prussia1 with  its repugnance to      
culture6 ,flunkeys and priests sprout   
from its soil  like mushrooms1 and they 
are going to darken all ,germany with   
their  smoke6    ,jacob ,burckhardt1    
long a recluse amid his memories and his
 books1 had  the habit of melancholy and
 made the best of it4 ,by way of        
discreet  protest against the           
enthusiasms of his contemporaries1 he   
delivered a  lecture upon ,historical   
,greatness4 ,do not take for true       
greatness1  said he to the students of  
,basle1 such and such a military        
triumph1  such and such an expansion of 
a ,state4 ,how many nations have been   
powerful who are forgotten and merit    

their oblivion6 ,historical  greatness  
is a rarer thing2 it lies wholly in the 
works of those men  whom we call great  
men1 using that vague term because we   
cannot truly  fathom their nature4 ,some
 unknown genius leaves us ,notre ,dame  
de  ,paris2 ,goethe gives us his ,faust2
 ,newton his law of the ,solar ,system4 
,this is greatness1 and this alone4     
,friedrich ,nietzsche listened and      
applauded4 ,burckhardt1 wrote he1 is    
becoming a ,schopenhauerian4444  ,but a 
few wise words do not satisfy his       
ardour4 ,nor can he so quickly  renounce
 the hope which he has conceived2 he    
wishes to act1 to save his  ,fatherland 
from the moral disaster which in his    
judgment menaces her4    ,how act8 ,here
 was a sluggish people1 not easily      
aroused1 lacking in  sensitiveness1 a   
people stunted by democracy1 a people in
 revolt  against every noble aspiration3
 by what artifice could one sustain     
among them the imperilled ideal1 the    
love of heroism and of the  sublime8    

,nietzsche formed a project which was so
 audacious and so  advanced that he     
meditated long upon it without confiding
 in any one4  ,richard ,wagner was then 
working to establish that theatre of    
,bayreuth  in which he hoped to realise 
his epic creation in complete freedom4  
,nietzsche dared to imagine a different 
institution1 but one of the  same order2
 a kind of seminary where the young     
philosophers1 his  friends1 ,rohde1     
,gersdorff1 ,deussen1 ,overbeck1        
,romundt should meet1 live  together    
and1 free from duties1 liberated from   
administrative tutelage1  meditate1     
under the guidance of certain masters1  
on the problems of  the hour4 ,a double 
home of art and of thought would thus   
maintain at  the heart of ,germany1     
above the crowd and apart from the      
,state1 the  traditions of the spiritual
 life4 ,cloisters will become necessary1
 he  had written to ,erwin ,rohde in    
,july2 six months' experience brought   
back  this idea4 ,here assuredly is the 

strangest thing which this time of  war 
and victory has raised up2 a modern     
anchoritism--an impossibility  of living
 in accord with the ,state4             
,friedrich ,nietzsche let himself be    
drawn away by this dream1 the  unreality
 of which he failed to recognise4 ,he   
was imagining a reunion  of solitaries1 
similar to the ,port ,royal des ,champs4
 ,he knew that such  a society did not  
accord with the manners and tastes of   
his times1 but  he judged it to be      
necessary and believed that he had      
strength enough  to establish or impose 
it4    ,a profound instinct inspired and
 directed him4 ,that old college of     
,pforta had been monachal in its        
origins1 in its buildings and in its    
very walls1 in the lasting gravity and  
ordered rule of life4 ,thus he  had1 as 
a child1 received the impress of what   
was almost the life of  a religious4 ,he
 kept the memory of it1 and the         
nostalgia4 ,during his  years at the    
,university he had constantly sought to 

isolate himself  from the world by      
surrounding himself with friends4 ,he   
studied ,greece1  and the antique wisdom
 nourished his soul3 he loved           
,pythagoras  and ,plato1 the one the    
founder1 the other the poet1 of the     
finest  brotherhood that man had ever   
conceived1 the close and sovereign      
aristocracy of sages armed1 of          
meditative knights4 ,thus did ,christian
  humanity and ,pagan humanity1 united  
by a remote harmony1 concur with  his   
thoughts and his aspirations4    ,he    
wished to write an open letter to his   
friends1 known and unknown2  but he     
would only call them at the favourable  
moment1 and till then  would keep his   
secret4 ,give me two years1 he wrote to 
his friend  ,gersdorff enthusiastically 
and mysteriously1 and you will see a    
new conception of antiquity diffuse     
itself1 which must bring a new  spirit  
into the scientific and moral education 
of the nation6 ,towards  mid-,december  
he believed that the moment had come4   

,erwin ,rohde wrote  him a melancholy   
letter1 a very feeble echo of the       
passionate letters  which ,nietzsche had
 addressed to him4 ,soon we shall need  
cloisters  444 he said1 repeating the   
same idea expressed six months earlier  
by  his friend4 ,it was but a word2     
,friedrich ,nietzsche saw in it a sign  
of  spontaneous agreement1 a presage of 
enthusiastic collaboration1 and he      
wrote in a joyous transport3    ,,dear  
,,friend1--,i received your letter and  
,i answer it without losing  a minute4  
,above all ,i wish to tell you that ,i  
feel altogether  like you1 and that we  
shall be1 in my opinion1 very weak1 if1 
abandoning our feeble complaints1 we do 
not deliver ourselves from  ennui by an 
energetic act4444 ,i have at last       
understood the bearing  of              
,schopenhauer's judgments on the        
philosophy of the universities4 ,no     
radical truth is possible there4 ,no    
revolutionary truth can come out  from  
there4444 ,we shall reject this yoke2 to

 me that is certain4 ,and we  shall then
 form a new ,greek academy3 ,romundt    
will be of our company4    ,you know1   
since your visit to ,triebschen1 the    
projects of ,bayreuth4  ,for a long     
time1 without confiding in any one1 ,i  
have been considering  whether it would 
not be suitable for us to break with    
philology and  its perspectives of      
culture4 ,i am preparing a great        
adhortatio  for all those who are not   
yet completely captured and stifled by  
the  manners of this present time4 ,what
 a pity that ,i must write to you1 and  
that for long we have not been able to  
examine in conversation each of  my     
thoughts6 ,to you who know not their    
turnings and their consequences1  my    
plan will perhaps appear as an eccentric
 caprice4 ,that1 it is not2  it is a    
necessity4    444 ,let us try to reach a
 little island on which there will be   
no longer need to close one's ears with 
wax4 ,then we shall be one  another's   
masters4 ,our books1 from now till then1

 are but hooks to  catch our friends1 a 
public for our sthetic and monachal     
association4  ,let us live1 let us work1
 let us enjoy for one another's sake2 in
 that  manner only1 perhaps1 shall we be
 able to work for the whole4 ,i may     
tell you 7see how serious is my design7 
that ,i have already commenced  to      
reduce my expenses in order to          
constitute a little reserve fund4 ,we   
shall gamble in order to try our 'luck'2
 as to the books which we shall  be able
 to write1 ,i shall demand the highest  
honorarium as a provision  for coming   
times4 ,in brief1 we shall neglect no   
lawful means of success  in founding our
 cloister4 ,we also have our duty for   
the next two years6    ,may this plan   
seem to you worthy of meditation6 ,your 
last letter1  moving as it was1         
signified to me that the time had come  
to unveil it  for you4    ,shall we not 
be able to introduce a new form of      
,academy into the world8          ',und 
sollt' ich nicht1 sehnsuchtigster       

,gewalt1      ,in's ,leben ziehn die    
einzigster ,gestalt8'      ,thus ,faust 
speaks of ,helen4 ,no one knows anything
 of my project1 and  now it depends upon
 you to see that ,romundt is advised of 
it4    ,assuredly1 our school of        
philosophy is neither an historical     
reminiscence nor an arbitrary caprice2  
is it not a necessity that  pushes us on
 to that road8 ,it seems that the plan  
of our student days1  that voyage which 
we were to make together1 returns in a  
new form1  symbolic now and vaster than 
it was4 ,on this occasion1 ,i won't     
leave  you in the lurch as ,i then did4 
,that memory always annoys me4    ,with 
my best hopes1 your faithful    ,,frater
 ,,friedrich4    ,from the #bcrd of     
,december till the #ast of ,january ,i  
go to ,triebschen1  near ,lucerne4      
,on the #bbnd of ,december ,friedrich   
,nietzsche left ,lucerne3 he had        
received no reply from ,rohde4 ,he found
 the house at ,triebschen in high       
festival with children's games and the  

preparations for ,christmas4  ,madame   
,wagner gave him a volume of ,stendhal1 
,les ,promenades dans  ,rome4 ,he       
offered ,wagner the famous woodcut of   
,drer's of ,the ,knight1  the ,dog1 and 
,death1 on which he had written a       
commentary for the  book he was then    
preparing1 ,the ,origin of ,tragedy3 ,a 
spirit which  feels itself isolated1    
desperate and solitary1 he wrote1 could 
choose no better symbol than that rider 
of ,drer's1 who1 unperturbed  by his    
gruesome companions and yet wholly      
without hope1 pursues his  terrible path
 alone with dog and horse4 ,this rider  
of ,drer's is our  ,schopenhauer3 he was
 without hope1 but he desired the truth4
 ,his like  does not exist4 ,nietzsche  
would have been happy in the master's   
house  if he had not been expecting     
,rohde's reply3 the waiting worried him4
  ,he stopped for a week at ,triebschen4
 ,wagner was never done talking  about  
,bayreuth and his vast projects4        
,nietzsche1 too1 had his thought  which 

he would have joyfully uttered2 but     
first he wanted his friend's            
approbation1 and that approbation did   
not come4 ,he left without having       
received a word or spoken one on the    
subject4    ,at last1 at ,basle1 he     
received the too long-desired letter3 an
  honest1 affectionate1 but negative    
reply4 ,you tell me that cloisters  are 
necessary to-day1 wrote ,rohde4 ,i      
believe it4 ,but there are  necessities 
for which no remedy exists4 ,how can we 
find the money8  ,and even when we shall
 have found the money1 ,i do not know   
that ,i  shall follow you2 ,i do not    
feel in me a creative force which       
renders  me worthy of the solitude      
whither you call me4 ,for a             
,schopenhauer1 a  ,beethoven1 a ,wagner1
 the case is different1 as it is for    
you1 dear  friend4 ,but1 as ,i am in    
question1 no6 ,i must hope for a        
different life4  ,still let us entertain
 the wish for such a retreat1 among     
certain  friends1 in a cloister of the  

muses2 ,i agree to that4 ,deprived of   
desires1 what would we become8    ,if   
,rohde refused to follow him1 who would 
follow him8 ,he did not write  his      
,adhortatio2 ,romundt was not advised1  
and even ,wagner1 it seems1  knew       
nothing of the proposal4           99   
99       99       99       99           
,nietzsche made no vain complaints1 but 
set to work to elaborate alone  those   
revolutionary truths for which he would 
have wished to contrive  a kindlier     
manner of birth4 ,he turned his back    
upon ,germany1 upon  those modern       
,states which have it as their mission  
to flatter the  servilities1 soften the 
conflicts1 and favour the idleness of   
men4  ,he considered anew primitive     
,greece1 the city of the seventh and the
  sixth centuries2 thither a mysterious 
attraction ever drew him back4  ,was it 
the seduction of a perfect beauty8      
,doubtless1 but it was also  the        
seduction of that strength and cruelty  
which a modern conceals  as he conceals 

a stain1 and which the old ,greeks      
practised with joy4  ,nietzsche loved   
strength2 on the battlefield of ,metz he
 had felt within  him the appetite and  
instinct4    ,if1 he wrote1 genius and  
art are the final ends of ,greek        
culture1  then all the forms of ,greek  
society must appear to us as necessary  
mechanisms and stepping-stones towards  
that final end4 ,let us  discover what  
means were utilised by the will to act  
which animated  the ,greeks4444 ,he     
discerns and names one of these means3  
slavery4  ,frederick ,augustus ,wolf1 he
 notes1 has shown us that slavery is    
necessary to culture4 ,there is one of  
the powerful thoughts of my             
predecessor4 ,he grasped it1 held it to 
him1 and forced it to disclose  its     
whole meaning4 ,this idea1 suddenly     
discovered1 inspired him2 it was        
profound and moved him to the depths of 
his being2 it was cruel1 almost         
monstrous1 and satisfied his romantic   
taste4 ,he shuddered before it1 he      

admired its sombre beauty4    ,it may be
 that this knowledge fills us with      
terror1 he wrote2 ',i  such terror is   
the almost necessary effect of all the  
most profound  knowledge4 ,for nature is
 still a frightful thing1 even when     
intent on  creating the most beautiful  
forms4 ,it is so arranged that culture1 
in  its triumphal march1 benefits only a
 trivial minority of privileged         
mortals1 and it is necessary that the   
slave service of the great  masses be   
maintained1 if one wish to attain to a  
full joy in becoming  7werde lust74     
,we moderns have been accustomed to     
oppose two principles against the       
,greeks1 the one and the other invented 
to reassure a society of an  altogether 
servile kind which anxiously avoids the 
world1 slave3 we  talk of the 'dignity  
of man' and the 'dignity of labour4'    
,the language of the ,greeks is other4  
,they declare in simple terms that  work
 is a disgrace1 for it is impossible    
that a man occupied with the  labour of 

gaining a livelihood should ever become 
an artist4444    ,so let us avow this   
cruel sounding truth3 slavery is        
necessary to  culture2 a truth which    
assuredly leaves no doubt as to the     
absolute  value of being4    ,the misery
 of those men who live by labour must be
 made yet more  vigorous1 in order that 
a very few ,olympian men may create a   
world  of art4444 ,at their expense1 by 
the artifice of unpaid labour1 the      
privileged classes should be relieved   
from the struggle for life1 and  given  
such conditions that they can create1   
and satisfy a new order of  needs4444   
,and if it is true to say that the      
,greeks were destroyed by  slavery1 this
 other affirmation is1 most certainly1  
even truer3 for  lack of slavery1 we are
 perishing4    ,but what was the origin 
of this very institution of slavery8    
,how was  the submission of the slave1  
that blind mole of culture1 secured8    
,the ,greeks teach us1 answered         
,nietzsche3 ,the conquered belongs to   

the  conqueror1 they say1 with his wives
 and his children1 his goods and  his   
blood4 ,power gives the first right1 and
 there is no right which  is not at     
bottom appropriation1 usurpation1 power4
 ,thus ,nietzsche's  thought was brought
 back towards its first object4 ,the war
 had inspired  him in the first         
instance4 ,now he rediscovers that      
solution4 ,in sorrow  and in tragedy1   
men had invented beauty2 into sorrow and
 into tragedy  they must be plunged1 and
 there retained that their sense of     
beauty  might be preserved4 ,in pages   
which have the accent and rhythm of a   
hymn1 ,friedrich ,nietzsche glorifies   
and invokes war3    ,here you have the  
,state1 of shameful origin2 for the     
greater part of  men1 a well of         
suffering that is never dried1 a flame  
that consumes  them in its frequent     
crises4 ,and yet when it calls1 our     
souls become  forgetful of themselves2  
at its bloody appeal the multitude is   
urged to  courage and uplifted to       

heroism4 ,yes1 the ,state is to the     
blind masses1  perhaps1 the highest and 
most worthy of aims2 it is1 perhaps1 the
 ,state  which1 in its formidable hours1
 stamps upon every face the singular    
expression of greatness4    ,some tie1  
some mysterious affinity1 exists between
 the ,state and art1  between political 
activity and artistic production1 the   
battlefield  and the work of art4 ,what 
is the rle of the ,state8 ,it is the    
tenaille  of steel which binds society  
together4 ,without the ,state1 in       
natural  conditions--bellum omnium      
contra omnes--society would remain      
limited  by the family1 and could not   
project its roots afar4 ,by the         
universal  institution of ,states1 that 
instinct which formerly determined the  
bellum omnium contra omnes has been     
concentrated2 at certain epochs         
terrible clouds of war menace the       
peoples and discharge themselves at  one
 great clap1 in lightnings and thunders1
 fiercer as they are less  frequent4    

,but these crises are not continual2    
between one and another  of them society
 breathes again2 regenerated by the     
action of war1 it  breaks on every side 
into blossom and verdure1 and1 when the 
first fine  days come1 puts forth       
dazzling fruits of genius4    ,if ,i    
leave the ,greek world and examine our  
own1 ,i recognise1 ,i avow  it1 symptoms
 of degeneration which give me fears    
both for society and  for art4 ,certain 
men1 in whom the instinct of the ,state 
is lacking1  wish1 no longer to serve   
it1 but to make it serve them1 to use it
 for  their personal ends4 ,they see    
nothing of the divine in it2 and1 in    
order to utilise it1 in a sure and      
rational manner1 they are concerned  to 
evade the shocks of war3 they set out   
deliberately to organise  things in such
 a manner that war becomes an           
impossibility4 ,on the one  hand they   
conjure up systems of ,european         
equilibrium1 on the other  hand they do 
their best to deprive absolute          

sovereigns of the right  to declare war1
 in order that they may thus appeal the 
more easily  to the egoism of the       
masses1 and of those who represent them4
 ,they  feel it incumbent on them to    
weaken the monarchical instinct of the  
masses1 and do weaken it1 by propagating
 among them the liberal and  optimistic 
conception of the world1 a conception   
which has its roots in  the doctrines of
 ,french rationalism and the            
,revolution2 that is1 in a  philosophy  
altogether foreign to the ,german       
spirit1 a ,latin platitude1  devoid of  
any metaphysical meaning4    ,the       
movement1 to-day triumphant1 of         
nationalities1 the extension of         
universal suffrage which runs parallel  
to this movement1 seem to me to  be     
determined above all by the fear of war4
 ,and behind these diverse  agitations1 
,i perceive those who are chiefly moved 
by this alarm1 the  solitaries of       
international finance1 who1 being by    
nature denuded of  any instinct for the 

,state1 subordinate politics1 the ,state
 and society  to their money-making and 
speculative ends4    ,if the spirit of  
speculation is not thus to debase the   
spirit of the  ,state1 we must have war 
and war again--there is no other means4 
,in  the exaltation which it procures1  
it becomes clear to men that the  ,state
 has not been founded to protect        
egoistical individuals against  the     
demon of war2 quite the contrary3 love  
of country1 devotion to  one's prince1  
help to excite a moral impulse which is 
the symbol of  a far higher destiny4444 
,it will not therefore be thought that  
,i do  ill when ,i raise here the pan of
 war4 ,the resonance of its silver  bow 
is terrible4 ,it comes to us sombre as  
night3 nevertheless ,apollo  accompanies
 it1 ,apollo1 the rightful leader of    
states1 the god who  purifies them4444  
,let us say it then3 war is necessary to
 the ,state1  as the slave is to        
society4 ,no one will be able to avoid  
these  conclusions1 if he have sought   

the causes of the perfection which      
,greek  art attained1 and ,greek art    
alone4    ,war and yet again war which  
exalts the peoples3 such was the cry of 
the solitary4 ,he had but to drop his   
pen1 to listen and look around  him1 and
 he saw the pedantic empire and         
repressed his hopes4 ,we follow  the    
trouble of his thought4 ,he hesitates1  
he records at the same moment  the      
abiding illusion and the inevitable     
disillusion3    ,i could have imagined1 
he writes1 that the ,germans had        
embarked  on this war to save ,venus    
from the ,louvre1 like a second ,helen4 
,it  would have been the spiritual      
interpretation of their combat4 ,the    
fine  antique severity inaugurated by   
this war--for the time to be grave has  
come--we think that is the time for art 
also4    ,he continued to write2 his    
thought becomes clearer and more        
melancholy3  ,the ,state1 when it cannot
 achieve its highest aim1 grows beyond  
measure4 ,the ,world ,empire of the     

,romans1 in face of ,athens1 has nothing
  of the sublime4 ,this sap1 which      
should all run to the flowers1 resides  
now in the leaves and stalks1 which     
swell to an immense size4    ,rome      
troubled him2 he disliked it2 he judged 
it a slur upon antiquity4  ,that city1  
warlike1 but ever plebeian1 victorious1 
but ever vulgar1  filled him with gloomy
 fore-thought3      ,rome1 he wrote1 is 
the typical barbaric state3 the will    
cannot  there attain to its noble ends4 
,the organisation is more vigorous1 the 
morality more oppressive 444 who        
venerates this colossus8    ,who        
venerates this colossus8 ,let us give a 
modern and pressing  application to     
these interrogatory words4 ,the colossus
 is not ,rome1 it  is ,prussia and her  
empire4 ,narrow was the soil of ,athens 
or of ,sparta1  and brief their day2 but
 what did that matter if the object1    
which  was spiritual strength and       
beauty1 was attained8 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche  was haunted by this vision  

of ,greece with its hundred rival       
cities1  raising between mountains and  
sea their acropoles1 their temples1     
their  statues1 all resounding with the 
rhythm of pans1 all glorious and  alert4
    ,the sentiment of ,hellenism1 he    
wrote1 as soon as it is awakened1       
becomes aggressive and translates itself
 into a combat against the  culture of  
the present day4           99       99  
99       99       99    ,friedrich      
,nietzsche suffered from the wounds     
which life inflicted  upon his lyrical  
dream4 ,his friends listened to him1 but
 followed him  imperfectly4 ,the        
professor1 ,franz ,overbeck1 who lived  
in his house and  saw him every day1 was
 a man of distinction1 with a strong and
 acute  mind4 ,a ,german by birth1 a    
,frenchman by education1 he understood  
the  problems of the day1 and joined in 
the anxieties and intentions of         
,nietzsche2 but his ardour could not    
equal ,nietzsche's4 ,jacob ,burckhardt  
was a man of noble intellect and        

character1 but he was without hope1  and
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche passionately     
desired to hope4 ,no doubt1 there  was  
,wagner1 whom neither passion nor hope  
ever could surprise1 but he  had just   
published an ,aristophanic buffoonery   
directed against the  conquered         
,parisians4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche read  
this gross work1 and  condemned it4     
,overbeck and ,burckhardt lacked ardour2
 ,wagner lacked  delicacy2 and          
,nietzsche confided in no one4 ,a chair 
of philosophy had  just been vacated in 
the ,university of ,basle4 ,nietzsche   
took fire  at once4 ,he wrote to ,erwin 
,rohde1 and told him that he should     
apply  for this chair1 and that he would
 assuredly secure it4 ,thus the two     
friends were to meet again4 ,vain hope6 
,erwin ,rohde presented himself  as a   
candidate1 but was not accepted4        
,nietzsche reproached himself for       
having lured on his friend4 ,he grew    
melancholy4 ,he felt himself drawn  like
 a little whirlpool into a dead sea of  

night and oblivion4    ,he had never    
recovered entirely from the ordeals of  
the war4 ,neither  sleep nor sure and   
certain health were ever at his call    
again4 ,in  ,february the nervous force 
which had sustained him suddenly gave   
way1  and his disorders assumed an acute
 form4 ,violent neuralgas1 insomnia1    
troubles and weaknesses of the eyesight1
 stomach ills1 jaundice  represented the
 nature of the crisis which had been    
tormenting him for  five months4 ,the   
doctors1 quite at a loss1 advised him to
 give up work  and to take a voyage4    
,friedrich ,nietzsche sent for his      
sister1 who came  to ,naumburg4 ,he     
brought her to pay a farewell visit to  
,triebschen1 and  left for ,lugano4     
,at that time the railway did not cross 
the ,alps4 ,travellers went by          
diligence over the ridge of the ,st4    
,gothard4 ,chance furnished ,nietzsche  
with a remarkable companion1 an old man 
of a talkative humour1 and with  no     
desire to conceal his identity3 it was  

,mazzini4 ,the old humanitarian  and the
 young apostle of slavery hit it off    
wonderfully well4 ,mazzini  cited       
,goethe's phrase3    ,sich des halben zu
 entwohnen und im ,ganzen1 ,vollen1     
,schnen resolut  zu leben 7,to abjure   
half-measures1 and to live resolutely in
 the  ,whole1 the ,full1 the            
,beautiful74 ,friedrich ,nietzsche never
 forgot the  energetic maxim1 nor the   
man who had transmitted it to him1 nor  
this  day of rapid and healthful travel1
 not far from those summits which he    
was afterwards to love so much4    ,the 
fine mountain crossing amid the snow and
 silence of the ,alps had  sufficed4 ,he
 was almost cured on his arrival at     
,lugano4 ,his nature was  still supple  
and youthful2 his returns to life were  
prompt and radiant2  a nave gaiety      
re-animated all his being4 ,he spent two
 happy months  in ,italian ,switzerland4
 ,a ,prussian officer1 a relation of    
,general von  ,moltke1 was staying at   
his hotel4 ,he lent him his manuscripts 

and often  talked to him of the         
destinies of the new ,german ,empire and
 of the  aristocratic warrior's mission 
which the victory had conferred upon    
it4 ,it was a fine springtide for the   
numerous ,germans who had come to  rest 
at the place3 they liked to gather round
 their young philosopher  and listen to 
him4 ,february began1 the war was over1 
and these happy  people1 freed from all 
anxieties1 abandoned themselves for the 
first  time to the pleasure of their    
triumph4 ,they sang2 they danced in     
public up to the ,market-place1 and     
,nietzsche was not the least prompt  to 
rejoice with them1 to dance and sing4   
,when ,i recall these days1  writes     
,madame ,frster-,nietzsche1 who gives us
 a sad and gracious  account of the     
time1 it seems to me that ,i am having a
 veritable dream  of ,carnival4    ,from
 ,lugano1 ,friedrich ,nietzsche wrote to
 ,erwin ,rohde3    ,i have very often   
suffered from a heavy and depressed     
mood4 ,but more  than once inspiration  

has returned to me2 my manuscript has   
benefited  from it4 ,i have given the   
go-by to philology in the most cavalier 
fashion4 ,they may praise me1 they may  
blame me1 they may promise me  the      
highest honours1 they may talk as they  
choose2 ,i turn my back upon  it4 ,every
 day ,i go deeper into my philosophic   
domain1 and ,i begin to  have confidence
 in myself2 better still1 if ,i am ever 
to be a poet1  from to-day ,i feel      
myself disposed towards it4 ,i do not   
know1 ,i have no  means of knowing1     
whither my destiny guides me4 ,and      
nevertheless1 when  ,i examine myself1  
everything is in perfect accord within  
me1 as though  ,i had followed some good
 genius4 ,my ends are extremely hidden  
from me2  no concern for office1 for    
hierarchic honours1 directs my efforts2 
and none the less ,i live in a          
surprising condition of clarity1 of     
serenity4 ,what a sensation it is to see
 one's world before one1 a fine  globe1 
round and complete6 ,now it is some     

fragment of a new metaphysic1  now it is
 a new sthetic which grows up within me1
 now another idea  claims me1 a new     
principle of education which entails the
 complete  rejection of our             
,universities and gymnasia4 ,i never    
learn any fact but  it immediately finds
 a good place in some corner that has   
been long  prepared for it4 ,this       
sentiment of an interior world which    
springs up  within me ,i feel in all its
 force when ,i think not coldly1 but    
quietly  and without exaggerated        
enthusiasm1 on the history of these last
 ten  months1 on these events which ,i  
consider as the instruments of my noble 
designs4 ,pride1 folly1 are words that  
feebly express my condition of  mental  
'insomnia4'    ,ah1 how ,i desire       
health6 ,as soon as one has something in
 view which  must last longer than      
oneself--how one gives thanks for every 
good  night1 for every mild ray of sun1 
even for every occasion on which one    
digests aright6    ,on the #ajth of     

,april1 ,nietzsche had returned to      
,basle4 ,he gathered his  notes         
together1 re-read them for the last     
time1 and fixed definitely  the plan of 
his work4 ,he allowed those digressions 
upon war1 slavery1  the city1 of which  
we have already given some extracts1 to 
drop1  and--,wagner1 it is said1 desired
 it--limited himself to his first       
subject3 ancient tragedy1 the model and 
precursor of ,german musical  drama4    
,wagner's advice1 ,madame               
,frster-,nietzsche insinuates1 was not  
altogether disinterested2 it suited him 
that his disciple's first work  should  
be consecrated to his fame4 ,this has an
 air of probability2  still it certainly
 seems that ,nietzsche had let himself  
be captured and  seduced by too many    
ideas1 that he had not so much amassed  
the matter  for one book as begun1      
rather at hazard1 a whole series of     
studies in  sthetics1 history1 and      
politics4 ,he needed to restrict        
himself1 and  yet could not make up his 

mind to it4 ,if ,wagner helped him here1
 he did  well4 ,perhaps we owe the happy
 completion of this book to him--the    
only  real book which ,nietzsche ever   
completed4    ,what was it that he had  
to say8 ,he was to analyse the origin   
and the  essence of the ,greek lyric    
spirit2 he was to set the two ,greeces  
over  against one another1 the one      
intoxicated by its myths and ,dionysian 
chants1 strong in illusions--schylus's  
,greece1 tragic and conquering  ,greece2
 the other impious1 rational1           
anmic--,socratic ,greece1  ,alexandrine 
,greece1 which in dying corrupted the   
peoples who had  remained young around  
her1 the pure blood of primitive        
humanity4 ,then  he was to display the  
two ,germanys in conflict in a like     
manner1 the  ,germany of the ,democrats 
and the savants1 the ,germany of the    
soldiers  and the poets2 between these  
two one had to choose4 ,nietzsche       
declared  his choice3 beholden to       
,wagner1 as he was1 for all his         

tranquillity  of thought1 for all his   
joys1 he indicated ,wagner to his       
compatriots4  ,while the peace was being
 signed at ,frankfort between the       
nations1  ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 thus   
establishing peace within himself1 ended
 the  rough draft of his work4 ,he      
remarked upon this coincidence of dates1
  for his internal conflicts and the    
revolutions of his thought did not      
appear to him less important events than
 external conflicts and the  revolutions
 of races4    ,but the ,peace of        
,frankfort did not terminate all the    
conflicts of this  terrible year4 ,a    
civil war now broke out in ,france1 and 
its calamities  stirred ,europe even    
more profoundly than the battles of     
,frschwiller  or ,sedan4 ,on the morning
 of the #bcrd of ,may1 the newspapers of
 ,basle  announced the destruction of   
,paris and the burning of the ,louvre4  
,nietzsche learnt the news with a       
feeling of dismay3 the most beautiful   
works1 the flower of human labour1 were 

ruined2 human hands1 an unhappy  people1
 had dared this profanation4 ,all       
,nietzsche's alarms were thus           
confirmed4 ,without discipline1 without 
an hierarchy1 culture1 he had  written1 
cannot subsist4 ,all have not the right 
to share in beauty2 the  immense        
majority should live humbly1 work for   
their masters and revere  their lives4  
,such is the economy which assures      
strength to societies1  and1 in return  
for their strength1 delicacy1 grace1    
beauty2 and this  is the order which    
,europe hesitates to maintain4          
,nietzsche might now  have boasted of   
the correctness of his judgment2 it was 
far from him  to do so4 ,it was with    
alarm that he considered his            
perspicacity1 his  solitude1 and his    
responsibility4 ,his thoughts suddenly  
turned to ,jacob  ,burckhardt2 what     
melancholy must be his6 ,he wished to   
see him1 to talk  to him1 to listen to  
him1 to make his desolation his own4 ,he
 hurried to  ,burckhardt's house2 but   

,burckhardt1 though the hour was early1 
had gone  out4 ,nietzsche walked the    
roads like a desperate man4 ,finally he 
went  back4 ,jacob ,burckhardt was in   
his study1 and awaited him4 ,he had gone
  to seek his friend1 as his friend had 
gone to seek him4 ,the two men  remained
 for long together1 and ,frulein        
,nietzsche1 alone in the next  room1    
heard their sobs through the closed     
door4    ,let us avow it1 he writes to  
his friend1 the ,baron von ,gersdorff1  
we  are all1 with all our past1         
responsible for the terrors which menace
  us to-day4 ,we shall do wrong1 if we  
consider with a peaceful conceit  the   
unchaining of a war against culture1 and
 if we impute the fault  merely to the  
unfortunates who do the deed4 ,when ,i  
heard of the firing  of ,paris1 ,i was  
for some days utterly powerless1 lost in
 tears and  doubts2 the life of science1
 of philosophy and of art appeared to me
 as  an absurdity when ,i saw a single  
day suffice for the ruin of the finest  

works of art2 what do ,i say8--of entire
 periods of art4 ,i profoundly  deplored
 the fact that the metaphysical value of
 art could not manifest  itself to the  
lower classes2 but it has a higher      
mission to fulfil4  ,never1 however     
lively my affliction were1 would ,i have
 cast the stone  at the sacrilegious1   
who in my eyes are only carriers of the 
mistake of  all--a mistake which gives  
cause for much thought4444    ,in the   
autobiographical notes written in #ahgh 
these words may be read3  ,the ,war3 my 
profoundest affliction1 the burning of  
the ,louvre4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,friedrich      
,nietzsche had gone back to his old way 
of life2 almost every  week he was      
,wagner's guest4 ,but soon he perceived 
that since the  ,german victory         
,triebschen had changed4 ,too many      
intimates made haste  to the master's   
house1 too many unknown people invaded  
the abode whose  peaceful seclusion he  
had loved4 ,they were not all of the    

sort that  ,nietzsche would have        
desired2 but ,wagner talked1 discoursed1
 overflowed  with them all4 ,judging    
that the favourable moment had come1 he 
had set  out to rouse ,germany and      
secure at last the construction and gift
 of  the hall which he needed1 the      
theatre1 or the temple1 of ,bayreuth4   
,friedrich ,nietzsche heard and took    
part in these discussions with an       
uneasy ardour4 ,wagner's idea exalted   
him4 ,but he had the soul of a          
solitary1 and could not help being      
worried1 and sometimes shocked1  by     
these noises from the world which had to
 be tolerated4 ,wagner did  not suffer3 
on the contrary1 he seemed elated by the
 joy of feeling  the crowd nearer to    
him2 and ,nietzsche1 a little surprised1
 a little  disappointed1 sought1 without
 precisely finding again1 his hero4  ,to
 sway the people1 he had written in his 
student notebooks1 is  to put passions  
in the service of an idea4 ,wagner      
adapted himself  to work of this kind4  

,in the service of his art and of his   
fame he  accepted all the passions4 ,a  
,chauvinist with the ,chauvinists1 an   
idealist with the idealists1 as much of 
a ,gallophobe as was desired2  restoring
 the schylian tragedy for some1 for     
others re-animating the  old ,german    
myths2 willingly a pessimist1 a         
,christian if it pleased1  sincere      
moreover from moment to moment1 this    
prodigious being1 a great  leader of men
 as well as a great poet1 handled his   
compatriots most  dexterously4    ,no   
one could resist the impulse which he   
gave3 every one had to  yield and to    
follow4 ,he fixed the very details of   
the plans of the  theatre whose site had
 just been chosen4 ,he studied the      
practical  organisation of the work1 and
 laboured to create those ,vereine in   
which propagandists and subscribers were
 to be grouped4 ,he set himself  out to 
procure rare and unexpected delights for
 the faithful4 ,one day  he surprised   
them with a performance for their       

benefit alone1 in the  gardens of       
,triebschen1 of the ,siegfried-,idyll1 a
 gracious interlude  written for the    
churching of his wife1 a noble echo of  
the most  intimate times4 ,he gave      
,nietzsche his rle1 for he could not    
allow that  voice1 so passionate and    
hard to control1 and yet so eloquent1 to
 be  lost4 ,the young man offered to set
 out on a mission4 ,he would stir up    
those circles in ,northern ,germany1 so 
slow and heavy in its emotions4  ,bus   
proposal was not accepted2 ,wagner1 no  
doubt1 feared the violence of  his      
apostolate3 ,no1 he said to him1 finish 
and publish your book4  ,nietzsche felt 
somewhat melancholy at the refusal4     
,henceforth1 it  seems1 difficulties    
began to arise between the two4         
,moreover1 the advice of the master was 
less easy to follow than it  seemed4    
,the ,origin of ,tragedy did not find a 
publisher4 ,nietzsche's  applications   
failed1 and his summer was spoilt by the
 check4 ,he decided  to print certain   

chapters of it in the reviews4 ,i put my
 little book  into the world bit by bit1
 he wrote in ,july to ,erwin ,rohde2    
what a  childbirth6 what tortures6      
,at the beginning of ,october he was    
staying at ,leipsic4 ,here he saw  again
 his master ,ritschl1 and his friends   
,rohde1 ,gersdorff1 who had  come to    
meet him1 and spent with them some happy
 days of conversation  and comradeship4 
,but the fate of his book remained      
uncertain3 all the  publishers of       
scientific and philological works bowed 
the author out4  ,they were not tempted 
by a bizarre work1 in which learning was
 allied  with lyricism and the problems 
of ancient ,greece with the problems  of
 modern ,germany4 ,the book is a        
centaur1 said ,nietzsche4 ,this         
mythological assurance did not satisfy  
the book-sellers4 ,finally he  had to   
address himself1 not without regret--for
 he maintained that his  work was a     
scientific work--to ,richard ,wagner's  
publisher1 from whom  he received1 after

 a month's delay1 a favourable reply4   
,he wrote to  his friend ,gersdorff1 in 
a free and relieved tone1 which helps us
 to  measure the vexation from which he 
had suffered4    ,,basle1 ,november #ai1
 #ahga4    ,pardon me1 dear friend1 ,i  
ought to have thanked you sooner4 ,i had
  felt in your last letter1 in every one
 of your words1 your strong             
intellectual life4 ,it seemed to me that
 you remained a soldier at soul  and    
brought your military nature to art and 
philosophy4 ,and that is  good1 for we  
have no right to live to-day1 if we are 
not militants1  militants who prepare a 
sculum to come1 something of which we   
can  guess at in ourselves1 across our  
best instants4 ,for those instants1     
which are what there is of best in us1  
draw us away in spirit from  our time2  
nevertheless1 in some manner1 they need 
to have their  hearthstone somewhere3   
whence ,i infer that at such instants we
 feel a  confused breath of coming times
 pass over us4 ,for instance1 take our  

last meeting at ,leipsic2 has it not    
left in your memory the impression  of  
such instants1 as seemed to be strangers
 to everything1 linked with  another    
century8 ,whatever may be1 this remains1
 ',im ,ganzen1 ,vollen1  ,schnen1       
resolut zu leben4' ,but it needs a      
strong will1 such as is  not given to   
the first comer6444 ,to-day1 only       
to-day1 the excellent  publisher        
,fritzsch replies to me4    ,fritzsch   
proposed to him that he should give his 
book the format and  character of a     
recent work of ,wagner's3 ,die          
,bestimmung der ,oper4  ,nietzsche      
rejoiced at the idea1 and he wrote five 
concluding chapters  which accentuated  
the ,wagnerian tendency of the work4    
,this rapid  composition and the        
correction of the proofs did not deter  
him from  another enterprise4    ,the   
,origin of ,tragedy was about to appear4
 ,he did not doubt for a  moment that it
 would be read1 understood1 acclaimed4  
,his comrades1  his masters1 had always 

acknowledged the strength of his        
thought4  ,apparently1 it never occurred
 to him that a vaster public remained   
callous2 but he wished to affect it     
profoundly1 at the first blow1  and he  
formed new projects by which he might   
make the most of his  success4 ,he      
wanted to talk3 speech was a livelier   
weapon4 ,he recalled  the emotions which
 he had experienced when1 as a young    
professor1 he  was given the singular   
task of teaching the most delicate      
language1 the  most difficult works1 to 
chance audiences2 he remembered his     
perhaps  fanciful design3 that seminary 
of philologists1 that house of study    
and retreat1 of which he was always     
dreaming4 ,he wanted to denounce  the   
schools1 the gymnasia1 the              
,universities1 the heavy apparatus of   
pedantry which was stifling the ,german 
spirit1 and define the new and          
necessary institutions1 destined1 no    
longer for the emancipation of the      
masses1 but for the culture of the      

,state4 ,he had written to ,erwin ,rohde
  as early as the month of ,march3 ,a   
new idea claims me1 a new principle  of 
education which points to the entire    
rejection of oar ,universities1  of our 
gymnasia4444 ,in ,december1 he announced
 at ,basle1 for ,january1  #ahgb1 a     
series of lectures upon ,the ,future of 
our ,educational  ,institutions4        
,towards mid-,december1 he accompanied  
,richard ,wagner to ,mannheim1 where  a 
two days' festival was being devoted to 
the works of the master4    ,oh1 what a 
pity you were not there6 he wrote to    
,erwin ,rohde4 ,all  the sensations1 all
 the recollections of art1 what are they
 compared  to these8 ,i am like a man   
whose ideal has been realised4 ,it is   
,music1  and ,music alone6 444 ,when ,i 
say to myself that a certain number of  
men  of the generations to come--at     
least some hundreds among them--will be 
moved by this music as ,i am myself1 ,i 
cannot augur for less than an  entire   
renewal of our culture6    ,he returned 

to his house in ,basle3 but the         
impression of his days in  ,mannheim    
remained with him4 ,the details of his  
everyday life caused  him a strange and 
tenacious disgust4 ,all that cannot be  
translated  into music1 he wrote1 is    
repulsive and repugnant to me4444 ,i    
have a  horror of reality4 ,or1 rather1 
,i no longer see anything of the real1  
it  is only a phantasmagoria4 ,under the
 stress of this emotion he acquired  a  
clearer view of the problem which       
occupied him1 he formulated  more       
clearly the principle for which he was  
seeking4 ,to teach1 to  uplift men1 what
 does that mean8 ,it is to dispose their
 minds in  such sort that the           
productions of genius will be assured1  
not of the  understanding of all1 for   
that cannot be1 but of the respect of   
all4    ,as in the preceding years1     
,richard and ,cosima ,wagner invited him
 to  spend ,christmas at ,triebschen4   
,he excused himself2 the work of his    
lectures occupied all his time4 ,he     

offered ,cosima ,wagner1 by way of      
homage1 a musical fantasy on ,saint     
,sylvester's ,night1 composed some      
weeks earlier4 ,i am very impatient to  
know what they will think of  it down   
there1 he wrote to ,rohde4 ,i have never
 been criticised by  any competent      
person4 ,in reality1 good judges had    
already often  discouraged his musical  
enterprises1 but he soon forgot their   
vexatious  advice4    ,on the last day  
of #ahga1 his book appeared3 ,die ,gebrt
 der ,tragdie  aus dem ,geiste der      
,musik 7,the ,birth of ,tragedy from the
 ,spirit of  ,music74 ,the sub-title    
which the current editions give1        
,hellenism  and ,pessimism1 was added in
 #ahhe on the issue of the second       
edition4  ,friedrich ,nietzsche sent the
 first copy to ,richard ,wagner1 from   
whom he  received almost at once a      
frenzied letter4    ,,dear ,,friend1--,i
 have never read a finer book than      
yours4 ,it is all  splendid6 ,at this   
moment1 ,i write to you very hurriedly  

because the  reading has profoundly     
moved me1 and ,i expect that ,i wait for
 the  return of my sang-froid to re-read
 you methodically4 ,i said to ,cosima3  
,after you1 he it is whom ,i love most2 
and then1 at a long distance1  ,lenbach1
 who has made so striking and so true a 
portrait of me4444  ,adieu6 ,come soon  
to see us6    ,yours1    ,r4 ,w4    ,on 
the #ajth of ,january ,wagner wrote     
again3    ,you have just published a    
book which is incomparable4 ,all the    
influences which you may have undergone 
are reduced to nothing by the  character
 of your book3 what distinguishes it    
from every other1 is the  complete      
confidence with which a penetrating     
individuality displays  itself4 ,it is  
here that you satisfy the ardent desire 
of myself and  of my wife3 in short1 a  
strange voice might have been talking of
 us1  and we would have fully approved  
it6 ,twice we have read your book from  
the first line to the last--in the      
daytime1 separately--at night1          

together--and we were lamenting that we 
had not at our disposal that  second    
copy which you had promised4 ,we deliver
 battle over that sole  copy4 ,i am     
constantly in need of it2 between my    
breakfast and my  working hours1 it is  
it that sets me going2 for since ,i have
 read  you1 ,i have begun again to work 
on my last act4 ,our readings1 whether  
together or separately1 are constantly  
interrupted by our exclamations4  ,i am 
not yet recovered from the emotion which
 ,i experienced4 ,there is  the         
condition we are in6    ,and ,cosima    
,wagner wrote1 for her part3 ,oh1 how   
fine your book is6  ,how beautiful it is
 and how profound1 how profound it is   
and how  audacious6 ,on ,january #afth  
he delivered his first lecture4 ,his    
joy1  his sense of security1 were       
extreme4 ,he knew that ,jacob           
,burckhardt  read and approved him2 he  
knew that he had the admiration of      
,rohde1  ,gersdorff1 ,overbeck4 ,what   
they say of my book is incredible1 he   

wrote  to a friend4 444 ,i have         
concluded an alliance with ,wagner4 ,you
 cannot  imagine how we are bound to one
 another1 and how identical are our     
views4 ,he conceived his second work    
without delay2 he would publish  his    
lectures4 ,it would be a popular book1  
an exoteric translation of  his         
,tragedy4 ,but the idea of an even more 
decisive action at once  supervened4    
,germany was preparing to inaugurate the
 new ,university of  ,strassburg2 and an
 apotheosis of professors on a soil that
 had been  conquered by soldiers awoke  
the indignation of ,friedrich           
,nietzsche4  ,he wished to address a    
pamphlet to ,bismarck1 under the form of
 an  interpellation in the ,reichstag4  
,have our pedants1 he would ask1 the    
right to go in triumph to ,strassburg8  
,our soldiers have conquered the        
,french soldiers1 and that is glorious4 
,but has our culture humiliated  ,french
 culture8 ,who would dare to say so8    
,some days went by4 ,whence came the    

less happy tone of his letters8 ,why    
was it that he did not write his        
interpellation1 that he gave up the     
idea of it8 ,we know3 except for a few  
friends who had understood his  book1 no
 one read it1 no one bought it2 not a   
review1 not a newspaper  deigned to take
 notice of it4 ,ritchsl1 the great      
philologist of  ,leipsic1 kept silent4  
,friedrich ,nietzsche wrote to him3 ,i  
want to know  what you think4 ,he       
received in reply a severe criticism and
 a reproof4  ,erwin ,rohde offered an   
article for the ,litterarische          
,centralblatt2  it was not inserted4 ,it
 was the last chance of a serious voice 
being  upraised for me in a scientific  
sheet1 he wrote to ,gersdorff2 now ,i   
expect nothing more--except spite or    
idiocy4 ,but1 as ,i have told you1  ,i  
count upon the peaceful journey of my   
book through the centuries with  perfect
 confidence4 ,for in it certain eternal 
verities are said for the  first time3  
they must resound4444    ,certainly     

,friedrich ,nietzsche had not foreseen  
his ill-success3 it  astonished and     
disconcerted him4 ,a sore throat obliged
 him to interrupt  his lectures1 and he 
found pleasure in the contretemps4 ,he  
had let  himself be drawn towards ideas 
which were very lofty and delicate1  and
 difficult even to himself4 ,he wished  
to show that two sorts of  schools      
should be instituted1 the one           
professional1 for the majority2  the    
other1 classical and truly superior1 for
 an infinitesimal number  of chosen     
individuals1 whose course would be      
extended as far as  their thirtieth     
year4 ,how was this isolated circle1    
aloof from the  common herd1 to be      
formed1 and how was it to be taught8    
,friedrich  ,nietzsche recurred to his  
most intimate and familiar thought1 to  
that  aristocratic ideal to which his   
meditations always led him4 ,he had     
often studied its problems4 ,but to     
examine them in public he needed his    
whole strength1 and also a sympathetic  

audience4 ,he felt that he had  been    
weakened by the failure of his book4    
,his very slight indisposition  did not 
last long3 nevertheless he did not      
return to his lectures4 ,it  was vain to
 ask him to do so3 he refused4 ,it was  
vain to press him  to have them         
published2 ,richard ,wagner strongly    
insisted3 he eluded  this insistence4   
,his notes have come to us in a sorry   
condition of  incompleteness and        
disorder4 ,they are the echoes1 the     
vestiges of a  dream4    ,the           
aristocracy of the mind must conquer its
 entire liberty in respect  of the      
,state1 which is now keeping ,science in
 curb4    ,later1 men will have to raise
 the tables of a new culture 444 then   
destruction of the gymnasia1 destruction
 of the ,university 444 an  areopagus1  
for the justice of the mind4    ,the    
culture of the future3 its ideal of     
social problems4 ,the  imperative world 
of the beautiful and the sublime 444 the
 only  safeguard against ,socialism 444 

,finally these three interrogatory      
words1 which sum up his doubts1 his     
desires1 and perhaps his whole work3    
,ist ,veredlung mglich8 7,is            
ennoblement possible87    ,friedrich    
,nietzsche courageously renounced his   
hope and was silent4  ,he had lost his  
country3 ,prussia would not be the      
invincible  framework of a lyrical race2
 the ,german ,empire would not realise  
the  imperative world of the beautiful  
and the sublime4 ,on ,april #cjth  the  
new ,university of ,strassburg was      
inaugurated4 ,i hear from here  the     
patriotic rejoicings1 he wrote to ,erwin
 ,rohde4 ,in ,january he had  refused an
 offer of employment which would have   
withdrawn him from  ,basle4 ,in ,april  
he spoke of leaving ,basle and of going 
to ,italy for two  or three years4 ,the 
first review of my book has at last     
appeared1  he wrote1 and ,i find it very
 good4 ,but where has it appeared8 ,in  
an ,italian publication1 ,la ,rivista   
,europea6 ,that is pleasant and         

symbolical6           99       99       
99       99       99    ,he had a second
 reason for melancholy3 ,richard ,wagner
 was leaving to  make his home at       
,bayreuth4 ,a letter of ,cosima ,wagner 
announced the  departure3 ,yes1         
,bayreuth6444 ,adieu to dear            
,triebschen1 where the  ,origin of      
,tragedy was conceived1 and so many     
other things which  perhaps will never  
begin again6    ,three years before1 in 
this spring season1 ,nietzsche had      
hazarded his  first visit to            
,triebschen2 he wished to return again4 
,he did return1  and found the house    
desolate4 ,a few pieces of furniture1   
covered over  with horse-cloths and     
dispersed from room to room1 seemed like
 flotsam  and jetsam from another time4 
,every small object1 all the family     
knick-knacks1 had disappeared4 ,the     
light entered1 hard and crude1  through 
the curtainless windows4 ,wagner and his
 wife were completing  then-last        
packages1 throwing the last of the books

 into the last of  the baskets4 ,they   
welcomed the faithful ,nietzsche1 asked 
his aid2 he  gave it at once4 ,he       
wrapped up in packets the letters1 the  
precious  manuscripts2 then more books  
and scores4 ,suddenly his heart failed  
him4 ,so it was all over1 ,triebschen   
was done with6 ,three years of his      
life1 and what years they had been6 ,how
 unexpected1 how moving1 how  delicious1
 and they were to escape in a day6 ,now 
he must renounce  the past1 and follow  
the master without regret4 ,now he must 
forget  ,triebschen and1 for the future1
 think only of ,bayreuth4 ,no sooner was
  this magical name pronounced than it  
fascinated ,nietzsche and troubled  him4
 ,his hours at ,triebschen had been so  
fine1 hours of repose and  meditation1  
hours of work and silence4 ,a man1 a    
woman of genius2 a nest  of children2 an
 infinity of happy conversations1 of    
beauty--,triebschen  had given all that4
 ,what would ,bayreuth give8 ,the crowd 
would come  there1 and what would it    

bring with it8 ,friedrich ,nietzsche    
left the  books which he was engaged in 
packing4 ,the grand piano had remained  
in the middle of the salon4 ,he opened  
it1 preluded1 then improvised4  ,richard
 and ,cosima ,wagner1 leaving aside all 
their affairs1 listened4 ,a  harrowing1 
unforgettable rhapsody resounded through
 the empty salon4 ,it  was the adieu4   
,in ,november1 #ahhh1 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche1 already stricken with       
madness1  set himself to recount his    
history4 ,since ,i am here recalling the
  consolations of my life1 ,i ought to  
express in a word my gratitude for  what
 was by far my most profound and        
best-loved joy--my intimacy with        
,richard ,wagner4 ,i wish to be just    
with regard to the rest of my human     
relationships2 but ,i absolutely cannot 
efface from my life the days at         
,triebschen1 days of confidence1 of     
gaiety1 of sublime flashes--days of     
profound perceptions4 ,i do not know    
what ,wagner was for others3 our  sky   

was never darkened by a cloud4      #a  
,cosima ,wagner4          ,,chapter ,,iv
      ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche ,,and     
,,richard ,,wagner--,,bayreuth          
,bayreuth has had a strange destiny4    
,this little ,german town1 so  long     
obscure1 scintillates in the eighteenth 
century1 shines with  a somewhat        
flickering brilliance1 but becomes      
celebrated at last  throughout all      
,europe4 ,an intelligent                
,margravine--,frederick's sister1  the  
friend of ,voltaire and of ,french      
elegance--lives there1 beautifies  it1  
enlivens the barren country with        
castles1 and lavishes on its  faades the
 singular volutes of the rococo style4  
,the ,margravine  dies and ,bayreuth is 
again forgotten4 ,a century passes and  
suddenly  its fame returns2 the little  
town that the ,margrave adorned becomes 
the ,jerusalem of a new art and a new   
religion4 ,a strange destiny1 but  a    
factitious one4 ,it is a poet who has   
regulated the antitheses4 ,the  history 

of ,bayreuth ought to be included among 
,wagner's works4    ,he wished to set up
 his theatre in a quiet and secluded    
town4 ,it suited  him1 not to go to his 
audience1 but rather to force his       
audience to  come to him4 ,he chose1    
from many others1 this town2 the two    
,germanys  would be thus confronted1 the
 one1 that of the past1 a slave to      
,french  customs1 mean and shabby2 the  
other1 that of the future1 his own1 an  
emancipating and innovating ,germany4   
,the work was started without  delay4   
,the master decided that the            
foundation-stone of his theatre  should 
be laid with pomp on the #bbnd of ,may1 
#ahgb1 the anniversary of  his birth4   
,so we shall see one another again1     
wrote ,nietzsche to his friend  ,rohde4 
,our meetings are ever becoming more    
grandiose1 more historical1  are they   
not8    ,they were present together at  
the ceremony1 one of them coming from   
,basle1 the other from ,hamburg4 ,two   
thousand people were assembled  in the  

little town4 ,the weather was appalling4
 ,but the unceasing  rain1 the          
threatening sky1 made the ceremony still
 more imposing4  ,wagnerian art is a    
serious thing and has no need of smiling
 heavens4  ,the faithful disciples1     
standing in the open air at the mercy of
 the  winds1 saw the stone laid4 ,in the
 hollow block ,wagner deposited a piece 
of poetry written by himself1 and then  
threw the first spadeful of  plaster4   
,in the evening he invited his friends  
to hear an execution  of the ,symphony  
with chorus1 the orchestration of which 
he had in  parts slightly strengthened4 
,he personally conducted4 ,young        
,germany1  assembled in the ,margrave's 
theatre1 listened piously to this work  
in  which the nineteenth century        
declared its need1 and when the final   
chorus struck up--,millions of men      
embrace each other--it really  seemed1  
said a spectator1 as if the sublime wish
 was about to be  realised4    ,ah6 my  
friend1 wrote ,nietzsche1 through what  

days we have lived6  ,no one can rob us 
of these grave and sacred memories4 ,we 
ought to go  forth into life inspired to
 battle on their behalf4 ,above all1 we 
ought  to force ourselves to regulate   
all our acts1 with as much gravity and  
force as is possible1 so as to prove    
that we are worthy of the unique  events
 at which we have assisted4             
,nietzsche wanted to fight for ,wagner1 
for he loved ,wagner and he loved       
battle4 ,to arms1 to arms6 he writes to 
,rohde2 war is necessary to  me1 ich    
brauche den ,krieg4 ,but he had already 
proved many a time1  what he now began  
sadly to understand1 that his nature did
 not lend  itself to reticence and to   
the prudence necessary in such a        
contest1 in  which public opinion was   
the stake4 ,there was no instant but a  
word1  an attitude ran foul of his      
radical idealism4 ,he felt the          
instinctive  constraint that he had     
already known at ,triebschen4 ,wagner   
disturbed  him4 ,he hardly recognised   

the grave and pure hero whom he had     
loved  so much4 ,he saw another man1 a  
powerful workman1 brutal1 vindictive1   
jealous4 ,nietzsche had thought of      
making a tour in ,italy1 with a         
relation of ,mendelssohn's2 he was      
obliged to give up this idea in order   
to humour the master1 who detested the  
race1 even to the very name of          
,mendelssohn4    ,why is ,wagner so     
distrustful8 ,nietzsche wrote in his    
diary2 it  excites distrust4    ,wagner 
was as dictatorial as he was            
distrustful4 ,the days had become  rare 
when he could converse at leisure with  
nobleness and freedom as he  had done at
 ,triebschen4 ,he spoke briefly1 he     
commanded4    ,nietzsche was still ready
 to go on a mission to ,northern        
,germany to  speak1 write1 and found    
,vereine1 and to thrust under the noses 
of the ,german savants the things which 
their timid eyes failed to  perceive4   
,wagner would not accept this proposal2 
he wished ,nietzsche  to publish his    

lectures on ,the ,future of our         
,educational ,systems4  ,nietzsche      
resisted a desire in which he thought he
 detected a certain  egotism4    ,our   
,herr ,nietzsche only wants to do what  
he likes1 exclaimed the  irritable      
,wagner4    ,his anger saddened and     
humiliated ,nietzsche both on his own   
account  and on his master's4 ,he       
thought1 ,ill1 weighed down with work1  
have  ,i no right to respect8 ,am ,i    
under any one's orders8 ,why is ,wagner 
so  tyrannical8 ,we read in his diary1  
,wagner has not the strength to  make   
those around him free and great4 ,wagner
 is not loyal2 he is1 on  the contrary1 
suspicious and haughty4    ,at the same 
time there appeared a pamphlet1 ,the    
,philology of the  ,future1 a reply to  
,f4 ,nietzsche4 ,the author was         
,willamowitz1 who had  been ,nietzsche's
 comrade at the school of ,pforta4      
,,dear ,,friend1 he wrote to ,gersdorff1
 who informed him of the pamphlet1      
,don't worry over me4 ,i am ready4 ,i   

will never entangle myself in  polemics4
 ,it is a pity it should be             
,willamowitz4 ,do you know that  he came
 last autumn to pay me a friendly visit8
 ,why should it be  ,willamowitz8       
,wagner1 at whom the title itself of the
 pamphlet1 ,the ,philology of  the      
,future1 was aimed--it parodied his     
famous formula1 ,the ,music of  the     
,future--wrote a reply1 and profited by 
the occasion to renew his  invitation to
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche4    ,what must   
one think of our schools of culture8 he 
concludes4 ,it is  for you to tell us   
what ,german culture ought to be1 so as 
to direct  the regenerated nation       
towards the most noble objects4 ,once   
again  ,nietzsche was firm in his       
determination4 ,he was by no means      
satisfied  with these lectures1 being   
discontented with their form and        
uncertain  even of their thought4 ,i do 
not wish to publish anything as to which
  my conscience is not as pure as that  
of the seraphim4 ,he tried to  express  

his ,wagnerian faith in another style4  
,i should have so much pleasure1 he     
wrote to ,rohde1 in writing  something  
for the service of our cause1 but ,i    
don't know what4 ,all that  ,i advance  
is so wounding1 such an irritant1 and   
more likely to hurt  than to serve4 ,why
 should my poor book1 nave and          
enthusiastic as it  was1 have been      
received so badly8 ,singular6 ,now1 what
 shall we do1 we  others8    ,he began  
to write ,reden eines ,hoffenden 7,words
 of a ,man of ,hope71  which he soon    
gave up4           99       99       99 
99       99    ,friedrich ,nietzsche    
re-opened his ,greek books1 so          
invariably beautiful  and satisfying4   
,he explained--before very few pupils1  
because the  evil fame of the ,gebrt    
withdrew young philologists from        
him--the  ,choephores of schylus and    
some passages of ante-,platonic         
philosophy4    ,across a gulf of        
twenty-five centuries that clear        
radiance descended  upon him1 scattering

 all doubts and shadows4 ,nietzsche     
often heard with  misgiving the fine    
words which it pleased his ,wagnerian   
friends to use4  ,millions of men       
embrace each other1 the chorus sang at  
,bayreuth in  the work of ,wagner4 ,it  
sang well1 but1 after all1 men did not  
embrace  each other2 and here ,nietzsche
 suspected a certain extravagance1 a    
certain falsehood4 ,look at the ancient 
,greeks1 those ambitious and evil  men4 
,they do not embrace each other much1   
their hymns never speak of  embraces4   
,they desire to excel1 and are devoured 
by envy2 their hymns  glorify these     
passions4 ,nietzsche liked their nave   
energy1 their  precise speech4 ,he      
refreshed himself at this source and    
wrote a short  essay3 ,homer's          
,wettkampf 7,the ,homeric ,joust74 ,we  
find ourselves  driven at the very      
beginning far away from the ,wagnerian  
mysticism4    ,when you speak of        
,humanity1 he writes1 you imagine an    
order of  sentiment by which man        

distinguishes himself from nature1 but  
such a  separation does not exist2 these
 qualities called 'natural' and those   
called 'human' grow together and are    
blended4 ,man in his noblest            
aspirations is still branded by sinister
 nature4    ,these formidable tendencies
 which seem inhuman are perhaps the     
fruitful soil which supports all        
humanity1 its agitations1 its acts1  and
 its work4    ,thus it is that the      
,greeks1 the most human of all men1     
remain cruel1  happy in destruction4    
,this rapid sketch was the occupation of
 a few days4 ,nietzsche undertook  a    
long work4 ,he studied the texts of     
,thales1 ,pythagoras1 ,heraclitus1      
,empedocles4 ,he tried to approach those
 philosophers who were truly  worthy of 
the name which they themselves had      
invented1 those masters of  life1       
scornful of argument and of books2      
citizens and at the same time  thinkers1
 and not dracins like those who followed
 them--,socrates  and his school of     

mockers1 ,plato and his school of       
dreamers1  philosophers of whom each one
 dares to bring a philosophy of his own1
  that is to say1 an individual point of
 view in the consideration of  things1  
in the deliberation of acts4 ,nietzsche1
 in a few days1 filled a  copybook with 
notes4    ,all the same1 he continued to
 be interested in the successes of his  
glorious friend4 ,in ,july ,tristan was 
played at ,munich4 ,he went1 and  met   
many other disciples2 ,gersdorff1       
,frulein von ,meysenbug1 whom he  had   
met at the ,may festivals of ,bayreuth4 
,she had preserved1 despite  her fifty  
years1 that tender charm that never left
 her1 and the  physical grace of a frail
 and nervous body4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche
 passed  some pleasant days in the      
company of his comrade and his new      
friend4  ,all three regretted them when 
they were gone1 and at the moment of    
departure expressed a hope of meeting   
each other soon again4 ,gersdorff       
wished to return in ,august to hear     

,tristan1 and once more ,nietzsche      
promised to be there1 but at the last   
moment ,gersdorff was unable to be      
present1 and ,nietzsche had not the     
courage to return alone to ,munich4  ,it
 is insupportable1 he wrote to ,frulein 
von ,meysenbug1 to find  yourself face  
to face with an art so serious and      
profound4 ,in short1 ,i  remain at      
,basle4 ,parmenides1 on whom he was     
meditating1 consoled him  for the loss  
of ,tristan4    ,frulein von ,meysenbug 
kept ,nietzsche advised of all news1    
whether  trivial or important1 in       
connection with the ,wagnerian campaign4
 ,the  master had just terminated ,the  
,twilight of the ,gods1 the last of  the
 four dramas of the ,tetralogy4 ,he had 
at last finished his great  work4       
,frulein von ,meysenbug was informed in 
a note written to her by  ,cosima       
,wagner4 ,in my heart ,i hear sung      
',praise be to ,god1' wrote the  wife4  
,praise be to ,god1 repeated ,frulein   
von ,meysenbug1 and she  adds--these few

 words indicate the tone of the place   
and of the time3  ,the disciples of the 
new spirit need new mysteries by which  
they may  solemnise together their      
instinctive knowledge4 ,wagner creates  
them  in his tragic works1 and the world
 will not have recovered its beauty     
until we have built for the new         
,dionysian myth a ,temple worthy of  it4
 ,frulein von ,meysenbug confided to    
,nietzsche the measures she  was taking 
to win ,marguerite of ,savoy1 the ,queen
 of ,italy1 to the  cause1 and to make  
her accept the ,presidency of a small   
circle of  noble patronesses4 ,a few    
women of the highest aristocracy1       
friends  of ,liszt's1 initiated by him  
into the ,wagnerian cult1 composed this 
sublime ,verein4    ,in all this there  
was an irritating atmosphere of snobbery
 and  excessive religiosity4 ,yet       
,frulein von ,meysenbug was an exquisite
  woman with irreproachable intentions1 
pure with that purity which  purifies   
all that it touches3 ,nietzsche did not 

practise his criticism  on this friend's
 letters4 ,he soon felt the fatigue of  
continuous work4  ,he lost his sleep and
 was obliged to rest4 ,travel had often 
lightened  his mind4 ,he set out1 at the
 end of summer1 for ,italy1 and went as 
far as ,bergamo but no further4 ,this   
country1 which he was afterwards  to    
love so much1 displeased him4 ,here     
reigns the ,apollonian cult1  ,frulein  
von ,meysenbug1 who was staying at      
,florence1 told him2 it  is good to     
bathe in4 ,nietzsche was very little of 
an ,apollonian4 ,he  perceived only     
voluptuousness1 excessive sweetness1    
harmony of line4  ,his ,german tastes   
were disconcerted and he returned to the
 mountains1  where he became1 as he     
wrote1 more audacious and more noble4   
,there1  in a poor village inn at       
,splgen1 he had a few days of happiness4
    ,here1 on the extreme border of     
,switzerland and ,italy1 he wrote in    
,august1 #ahgb1 to ,gersdorff1 ,i am    
alone1 and ,i am very well satisfied    

with my choice4 ,a rich and marvellous  
solitude1 with the most  magnificent    
roads in the world1 along which ,i go   
meditating for hours1  buried in my     
thoughts1 and yet ,i never fall over a  
precipice4 ,and  whenever ,i look around
 me there is something new and great to 
see4 ,no  sign of life except when the  
diligence arrives and stops for relays4 
,i take my meals with the men1 our one  
contact4 ,they pass like the  ,platonic 
shadows before my cave4    ,until now   
,nietzsche had not cared much for high  
mountains2 he preferred  the moderate   
valleys and woods of the ,jura1 which   
reminded him of  his native country1 the
 hills of the ,saale and ,bohemia4 ,at  
,splgen a  new joy was revealed to him2 
the joy of solitude and of meditation   
in the mountain air4 ,it was like a     
flash of lightning4 ,he went down  to   
the plains and forgot2 but six years    
later1 with the knowledge of  his       
eternal loneliness on him1 he found1    
sheltered in mean inns like  this one1  

once again the same lyrical lan that he 
had discovered in  ,october1 #ahgb4     
,he soon left his sanctuary and returned
 without vexation to ,basle1  whither   
his professional duties drew him4 ,there
 he had made friendships  and           
established a way of life4 ,he liked the
 town1 and tolerated the  inhabitants4  
,basle had truly become his centre4     
,overbeck and ,romundt1  my companions  
of table and of thought1 he writes to   
,rohde1 are the  best society in the    
world4 ,with them ,i cease my           
lamentations and my  gnashing of teeth4 
,overbeck is the most serious1 the most 
broad-minded  of philosophers1 and the  
most simple and amiable of men4 ,he has 
that  radical temper1 failing which ,i  
can agree with no one4    ,his first    
impression on his return was trying4    
,all his pupils left  him4 ,he was not  
at a loss to understand the reason of   
this exodus2  the ,german philologists  
had declared him to be a man            
scientifically  dead4 ,they had         

condemned him personally1 and put an    
interdict upon his  lectures4 ,the ,holy
 ,vehmgericht has done its duty well1 he
 wrote to  ,rohde4 ,let us act as if    
nothing had happened4 ,but ,i do not    
like the  little ,university to suffer  
on my account1 it hurts me4 ,we lose    
twenty  entries in the last half-year4  
,i can hardly as much as give a course  
on  ,greek and ,latin rhetoric4 ,i have 
two pupils1 one is a ,germanist1 the    
other a ,jurist4    ,at last he received
 some comfort4 ,rohde had written in    
defence of  his book an article which no
 review would accept4 ,weary of refusal1
  he touched up his work and published  
it under the form of a letter  addressed
 to ,richard ,wagner4 ,nietzsche thanked
 him4 ,nobody dared to  print my name1  
he wrote to ,rohde4    444 ,it was as if
 ,i had committed a crime1 and now your 
book comes1  so ardent1 so daring a     
witness to our fraternal combat6 ,my    
friends  are delighted with it4 ,they   
are never tired of praising you1 for the

  details and the whole2 they think your
 polemics worthy of a ,lessing4  444    
,what pleases me most is the deep and   
threatening clamour of it1  like the    
sound of a waterfall4 ,we must be brave1
 dear1 dear friend4 ,i  always have     
faith in progress1 in our progress4 ,i  
believe that we will  always go on      
increasing in loyal ambitions1 and in   
strength4 ,i believe  in the success of 
our advance towards ends more noble yet1
 and more  aspiring4 ,yes1 we will reach
 them1 and then as conquerors1 who      
discover  goals yet further off1 we     
shall push on1 always brave6 ,what does 
it  matter to us that they will be few1 
so few1 those spectators whose eyes  can
 follow the path we are pursuing8 ,what 
does it matter if we have for           
spectators only those who have the      
necessary qualities for judging this    
combat8 ,all the crowns which my time   
might give me ,i sacrifice to that      
unique spectator1 ,wagner4 ,the ambition
 to satisfy him animates me more1  and  

more nobly1 than any other influence4   
,because he is difficult and  he says   
everything1 what pleases him and what   
displeases him2 he is my  good          
conscience1 to praise and to punish4    
,at the commencement of ,december1      
,nietzsche was lucky enough to find  his
 master again for a few hours1 and to   
live with him in the intimate  way that 
reminded him of the days at ,triebschen4
 ,wagner1 passing  through ,strassburg1 
called to him2 and he went at once4 ,the
 meeting  was untroubled by any discord1
 a harmony now1 no doubt1 rare enough2  
for ,cosima ,wagner1 after having       
remarked this in one of her letters1    
expressed the hope that such perfect    
hours would suffice to dissipate  all   
misunderstandings and to prevent their  
recrudescence4           99       99    
99       99       99    ,nietzsche      
worked a great deal during these last   
months of #ahgb4 ,his  studies on the   
tragic philosophies of the ,greeks were 
well advanced2  he left them over4      

,those wise men had restored his        
serenity1 and he  profited by the help  
which they had given him to contemplate 
once more  the problems of his century4 
,the problems--this is hardly a correct 
expression1 for he knew of only one4 ,he
 questioned himself how a  culture      
should be founded1 that is to say1 a    
harmony of traditions1 of  rules1 of    
beliefs1 by submission to which a man   
may become nobler4  ,actual modern      
societies have for their end the        
production of certain  comforts2 how    
should different societies be           
substituted which would  not only       
satisfy men1 but benefit them8 ,let us  
know our wretchedness2  we are stripped 
of culture4 ,our thoughts and our acts  
are not ruled by  the authority of any  
style2 the idea even of such an         
authority is lost  to us4 ,we have      
perfected in an extraordinary manner the
 discipline of  knowledge1 and we seem  
to have forgotten that others exist4 ,we
 succeed  in describing the phenomena of

 life1 in translating the ,universe into
  an abstract language1 and we scarcely 
perceive that1 in writing and           
translating thus1 we lose the reality of
 the ,universe of ,life4 ,science       
exercises on us a barbarising action1   
wrote ,nietzsche4 ,he analysed  this    
action4    ,the essential point of all  
science has become merely accessory1 or 
else it is entirely absent4    ,the     
study of languages--without the         
discipline of style and rhetoric4       
,indian studies--without philosophy4    
,classical antiquity--without a         
suspicion of how closely everything in  
it is bound up with practical efforts4  
,the sciences of nature--without that   
beneficent and serene atmosphere  which 
,goethe found in them4                  
,history--without enthusiasm4    ,in    
short1 all the sciences without their   
practical uses1 that is to  say1 studied
 otherwise than as really cultivated men
 would study them4  ,science as a means 
of livelihood4    ,it is necessary1     

therefore1 that the sense of beauty1 of 
virtue1 and of  strong and regulated    
passions should be restored4 ,how can a 
philosopher  employ himself in this     
task8 ,alas6 the experience of antiquity
 teaches  and discourages us4 ,the      
philosopher is a hybrid being1 half     
logician1  half artist1 a poet1 an      
apostle1 who constructs his dreams and  
his  commandments in a logical manner4  
,men listen willingly enough to poets   
and apostles1 they do not listen to     
philosophers1 they are not moved by     
their analyses and their deductions4    
,consider that long line of genius1  the
 philosophers of tragic ,greece4 ,what  
did they realise8 ,their lives  were    
given in vain to their race4 ,empedocles
 alone moved the mob1 but  he was as    
much a magician as philosopher2 he      
invented myths and poems2  he was       
eloquent1 he was magnificent2 it was the
 legend1 and not the  thought of        
,empedocles1 that was effective4        
,pythagoras founded a sect1  a          

philosopher cannot hope for more3 his   
labour grouped together a few  friends1 
a few disciples1 who passed over the    
human masses like a  ripple on the      
ocean2 not one of the great philosophers
 has swayed the  people1 writes         
,nietzsche4 ,where they have failed1 who
 will succeed8 ,it  is impossible to    
found a popular culture on philosophy4  
,what is then the destiny of these      
singular souls8 ,is their force1 which  
is at times immense1 lost8 ,will the    
philosopher always be a paradoxical     
being1 and useless to men8 ,friedrich   
,nietzsche was troubled2 it was  the    
utility of his own life that he         
questioned4 ,he would never be a        
musician1 that he knew at last2 never a 
poet1 he had ceased to hope  for it4 ,he
 had not the faculty of conceiving the  
uniformities1 of  animating a drama1 of 
creating a soul4 ,one evening he        
confessed this to  ,overbeck with such  
sadness that his friend was moved4 ,he  
was therefore  a philosopher1 moreover1 

a very ignorant one1 an amateur of      
philosophy1  an imperfect lyrical       
artist2 and he questioned himself3      
,since ,i have  for weapons only my     
thoughts1 the thoughts of a philosopher1
 what can  ,i do8 ,he answered3 ,i can  
help4 ,socrates did not create the      
truths that  error kept prisoners in the
 souls of his interlocutors1 he only    
aspired  to the title of accoucheur4    
,such is the task of a philosopher4 ,he 
is  an inefficient creator1 but a very  
efficient critic4 ,he is obliged  to    
analyse the forces which are operative  
around him1 in science1 in  religion1   
and in art2 he is obliged to give the   
directions1 to fix the  values and the  
limits4 ,such shall be my task4 ,i will 
study the souls  of my contemporaries1  
and ,i shall have every authority to say
 to them3  ,neither science nor religion
 can save you2 seek refuge in art1 the  
power of modern times1 and in the artist
 who is ,richard ,wagner4 ,the          
philosopher of the future1 he wrote1 he 

must be the supreme judge of  an sthetic
 culture1 a censor of every digression4 
,nietzsche went to ,naumburg for the    
,christmas holidays4 ,wagner sent  him  
word to ask him to stop at ,bayreuth on 
his way home to ,basle1 but  he was hard
 pressed by work and perhaps a little   
ill1 and no doubt  a secret instinct    
warned him that solitude would be best  
for the  meditation of the problems     
which he had to determine for himself4  
,he made his apologies4 ,besides1 he had
 had for some weeks many  opportunities 
of proving his attachment4 ,he had      
written an article 7the  only one in all
 his work7 in answer to an alienist who 
had undertaken  to prove that ,wagner   
was mad4 ,he had offered a sum of money 
to help in  the propaganda4 ,this       
anonymous and distant manner was the    
only one that  suited him at the time4  
,even at ,basle he tried to found a     
,wagnerian  ,verein4 ,he was therefore  
astounded when he discovered that the   
master  was displeased at his absence4  

,already in the past year an invitation1
  also declined1 had helped to provoke a
 mild lecture4    ,it is ,burckhardt who
 is keeping you at ,basle1 wrote ,cosima
 ,wagner4  ,nietzsche wrote and remedied
 things1 but the painful impression     
remained4    ,everything is quieted1 he 
told the friend who had informed him2   
but  ,i cannot quite forget4 ,wagner    
knows that ,i am ill1 absorbed in work1 
and in need of a little liberty4 ,i     
shall be1 henceforth1 whether ,i  wish  
it or no1 more anxious than in the past4
 ,god knows how many times  ,i have     
wounded him4 ,each time ,i am           
astonished1 and ,i never succeed in     
precisely locating the point in which we
 have clashed4    ,this annoyance did   
not affect his thought2 we can follow it
 to its  smallest shades of meaning1    
thanks to the notes published in the    
tenth  volume of his complete works4 ,it
 is quite active and fecund4 ,i am the  
adventurer of the spirit1 he was to     
write4 ,i wander in my thought4 ,i  go  

to the idea that calls me4444    ,he was
 never to wander so audaciously as in   
the first weeks of #ahgf4    ,he        
completed a finer and sober essay1      
,ueber ,wahrheit und ,lge im  ausser    
moralischen ,sinne 7,on ,truth and      
,falsehood in an ,extra-,moral  ,sense47
 7,it is a pity that it is necessary to 
translate these  high-sounding          
expressions1 and we render them word for
 word47 ,nietzsche  always liked        
high-sounding words2 he does not recoil 
here from using  the word untruth1 and  
essays for the first time a reversal of 
values4 ,to the true he opposes the     
false and prefers it4 ,he exalts the    
imaginary worlds which poets add to the 
real world4 ,dare to deceive  thyself   
and dream1 ,schiller had said2          
,friedrich ,nietzsche repeats  this     
advice4 ,it was the happy audacity of   
the ,greeks2 they intoxicated           
themselves with their divine histories1 
their heroic myths1 and this            
intoxication set their souls on high    

adventures4 ,the loyal ,athenian1       
persuaded that ,pallas dwelt in his     
city1 lived in a dream4 ,more           
clear-sighted1 would he have been       
stronger2 more passionate1 braver8      
,truth is good in proportion to the     
services which it assures1 and  illusion
 is preferable if it performs its duty  
better4 ,why deify the  truth8 ,it is   
the tendency of the moderns2 ,pereat    
vita1 fiat veritas6  they say readily4  
,why this fanaticism8 ,it is an         
inversion of the sane  law for men3     
,pereat ,veritas1 fiat vita6            
,nietzsche wrote down these dogmatic    
formulas1 but did not stop at them4  ,he
 went on writing4 ,it was thus that he  
worked and advanced in his  researches4 
,let us not forget that these thoughts1 
firm though they  were in manner1 were  
only indications1 steps on the road4 ,he
 would  give birth to other and perhaps 
contrary thoughts4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche
  had in him two instincts1 opposed to  
each other2 the one1 that of the        

philosopher1 and the other1 that of the 
artist2 the one was bent on  truth1 the 
other was ready to fabricate4 ,he       
hesitated at the moment  when he had to 
sacrifice one or the other4 ,the        
instinct for the true  protested within 
him4 ,he did not abandon his formulas2  
he took them up  again1 he essayed new  
definitions1 he indicated the           
difficulties1 the  hiatus4 ,his thoughts
 had no disguise1 and we can follow his 
researches4  ,let us translate this     
significant disorder3    ,the           
philosopher of the tragic knowledge4 ,he
 binds the disordered  instinct of      
knowledge1 but not by a new metaphysic4 
,he does not  establish new beliefs4 ,he
 sees with a tragic emotion that the    
ground  of metaphysics opens under him1 
and he knows that the many-coloured     
whirlwind of science can never satisfy  
him4 ,he builds for himself a new  life2
 to art he restores its rights4    ,the 
philosopher of the desperate knowledge  
abandons himself to blind  science3     

knowledge at any price4    ,even if     
metaphysics be only an anthropomorphic  
appearance1 for the  tragic philosopher 
that achieves the image of being4 ,he is
 not  sceptical4 ,here there is an idea 
to create2 for scepticism is not the    
end4 ,the instinct of knowledge forced  
to its extreme limits turns  against    
itself to transform itself into a       
criticism of the faculty of  knowledge4 
,knowledge in the service of the best   
kind of life4 ,one  should even will    
illusion1 therein lies the tragic4      
,what is then this philosopher of the   
desperate knowledge whose attitude      
,nietzsche defines in two lines4 ,must  
he not love him1 having found for  him  
already such a beautiful name8 ,there is
 an idea to create1 writes  ,nietzsche2 
what then is this idea8 ,it seems that  
in many passages  ,nietzsche is pleased 
to contemplate1 without its veils1 that 
terrible  reality1 whose aspect alone1  
says the ,hindu legend1 means death4    
,how1 he writes1 do they dare talk of a 

destiny for the earth8 ,in  infinite    
time and space there are no ends3 what  
is there1 is eternally  there1 whatever 
the forms4 ,what can result from it for 
a metaphysical  world one does not see4 
,without support of this order humanity 
should stand firm2 a terrible  task for 
the artist6    ,the terrible            
consequences of ,darwinism1 in which1   
moreover1 ,i believe4  ,we respect      
certain qualities which we hold as      
eternal1 moral1 artistic1  religious1 c1
 c1 c4 ,the spirit1 a production of the 
brain1 to  consider it as supernatural6 
,to deify it1 what folly6    ,to speak  
of an unconscious end of humanity1 to   
me1 that is false4  ,humanity is not a  
whole like an ant-hill4 ,perhaps one may
 speak of the  unconscious ends of an   
ant-hill--but of all the ant-hills of   
the world6    ,our duty is not to take  
shelter in metaphysics1 but actively to 
sacrifice ourselves to the birth of     
culture4 ,hence my severity  against    
misty idealism4    ,at that instant     

,nietzsche had almost reached the term  
of his thought1  but with great labour  
and consequent suffering4 ,headaches1   
pains in  the eyes and stomach1 laid    
hold of him once more4 ,the softest     
light  hurt him1 he was obliged to give 
up reading4 ,nevertheless1 his thought  
never halted4 ,he was again occupied    
with the philosophers of tragic         
,greece2 he listened to the words which 
come down to us diminished by  the      
centuries1 but always firm4 ,he heard   
the concert of the everlasting          
responses--    ,thales4 ,everything     
derives from a unique element4          
,anaximander4 ,the  flux of things is   
their punishment4 ,heraclitus4 ,a law   
governs the  flux and the institution of
 things4    ,parmenides4 ,the flux and  
the institution of things is illusion4  
,the  ,one alone exists4    ,anaxagoras4
 ,all qualities are eternal2 there is no
 becoming4    ,the ,pythagoreans4 ,all  
qualities are quantities4 ,empedocles4  
,all causes are magical4 ,democritus4   

,all causes are mechanical4  ,socrates4 
,nothing is constant except thought4    
,friedrich ,nietzsche is moved by these 
opposing voices1 by these rhythms  of   
thought which accuse nature in their    
eternal collisions4 ,the  vicissitudes  
of the ideas and systems of man affect  
me more tragically  than the            
vicissitudes of real life1 said         
,hlderlin4 ,nietzsche's  feeling was the
 same4 ,he admired and envied those     
primitives who  discovered nature and   
who found the first answers4 ,he threw  
aside the  devices of art1 he confronted
 life as dipus confronted the ,sphinx1  
and under this very title dipus he wrote
 a fragment to the  mysterious language 
of which we may open our ears4    dipus4
 ,i call myself the last philosopher    
because ,i am the last  man4 ,i speak   
alone and ,i hear my voice sounding like
 that of a dying  man4 ,with thee1 dear 
voice1 whose breath brings to me the    
last memories  of all human happiness1  
with thee let me speak yet a moment     

more3  thou wilt deceive my solitude2   
thou wilt give me back the illusion  of 
society and love1 because my heart will 
not believe that love is  dead4 ,it     
cannot endure the terror of the most    
solitary solitude1 and  forces me to    
speak as if ,i were two4 ,is it thou    
that ,i hear1 my voice8  ,thou          
murmurest1 and thou cursest8 ,yet--thy  
malediction should rend  the entrails of
 the world6 ,alas1 in spite of          
everything it subsists1  more dazzling  
and colder than ever2 it looks at me    
with its stars  pitilessly2 it exists   
blind and deaf as before1 and nothing   
dies but  man4 ,and yet1 you still speak
 to me1 beloved voice6 ,i die not alone 
in  this universe4 ,i1 the last man3 the
 last plaint1 your plaint1 dies with    
me4 ,misery1 misery6 pity me1 the last  
man of misery1 dipus6    ,it seems that 
,nietzsche1 now at the extreme limits of
 his thought1  experiences a sudden need
 of rest4 ,he wants to speak to his     
friends1 to  feel himself surrounded by 

them and diverted4 ,the ,easter holidays
 in  #ahgc gave him a fortnight's       
release4 ,he left for ,bayreuth1 where  
he was  not expected4    ,i leave this  
evening1 he writes to ,frulein von      
,meysenbug4 ,guess  where ,i am going8  
,you've guessed1 and1 height of bliss1  
,i shall meet  the best of men1 ,rohde1 
to-morrow at half-past four4 ,i shall be
 staying  with ,wagner1 and then see me 
quite happy6 ,we shall speak much of    
you1  much of ,gersdorff4 ,he has copied
 my lectures1 you say8 ,it touches  me1 
and ,i will not forget it4 ,what good   
friends ,i have6 ,it is really          
shameful4    ,i hope to bring back from 
,bayreuth courage and gaiety1 and to    
strengthen myself in everything that is 
good4 ,i dreamt last night  that ,i was 
having my ,gradus ad ,parnassum         
carefully rebound4 ,this  mixture of    
bookbinding and symbolism is            
comprehensible2 moreover1  very insipid4
 ,but it is a truth6 ,it is necessary   
from time to time to  rebind ourselves  

by frequenting men more valorous and    
stronger than  ourselves or else we lose
 a few of our pages1 then a few more1   
still a  few more1 until the last page  
is destroyed4 ,and that our life should 
be  a ,gradus ad ,parnassum1 that also  
is a truth that we must often repeat  to
 ourselves4 ,the future to which ,i     
shall attain if ,i take plenty of       
trouble1 if ,i have a little happiness  
and much time1 is to become a  more     
sober writer1 and from the first and    
ever better to pursue my  calling as a  
man of letters more soberly4 ,from time 
to time ,i feel a  childish repugnance  
to printed paper1 ,i think that ,i see  
soiled paper4  ,and ,i can very well    
picture a period when reading was not   
much liked1  writing even less so2 but  
one far preferred to think a lot1 and to
 act  still more4 ,for everything to-day
 awaits that efficacious man1 who1      
condemning in himself and us our        
millenarian routines1 will live better  
and will give us his life to imitate4   

,friedrich ,nietzsche left for          
,bayreuth4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,he there learnt
 a piece of unexpected news4 ,money was 
lacking4 ,of the  twelve hundred        
thousand francs needed1 eight hundred   
thousand only had  been realised with   
great difficulty4 ,the enterprise was   
compromised  and perhaps ruined4        
,everyone was losing heart4 ,the master 
alone was  confident and calm4 ,since he
 had attained his manhood1 he had       
desired  to possess a theatre4 ,he knew 
that a constant will prevails over      
chance1 and a few months of crisis did  
not alarm him after forty years  of     
waiting4 ,capitalists from ,berlin1     
,munich1 ,vienna1 ,london1 and  ,chicago
 were making proposals to him which     
,richard ,wagner invariably  refused to 
entertain4 ,he wished his theatre to    
belong to himself alone1  and to be near
 him3 ,it is not a question of the      
success of the  affair1 he said1 but of 
awakening the hidden forces of the      

,german  soul4 ,but his remarkable      
serenity failed to reassure his friends4
 ,a  panic was engendered at ,bayreuth1 
and no one again dared to hope4         
,friedrich ,nietzsche looked on1        
listened1 observed1 and then fled to    
,naumburg4 ,my despair was deep1 he has 
written2 there was nothing  that did not
 seem criminal to me4 ,he was           
rediscovering the world after  ten      
months of solitude1 and finding it even 
more cowardly and more  miserable than  
he had ever judged it to be4 ,there was 
worse to endure1  for he was            
discontented with himself4 ,he recalled 
his last meditations4  ,i call myself   
the last philosopher1 because ,i am the 
last man4 ,and  he questioned himself3  
,was he really the last philosopher8 the
  last man8 ,had he not flattered       
himself in assigning himself a rle  so  
difficult and magnificent8 ,had he not  
been ungrateful1 cowardly1  and vile1   
like the others1 in abandoning the      
struggle at the decisive  moment to shut

 himself up in his solitude and his     
selfish dreams8 ,had  he not forgotten  
his master8 ,he accused himself2 remorse
 accentuated  his despair4 ,i should not
 think of myself1 was his               
reproach--,wagner  alone is a           
hero--,wagner1 so great in misfortune1  
great as of old at  ,triebschen4 ,it is 
he whom we must serve4 ,i must          
henceforth be vowed to  help him4    ,it
 had been his intention to publish a few
 chapters of his book on ,the           
,philosophers of ,tragic ,greece4 ,he   
abstained from this delight2 put  away  
in a drawer--not without a pang--his    
almost finished manuscript4  ,he wished 
to spit out lava1 to insult ,germany and
 treat her like a  brute1 since1        
imbecile brute that she was1 she would  
only yield to  brutality4    ,i return  
from ,bayreuth in such a state of       
persistent melancholy1 he  wrote to     
,rohde1 that the only hope for me is    
holy wrath4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche    
looked for no joy in the work which he  

was about to  undertake4 ,to attack is  
to recognise1 to condescend1 to lower   
oneself4  ,he would have preferred to   
have had no traffic with base humanity4 
,but  here was ,richard ,wagner2 was it 
to be borne that he should be tormented 
and trammelled8 that the ,germans should
 sadden him as they saddened  ,goethe1  
and break him1 as they broke ,schiller8 
,to-morrow other men  of genius would be
 born3 was it not necessary to fight    
from to-day  to assure them their       
liberty and the freedom of their lives8 
,it is  impossible to ignore the masses 
that beset us4 ,it is a bitter destiny1 
but one that may not be eluded4 ,it is  
the destiny of the best-born1 and  above
 all of the best ,germans1 heroes       
begotten and misunderstood by a  race   
insensible to beauty4    ,friedrich     
,nietzsche remembered what ,goethe had  
said of ,lessing3 ,pity  this           
extraordinary man1 pity him that he     
lived in such a pitiable  era1 that he  
was forced to act ceaselessly by        

polemics4 ,he applied  this to himself1 
but polemics seemed to be a duty to him1
 as in other  times they had been to    
,lessing4 ,he looked round for an       
adversary4 ,the  illustrious ,d4 ,f4    
,strauss now represented official       
philosophy2 he was  its heavy pontiff4  
,having renounced the critical          
researches1 in which  he was a real     
master1 he was affecting1 in his old    
age1 the attitude of  a thinker1 and was
 elaborating his ,credo with sham       
elegances borrowed  from ,voltaire and  
,about4    ,i simply propose1 he wrote  
in ,the ,old ,faith and the ,new1 to say
  how we live--how for long years past  
we have been wont to direct our  lives4 
,by the side of our professions--for we 
belong to the most  diverse professions2
 we are not all artists or scholars1 but
 also  officials1 soldiers1 artisans1 or
 proprietors1 and1 ,i have already said 
and ,i repeat it1 our number is not     
small1 we are many thousand1 and  not of
 the worst1 in every country--by the    

side of our professions1 ,i  say1 we    
try1 as far as possible1 to keep our    
minds open to the highest  interests of 
humanity2 our hearts are exalted by     
these new destinies1  as unforeseen as  
they are magnificent1 assigned by ,fate 
to our country  which formerly endured  
so much4 ,the better to understand these
 things1  we study history1 to which    
easy access is opened to the first comer
  by a number of both popular and       
attractive works4 ,and then we try to   
extend our knowledge of nature by the   
aid of manuals which are within  reach  
of everybody4 ,finally we find in       
reading our great poets1 in  hearing our
 great musicians1 stimulants for spirit 
and feeling1 for the  imagination and   
the heart1 stimulants which in truth    
leave nothing to  be desired4 ,thus we  
live1 thus we march forward in          
happiness4    ,so the ,philistines are  
happy and very rightly1 thought         
,nietzsche3 this  is the era of their   
power4 ,assuredly the species is not    

new4 ,even  ,attica had its abettors of 
banausia4 ,but the ,philistine formerly 
lived under humiliating conditions4 ,he 
was merely tolerated4 ,he was  not      
talked of1 nor did he talk4 ,then a more
 indulgent period arrived1  in which he 
was listened to1 his follies flattered2 
he appeared droll4  ,this was enough3 he
 became a fop1 proud of his             
prudhommerie4 ,to-day  he triumphs2 it  
is impossible to hold him back4 ,he     
becomes a fanatic1  and founds a        
religion3 it is the new faith1 of which 
,strauss is the  prophet4 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche would have assuredly approved
 of that  classification of the ages    
which ,gustave ,flaubert suggested about
 this  time3 ,paganisme1 christianisme1 
muflisme 7,paganism1 ,christianity1     
,snout-ism74 ,the ,philistine dictates  
his tastes1 and imposes his  mannerisms4
 ,a war breaks out3 he reads his paper1 
the telegrams  interest him1 and        
contribute to his happiness4 ,great men 
have suffered1  and have left us their  

works3 the ,philistine knows these      
works1 and  appreciates them--they add  
to his well-being4 ,moreover1 he        
appreciates  with discernment4 ,the     
,pastoral ,symphony ravishes him1 but he
 condemns  the exaggerated uproar of the
 ,symphony with chorus4 ,david          
,friedrich  ,strauss says it distinctly3
 and that clear mind of his is not to be
  deceived4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche    
sought no further2 he had found the man 
whom he  wished to destroy4 ,in the     
first days of ,may he had all his notes 
in  hand1 his work was ready4 ,his      
strength suddenly gave out3 his aching  
head1 his eyes that could not bear the  
light without pain1 played  traitor to  
his desire to work2 in a few days he was
 all but an invalid1  almost blind4     
,overbeck and ,romundt did their best to
 help him4 ,but  they had1 both of them1
 other work2 their time was measured by 
their  professional duties4 ,a third    
friend came to give assistance to the   
invalid4 ,the ,baron von ,gersdorff1 a  

man of leisure and a devoted  friend1   
was travelling in ,italy4 ,he had been  
,friedrich ,nietzsche's  comrade at the 
college of ,pforta1 and since those     
already distant days  had scarcely seen 
him again1 but his friendship had       
remained intact4  ,he hastened to       
,basle4 ,he was a younger son of good   
family4 ,his elder  brothers having     
died1 one in #ahff in the ,austrian     
campaign1 the other  in #ahga in the    
,french campaign1 he had been obliged to
 sacrifice his  tastes1 to renounce     
philosophy and learn farming so as to be
 able to  manage the family estate in   
,north ,germany4 ,he was the only one of
  ,nietzsche's friends who was not a    
slave to paper and books4 ,he is a  fine
 type of the reserved and dignified     
gentleman1 although extremely  simple in
 his manners1 wrote ,overbeck2 at bottom
 the best fellow  imaginable1 and at the
 first glance you are left with the     
impression  of a man who is entirely    
trustworthy4 ,a friend of ,romundt's1   

,paul  ,re1 also came to help or        
distract the invalid1 who1 thanks to so 
many kindnesses1 was able to resist his 
sufferings4 ,lying always in            
semi-darkness1 he dictated3 the faithful
 ,gersdorff wrote down what  he had to  
say1 and by the end of ,june the        
manuscript was sent to the  publisher4  
,friedrich ,nietzsche's condition       
improved when he had finished his work4 
,he felt a great need of fresh air and  
of solitude4 ,his sister1 who  had come 
from ,naumburg1 took him to the         
mountains of the ,grisons4 ,his         
headaches grew less severe1 his eyesight
 became stronger4 ,he rested  for a few 
weeks1 correcting his proofs1 rejoicing 
in his new-found  strength1 but always  
haunted by his angers and his           
aspirations4    ,one day1 while walking 
with his sister on the outskirts of     
,flimms1 he  came on a little chteau in 
a sequestered site4 ,what a beautiful   
retreat1 he said2 what a beautiful spot 
in which to establish our lay  convent4 

,the chteau was for sale4 ,let us visit 
it1 said the young  girl4 ,they went in1
 and were delighted with everything3 the
 garden1  the terrace from which a wide 
view stretched out before them1 the big 
hall with its chimney-piece of          
sculptured stone4 ,the rooms were few1  
but why should there be more8 ,this     
would be given to ,richard ,wagner1     
that to ,cosima ,wagner1 this other     
would be at the disposal of friends  of 
passage1 ,frulein von ,meysenbug or     
,jacob ,burckhardt4 ,gersdorff1         
,deussen1 ,rohde1 ,overbeck1 ,romundt1  
would often reside there4 ,here1        
declared ,nietzsche1 we will build a    
covered walk1 a sort of cloister4       
,thus1 in every kind of weather1 we can 
walk as we talk4 ,for we shall  talk    
much1 we shall read but little1 and     
write hardly at all4    ,he returned to 
his familiar dream once again1 fraternal
 intercourse  between disciples and     
masters4 ,frulein ,nietzsche grew very  
excited4  ,you will need a woman to keep

 house1 she said4 ,it will be ,i4 ,she  
enquired about the price and wrote to   
the proprietor1 but matters were  not   
arranged4    ,i looked too young1 wrote 
,frulein ,nietzsche1 who tells the      
anecdote1 and the gardener did not take 
us seriously4 ,what are we to  think of 
this affair8 ,it is hard to know4 ,was  
it only the chatter of a  young girl to 
which ,friedrich ,nietzsche had         
hearkened for an instant8  ,or was it1  
on the contrary1 a serious notion8      
,probably the latter4 ,his  spirit1     
hospitable to chimeras1 ill knew what   
the world admits and what  it does not  
admit4 ,he came back to ,basle4 ,his    
pamphlet had provoked a  good deal of   
discussion4 ,i read it1 and re-read it1 
wrote ,wagner1  and ,i swear to the     
great gods that ,i hold you to be the   
only one who  knows what ,i want4 ,your 
pamphlet is a thunderbolt1 wrote ,hans  
von  ,blow4 ,a modern ,voltaire ought to
 write3 cr4444 l'inf4444 ,this          
international sthetic is for us a far   

more odious adversary than red  or black
 bandits4    ,other good judges1 elderly
 men in many cases1 approved of the     
young  polemist2 ,ewald 7of ,gottingen71
 ,bruno ,bauer1 ,karl ,hildebrandt1     
dieses  letzten humanen ,deutschen1 said
 ,nietzsche--this last of the human     
,germans--declared for him4 ,this little
 book1 wrote the critic1  may mark a    
return of the ,german spirit towards    
serious thought and  intellectual       
passion4    ,but these friendly voices  
were few4    ,the ,german ,empire1 he   
had written1 is extirpating the ,german 
spirit4 ,he had wounded the pride of a  
conquering people4 ,in return1  he      
suffered many an insult1 many an        
accusation of scurviness and  treachery4
 ,he rejoiced over it4 ,i enter society 
with a duel1 he  said2 ,stendhal gave   
that advice4 ,complete ,stendhalian that
 he  was 7or at least he flattered      
himself that he was71 ,nietzsche was1   
notwithstanding1 accessible to pity4    
,david ,strauss died but a few weeks    

after the publication of the pamphlet1  
and ,nietzsche1 imagining that  his work
 had killed the old man1 was sorely     
grieved4 ,his sister and his  friends   
tried in vain to reassure him2 he did   
not wish to abandon a  remorse which    
was1 moreover1 so glorious4             
,stimulated by this first conflict1 he  
dreamt of vaster conflicts4 ,with       
extraordinary rapidity of conception he 
prepared a series of treatises  which he
 wished to publish under a general      
title3 ,unzeitgemsse  ,betrachtungen    
7,thoughts ,out of ,season74 ,d4 ,f4    
,strauss had furnished  the subject of  
the first of the series4 ,the second was
 to be entitled  ,the ,use and ,abuse of
 ,history4 ,twenty others were to       
follow4 ,his  friends1 ever the         
associates of his dreams1 would         
contribute1 he  thought1 to the work4   
,franz ,overbeck had just published a   
little book entitled ,the  ,christianity
 of our ,modern ,theology4 ,he attacked 
the ,german savants  and their too      

modernist tendencies1 which attenuated  
,christianity1  and allowed the         
irrevocable and serious doctrine1 which 
was that of  the early ,christians1 to  
fall into oblivion4 ,nietzsche had      
,overbeck's  ,christlichkeit and his ,d4
 ,f4 ,strauss bound together4 ,on the   
outside  page he wrote six lines of     
verse4    ,two twins of the same house  
enter joyfully into the world--to devour
  the dragons of the world4 ,two        
fathers1 one work4 ,oh1 miracle6 ,the   
mother of these twins is called         
,friendship4#a    ,friedrich ,nietzsche 
hoped for a series of similar volumes1  
the work of  many hands but inspired by 
one spirit4    ,with a hundred men bred 
up to the conflict of modern ideas1     
inured  to heroism1 he then wrote1 all  
our noisy and lazy culture would be     
reduced to eternal silence4 ,a hundred  
men of that stamp carried the           
civilisation of the ,renaissance on     
their shoulders4 ,a double hope and  a  
vain one3 his friends failed him1 and he

 himself did not write his  twenty      
pamphlets4 ,only their titles1 and a few
 pages of rough outline1  are left to   
us4 ,on ,the ,state1 ,the ,city1 ,the   
,social ,crisis1 ,military  ,culture1 on
 ,religion1 what had he to tell us8 ,let
 us moderate our  regrets2 little       
perhaps2 little1 at all events1 that    
could be called  precious1 as distinct  
from his desires and his complaints4    
,he was also busy with another work1 and
 announced it to ,gersdorff in          
mysterious terms3 ,let it be enough for 
you to know that a danger1 a  terrible  
and unexpected one1 menaces ,bayreuth1  
and that the task of  digging the       
countermine has fallen to me4 ,in fact1 
,richard ,wagner had  begged him to     
write a supreme appeal to the ,germans1 
and he applied  himself to the task of  
drawing it up with all the gravity1 all 
the  profundity1 all the solemnity of   
which he was capable4 ,he demanded      
,erwin ,rohde's assistance and advice4  
,can ,i count on it that you will  send 

me soon1 he wrote1 a fragment drawn up  
in the ,napoleonic style8  ,erwin       
,rohde1 a prudent man1 declined4 ,one   
would have to be polite1 he  said1 when 
the only true thing for the rabble is   
insult4 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche did not  
embarrass himself with politeness4      
,at the end of ,october the presidents  
of the ,wagner ,vereine1 assembled      
united at ,bayreuth1 invited ,friedrich 
,nietzsche to read his manifesto1  ,a   
,summons#b to the ,germans4    ,we wish 
to be listened to1 for we speak in order
 to give a warning2  and he who warns1  
whoever he be1 whatever he says1 always 
has the right  to be heard4444 ,we lift 
our voices because you are in danger1   
and  because1 seeing you so mute1 so    
indifferent1 so callous1 we fear for    
you4444 ,we speak to you in all         
sincerity of heart1 and we seek and     
desire our good only because it is also 
yours3 the salvation and the  honour of 
the ,german spirit1 and of the ,german  
name4444    ,the manifesto was developed

 in the same menacing and rather        
emphatic  tone1 and the reading was     
received in an embarrassing silence4    
,there  was no murmur of approval1 no   
look of encouragement for the writer4   
,he was silent4 ,at last some voices    
made themselves heard4 ,it is too       
serious2 it is not politic enough1 there
 must be changes1 a great many  changes4
 ,some opined1 ,it is a monk's sermon4  
,he did not wish to  argue1 and withdrew
 his draft of a summons4 ,wagner alone  
had supported  him with a great deal of 
energy4 ,wait1 said he2 in a little     
time1  a very little time1 they will be 
obliged to return to your challenge1    
they will all conform to it4            
,nietzsche remained very few days at    
,bayreuth4 ,the situation1 which had    
been serious at ,easter1 was now        
desperate4 ,the public1 who for some    
months had gibed at the great           
enterprise1 now forgot all about it4 ,a 
formidable indifference stood in the way
 of the propagandists1 and  every day it

 seemed more difficult to collect the   
necessary money4 ,all  idea of a        
commercial loan1 of a lottery1 had been 
set aside4 ,an appeal  written in haste 
to replace that of ,nietzsche was spread
 all over  ,germany2 ten thousand copies
 were printed1 an infinitesimal number  
were  sold4 ,a letter was addressed to  
the directors of one hundred ,german    
theatres4 ,each was asked to give as a  
subscription to ,bayreuth its  receipts 
at a single benefit performance4 ,three 
refused1 the others did  not reply4     
,friedrich ,nietzsche returned to       
,basle4 ,he succeeded1 with the aid of  
,gersdorff1 in drawing up his second    
,thoughts ,out of ,season1 ,the  ,use   
and ,abuse of ,history4 ,but he wrote   
few letters1 few notes1 he  formed no   
new project1 and for the moment almost  
entirely escapes from  our study4 ,the  
double hope of his youth1 that he might 
assist at the  triumph of ,wagner1 and  
have a share in achieving this triumph1 
was  ruined4 ,his help had been refused4

 ,he had been told3 ,your text is too   
grave1 too solemn4 ,and he asks himself1
 ,what does this mean8 ,is not  the art 
of ,wagner a matter of supreme gravity  
and solemnity8 ,he is  unhappy1         
humiliated1 wounded in his amour propre 
and in his dreams4  ,during these last  
weeks of #ahgc he lived like an         
earthworm in his room  at ,basle4    ,he
 went to spend the ,new ,year holidays  
at ,naumburg4 ,there1 alone with  his   
own people1 he picked up some strength4 
,he had always liked the  repose of     
anniversaries1 which was so favourable  
to reflection1 and1 as  a young man1    
never allowed the feast of ,saint       
,sylvester to pass without  putting on  
paper a meditation on his life1 his     
memories1 and his views  of the future4 
,on ,december #ca1 #ahgc1 he wrote to   
,erwin ,rohde2 the tone  of his letter  
recalls his former habit4    ,the       
,letters of an ,heretical sthete1 by    
,karl ,hildebrandt1 have given  me      
inordinate pleasure1 he wrote4 ,what a  

refreshment6 ,read1 admire1  he is one  
of ours1 he is of the society of those  
who hope4 ,may it  prosper in the ,new  
,year1 this society1 may we remain good 
comrades6 ,ah6  dear friend1 one has no 
choice1 one must be either of those who 
hope1  or of those who despair4 ,once   
and for all ,i have decided on hope4    
,let  us remain faithful and helpful to 
one another in this year #ahgd and      
until the end of our days4    ,yours1   
,,friedrich ,,nietzsche4    ,,naumburg1 
,saint ,sylvester's1 #ahgc-gd4    ,the  
first days of ,january came1 and        
,friedrich ,nietzsche applied himself   
to work once more4 ,since the strange   
misadventure at ,bayreuth 7no doubt  the
 irritation of an author1 whose aid has 
been rejected1 accounts for  these      
unforeseen changes71 he has been        
tormented by anxieties and by  doubts2  
he wished to clear them up4 ,in two     
lines1 which are like an  introduction  
to his thoughts of the time1 he brings  
the ,wagnerian art  into history4 ,every

 thought that is great1 he writes1 is   
dangerous1  and dangerous1 above all1 in
 its newness4 ,the impression is that of
 an  isolated phenomenon which justifies
 itself by itself4 ,then1 having        
posited this general principle1 he      
approached the definitive questions3    
,what kind of man is ,wagner8 ,what does
 his art signify8    ,it was a          
catastrophe in fairyland4 ,the modern   
schylus1 the modern  ,pindar vanished2  
the beautiful metaphysical and religious
 decorations  fell in1 and the art of   
,wagner appeared as it really was--an   
art1  the late1 magnificent1 and often  
sickly flower of a humanity fifteen     
centuries old4    ,let us really ask    
ourselves1 wrote ,nietzsche in his      
notes1 of which  his friends did not    
know--,let us really ask ourselves what 
is the  value of the time which adopts  
the art of ,wagner as its art8 ,it is   
radically anarchical1 a breathless      
thing1 impious1 greedy1 shapeless1      
uncertain of its groundwork1 quick to   

despair--it has no simplicity1  it is   
self-conscious to the marrow1 it lacks  
nobility1 it is violent1  cowardly4     
,this art unites pell mell in one mass  
all that still attracts  our modern     
,german souls2 aspects1 ways of feeling1
 all comes pell  mell4 ,a monstrous     
attempt of art to affirm and dominate   
itself in an  anti-artistic period4 ,it 
is a poison against a poison4    ,the   
demi-god was gone1 and in his place was 
a stage-player4 ,nietzsche  recognised  
despairingly that he had allowed himself
 to be captured  by the gambols of a    
giant4 ,he had loved with simplicity and
 with the  ardour of his youth1 and had 
been deceived4 ,there was jealousy in   
his  anger1 and a little of that hatred 
which is never far from love4 ,his      
heart1 his thought1 of which he was so  
proud1 he had given to a man3  this man 
had trifled with these sacred gifts4    
,we may pass over these personal        
sorrows2 others1 even more profound1    
humiliated ,friedrich ,nietzsche4 ,he   

was humiliated because he had  betrayed 
,truth4 ,he had desired to live for her2
 he now perceived that  for four years  
he had lived for ,wagner4 ,he had dared 
to repeat after  ,voltaire1 ,it is      
necessary to tell the truth and         
sacrifice oneself2  he now saw that he  
had neglected her1 that perhaps he had  
shunned  her1 in seeking consolation    
from the beauties of ,wagner's art4 ,if 
you seek for ease1 believe1 he had      
written some years before to his  young 
sister3 if you desire the truth1 search2
 and the duty which he  had indicated to
 this child he had himself failed to    
observe4 ,he had  suffered himself to be
 seduced by images1 by harmonies1 by the
 magic of  words2 he had fed on lies4   
,his fault was graver yet1 for he had   
consented to this abasement4 ,the       
universe is evil1 he had written in ,the
 ,origin of ,tragedy--cruel  like a     
dissonance of notes1 and the soul of    
man1 dissonant like the  universe1      
suffering from itself1 would detach     

itself from life if it  did not invent  
some illusion1 some myth which deceives 
but appeases it  and procures it a      
refuge of beauty4 ,in truth1 if we thus 
draw back1  if we create our            
consolations for ourselves1 whither will
 we not let  ourselves be led8 ,one     
hearkens to one's weakness2 there is no 
cowardice  that is not thus authorised4 
,to accept is to deliver oneself over to
  the illusionist4 ,is it a noble or a  
vile illusion8 ,how can we know if  we  
are deceived1 if we ask to be deceived8 
,nietzsche felt his memories  degraded1 
and his hopes discouraged by the        
bitterness of remorse4    ,the ,use and 
,abuse of ,history appeared in          
,february4 ,it is a pamphlet  directed  
against that science1 history1 the      
invention and pride of  the moderns2 it 
is a criticism of the faculty1 recently 
acquired by  men1 by which they         
reanimate within themselves the         
sentiments of past  centuries1 at the   
risk of lessening the integrity of their

 instincts  and perplexing their        
rectitude4 ,a brief indication gives the
 spirit of  the book4    ,the man of the
 future3 eccentric1 energetic1          
hot-blooded1  indefatigable1 an artist1 
and an enemy of books4 ,i should desire 
to  hunt from my ideal ,state the       
self-styled 'cultivated' men1 as ,plato 
did  the poets3 it would be my          
terrorism4    ,thus ,nietzsche affronted
 the ten thousand ,herr ,professors to  
whom  history is their daily bread and  
who guide the public4 ,he was punished  
by their hatred and their silence4 ,no  
one spoke of his book4 ,his  friends    
tried to find him some readers4         
,overbeck wrote to his student  friend1 
,treischke1 the political writer1 the   
,prussian historiographer4  ,i am sure1 
he said to him1 that you will discern in
 these  contemplations of ,nietzsche's  
the most profound1 the most serious1 the
  most instinctive devotion to ,german  
greatness4 ,treischke refused his       
assent2 ,overbeck wrote again4 ,it is   

,nietzsche1 my suffering friend1 of     
whom ,i will and above all must talk to 
you4 ,treischke showed temper  in his   
reply and the dispute became bitter4    
,your ,basle1 he wrote1  is a boudoir1  
from which ,german culture is insulted6 
,if you saw the  three of us1           
,nietzsche1 ,romundt1 and myself1 said  
,overbeck1 you would  see three good    
companions4 ,our difference strikes me  
as a painful  symbol4 ,it is so frequent
 an accident1 so unfortunate a feature  
in our  ,german history1 this           
misunderstanding between political men  
and men  of culture4 ,how unlucky for   
you1 retorted ,treischke1 that you met  
this ,nietzsche1 this madman1 who tells 
us so much about his inactual  thoughts1
 and who has nevertheless been bitten to
 the marrow by the  most actual of all  
vices1 the folie des grandeurs4         
,overbeck1 ,gersdorff and ,rohde        
wretchedly watched the failure of this  
book which they admired4 ,it is another 
thunderbolt1 wrote ,rohde2  it will have

 no more effect than fireworks in a     
cellar4 ,but one day  people will       
recognise it and will admire the courage
 and precision  with which he has put   
his finger on our worst wound4 ,how     
strong he  is1 our friend4 ,and         
,overbeck3 ,the sensation of isolation  
that our  friend experiences is growing 
in a painful manner4 ,ever and ever to  
sap  the branch of the tree on which one
 supports oneself cannot be done        
without grievous consequences4 ,and     
,gersdorff3 ,the best thing for  our    
friend would be for him to imitate the  
,pythagoreans3 five years  without      
reading or writing4 ,when ,i am free1   
which will be in two or  three years1 ,i
 shall return to my property3 that      
asylum will be at his  disposal4        
,these men1 with their touching         
solicitude concerning their friend's    
lot1 did not suspect either the true    
cause or the intensity of his  distress4
 ,they pitied his solitude1 they did not
 know how profound  it was1 or how      

lonely he was even with them4 ,what     
mattered to him  the failure of a book  
from which he was separated by a        
revolution of  thought8 ,as to my book1 
he wrote to ,rohde1 ,i can hardly think 
that ,i  wrote it4 ,he had discovered   
his error and his fault4 ,hence his     
sorrow1  hence the agony which he dared 
not confess4 ,at the present moment1 he 
announced to ,gersdorff1 many things    
ferment within me1 many extreme  and    
daring things4 ,i do not know in what   
measure ,i may communicate  them to my  
best friends1 but in any case ,i cannot 
write them4 ,one  evening1 however1     
passion carried him away4 ,he was alone 
with ,overbeck2  the conversation       
happened to turn on ,lohengrin1 and1    
with a sudden  fury1 ,nietzsche pulled  
to pieces this false and romantic work4 
,overbeck  listened to him in amazement4
 ,nietzsche became silent1 and from that
  moment was more careful to practise   
the pretence which shamed him and       
disgusted him with himself4    ,dear1   

true friend1 he wrote to ,gersdorff in  
,april1 #ahgd if only  you could have a 
far lower opinion of me6 ,i am almost   
sure you will  lose those illusions that
 you have about me1 and ,i would wish to
 be  the first to open your eyes1 by    
explaining fully and conscientiously    
that ,i deserve nothing4 ,if you could  
understand how radically ,i am          
discouraged1 and from what melancholy ,i
 suffer on my own account4 ,i  do not   
know if ,i shall ever be capable of     
production4 ,henceforward ,i  seek only 
a little liberty1 a little of the real  
atmosphere of life1  and ,i am arming   
myself against the numerous1 the        
unspeakably numerous1  revolting        
slaveries that encompass me4 ,shall ,i  
ever succeed8 ,doubt upon  doubt4 ,the  
aim is too distant1 and if ,i ever      
succeed in reaching it1  then ,i shall  
have consumed the better part of myself 
in long and trying  struggles4 ,i shall 
be free and languishing like an         
ephemeron at dusk4 ,i  express my lively

 fear6 ,it is a misfortune to be so     
conscious of one's  struggles1 so       
clairvoyant4444    ,this letter was     
written on the #ast ,april ,on the #dth 
of ,april he sent  ,frulein von         
,meysenbug a letter which was quite     
melancholy and yet less  hopeless4      
,dear ,frulein1 what pleasure you give1 
and how deeply you touch me6  ,this is  
the first time that ,i have had flowers 
sent to me1 but ,i know  now that these 
numberless living colours1 voiceless    
though they be1 can  speak plainly to   
us4 ,these heralds of spring are        
blooming in my room1  and ,i have been  
able to enjoy them for more than a week4
 ,it needs must  be that1 in our grey   
and painful lives1 these flowers should 
come and  lay bare to us a mystery of   
nature4 ,they prevent our forgetting    
that  it always is1 and always must be1 
possible for us to find1 somewhere  in  
the world1 life and hope and light and  
colour4 ,how often do we lose  this     
faith6 ,and how beautiful and happy a   

thing it is when those who  are battling
 confirm themselves and one another in  
courage1 and by  sending those symbols  
of flowers or books1 recall their common
 pledge4    ,my health 7forgive a word  
on this subject7 has been satisfactory  
since the new year1 save that ,i have to
 be careful of my sight4  ,but1 as you  
know1 there are states of physical      
suffering that are  almost a blessing1  
for they produce forgetfulness of what  
one suffers  elsewhere4 ,rather one     
tells oneself that there are remedies   
for the  soul1 as there are for the     
body4 ,that is my philosophy of illness1
 and  it gives hope for the soul4 ,and  
is it not a work of art1 still to hope8 
,wish me strength to write my eleven    
',unseasonable ,thoughts' that still    
remain to be done4 ,then at last ,i     
shall have said everything that  weighs 
upon us2 and it may be that after this  
general confession1 we  shall feel      
ourselves liberated1 in however slight a
 degree4    ,my heartfelt wishes are    

with you1 dear ,frulein4    ,at last    
,friedrich ,nietzsche began to work4    
,his instinct brought him  back to the  
philosopher who had helped his first    
years4 ,he wished to  consecrate to     
,schopenhauer his third ,unseasonable   
,thought4 ,ten years  before1 he had led
 a miserable existence at ,leipsic2     
,schopenhauer  saved him4 ,his strange  
gaiety1 his lyricism1 the irony with    
which he  expresses his harshest        
thoughts1 had restored to him the power 
of life4  ,if ,schopenhauer troubles    
you1 burdens you1 he wrote at that time 
to a  friend1 if he has not the power to
 raise you1 and guide you1 through  the 
keenest sorrows of external life1 to    
that sorrowful1 but happy  state of mind
 that takes hold on us when we hear     
great music1 to that  state in which the
 surroundings of the earth seem to fall 
away from  us--then ,i do not claim to  
understand his philosophy4    ,once more
 he experienced the impressions of his  
youth4 ,he remembered  that the most    

productive crises of his life had been  
the most  sorrowful1 and as a disciple  
in the school of his former master he   
recovered his courage4 ,i have eleven   
fine melodies yet to sing1 he  writes to
 ,rohde1 in announcement of the work    
which was to follow4 ,and  his          
,schopenhauer is a melody1 a hymn to    
,solitude1 to the daring of  a thinker4 
,his heart was full of music at that    
time4 ,he rested from  writing and      
composed a hymn to ,friendship4 ,my song
 is for all of you1  he wrote to ,erwin 
,rohde4    ,his sister joined him1 and  
the two left ,basle and settled together
 in  the country1 near the falls of the 
,rhine4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche recovered 
the gaiety of his most childish days1   
partly1 no doubt1 to amuse the  girl who
 had come so tenderly to join him--aliis
 ltus1 sibi sapiens1  according to the  
maxim that is found written in his diary
 of the  time--but also because he was  
truly happy1 despite his sorrow3 happy  
to  be himself1 free and unspotted      

before life4 ,my sister is with me1 he  
writes to ,gersdorff4 ,every day we make
 the finest plans for our future  life1 
which is to be idyllic1 hard-working1   
and simple4 ,all is going  well3 ,i have
 put well away1 far from me1 all        
weakness and melancholy4    ,he used to 
walk with his sister and talk1 laugh1   
dream1 and read4 ,what  did he read8    
,schopenhauer1 no doubt1 and ,montaigne1
 in that small and  elegant edition     
which became a sad reminder3 ,cosima    
,wagner had given  it to him in former  
days at ,triebschen in gratitude for the
 dolls he  used to bring to the little  
girls4 ,because that man wrote1 he used 
to say1 the pleasure of life on earth   
has been intensified4 ,since ,i  have   
had to do with this free and brave      
spirit ,i like to repeat what he        
himself said of ,plutarch--',je ne le   
puis si peu raccointer que je n'en  tire
 cuisse ou aile4' ,if the duty were laid
 upon me1 it would be in his  company   
that ,i would attempt to live on earth  

as at home4 ,schopenhauer  and          
,montaigne3 these two ironists1 one     
confessing his despair1 the  other      
hiding it1 are the men with whom        
,nietzsche elects to try to live4  ,but 
he read at the same time with deepest   
appreciation the work of a  younger     
thinker1 one less unfavourable to his   
aspirations--the trustful  ,emerson1 the
 young prophet of a young people1 one   
who in his slightest  expressions so    
happily renders the pure emotion that   
lightens the  eighteenth year of a man's
 life and passes away with that year4   
,friedrich ,nietzsche had read ,emerson 
at ,pforta1 and he discovered him  again
 in the spring of #ahgd1 and recommended
 him to his friends4    ,the world is   
young1 wrote ,emerson at the end of his 
,representative  ,men4 ,the former great
 men call to us affectionately4 ,we too 
must  write ,bibles1 to unite again the 
heavens and the earthly world4 ,the     
secret of ,genius is to suffer no       
fiction to exist for us2 to realise  all

 that we know in the high refinement of 
modern life1 in arts1  in sciences1 in  
books1 in men2 to exact good faith1     
reality1 and a  purpose3 and first1     
last1 midst1 and without end1 to honour 
every truth  by use4    ,nietzsche had  
need of the comfort of such words and   
loved them4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,friedrich      
,nietzsche finished the manuscript of   
his ,schopenhauer as  ,educator at the  
beginning of ,june4 ,intellectually he  
was almost  cured1 but he had other     
sufferings4 ,madame ,frster-,nietzsche  
tells  how one day1 when her brother had
 expressed his disgust of novels and    
their monotony of love1 some one asked  
him what other sentiment could  have the
 power of inspiring passion4            
,friendship1 he said quickly4 ,it       
produces absolutely the same crises as  
love1 but in a purer atmosphere4  ,first
 of all1 attraction brought about on    
both sides by common  convictions1      
mutual admiration and glorification3    

then1 distrust on one  side1 and on the 
other doubts as to the excellence of the
 friend and  his ideas3 the certainty   
that a rupture is inevitable and yet    
will be  painful4 ,in friendship there  
are all these sufferings1 and others too
  many to tell4 ,nietzsche had knowledge
 of every one from ,june1 #ahga1        
onwards4    ,he loved ,wagner2 he had   
never ceased to love him4 ,he had been  
able to  correct himself of his         
intellectual error4 ,richard ,wagner was
 not a  philosopher or an educator of   
,europe4 ,true enough1 none the less he 
was  a wonderful artist1 the source of  
all beauty and of all happiness1 and    
,nietzsche desired him still1 as one    
desires a woman1 because she gives  joy4
 ,any idea of rupture was unbearable1   
and to none did he confess his          
thoughts4    ,the situation was false   
and awkward4 ,in ,january1 at the worst 
moment of  the crisis1 he had to write  
to ,wagner to congratulate him on a     
truly  extraordinary and unexpected     

piece of news3 the ,king of ,bavaria1   
the  poor madman1 had suddenly stepped  
in and rescued the enterprise of        
,bayreuth by promising the necessary    
money4 ,at the same time ,nietzsche     
despatched his pamphlet on ,the ,use and
 ,abuse of ,history4 ,now1 there  was   
not one mention in it of the master's   
name4 ,this created rather a  shock at  
,bayreuth1 and ,madame ,cosima ,wagner  
took upon herself the task  of          
delicately calling him to order4    ,it 
has been given to you to take part in   
the sufferings of genius1  she wrote1   
and it is this that has made you capable
 of pronouncing  a general judgment on  
our culture and has lent to your works  
the  marvellous warmth which1 ,i am     
convinced1 will last long after our     
stars  of petroleum and gas have been   
extinguished4 ,perhaps you would not    
have penetrated with so sure a look the 
colour-medley of ,appearance if  you had
 not mingled so deeply in our lives4    
,from this same source has  sprung your 

irony and humour1 and this background of
 sufferings shared  has given them a far
 greater power than if they were simply 
a play of  the intellect4    ,alas6 said
 ,nietzsche to his sister1 see what they
 think of me at  ,bayreuth4 ,on the     
#bbnd of ,may1 the anniversary of       
,wagner's birthday1  ,nietzsche paid him
 his tribute of homage2 ,wagner answered
 him at once1  and asked him to come and
 spend a few days in his room4          
,nietzsche  made some excuse and        
declined the invitation4 ,a few days    
later he wrote  to ,wagner--his letters 
have been lost or destroyed4 ,he        
received the  following answer3         
,,dear ,,friend1--,why do you not come  
to see us8    ,do not isolate yourself  
so1 or ,i shall be able to do nothing   
for you4    ,your room is ready4    ,i  
have just received your last letter2 ,i 
shall say more of it another  time4     
,yours cordially1    ,r4 ,w4            
,,wahnfried1 the #ith ,june1 #ahgd4     
,it is probable that ,wagner liked      

,nietzsche as far as he was capable  of 
liking any man4 ,from among all the     
admirers and too submissive  disciples  
who surrounded him he distinguished this
 zealous young man1  eager to give      
himself1 eager for freedom4 ,he was     
often impatient and  forgave quickly4   
,he guessed1 though he did not precisely
 understand1  that crises of tragedy    
shook this troubled life3 so he wrote   
kindly4  ,but ,nietzsche only suffered  
the more3 he felt more keenly the value 
of  what he was going to lose4 ,his     
courage failed him1 and for the second  
time he refused the master's invitation4
 ,an echo reached him of the  irritation
 caused at ,bayreuth4    ,to a friend he
 wrote3 ,i hear that they are again     
worried about me  there1 and that they  
consider me unsociable and ill-humoured 
as a sick  dog4 ,really1 it is not my   
fault if there are some people whom ,i  
prefer  seeing at a distance to near at 
hand4    ,the faithful                  
,gersdorff--faithful to both parties1   

master and  disciple--wrote to          
,nietzsche begging and pressing him to  
come2  ,nietzsche resisted his          
insistence and revolted at it4    ,,dear
 ,,friend1--,where did you get this     
strange idea of compelling me by  a     
threat to spend a few days this summer  
at ,bayreuth8 ,we know1 both of  us1    
that ,wagner is naturally disposed to   
distrust1 but ,i do not think  it wise  
to kindle this distrust further2        
besides1 consider that ,i have  duties  
towards myself1 and that they are       
difficult to discharge with my  health  
shattered as it is4 ,really1 it is not  
right for any one to lay  constraint of 
any kind on me4    ,these revolts were  
only momentary4 ,nietzsche had not the  
strength to  break with ,wagner4 ,he    
longed with his whole being to preserve 
the  friendship4 ,certainly he had      
refused to go to ,bayreuth4 ,but he had 
given excuses4 ,he had asked for time1  
given urgent work as a pretext2  he had 
made arrangements for the future4 ,and  

towards the end of ,july1  receiving a  
new invitation1 tired at last of denying
 himself1 he set  out4    ,meanwhile a  
curious idea had occurred to him4       
,did he merely wish to affirm his       
independence8 or did he wish to  correct
 ,wagner8 ,it may be that he conceived  
the fantastic dream of  influencing his 
master1 purifying him1 lifting him up to
 the height  of the devotion which he   
inspired4 ,he took a score of ,brahms1  
whom he  admired1 and whom ,wagner      
pursued with a jealousy that was comic  
at  times1 slipped it in his trunk1 and1
 early in the first evening1 put  it    
well in view on the piano4 ,it was bound
 in the most beautiful red4  ,wagner    
perceived it1 and1 without doubt1       
understood2 he had the sense  to say    
nothing4 ,next day1 however1 ,nietzsche 
repeated the manuvre4  ,then the great  
man exploded2 he screamed1 raged1 and   
foamed2 then  dashed off1 banging the   
doors behind him4 ,he met ,nietzsche's  
sister1  who had come with her brother1 

and1 suddenly laughing at himself1 gaily
  related the anecdote4    ,your brother
 had again thrust that red score on the 
piano1 and the  first thing ,i see on   
entering the room is it6 ,then ,i fell  
into a fury1  like a bull before a red  
rag4 ,nietzsche1 as ,i knew well1 wanted
 me  to understand that that man1 too1  
had composed beautiful music4 ,i        
exploded--what is called exploding6     
,and ,wagner laughed noisily4 ,the      
bewildered ,frulein ,nietzsche sent for 
her brother4    ,friedrich1 what have   
you done8 ,what has happened8    ,ah6   
,lisbeth4 ,wagner has not been great4444
 ,wagner had laughed2 he was  appeased4 
,that same evening1 he made friends     
again with the enfant  terrible4 ,but   
,nietzsche1 as he shook hands with the  
master1 allowed  himself no illusion3   
the gulf between them was deeper1 the   
definitive  separation more menacing4   
,he left ,bayreuth4 ,his health1        
tolerable in the month of ,august1 was  
bad in ,september2 well or ill1 he      

worked1 correcting the proofs of his    
,schopenhauer1 which he published in    
,october4    ,you will know enough from 
my book1 he wrote to ,frulein von       
,meysenbug1 of the ordeals of my year1  
ordeals in reality more cruel  and more 
serious even1 than you will be able to  
guess in reading me4  ,still1 in summa1 
all's well1 my life is bereft of        
sunshine1 but  ,i advance1 and that is  
assuredly a great happiness1 to advance 
in  one's duty4444 ,at the moment1 ,i   
want to make myself clear as regards    
the system of antagonistic forces on    
which our 'modern world' rests4         
,happily ,i have neither political nor  
social ambitions4 ,no danger  menaces   
me1 no considerations hinder me1 nor am 
,i inclined or forced  to compromise4   
,in short1 ,i have a free field1 and ,i 
will know one day  in what degree our   
contemporaries1 proud as they are of    
their liberty  of thought1 tolerate free
 thoughts4444 ,what will be my ardour   
when  at last ,i shall have thrown off  

all that mixes in me of negation and    
refractoriness6 ,and yet1 ,i dare to    
hope that in about five years this      
magnificent aim will be ready to be     
achieved4    ,it was a hope well charged
 with shadows4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1   
greedy to  possess1 longing to act1 had 
to look forward to five years of        
waiting1  of arid work1 of criticism4   
,thirty years1 he put down in a         
note-book4  ,life becomes a difficult   
affair4 ,i see no motive to be gay2 but 
there  ought always to be a motive to be
 gay4    ,he returned to ,basle and     
recommenced his course4 ,this duty1     
which had  always been a burden1 became 
heavier still3 he was entrusted with the
  charge of a ,greek class for quite    
young men4 ,he was conscious of the     
value of his time1 and knew that every  
hour given to the ,university  added to 
the delay1 already so long1 of the five 
years4 ,he suffered  from each of them  
as from a remorse1 as though he were    
failing in his  duty as a man of        

letters4    ,i have before me work      
enough for fifty years1 he wrote to his 
mother  in autumn1 and ,i must mark time
 under the yoke1 and it is with         
difficulty that ,i can throw a look to  
right or left4 ,alas6 7a sigh74  ,the   
winter has quickly come1 very quickly1 a
 very hard one4 ,it will  probably be   
cold at ,christmas4 ,would ,i bother you
 if ,i went to see you8  ,i delight so  
much in the thought of being once more  
with you1 free for  ten days of this    
cursed ,university work4 ,so prepare me 
for ,christmas a  little corner in the  
country1 where ,i might end my life in  
peace and  write beautiful books4       
,alas6 7a sigh74    ,in these moments of
 depression he was always seized by     
memories of  ,wagner1 and of the almost 
serene existence that he had tasted in  
his  intimacy4 ,the glory of the master1
 a moment faded1 went on increasing2    
the public bowed before success1 and    
,nietzsche1 who had fought in the       
difficult times1 had now to stand aside 

in the hour of triumph4 ,the  idea that 
the art of ,wagner was within his reach1
 always offering  the miracle of its    
fifteen enchanted worlds 2 the idea that
 ,wagner  himself was there1 offering   
himself also1 ever genial1 abundant1    
laughing1 tender1 sublime1 caressing1   
and like a god creating life  around    
him3 the idea that he had possessed so  
much beauty1 and that1  with a little   
cowardice1 he could possess it again1   
and that never1  never again would he   
possess it2 this was an everlasting     
sadness to  ,nietzsche4    ,finally1    
giving way to his need of an outlet1 he 
wrote to the one  comforter1 to ,wagner4
 ,like all his other letters to ,wagner1
 this letter  is lost1 or destroyed2 but
 the tone of the letter which we are    
about to  quote1 the tone of ,wagner's  
reply1 helps us to imagine its          
eloquence4    ,wagner answered3         
,,dear ,,friend1--,your letter has again
 made us most anxious on your  account4 
,presently1 my wife will write more     

fully than ,i4 ,but ,i have  just a     
quarter of an hour's rest1 and ,i       
want--to your great annoyance           
possibly--to devote it to posting you up
 in what we say of you here4  ,it seems 
to me1 amongst other things1 that never 
have ,i had in my life  such            
intellectual society as you get in      
,basle1 to amuse you in the  evenings4  
,however1 if you are all hypochondriacs1
 it is not a great  benefit1 ,i admit4  
,it is1 ,i think1 women that you need1  
you young men  of to-day4 ,there is a   
difficulty1 as ,i well know3 as my      
friend ,sulzer  used to say1 ',where    
take women without stealing them8'      
,besides1 one  could steal at a pinch4  
,i mean to say you ought to marry1 or   
compose an  opera2 one would be as good1
 or as bad1 as the other4 ,all the same1
 ,i  hold that marriage is the better4  
,in the meanwhile1 ,i could recommend   
you a palliative1 but you always  settle
 your rgime in advance1 so that one can 
say nothing to you4  ,for example3 our  

household here is so organised that we  
have a place  such as was never offered 
me in the most difficult moments of my  
life1  here for you3 you should come and
 spend all the summer holidays2--but    
very prudently1 you announced to us1 at 
the beginning of winter1 that  you had  
resolved to pass the summer holidays on 
a very high and very  solitary mountain 
in ,switzerland6 ,does that not look    
like very careful  guarding against a   
possible invitation8 ,we could be useful
 to you in  some directions3 why do you 
despise that which is offered you in    
such  good part8 ,gersdorff and all the 
society of ,basle would be happy here3  
a thousand things are to be seen3 ,i    
pass in review all my singers of  the   
,nibelungen2 the decorator decorates1   
the machinist machines2 and  then we are
 there1 in flesh and blood4    ,but one 
knows the eccentricities of friend      
,nietzsche6    ,so ,i shall say no more 
about you1 because it serves no purpose4
    ,ah6 mon ,dieu6 marry a rich woman6 

,o1 why should ,gersdorff happen to  be 
of the masculine sex6 ,marry1 and then  
travel1 and enrich yourself  with those 
magnificent impressions which you desire
 so much6 ,and then  444 you will       
compose an opera which1 surely1 will be 
terribly difficult  to execute4 ,what   
,satan was it that made a pedagogue of  
you8    ,now1 to end up3 next year1 in  
the summer1 complete rehearsals 7perhaps
  with orchestra7 at ,bayreuth4 ,in     
#ahgf1 the representations4 ,impossible 
earlier4    ,i bathe every day1 ,i could
 no longer endure my stomach4 ,bathe you
 too6  ,and eat meat like me4 ,with all 
my heart1    ,your devoted1    ,r4 ,w4  
,wagner had foreseen that his letter    
would be useless4 ,he had not  foreseen 
that it would be hurtful4 ,nietzsche    
repented that he had drawn  forth these 
tender offers1 which he could not       
accept4 ,in writing1  he had been weak2 
he was ashamed4 ,finally1 the           
announcement and the  approach of the   
,bayreuth rehearsals overwhelmed him4   

,should he go8  ,should he not go8 ,if  
he did not go1 how was he to excuse     
himself8 ,could  he still hide his      
thoughts8 ,should he henceforth         
acknowledge all8    ,he had commenced a 
fourth ,unseasonable ,thought1 ,we other
  ,philologists2 he abandoned it1       
alleging1 to explain this abandonment1  
weariness and the weight of his         
,university duties4 ,when he speaks     
thus1  ,nietzsche deceives either       
himself or us4 ,christmas came1 and he  
went  to spend ten days at ,naumburg    
with his mother4 ,he was at liberty and 
could work4 ,but instead of writing1 he 
composed and copied out his  ,hymn to   
,friendship for four voices4 ,he spent  
,saint ,sylvester's day in  re-reading  
his youthful compositions3 this         
examination interested him4  ,i have    
always seen admiringly1 he wrote to     
,frulein von ,meysenbug1  how the       
invariability of character manifests    
itself in music4 ,what a  child         
expresses musically is in so clear a    

manner the language of his  most        
essential nature that the man afterwards
 desires to revise nothing  in it4      
,this musical debauch was a bad sign of 
his condition1 a sign of  weakness and  
of fear before his thoughts4 ,two       
letters1 one from  ,gersdorff1 the other
 from ,cosima ,wagner1 came to disturb  
his solitary  commemoration4 ,his       
friends spoke to him of ,bayreuth4 ,the 
reminder  plunged him in despair4       
,yesterday1 he wrote to ,frulein von    
,meysenbug1 on the first day  of the    
year1 ,i saw the future with a real     
fear4 ,it is terrible and  dangerous to 
live--,i should envy him who came by    
death in an honest  manner4 ,for the    
rest1 ,i am resolved to live to an old  
age4 ,i have my  work4 ,but it is not   
the satisfaction of living that will    
help me to  grow old4 ,you understand   
this resolution4    ,during ,january and
 ,february1 #ahge1 ,nietzsche did not   
work4 ,he let  depression get the better
 of him4 ,at very rare moments1 he      

writes1  ten minutes every fortnight1 ,i
 compose a ,hymn to ,solitude4 ,i will  
show it in all its dreadful beauty4     
,in ,march1 ,gersdorff came to sojourn  
in ,basle4 ,nietzsche1 encouraged by    
his arrival1 dictated some notes to him4
 ,he seemed to have escaped  from his   
melancholy2 then once more he was       
plunged into it by a fresh  sorrow4     
,it had become his habit1 a kindly habit
 and one conformable to his  tastes1 to 
live in common with his two colleagues1 
,overbeck and  ,romundt1 who formed the 
intellectual society of which ,wagner   
spoke with  such esteem4 ,now1 in       
,february1 #ahge1 ,romundt announced to 
,overbeck and  to ,nietzsche that he was
 obliged to leave them to enter into    
,orders4  ,nietzsche experienced a      
feeling of stupefied indignation3 for   
many  months he had lived with this man1
 he called him his friend4 ,yet he  had 
had no suspicion of the secret vocation 
now suddenly declared4  ,romundt had not
 been open with him4 ,subjugated by     

religious faith1 he  had lacked in      
simple good faith1 and the duties of    
friendship of which  ,nietzsche had such
 an exalted ideal4 ,romundt's treachery 
reminded him  of another treachery and  
made it easier for him to understand the
 news  which was rumoured among         
,wagnerians3 the master was about to    
compose  a ,christian ,mystery--a       
,parsifal4 ,nothing was so displeasing  
to  ,friedrich ,nietzsche as a return to
 ,christianity3 nothing seemed to him   
more weak or cowardly than such a       
capitulation to the problems of life4   
,some years before1 he had known and    
admired the different projects on  which
 ,wagner conversed with his intimates3  
he then spoke of ,luther1  of the ,great
 ,frederick2 he wished to glorify a     
,german hero and repeat  the happy      
experiment of ,die ,meistersinger4 ,why 
had he abandoned his  projects8 ,why did
 he prefer ,parsifal to ,luther8 and to 
the rude and  singing life of the       
,german ,renaissance1 the religiosity of

 the ,graal8  ,friedrich ,nietzsche then
 understood and measured the perils of  
the  pessimism which accustoms souls to 
complaint1 weakens and predisposes  them
 to mystical consolations4 ,he          
reproached himself for having taught    
,romundt a doctrine too cruel for his   
courage1 and thus to have been the      
cause of his weakness4    ,ah6 our      
,protestant atmosphere1 good and pure as
 it is6 he wrote  to ,rohde2 ,i have    
never felt so strongly how well ,i am   
filled with  the spirit of ,luther4 ,and
 the unlucky man turns his back on so   
many  liberating geniuses6 ,i ask myself
 if he is in his senses1 and if it      
would not be better to treat him with   
cold water and douches2 so              
incomprehensible is it to me1 that such 
a spectre should rise up by me1  and    
take possession of a man for eight years
 my comrade4 ,and to crown  all it is on
 me that the responsibility of this base
 conversion rests4  ,god knows1 no      
egoistic thought induces me to speak    

thus4 ,but ,i believe  too that ,i      
represent a sacred thing1 and ,i should 
be bitterly ashamed  if ,i merited the  
reproach of having the slightest        
connection with this  ,catholicism which
 ,i detest thoroughly4    ,he wished to 
bring back1 to convince his friend1 but 
no discussion was  possible4 ,romundt   
did not answer and held to his resolve4 
,he left on  the fixed date4 ,nietzsche 
wrote to ,gersdorff1 and related the    
story of  this departure4    ,it was    
horribly sad3 ,romundt knew1 repeated   
endlessly that  henceforward he had     
lived the better and the happier part of
 his life4  ,he wept a great deal and   
asked our forgiveness4 ,he could not    
hide  his misery4 ,at the last moment ,i
 was seized with a veritable terror2    
the porters were shutting the carriage  
doors1 and ,romundt1 wishing  to        
continue speaking to us1 wanted to let  
down the window1 but it  stuck2 he      
redoubled his efforts1 and while he     
tormented himself thus1  hopelessly     

trying to make himself heard1 the train 
went out slowly1 and  we were reduced to
 making signs to each other4 ,the awful 
symbolism of  the whole scene upset me  
terribly1 and ,overbeck as much as it   
did me  7he confessed as much to me     
later73 it was hardly endurable2 ,i     
stayed  in bed the next day with a bad  
headache that lasted thirty hours1 and  
much vomiting of bile4    ,this day of  
illness marked the beginning of a very  
long attack4  ,nietzsche was obliged to 
leave ,basle and to repose in the       
solitude  of the mountains and woods4 ,i
 wander always alone1 he writes1        
clearing up many thoughts4 ,what were   
these thoughts8 ,we can ascertain  them4
 ,send me a comforting message1 he wrote
 to ,rohde3 that your  friendship may   
help me better to support this terrible 
affair4 ,it is in  my sentiment of      
friendship that ,i am hurt4 ,i hate more
 than ever that  insincere and          
hypocritical way of being a man of many 
friendships1 and  ,i will have to be    

more circumspect in the future4         
,frulein ,nietzsche1 who had passed the 
month of ,march at ,bayreuth with  the  
,wagners1 came back to her brother1     
whose condition alarmed her4 ,he  seemed
 obsessed by the memory of ,romundt4    
,that such a misadventure  should occur 
between friends living under the same   
roof1 he was  constantly saying4 ,it is 
appalling4 ,in reality he was thinking  
of  the other friend1 ,richard ,wagner1 
of the master he was losing4 ,what  a   
peril ,i have run1 he said to himself4  
,i admired1 ,i was happy1 ,i  delivered 
myself over to and followed an illusion1
 but all illusions  are connected1 and  
accomplices4 ,wagnerism borders upon    
,christianity4  ,tirelessly he listened 
to his sister's accounts of the marvels 
of  ,bayreuth1 of the activity1 the     
enthusiasm1 the joy of all4 ,walking one
  day with him in a public garden1 she  
related for the tenth time this  same   
story3 she noticed that her brother was 
listening to her with a  strange        

emotion4 ,she interrogated him1 plied   
him with questions1 and  then the secret
 which he had kept for a year escaped   
him in a long1  eloquent plaint4 ,he was
 suddenly silent4 ,he remarked that a   
wayfarer  was following and spying on   
him4 ,he dragged his sister             
precipitately  away1 terrified by the   
idea that his words would be repeated at
  ,bayreuth4 ,a few days later1 having  
recognised again the too curious        
wayfarer1 he was able to learn his name3
 it was ,ivan ,turgenieff4    ,july1    
#ahge1 the month fixed for the          
rehearsals of the ,tetralogy1           
approached1 and these rehearsals were   
the sole preoccupation of  ,nietzsche's 
friends1 the sole subject of their      
letters and their  conversations4 ,he   
continued to dissemble and dared not    
decide the  question which was becoming 
urgent3 ,should he go to their          
rehearsals  or not8 ,his enervation     
increased day by day1 bringing on the   
ordinary  troubles2 headaches1 insomnia1

 sickness1 internal cramp3 finally his  
health served for an excuse4 ,as you are
 going to ,bayreuth1 he wrote  to       
,gersdorff1 warn them that they will not
 see me4 ,wagner will be  greatly       
provoked1 ,i am not less4    ,about the 
beginning of ,july1 when his friends    
were hurrying towards  ,bayreuth and the
 ,university of ,basle had closed its   
doors1 he retired  to the little        
therapeutic station which his doctor had
 recommended1  ,steinabad1 a spot lost  
in a valley of the ,black ,forest4      
,friedrich ,nietzsche had the faculty of
 occasionally rising above his  own     
sorrows and his own joys4 ,he knew how  
to enjoy the spectacle of his  crises as
 though they were the intermingled      
voices of a symphony4 ,then  he ceased  
to suffer1 and contemplated with a sort 
of mystical rapture  the tragic         
development of his existence4 ,such was 
his life during the  few weeks of his   
cure at ,steinabad4 ,it brought him     
nevertheless no  motive of happiness4   

,his illness resisted remedies1 and the 
doctors  let him guess1 as at the origin
 of all these attacks1 an identical1    
indiscernible1 and mysterious cause4 ,he
 did not forget the nature of  the      
illness that had killed his father at   
thirty-six years of age4 ,he  took the  
hint and felt the danger3 but he even   
brought this menace into  the spectacle 
of his life and considered it bravely4  
,steinabad is near ,bayreuth2 ,nietzsche
 was once more tempted4 ,would  he go1  
or would he stay8 ,this indecision was  
enough1 he broke down  utterly4 ,towards
 the end of ,july1 a terrible attack    
which kept him  two days in bed did away
 with these doubts4 ,on the first of    
,august he  wrote to ,rohde3 ,to-day1   
dear friend1 if ,i am not mistaken1 you 
are all  meeting at ,bayreuth4 ,and ,i  
am not among you4 ,in vain have ,i      
obstinately  believed that ,i could all 
of a sudden emerge in your society and  
enjoy  my friends4 ,in vain2 to-day1 my 
cure being half completed1 ,i say it    

with certainty4444    ,the attack lost  
its force2 he was able to get up and    
walk in the woods4  ,he had brought a   
,don ,quixote with him3 he read this    
book1 the  bitterest of all1 with its   
derision of every noble effort4         
,still1 he kept up his courage4 ,he     
recalled without too poignant a  sorrow 
his past that had been filled with joy4 
,he faced without fear  the menacing    
future2 he thought of that grand work on
 ,hellenism1 an  old1 unabandoned dream2
 he thought of the interrupted          
succession of  the ,thoughts out of     
,season2 and above all he delighted in  
conceiving  the beautiful book he would 
write when he was sure of himself4 ,to  
this work1 he thought1 ,i must sacrifice
 everything4 ,for some years  ,i have   
been writing a great deal1 ,i have      
written too much2 ,i have  often made   
mistakes4 ,now ,i must keep silence and 
devote myself to many  years' work2     
seven1 eight years4 ,shall ,i live as   
long8 ,in eight years  ,i shall be      

forty4 ,my father died four years       
earlier4 ,never mind1 ,i  must accept   
the risk and peril4 ,the time of silence
 has returned for  me4 ,i have greatly  
slandered the modern men1 yet ,i am one 
of them4 ,i  suffer with them1 and like 
them1 because of the excess and the     
disorder  of my desires4 ,as ,i shall   
have to be their master1 ,i must first  
gain  the mastery of myself and repress 
my trouble4 ,that ,i may dominate my    
instincts1 ,i must know them and judge  
them2 ,i must restrict myself and       
analyse4 ,i have criticised science1 ,i 
have exalted inspiration1 but ,i  have  
not analysed the sources of inspiration2
 and to what unfathomable  depths have  
,i not followed it6 ,my youth was my    
excuse1 ,i needed  intoxication4 ,now my
 youth is over4 ,rohde1 ,gersdorff1     
,overbeck1 are at  ,bayreuth3 ,i envy1  
yet pity them4 ,they have passed the age
 of dreams1  they ought not to be there4
 ,what task am ,i going to undertake8 ,i
 will  study natural sciences1          

mathematics1 physics1 chemistry1        
history1 and  political economy4 ,i will
 accumulate an immense equipment for the
  knowledge of men4 ,i will read ancient
 history books1 novels1 letters4  ,the  
work will be hard1 but ,i shall have    
,plato1 ,aristotle1 ,goethe1 and        
,schopenhauer constantly by me2 thanks  
to my well loved geniuses my pain  will 
be less painful1 my solitude less       
solitary4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche's    
thoughts were almost every day diverted 
by a  letter from ,bayreuth4 ,he        
received and read it without bitterness4
 ,in a  few notes written for himself   
alone1 he fixed the memory of the joys  
he owed to ,wagner4 ,then answering his 
friends3 ,i am with you in the  spirit  
during three-quarters of my days1 he    
told them2 ,i roam like a  shadow around
 ,bayreuth4 ,do not fear to excite my   
envy1 tell me all the  news1 dear       
friends4 ,during my walks ,i conduct    
entire pieces of music  that ,i know by 
heart1 and then ,i grumble and rage4    

,salute ,wagner in my  name1 salute him 
deeply6 ,good-by1 my well loved friends1
 this is for  all of you4 ,i love you   
with all my heart4    ,friedrich        
,nietzsche came back to ,basle somewhat 
the better for his  cure4 ,his sister   
joined him and wished to stay with him4 
,he continued  to lead the wholly       
meditative and almost happy existence of
 ,steinabad1  with his papers1 his      
books1 and his piano4    ,i dream1 he   
wrote 7he underlines these words71 ,i   
dream of an  association of unrestricted
 men1 who know no circumspection and    
wish  to be called the 'destroyers'2    
they apply to everything the measure  of
 their criticism1 and sacrifice         
themselves to the truth4 ,everything    
that is suspect and false must be       
brought to light4 ,we do not wish to    
construct prematurely1 we do not know if
 we can construct1 and whether  it may  
not be better to construct nothing4     
,there are cowardly and  resigned       
pessimists2 of these we do not wish to  

be4    ,he commenced the long studies   
which he had assigned himself4 ,he      
examined firstly ,dhring's book1 ,the   
,value of ,life4 ,dhring was a          
,positivist who led the combat against  
the disciples of ,schopenhauer and      
,wagner4 ,all idealism deceives1 he told
 them1 all life that seeks to  escape   
beyond life vows itself to chimera4     
,friedrich ,nietzsche had no  objection 
to offer to these premises4 ,a sane life
 carries its worth in  itself1 said     
,dhring4 ,asceticism is unhealthy and   
the sequel of an  error4 ,no1 answered  
,nietzsche4 ,asceticism is an instinct  
which the  most noble1 the strongest    
among men have felt3 it is a fact1 it   
must  be taken into account if the value
 of life is to be appreciated4 ,and     
even if a prodigious error be here      
indicated as being at work1 then  the   
possibility of such an error should be  
placed amongst the sombre  features of  
being4    ,the tragedy of life is not   
irreducible1 said ,dhring1 the          

sovereignty of egoism is only apparent2 
the altruistic instincts work  in the   
human soul4    ,egoism an appearance6   
exclaimed ,nietzsche4 ,here ,dhring     
falls into  childishness4 ,ich wollte er
 machte mir hier nichts vor6 ,god be    
praised if it were true6 ,he talks      
nonsense1 and if he seriously  believes 
what he says1 he is ripe for all the    
socialisms4 ,nietzsche  finally held out
 as against ,dhring for the tragic      
philosophy that  ,heraclitus and        
,schopenhauer had taught him4 ,there is 
no possible  evasion1 all evasion is a  
lure and a cowardice4 ,dhring says it   
and  he speaks truly2 but he attenuates 
the task in presenting a sweetened      
image of that life in which we are set4 
,it is either stupidity or  falsehood3  
life is hard4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche  
was gay1 or appeared so4 ,in the evening
 7he did  not work because of his eyes7 
his sister read ,walter ,scott's novels 
to  him4 ,he liked their simple         
narration4 ,the serene art1 the andante1

 he  writes2 he also liked the heroic1  
nave1 and complicated adventures4  ,what
 fellows6 what stomachs6 he exclaimed at
 the recitals of the  interminable      
feasts2 and ,frulein ,nietzsche1 seeing 
him so cheerful1  was astonished to hear
 him a moment later play and develop at 
great  length his ,hymn to ,solitude4   
,she was astonished not without reason3 
the gaiety of her brother was           
artificial2 his sadness was real2 he    
dissembled with her1 and doubtless  with
 himself4    ,he had begun to study     
,balfour ,stewart's book on the         
conservation of  energy3 he stopped at  
the first pages4 ,it was odious to him  
to work  thus without the consolation of
 art1 or the real joy of hoping4 ,he    
thought he would be more interested in  
the ,indian wisdom1 and took  up the    
,english translation of the ,sutta      
,nipta4 ,only too well he  understood   
its radical nihilism4    ,when ,i am ill
 and in bed1 he writes in ,december to  
,gersdorff1 ,i let  myself be oppressed 

by the persuasion that life is without  
value1 and  all our ends illusory4444   
,his crises were frequent3 every        
fortnight he  was disabled by the       
headaches1 internal cramp1 twitching of 
the eyes1  which laid hold of him4    ,i
 wander here and there1 alone like a    
rhinoceros1 ,nietzsche had  kept in mind
 this final phrase of a chapter of the  
,sutta ,nipta1 and  applied it to       
himself with melancholy humour4 ,his    
best friends were  then marrying4       
,nietzsche was ready to abuse marriage  
and women3 one is  rarely sincere when  
one speaks thus1 and we know he was not4
    ,i have more and better friends than
 ,i deserve1 he wrote in ,october1      
#ahgd1 to ,frulein von ,meysenbug2 what 
,i now wish myself1 ,i tell you  in     
confidence1 is a good wife1 and as soon 
as possible4 ,then life will  have given
 me all that ,i shall have asked of it4 
,the rest is my affair4    ,friedrich   
,nietzsche congratulated the fiancs1    
,gersdorff1 ,rohde1  ,overbeck1 and     

rejoiced with them1 but felt the        
difference of his own  destiny4    ,be  
happy1 he wrote to ,gersdorff1 you who  
will no longer go wandering  here and   
there1 alone like a rhinoceros4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,the year #ahgf was about to begin1 the 
representations of the ,tetralogy  were 
announced for the summer4 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche knew that his  irresolution  
must then cease3 ,i was exhausted1 he   
wrote later1 by  the sadness of an      
inexorable presentiment--the            
presentiment that  after this           
disillusion ,i should be condemned to   
mistrust myself more  profoundly1 to    
despise myself more profoundly1 to live 
in a profounder  solitude than before4  
,the impression of the ,christmas and   
,new ,year festivals1 always strong  in 
him1 aggravated his melancholy4 ,he fell
 ill in ,december1 only to get  up again
 in ,march4 ,he was still weak4    ,i   
find it an effort to write1 ,i shall be 
brief1 he wrote to ,gersdorff  the #ahth

 ,january1 #ahgf2 ,i have never spent so
 sad and painful a  ,christmas or one of
 such dreadful foreboding4 ,i have had  
to give up  doubting4 ,the malady which 
has attacked me is cerebral2 my stomach1
 my  eyes1 give me all this suffering   
from another cause1 whose centre is     
elsewhere4 ,my father died at the age of
 thirty-six of inflammation of  the     
brain4 ,it is quite possible that things
 may go even quicker with  me4444 ,i am 
patient1 but full of doubts as to what  
awaits me4 ,i live  almost entirely on  
milk4 ,it has a good result2 ,i sleep   
well4 ,milk and  sleep are at present my
 best foods4    ,at the approach of     
spring1 he wished to leave ,basle3      
,gersdorff offered  to go with him1 and 
the two friends settled on the shores of
 the ,lake  of ,geneva1 at ,chillon4    
,they spent a bad fortnight there4      
,nietzsche's  nerves were irritated by  
the least variation of the atmosphere1  
which  was more or less humid and more  
or less charged with electricity1 and   

he suffered from the fhne1 a soft wind  
which melts the snows in  ,march4 ,he   
let the softness and tepidity depress   
him1 and could not  restrain the        
heartrending expression of his doubts   
and his agonies4  ,gersdorff1 obliged to
 return to ,germany1 went with an uneasy
 mind on  his friend's account4    ,but 
,nietzsche felt better once he was left 
alone4 ,perhaps finer weather  favoured 
him2 perhaps he felt his distress less  
acutely when the  compassionate         
,gersdorff was not near by1 ever ready  
to lend an ear to  his complaints4 ,his 
humours became less bitter1 and chance  
procured him  a decisive relief1 a      
liberating hour4 ,frulein von ,meysenbug
 had just  published her ,memoirs of an 
,idealist4 ,nietzsche had put these two 
volumes in his bag4 ,of this woman of   
fifty he was very fond1 and every  day  
he liked her more4 ,she was always      
suffering and courageous1 always  fine  
and good4 ,he did not put her on the    
level of ,cosima ,wagner4 ,the          

superiority of her mind was not         
dazzling2 but she was great-hearted1    
and ,nietzsche infinitely esteemed this 
woman who was faithful to the  real     
genius of women4 ,doubtless he began    
reading her book with moderate          
expectations3 yet the work held him4 ,it
 is one of the most beautiful  records  
of the nineteenth century4 ,frulein von 
,meysenbug had gone  all through it3 she
 had known all the worlds1 all the      
heroes1 all  the hopes4 ,born in old    
,germany with its petty ,courts--her    
father was  ,minister in one of them--as
 a child she had listened to the friends
 of  ,humboldt and ,goethe2 as a young  
girl1 the humanitarian gospel touched   
her3 detached from ,christianity1 she   
abandoned its observances4 ,then  came  
#ahdh1 and its dream2 the ,socialists1  
and their essays towards a  more noble1 
a more brotherly life3 she admired them1
 and wanted to  work with them4 ,blamed 
by her people1 she left them and went   
alone  without asking help or advice4   

,an idealist of action1 not of dreams1  
she joined the communists of ,hamburg2  
with them she instituted a sort  of     
phalanstery1 a rationalistic school in  
which the masters lived  together4 ,this
 school prospered under her direction2  
but1 threatened by  the police1 she had 
to fly4 ,next she was in ,london among  
its proscripts  of all the races1 that  
mournful refuge1 and tomb of the        
vanquished4  ,frulein von ,meysenbug    
earned her living by giving lessons3 she
 knew  ,mazzini1 ,louis ,blanc1 ,herzen3
 she was the friend and the consoler  of
 these unhappy men4 ,at the time of the 
second ,empire1 of ,napoleon  ,,iii41 of
 ,bismarck1 and of the silence of the   
peoples--in ,paris1 with  its brilliant 
culture--,frulein von ,meysenbug met    
,richard ,wagner4 ,she  had long admired
 his music3 she admired the man1        
listened to him1  succumbed to his      
ascendancy1 and1 renouncing the religion
 of humanity1  carried her fervour to   
the cult of art4 ,but always she        

exercised and  lavished her active      
goodness3 ,herzen died2 he left two     
children1 whom  ,frulein von ,meysenbug 
adopted1 thus taking upon herself the   
anxiety of  a double maternity4         
,friedrich ,nietzsche had known these   
young girls  and often admired the      
tenderness of their friend1 her free and
 sane  self-sacrifice3 he had not known 
of what life of entire devotion this    
devotion was the flower4    ,he was     
encouraged by this book3 ,frulein von   
,meysenbug reconciled him  to life4     
,again he found his confidence and      
health4 ,my health1 he  wrote to        
,gersdorff1 is allied to my hopes4 ,i am
 well when ,i hope4    ,he left his     
pension and went to spend some days in  
,geneva4 ,there he  discovered a friend1
 the musician ,senger2 he made the      
acquaintance  of a few ,frenchmen1      
exiled communards1 and liked talking to 
them4  ,he esteemed these fanatics with 
the square skulls1 so prompt to         
self-sacrifice4 ,it appears that he     

flirted with two exquisite  ,russians4  
,then he returned to ,basle1 and his    
first letter was sent to  ,frulein von  
,meysenbug4    ,,basle1 ,good ,friday1  
,april #ad1 #ahgf4    ,,dear            
,,fr,,ulein1--,four days or so back1    
finding myself alone on the  shores of  
the ,lake of ,geneva1 ,i spent a whole  
,sunday quite near you1  from the       
earliest hour till the moon-bathed      
night4 ,i have read you  through and    
through1 with a revived interest at     
every page1 and ,i  kept on repeating   
that never had ,i passed so blessed a   
,sunday4 ,you  have given me an         
impression of purity and love which will
 never leave  me2 and ,nature1 the day  
on which ,i read you1 seemed to reflect 
this  impression4 ,you were before me as
 a superior form of my being1 a very    
superior form2 and which yet did not    
humiliate but encouraged me3 thus  you  
crossed my thoughts1 and1 measuring my  
life with yours1 ,i am more  easily able
 to feel what ,i lacked--so much6 ,i    

thank you much more than  ,i would do   
for a book4    ,i was ill1 ,i doubted my
 strength and my aims2 ,i thought ,i    
should have  to renounce everything1 and
 my greatest fear was of the length of a
  life which can be but an atrocious    
burden if one renounces the highest     
aims4 ,i am now saner and freer1 and ,i 
can consider without torturing  myself  
the duties ,i have to fulfil4 ,how many 
times ,i have wished you  near me to ask
 you some question which only a moral   
being higher than  myself could answer6 
,your book gives me answers to such of  
these  precise questions as touch me4 ,i
 don't think ,i can ever be satisfied   
with my conduct1 if ,i have not first   
your approbation4 ,but it is  possible  
that your book is a severer judge than  
you would be yourself4  ,what should a  
man do1 if1 in comparing his life to    
yours1 he does not  wish to be taxed    
with unmanliness8 ,i often ask myself   
this4 ,he ought to  do everything you   
have done and no more4 ,but doubtless he

 could not2  he lacks that sure guide1  
the instinct of a love that is always   
ready  to give itself4 ,one of the most 
elevated of moral themes einer der      
hchsten ,motive that ,i have discovered1
 thanks to you1 is maternal  love       
without physical bonds between the      
mother and the child4 ,it is one  of the
 most magnificent manifestations of     
,caritas4 ,give me a little  of that    
love1 dear lady and dear friend1 and    
think of me as one of  those who need to
 be the son of such a mother4 ,ah6 such 
a great need6    ,we shall have lots of 
things to say to one another when we    
meet at  ,bayreuth4 ,at present ,i again
 have hopes of being able to go1        
whereas1  these two past months1 ,i had 
put the very thought away from me4 ,how 
,i  should like to be now the saner of  
us two1 and capable of rendering  you a 
service6    ,why can't ,i live near you8
    ,adieu2 ,i am and ,i remain1 in all 
truth1 yours1    ,,friedrich            
,,nietzsche4    ,frulein von ,meysenbug 

answered at once4 ,if my book had only  
been  worth this joy1 your letter to me1
 ,i would have been happy to have       
written it4 ,if ,i can help you1 ,i want
 to do so4 ,next winter1 leave  ,basle1 
you must2 look for a milder climate and 
a brighter one2 how ,i  feel1 as you do1
 the annoyance of our separation4 ,i    
sheltered this  winter your young ,basle
 pupil1 ,alfred ,brenner1 who is still  
ill2 you  shall bring him back to me4 ,i
 will be able to find the two of you a  
health-giving home4 ,come1 promise me4  
,nietzsche wrote immediately3  ,to-day  
,i shall answer you in one word2 thank  
you1 ,i shall come4    ,assured         
henceforth of sanctuary1 ,friedrich     
,nietzsche regained  confidence and     
courage4    ,i have recovered my good   
conscience1 he wrote to ,gersdorff a few
  days after his return2 ,i know that up
 to the present ,i have done  all ,i    
could to enfranchise myself1 and that in
 working thus1 ,i have  not worked for  
myself alone4 ,i want to start off again

 on this road1  and nothing more will   
stop me1 neither memories1 nor          
despairing  presentiments4 ,this is what
 ,i have discovered--the only thing that
 men  respect and before which they bow1
 is a noble deed4 ,compromise1 never6   
never6 ,profound success can only be    
assured by remaining faithful to        
oneself4 ,i know already by experience  
what influence ,i exercise1 and  that if
 ,i became weaker or more sceptical1 ,i 
should impoverish1 besides  my own1 the 
hearts of many who develop with me4     
,he needed a pride of this sort to      
confront the imminent crisis4 ,the      
disciples of the master gave him a      
dinner1 and ,nietzsche1 who did not     
want to be present1 had to excuse       
himself4 ,he wrote an impassioned       
letter of which ,wagner comprehended    
perhaps the hidden signification4       
,seven years ago1 at ,triebschen1 ,i    
paid you my first visit4 ,and  every    
year1 in this month of ,may1 on this    
same day upon which we  all celebrate   

the anniversary of your birth1 ,i myself
 celebrate the  anniversary of my       
spiritual birth4 ,for since then1 you   
live and work  in me always like a drop 
of fresh blood that had as it were      
entered  into my veins4 ,this element   
that ,i owe to you urges me on1         
humiliates1  encourages and stimulates  
me4 ,it never allows me to rest1 so much
  so that ,i should perhaps bear a      
grudge against you for this eternal     
disquietude if ,i did not know that it  
ever drives me on towards a freer  and  
better state4    ,wagner answered him at
 once in a few exuberant lines4 ,he told
 of the  toasts drunk to his glory and  
of his humorous responses1 with so many 
puns1 cock-and-bull stories and         
impenetrable allusions1 that it is      
necessary to give up the attempt to     
translate4 ,nietzsche was moved by  this
 letter4 ,at the moment it arrived he   
was feeling very much the  master of    
himself1 very sure of his future4 ,the  
history of his past  years suddenly     

appeared as a grand adventure that was  
now for ever  closed4 ,he considered it 
with an indulgent regard1 and1 measuring
 the  joys he owed to ,wagner1 he wished
 to express his gratitude4 ,the other   
summer1 at ,steinabad1 when in a similar
 state of mind1 he had filled  some     
pages of notes4 ,he took them up again1 
in spite of a nervous  affection of the 
eyes which prevented him from working   
without help1  and undertook to draw    
from them the substance of a volume4    
,singular  attempt6 ,disillusioned1 he  
wrote an enthusiastic book1 the most    
beautiful in ,wagnerian literature4 ,but
 a forewarned reader recognises  almost 
from page to page the idea that         
,nietzsche expresses in masking  it4 ,he
 writes the eulogy of the poet2 of the  
philosopher he does not  speak2 he      
denies1 for him who can understand1 the 
educative bearing of  the work4    ,for 
us1 he writes1 ,bayreuth signifies the  
consecration at the moment  of          
battle4444 ,the mysterious regard that  

tragedy turns towards us is  not an     
enervating and paralysing charm1 but its
 influence imposes  repose4 ,for beauty 
is not given to us for the very moment  
of battle2  but for those moments of    
calm which precede and interrupt it1 for
  those fugitive moments in which1      
reanimating the past1 anticipating  the 
future1 we penetrate all the symbols2   
for those moments when1 with  the       
impression of a slight weariness1 a     
refreshing dream descends upon  us4 ,the
 day and the strife are about to begin1 
the sacred shadows fade  away1 and art  
is once more far from us2 but its       
consolation is still  shed upon man1 as 
a morning dew4444    ,there exists a    
radical opposition between these        
thoughts and those that  inspired ,the  
,birth of ,tragedy4 ,art is no longer a 
reason for living1  but a preparation   
for life1 a necessary repose4 ,three    
menacing lines  end ,nietzsche's little 
book3 ,wagner is not the prophet of the 
future  as we might fain believe1 but   

the interpreter and the glorifier of a  
past4 ,nietzsche had not been able to   
keep back these admissions4 ,brief  and 
disguised as they were1 he had hoped    
that they might not be heard1  and his  
hope1 it seems1 was justified4 ,wagner  
wrote as soon as the  pamphlet had      
appeared3    ,,friend6--,your book is   
prodigious6    ,where did you learn to  
know me so well8 ,come quickly1 and stay
 here  during rehearsals until the      
representations4    ,yours1    ,r4 ,w4  
,july #abth4            99       99     
99       99       99    ,the rehearsals 
began in the middle of ,july1 and       
,nietzsche1 who did not  wish to miss   
one of them1 went1 in spite of the      
precarious state of  his health1 with an
 impatience that astonished his sister4 
,two days  later she received a letter3 
,i almost regret ever having come2 up   
till  now1 everything is wretched4444   
,on ,monday ,i went to the rehearsal2 it
  displeased me1 ,i was obliged to go   
out4    ,what was happening8 ,frulein   

,nietzsche waited with great uneasiness4
  ,she was slightly reassured by a      
second letter3    ,,my ,,dear ,,good    
,,sister1--,at present things are       
better4444 ,but the last  sentence read 
strangely3 ,i must live very much to    
myself1 and decline  all invitations1   
even ,wagner's4 ,he finds that ,i make  
myself scarce4  ,almost immediately came
 the last letter3 ,i hope to leave3 it  
is too  senseless to stay here4 ,i await
 with terror every one of these long    
musical evenings4 ,yet ,i stay4 ,i can  
stand it no longer4 ,i shall not be     
here even for the first performance2 ,i 
will go no matter where--but ,i  want to
 leave2 here everything is unbearable4  
,what had occurred8 ,had the mere sight 
of the world driven him away  so soon8  
,nietzsche had led a very hard          
existence1 during the past  two years1  
the friend of enigmas and problems4 ,he 
had forgotten  men3 he suffered on      
encountering them again4 ,a ,titan1     
,wagner1 held  them captive1 protected  

them against every enigma and too       
disquieting  problem2 and in this shadow
 they seemed satisfied4 ,they never     
reflected1 but repeated passionately the
 formulas that had been given  them4    
,some ,hegelians had come3 ,wagner      
offered himself to them as a  second    
incarnation of their master4 ,all the   
,schopenhauerians were  there2 they had 
been told that ,wagner had translated   
into music the  system of ,schopenhauer4
 ,a few young people were calling       
themselves  idealists1 pure ,germans3   
,my art1 declared ,wagner1 signifies the
  victory of ,german idealism over      
,gallic sensualism4 ,all1 ,hegelians1   
,schopenhauerians1 pure ,germans1 agreed
 in the pride of triumph3 they  had     
succeeded4 ,succeeded6 ,nietzsche heard 
this extraordinary word in  silence4    
,what man1 he pondered1 what race ever  
did succeed8 ,not even  the ,greek1     
which was bruised in its most beautiful 
flights4 ,what effort  had not been in  
vain8 ,so1 taking his eyes off the      

comedy1 ,nietzsche  examined ,wagner3   
was this dispenser of joys in the end   
great enough to  become uneasy in the   
hour of victory8 ,no2 ,wagner was happy1
 because he  had succeeded2 and the     
satisfaction of such a man was more     
shocking and  sadder still than that of 
the crowd4    ,but happiness1 however   
low it be1 is still happiness4 ,an      
exquisite  intoxication had seized the  
little town of ,bayreuth4 ,nietzsche had
  felt and shared this intoxication2 he 
kept the remorse and envy of  it4 ,he   
listened to a rehearsal3 the entrance   
into the sacred theatre1  the emotion of
 the public1 the presence of ,wagner1   
the darkness1  the marvellous sounds1   
touched him4 ,how sensible he had       
remained to  the ,wagnerian infection4  
,he got up in haste and went out2 it is 
the  explanation of his letter3         
,yesterday evening1 ,i went to a        
rehearsal2  it displeased me2 ,i was    
obliged to go out4    ,a new element    
aggravated his trouble4 ,he was informed

 definitely of  the significance of the 
forthcoming work1 ,parsifal4 ,richard   
,wagner  was about to declare himself a 
,christian4 ,thus1 in eighteen months1  
,nietzsche observed two conversions3    
,romundt was weak and perhaps the       
victim of chance2 but ,nietzsche knew   
that with ,wagner everything was  grave1
 and answered to the necessities of the 
century4 ,neo-,christianity  did not yet
 exist3 ,nietzsche felt it all through  
,parsifal4 ,he  perceived the danger run
 by the modern man1 so uncertain of     
himself1  and tempted by this ,christian
 faith1 which is so firm a thing1 which 
calls1 which promises and can give      
peace4 ,if he did not redouble his      
efforts to discover in himself a new    
possibility of life1 it was  certain    
that he would fall back into a          
,christianity1 cowardly like  his       
inspiration4 ,then ,nietzsche saw these 
men1 whose happiness he had             
instinctively despised1 menaced by a    
final collapse1 and led gently1  and as 

if by the hand1 towards this collapse by
 the master1 by the  impostor who had   
subjugated them4 ,not one of them knew  
whither this  powerful hand might not   
soon lead them1 scarcely one of them was
 a  ,christian1 but they were all on the
 eve of becoming ,christians4 ,how far  
away was that ,may day of #ahgb in which
 ,richard ,wagner conducted1 in  this   
same ,bayreuth1 ,schiller and           
,beethoven's ode to liberty and joy6    
,friedrich ,nietzsche saw clearly for   
them all3 the spectacle of these        
unconscious lives made him feel         
desperate1 as the sight of the world in 
the ,middle ,ages had made those mystics
 desperate1 who had always before  their
 eyes the accusing and bleeding image of
 the ,christ4 ,he would have  liked to  
have torn these people from their       
torpor1 to have warned them  by a word1 
prevented them with a cry4 ,i ought to1 
he thought1 as ,i  alone understand what
 is happening4444 ,but who would have   
listened to  him8 ,he held his peace1 he

 dissembled his dreadful impressions1   
and  wished to observe without weakness 
or desertion the tragic solemnities4    
,but he could not4 ,soon he weakened and
 had to fly4 ,i should be insane  to    
stay here4 ,i await with terror each of 
these long musical evenings1  and yet ,i
 stay4 ,i can bear no more4444 ,i shall 
go1 no matter where1 but  ,i will go3   
here everything is torture to me4444    
99       99       99       99       99  
,the heights which separate ,bohemia    
from ,franconia rise some miles from    
,bayreuth1 and the village of           
,klingenbrunn1 where ,nietzsche retired1
  is situated in the forests which cover
 them4 ,the crisis was brief  and less  
severe than he had dreaded4 ,now that he
 had perceived in a  clearer manner the 
dangers of the ,wagnerian art1 he saw   
the remedy  more plainly4 ,religiosity1 
he wrote1 when it is not upheld by a    
clear thought1 rouses disgust4 ,he      
renewed his ,steinabad meditations  and 
re-affirmed the resolutions then made4  

,he would make a clean sweep  of the    
past2 resist the seductions of          
metaphysics2 deprive himself of  art2   
reserve judgment2 like ,descartes1 begin
 by doubting4 ,then1 if some  new       
security could be discovered1 he would  
raise the new grandeur on  immovable    
foundations4    ,he wandered up and down
 the silent forests2 their severe peace 
was a  discipline3 ,if we do not give   
firm and serene horizons to our souls   
like those of the woods and mountains1  
he wrote1 then our inner life  will lose
 all serenity4 ,it will be broken up    
like that of the men of  towns2 it will 
not know happiness and will not be able 
to give it4  ,then1 all of a sudden he  
released the cry of his sick soul3 ,i   
shall  give back to men1 said he1 the   
serenity which is the condition of all  
culture4 ,and the simplicity4 ,serenity1
 ,simplicity1 ,greatness6    ,nietzsche1
 once more master of himself1 returned  
to ,bayreuth without  delay3 he wished  
to complete his experience4 ,the        

excitement of the  crowd was even       
greater than on the day of his          
departure4 ,the old  ,emperor ,william  
was present1 on his way to the grand    
manuvres4 ,he  had paid ,wagner the     
compliment of being present on two      
evenings4 ,from  all ,bavaria and       
,franconia1 citizens and peasants had   
hurried hither  to salute their         
,emperor1 and there was almost a famine 
in the little  invaded town4    ,the    
performances began2 ,nietzsche heard    
them all4 ,he listened in  silence to   
the observations of the faithful and    
measured the abyss  which he had so long
 skirted4 ,he continued to see his      
friends3 ,frulein  von ,meysenbug1 ,miss
 ,zimmern1 ,gabriel ,monod1 ,e4 ,schur1 
,alfred ,brenner1  who did not fail to  
notice in him a reserve and a silence   
singular  at times4 ,often he went off  
alone1 during the intervals or in the   
afternoons1 with a pleasant and charming
 spectator1 ,madame ,o----1 who  was    
slightly ,parisian1 slightly ,russian4  

,he liked the delicate and  surprising  
conversation of women1 and he excused   
this one for being a  ,wagnerian4    ,m4
 ,schur1 who met ,nietzsche at these    
festivals1 gives a description  of him  
which merits repetition4 ,as ,i talked  
to him ,i was struck by  the superiority
 of his mind and the strangeness of his 
physiognomy4 ,a  large forehead2 short  
hair brushed up off his forehead2 the   
projecting  cheekbones of the ,slav4    
,the strong drooping moustache1 the     
sharp cut  of the face1 would have given
 him the air of a cavalry officer1 had  
it not been for an indescribable        
something in his address that was at    
the same time timid and haughty4 ,the   
musical voice1 the slow speech1  denoted
 the organism of the artist2 the prudent
 and meditative bearing  was a          
philosopher's4 ,nothing was more        
deceiving than the apparent calm  of his
 expression4 ,the fixed glance betrayed 
the melancholy labour of  his thought4  
,it was the glance of a fanatic1 of a   

keen observer1 and  of a visionary4     
,this double character added a disturbed
 and disturbing  element1 the more so   
because it always seemed riveted upon   
one point4  ,in his effusive moments    
this look was moistened with the        
softness  of a dream1 but very soon it  
became hostile again4444 ,during the    
general rehearsals1 and the first three 
performances of the ,tetralogy1         
,nietzsche appeared to be sad and       
dejected4444    ,each evening was a     
triumph1 and each of them added to      
,nietzsche's  distress4 ,the ,rhinegold1
 the ,valkyrie--these old pieces        
recalled  his youth1 his enthusiasms for
 ,wagner1 whom he did not know1 whom he 
did not dare hope to know4 ,siegfried3  
souvenirs of ,triebschen2  ,wagner was  
completing this score when ,nietzsche   
entered into his  intimacy4             
,siegfried was ,nietzsche's favourite   
among the ,wagnerian heroes4 ,he  found 
himself again in this young man1 who had
 never known fear4 ,we  are the knights 

of the spirit1 he had then written in   
his notes1 we  understand the song of   
the birds and follow them4 ,no doubt he 
was  almost happy when he heard         
,siegfried2 it was the only one of      
,wagner's  dramas which he could listen 
to without remorse4 ,lastly1 ,the       
,twilight  of the ,gods4 ,siegfried has 
mixed in the crowd of men2 they deceive 
him2 one evening he navely relates his  
life2 a traitor strikes him  from behind
 and kills him4 ,the giants are         
annihilated1 the dwarfs  vanquished1 the
 heroes powerless2 the gods abdicate2   
the gold is given  back to the depths of
 the ,rhine1 whose surging waters cover 
over the  world1 and as they await      
death1 men contemplate the universal    
disaster4    ,it was the end4 ,the      
curtain fell slowly1 the symphony was   
extinguished  in the night1 and the     
spectators rose suddenly1 with one      
accord1 and  gave vent to a loud burst  
of cheering4 ,then the curtain rose once
 more  and ,richard ,wagner appeared1   

alone1 dressed in a redingote and cloth 
trousers1 holding his little figure     
erect4 ,with a sign he called for       
silence2 every murmur ceased4    ,we    
have shown you what we wished to show   
you1 he cried1 and what we  can show you
 when all wills are directed to one     
object2 if on your side  you support us1
 then you will have an art4    ,he      
retired1 then returned2 again and again 
he was recalled4 ,nietzsche  watched his
 master standing in the limelight1 and  
he alone in the hall  did not applaud4  
,there he is1 he thought1 my ally444 the
 ,homer who has been  fertilised by     
,plato4444    ,the curtain fell for the 
last time1 and ,nietzsche1 silent1 lost 
in the  crowd1 followed his tide like a 
wreck4      #a          ,ein            
,zwillingspaar von einem ,haus1         
,gieng muthig in die ,welt hinaus1      
,welt--,drachen zu zerreissen4          
,zwi'r ,vter--,werk6 ,ein ,wunder war's6
      ,die ,mutter doch des             
,zwillingpaars      ,freundschaft ist   

sie geheissen4        #b ,mahnruf4      
,,chapter ,v      ,,crisis ,,and        
,,convalescence      ,friedrich         
,nietzsche returned to ,basle4 ,his     
eyesight was feeble and  painful1 so    
that he had to accept the help which two
 friends offered  him3 one of them was a
 young student named ,kselitz1 whom he  
had  jokingly called ,peter ,gast1      
,peter the ,guest--the surname stuck to 
him2 the other was that ,paul ,re1 the  
,jew1 with the acute mind1 whom  he had 
known for two years4 ,thanks to their   
devotion he was able to  re-read the    
notes written at ,klingenbrunn2 he hoped
 to find matter  in them for the second 
,unseasonable ,thought4 ,paul ,re was   
then  publishing his ,psychological     
,observations1 reflections inspired by  
the ,english and ,french masters1       
,stuart ,mill and ,la ,rochefoucauld4   
,friedrich ,nietzsche heard this little 
work read1 and appreciated it4  ,he     
admired this prudent style of conducting
 thought2 he enjoyed it  on the morrow  

of the emphatic ceremonies of ,bayreuth1
 as though it  were a repose2 and he    
resolved to study at the school of ,re  
and of  his masters4 ,nevertheless he   
always felt the immense void which his  
renouncement of ,richard ,wagner left in
 him4    ,at this moment1 he wrote1 the 
#bjth ,september1 #ahgf1 ,i have every  
leisure to think of the past--farthest  
and nearest--for my oculist  makes me   
sit idle for long periods in a darkened 
room4 ,autumn1 after  such a summer1 is 
for me1 and no doubt not only for me1   
more autumn  than any other4 ,after the 
great event comes an attack of blacker  
melancholy1 and to escape it one cannot 
fly too quickly towards ,italy  or      
towards work1 or towards both4    ,he   
had obtained the leave for which he had 
asked1 and the sole gladness  which he  
had in life was the certainty that he   
would be free for some  months from all 
professional duties4    ,he left        
,switzerland at the end of ,october4    
,alfred ,brenner and ,paul ,re          

accompanied him4 ,the three ,germans    
went down towards ,genoa1 and thence    
took a steamer to ,naples1 where        
,frulein von ,meysenbug was expecting   
them4    ,i found ,nietzsche1 she       
writes1 disappointed sufficiently1      
because  the journey and the arrival in 
,naples1 in the middle of this noisy1   
clamorous1 importunate people1 had been 
very disagreeable to him4  ,in the      
evening1 however1 ,i asked the visitors 
to take a drive to  ,pausilippe4 ,it was
 such an evening as one sees only down  
here2 sky1  earth1 and sea floated in a 
glory of indescribable colours1 which   
filled the soul as an enchanting music1 
a harmony from which every  discordant  
note was gone4 ,i observed how          
,nietzsche's face lit up  in joyous and 
almost childlike astonishment1 as though
 he were  dominated by a profound       
emotion2 finally he gave vent to        
enthusiastic  exclamations1 which ,i    
welcomed as a happy augury for the      
efficacy of  his visit4    ,frulein von 

,meysenbug had hired a villa--it was an 
old pension--on  that slope which glides
 rapidly towards the sea1 carrying its  
olives1  its lemons1 its cypresses1 and 
its vines with it down to the waves4    
,on the first floor1 she writes1 there  
were rooms with terraces for  the       
gentlemen2 on the second1 rooms for     
myself and my maid1 with a big          
sitting-room for our common use4    ,she
 installed her guests in this retreat   
which she had selected for  them2 but   
they had to wait a while before they    
could enjoy the retired  life for which 
they were in search4 ,a too illustrious 
neighbour was  stopping hard by--none   
other than ,richard ,wagner1 who1       
accompanied by  all his people1 was     
resting at ,sorrento after the immense  
effort and  triumph of ,bayreuth4    ,he
 showed no signs of fatigue4 ,his days  
were spent in walking1 his  nights in   
conversation4 ,with ,frulein von        
,meysenbug and his friends he  held a   
sort of court4    ,we wonder if         

,friedrich ,nietzsche had expected thus 
to find his master  before him again8   
,he could not avoid taking part in the  
walks1 and in  the evening parties3 but 
he displayed a slight reserve4 ,whilst  
,richard  ,wagner talked of his future  
projects and of his coming work1 and of 
the religious ideas which he wished to  
express1 ,nietzsche preferred to        
isolate himself with ,paul ,re and to   
talk of ,chamfort and of ,stendhal4     
,richard ,wagner observed these         
conversations4 ,now1 he disliked ,jews1 
and ,re displeased him4 ,be careful1    
said he to ,nietzsche1 that  man will do
 you no good4 ,nietzsche did not modify 
his attitude4 ,he  spoke little1 or1 if 
he did mix in conversation1 displayed a 
forced  liveliness and a gaiety which   
were not altogether natural4 ,frulein   
von  ,meysenbug was more than once      
surprised3    ,but ,i never suspected1  
she writes1 that any change had come    
over his  sentiments1 and ,i abandoned  
myself with a whole heart to the        

delights  which came to complete those  
of ,bayreuth4 ,the joy ,i experienced in
  living in a like intimacy led me to   
quote one day1 as we sat together  at   
table1 a thought from ,goethe of which  
,i was very fond3 ',happy he  who1      
without hatred1 withdraws from the      
world1 presses a friend to his  breast1 
and thus enjoys that something which men
 know not nor suspect1  that which      
crosses the labyrinth of the heart at   
night4' ,the ,wagners  did not know this
 quotation1 and were so enchanted with  
it that ,i had  to repeat it to them4   
,alas6 ,i did not guess that the demons 
who also  cross the labyrinth of the    
heart at night and intimately           
contemplate  the divine mystery of      
sympathy between noble minds1 had       
already begun  their work of sowing     
discord and division4    ,towards the   
end of ,november1 ,richard ,wagner      
having left ,sorrento1  ,frulein von    
,meysenbug and her friends were able to 
regulate their  lives with a view to    

study4 ,they arranged the employment of 
their time3  up to noon1 work and       
solitude2 at noon1 breakfast2 after     
breakfast1 a  walk and conversation2 in 
the evening1 work and solitude2 at      
night1  after dinner1 reading4 ,paul    
,re1 the only healthy member in this    
society of invalid intellectuals1 read  
aloud4 ,nietzsche and ,frulein  von     
,meysenbug were short-sighted2          
,brenner's lungs were affected4 ,who    
were their authors8 ,jacob ,burckhardt1 
whose course of lectures on ,greek      
culture they were studying 7a student of
 ,basle had lent his notes72 a  little  
of ,michelet2 ,herodotus2 ,thucydides4  
,a question posed1 a doubt  expressed1  
sometimes interrupted ,paul ,re's       
readings2 and it was almost  always     
,friedrich ,nietzsche who concluded the 
short debate4    ,nietzsche was indeed  
the soul of sweetness and kindliness6   
writes  ,frulein von ,meysenbug in her  
charming account4 ,how well his good    
and amiable nature counterbalanced his  

destructive intelligence6 ,how  well he 
knew how to be gay1 and to laugh with a 
good heart at the  jokes which often    
came to disturb the serious atmosphere  
of our little  circle4 ,when we were    
together in the evening1 ,nietzsche     
comfortably  installed in an arm-chair  
in the shade of a screen2 ,dr4 ,re1 our 
obliging reader1 seated at the table on 
which the lamp was placed2  young       
,brenner1 near the chimney-piece        
opposite me1 helping me to peel  oranges
 for dinner2 ,i often said1 laughing3   
',we represent truly an  ideal family2  
here are we four people1 who scarcely   
knew each other  before1 who are not    
united by any tie of relationship1 who  
have no  memories in common1 and we now 
live together in absolute concord1 in   
the most complete personal liberty1 and 
in a perfect content of mind  and       
heart4' ,so plans were soon sketched for
 the renewal and enlargement  of this   
happy experience4444    ,would it be    
impossible to come back each year to    

this ,italian coast1  to call one's     
friends thither1 and thus to found a    
spiritual refuge1  free of every school1
 of every ,church8 ,on the morrow of    
#ahdh ,frulein  von ,meysenbug had      
inspired at ,hamburg a sort of          
,socialist phalanstery1  which became   
the subject of one of the finest        
chapters of her book1  and remained to  
her as one of the greatest memories of  
her life4  ,friedrich ,nietzsche in no  
wise abandoned his ancient dream of a   
lay  cloister4 ,thus the memories of the
 old lady agreed with the hopes of  her 
young companion4 ,paul ,re and ,alfred  
,brenner did not refuse their           
co-operation1 and the four friends gave 
the project their serious               
consideration4    ,already we are in    
quest of an appropriate locality1 writes
 ,frulein  von ,meysenbug1 for it was at
 ,sorrento1 in the heart of this        
delicious  scenery1 and not in the close
 air of a town1 that our project was to 
take shape4 ,we had discovered near the 

shore various spacious grottoes         
enlarged by the hand of man1 veritable  
rock halls1 in which a sort of  pulpit  
is actually to be seen1 which seems to  
be especially put there  for a lecturer4
 ,it is here that1 during the hot days  
of summer1 we  thought of giving our    
lessons4 ,we had besides conceived the  
plan of the  school rather on the ,greek
 model than according to modern ideas1  
and  the teaching was chiefly to be a   
mutual instruction in the ,peripatetic  
manner4444    ,nietzsche wrote to his   
sister3 ,my idea1 the school of the     
educators1  or1 if you like1 modern     
cloister1 ideal colony1 free university1
 is  always floating in the air4 ,what  
will befall it1 who can tell8 ,already  
we have1 in imagination1 named you      
directress and administrative head  of  
our establishment for forty persons4    
,at the beginning of spring ,brenner and
 ,re left ,sorrento4 ,frulein  von      
,meysenbug and ,nietzsche1 now alone    
together1 read to one another1  but only

 a little1 for reading tried the eyes of
 both4 ,they preferred  to talk4        
,nietzsche was never tired of listening 
to his companion's  recitals4 ,she told 
him of the lofty days of #ahdh4 ,this he
 liked and1  above all1 he liked that   
she should talk to him of ,mazzini4     
,he did not forget the chance by which  
he had had the ,italian hero  as        
carriage companion in ,april1 #ahga1 as 
they were crossing the  ,alps4 ,no      
compromise3 live resolutely in the      
whole1 the good1 and  the beautiful4444 
,mazzini had repeated this maxim of     
,goethe's to  him1 and ,nietzsche       
associated it with his recollection of  
the man4  ,frulein von ,meysenbug had   
known ,mazzini in ,london4 ,she had     
admired  his authority in command1 his  
exactitude in obedience1 his readiness  
to serve every servant of the cause1    
whether he were called ,cavour or       
,garibaldi4 ,he had paid the price of   
this humility2 for1 forgotten in  the   
hour of victory1 the exile's ban had    

been maintained against him  alone4     
,nevertheless1 he had wished to end his 
days in his well-loved  ,liguria1 and he
 had come there to die1 hiding his name 
and race4 ,the  doctor who took care of 
him was astonished--he had taken him for
 an  ,englishman--when he heard him     
speak in so pure an ,italian4 ,look you1
  replied the dying man1 no one has ever
 loved ,italy so much as ,i loved  her4 
,friedrich ,nietzsche listened to these 
stories4    ,the man ,i venerate most1  
said he to ,frulein von ,meysenbug1 is  
,mazzini4    ,could ,frulein von        
,meysenbug have guessed that her young  
companion1  this young1 tender1 and     
enthusiastic ,german1 had just declared 
war  within himself on those instincts  
of tenderness and enthusiasm  which     
obstructed the clarity of his           
views8--that ,nietzsche1 the            
continuator of ,schopenhauer1 the friend
 of ,wagner1 was now choosing ,la       
,rochefoucauld1 ,chamfort1 ,stendhal for
 masters8 ,could she have guessed  that 

this friend who dreamed with her of     
setting up a lay cloister was  training 
himself1 during his long walks1 to face 
the melancholy of a  life of revolt and 
of solitude8 ,he formulated the rules of
 such a life3          ,you must neither
 love nor hate the people4        ,you  
must in no way occupy yourself with     
politics4        ,you must be neither   
rich nor poor4        ,you must avoid   
the path of those who are illustrious   
and      powerful4        ,you must take
 a wife from outside your people4       
,you must leave to your friends the care
 of bringing up your      children4     
,you must accept none of the ceremonies 
of the ,church4      ,frulein von       
,meysenbug knew at last4 ,one day       
,nietzsche handed to her  a pile of     
,,mss4 ,read1 said he2 here are some    
impressions which  came to me down      
there1 under that tree2 ,i have never   
sat down in its  shade without plucking 
a thought4 ,frulein von ,meysenbug read1
 and  discovered an unsuspected         

,nietzsche1 a critic and a denier4 ,do  
not  publish that1 she said4 ,wait1     
reflect6 ,nietzsche's only answer was a 
smile4 ,she insisted2 the conversation  
grew animated2 they made peace in       
reading ,thucydides4    ,at the         
beginning of ,may1 ,nietzsche1          
incommoded by the heat1 wished to       
leave4 ,frulein von ,meysenbug wanted   
him to postpone his departure in  order 
that he might master his first fatigue  
before he began the trying  voyage4 ,he 
would not listen to her4    ,nietzsche  
is really going to-morrow1 she wrote to 
,re2 you know  that when he is thus     
determined upon something he carries it 
out1 even  though the sky sends the most
 serious warnings to turn him from it4  
,in that he is no longer a ,greek1 as he
 is not attentive to oracles4  ,just as1
 in the most frightful weather1 he      
starts out on an excursion1  so now he  
goes1 tired to death1 in defiance of the
 raging wind which  is lashing up the   
sea1 and will certainly make him ill1   

for he is  determined to make the voyage
 from ,naples to ,genoa by sea4    ,yes1
 he has gone1 she wrote in another      
letter4 ,the charm of  ,sorrento in     
flower could not keep him2 he must go1  
but it is horribly  painful to me to let
 him travel thus2 he is unpractical and 
so bad at  extricating himself from a   
difficulty4 ,luckily the sea is a little
  calmer to-day4444 ,alas1 there is so  
much to regret6 ,eight days ago we  had 
sketched plans for his near and distant 
future4 ,was his brusque  resolution    
dictated by a feverish desire to fly    
from his malady1 which  he suddenly     
fancied had some connection with our    
spring temperature1  which is truly a   
little abnormal8 ,but how could he have 
been any better  elsewhere this         
miserable spring8 ,i think that at the  
last moment it  occurred to him that his
 departure was nevertheless precipitate4
 ,but  it was too late4444 ,this        
melancholy multiplication of departures 
has  quite upset me4444           99    

99       99       99       99           
,friedrich ,nietzsche went to take a    
cure at the waters of ,rosenlaui4  ,he  
experienced very little benefit from it1
 and his immediate  future preoccupied  
his thoughts4 ,in ,september he had to  
resume his  professorial duties4 ,it was
 his daily bread1 and a daily discipline
  from which he feared to be freed4 ,but
 he also knew the horrible ennui  of it4
 ,he had been given reason to hope that 
the authorities at ,basle  would consent
 to grant him1 in consideration of his  
services and of his  illness1 a definite
 discharge with a sufficient pension4   
,frulein von  ,meysenbug advised him to 
retire2 his sister1 on the contrary1    
advised  him to retain his office1 and  
,nietzsche chose to listen to his       
sister4  ,but the nearer came the date  
of his return1 the more lively grew his 
revolt4    ,it is a thing which ,i know1
 which ,i feel1 he then wrote to a woman
  who was helping him in his work1 the  
mother of one of his pupils1 ,marie     

,baumgarten1 that ,i have in store a    
loftier destiny4 ,i can make use of     
,philology1 but ,i am more than a       
,philologist4 ',i misrepresent myself4' 
,such was the persistent theme of my    
last ten years4 ,now that a year  of    
retired life has made everything so     
visible and so clear 7,i cannot  express
 how rich ,i feel and how much of a     
creator of joy1 in spite of  every      
affliction1 as soon as ,i am left alone 
with myself71 now1 ,i tell  you with    
complete confidence that ,i am not      
returning to ,basle to stay  there4 ,how
 will it come about8 ,i do not know1 but
 my liberty 7,ah6 how  modest my        
material necessities are2 little matters
 to me71 my liberty1  ,i shall conquer  
it for myself4    ,his sister came to   
join him at ,basle and lived with him4  
,at first his  pleasure was great1 but  
he soon recognised that he could not    
talk with  this girl who was altogether 
a ,wagnerian and quite devoted to the   
ideas  of ,bayreuth4 ,paul ,re was the  

only man whose company he liked2 but    
,paul  ,re was detained in ,north       
,germany by considerations of health1   
and  could not1 as ,nietzsche had hoped1
 come to ,basle4    ,i hope that ,i     
shall soon learn1 he wrote to him1 that 
the evil  demons of sickness are leaving
 you in peace4 ,all that ,i wish for you
  in the ,new ,year is that you remain  
as you are1 and that you remain  for me 
as you have been4444 ,let me tell you   
that friendship has  never been so sweet
 to me as in this last year1 thanks to  
you4444  ,when ,i hear of your work1 my 
mouth waters1 for ,i desire to be with  
you so much4 ,we have been made to      
understand each other aright2 we  always
 come together1 ,i think1 like good     
neighbours1 to whom the idea  occurs1 at
 the same moment1 that they should pay  
each other a visit1  and who meet on the
 confines of their lands4444 ,when shall
 we have a  good conversation upon human
 affairs1 a personal1 not an epistolary 
conversation8    ,in ,december he wrote 

to ,re3 ,ten times a day ,i wish to be  
near you4  ,nevertheless he finished his
 book1 or1 to be more accurate1 he did  
not  finish it1 for he preserved the    
attractive freedom of his notes4 ,it was
  thus that they came to him1 one after 
another1 without any connection2  and it
 pleased him that they should thus      
remain4 ,his deplorable  health         
prevented him from putting a weft across
 them1 from imposing  an order upon     
them4 ,and what did it matter8 ,he      
recalled those ,french  writers whose   
loyalty he loved3 ,pascal1              
,larochefoucauld1 ,vauvenargues1        
,montaigne4 ,he wished to leave1 after  
their example1 some disorder and  some  
discontinuity in his thoughts4 ,he      
wished to write a simple book  which    
should call the most urgent enthusiasts 
back to prudence4 ,round  ,wagner and   
,bayreuth1 beautiful souls were         
innumerable4 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche1 who
 had just missed being one of these1    
wished1 by talking  in the manner of old

 ,socrates1 to make them feel the       
absurdity of their  faith4 ,human1 ,all 
,too ,human1 was the title which he had 
chosen4 ,right  at the end of his       
conscious life1 he recounted the object 
of his book4    ,a torch in my hand1 he 
writes1 and the light not smoky1#a ,i   
have  cast a lively light upon this     
subterranean world of the ,ideal4 ,it   
is war1 but war without powder and      
without smoke1 without war-like         
attitudes1 without pathos1 without      
dislocated limbs--all that would  still 
be 'idealism4' ,error after error1 ,i   
took them and placed them  on the ice1  
and the ideal was not even refuted--it  
froze4 ,here1 for  example1 freezes 'the
 ,genius'2 in this other corner freezes 
'the  ,saint'2 beneath a thick stopper  
of frozen ice 'the ,hero'2 and1 lastly1 
it is 'the ,faith' which freezes1 she   
who is named ',conviction'2  and then   
here is ',pity1' which notably grows    
cold--in fact1 nearly  everywhere       
freezes 'the thing in itself4'          

,certainly this work is paradoxical4 ,no
 one is so ardent as ,friedrich         
,nietzsche1 no one has such a belief in 
his work1 in his mission1 in  the       
sublime ends of life2 and yet he labours
 to scoff at them4 ,he  reverses every  
thesis that he has hitherto upheld4     
,pereat ,veritas1  fiat vita6--he had   
once written4 ,now he writes1 ,pereat   
vita1 fiat  ,veritas6 ,above poetry he  
places science2 above schylus1 that same
  ,socrates whom he had at other times  
denounced4 ,no doubt it is only a       
pretence1 and he knows it4 ,the ideas   
which he expresses are not really  his  
own4 ,he arms himself with irony for a  
combat which will be short3  for he is  
not an ironist4 ,he wants to find1 and  
is convinced that he  will find1 an     
unknown lyricism which shall inspire his
 great works4  ,human1 ,all ,too ,human1
 is the sign of a time of crisis and of 
passage1  but what a surprising crisis1 
what a difficult passage6 ,the book is  
there1 wrote ,nietzsche1 to the great   

astonishment of the prostrate  invalid4 
,on ,january #c1 #ahgi1 he received the 
poem ,parsifal1 which ,richard  ,wagner 
sent him4 ,he read it1 and could better 
measure the always  increasing distance 
which separated him from his old master4
 ,he wrote  to the ,baron von ,seydlitz3
    ,impression from the first reading3 
more ,liszt than ,wagner2 the spirit  of
 the counter-reformation2 for me who am 
too accustomed to the ,greek  and human 
atmosphere1 all this belongs to a too   
limited ,christianity2  the psychology  
is fantastic2 there is no flesh and far 
too much blood  7the ,last ,supper      
especially has far too much blood about 
it for me72 ,i  do not like hysterical  
chambermaids4 ,the style seems like a   
translation  from a foreign language4   
,but the situations and their           
developments--are  they not in a vein of
 the greatest poetry8 ,never did a      
musician propose  a higher task to his  
music4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 in this
 letter1 did not speak all his thoughts4

  ,certain features of it 7no flesh and 
far too much blood7 let us  divine1 as  
already active and vehement within him1 
that repugnance  which he was to express
 ten years later4 ,nevertheless he loved
 this  incomparable master1 and for the 
first time he was obliged to put        
clearly to himself the problem of the   
rupture4 ,he had received the poem      
,parsifal2 should he reply1 and1 if so1 
in what terms8 or should he  take the   
more frank and simple course of leaving 
it unanswered8    ,his doubts and       
vexations increased4 ,it is not easy to 
gauge his  condition at this time4 ,he  
scarcely confided in his sister4 ,his   
letters  to ,paul ,re1 which would no   
doubt enlighten us1 are not printed4    
,since ,christmas1 #ahgg1 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche had more leisure1 his        
professional work having been reduced by
 some hours4 ,he took advantage  of this
 to leave ,basle every week and wander  
alone in the neighbouring  regions4 ,he 
did not go to the high mountains2 he had

 little taste for  these monsters and   
preferred the ,jura1 the ,black ,forest1
 whose wooded  heights reminded him of  
the places of his childhood4    ,what   
were his thoughts8 ,we may conjecture   
that he was occupied solely  with       
,wagner and his book4 ,one month1 two   
months had passed1 and he had  not      
acknowledged the receipt of ,parsifal4  
,human1 ,all ,too ,human was  printed1  
and the publisher was waiting4 ,but how 
should he forewarn the  master1 how     
prepare him for this surprising         
document8 ,his disciples  had accustomed
 him to the most obsequious homage1 the 
most profound  intellectual deference4  
,nietzsche knew that his independent    
work  would scandalise the dovecot of   
,bayreuth4 ,when the moment for his     
pronouncement came he took fright4 ,he  
was as much concerned for the  public as
 for ,wagner himself4 ,he was ashamed of
 the philosophy which  he was giving    
forth as his own4 ,he had written these 
pages1 and he  regretted nothing2 he had

 followed1 as he had the right to       
follow1 the  vital logic which ruled his
 mind4 ,but he also knew that this same 
logic  would bring him back one day     
towards a new lyricism1 and it would    
have  suited him to disguise somewhat   
the interlude of his years of crisis4   
,he then conceived a singular idea3 he  
would not sign his book2 he would       
publish it in an enigmatical manner1    
anonymously2 ,richard ,wagner alone     
would know the mystery and know that    
,human1 ,all ,too ,human was the  work  
of his friend1 of his disciple1 who at  
the bottom of his soul  remained still  
faithful4 ,he wrote out a long draft of 
a letter which is  preserved to us3     
,i send you this book3 ,human1 ,all ,too
 ,human2 and at the same time  ,i tell  
you1 you and your noble companion1 in   
complete confidence1 my  secret2 it     
suits me that it should be also yours4  
,the book is mine4444    ,i find myself 
in the condition of mind of an officer  
who has carried a  redoubt4 ,though     

wounded he is upon the heights and waves
 his standard4  ,more joy1 far more joy 
than sorrow1 though the neighbouring    
spectacle  be terrible4    ,i have told 
you that ,i know no one who is really in
 agreement with me  in thought4 ,and yet
 ,i fancy that ,i have thought1 not as  
an individual1  but as the              
representative of a group2 the most     
singular sentiment of  solitude and of  
society4444    444 ,the swiftest herald 
who does not know precisely if the      
cavalry is  coming behind him1 or even  
if it exists4    ,the publisher rejected
 the proposal and ,nietzsche had to     
abandon it4 ,at  last his mind was made 
up4 ,europe was about to celebrate1 in  
,may1 #ahgh1  the hundredth anniversary 
of ,voltaire's death4 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche  decided that he would       
publish his book at this time1 and he   
would  dedicate it to the memory of the 
great pamphleteer4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,in      
,norway those periods during which the  

sun remains all day beneath  the horizon
 are called times of obscurity1 he wrote
 in #ahgi2 during  that time the        
temperature goes down slowly and        
incessantly4 ,what a  marvellous symbol 
for all thinkers for whom the sun of    
man's future  has been obscured for a   
time6 ,nietzsche knew his time of       
obscurity4  ,erwin ,rohde disapproved of
 his book1 ,richard ,wagner made no     
reply2  but ,nietzsche knew how he was  
being judged in the master's circle4    
,the caricaturist of ,bayreuth1 said    
they1 is either an ingrate  or a madman4
 ,an unknown donor 7,gersdorff1 was it  
not87 sent from  ,paris a box in which  
,friedrich and ,lisbeth ,nietzsche found
 a bust of  ,voltaire and a short note3 
,the soul of ,monsieur ,voltaire        
presents his  compliments to ,monsieur  
,friedrich ,nietzsche4 ,lisbeth         
,nietzsche could  not tolerate the idea 
that her brother1 pure ,german at heart1
 should  range himself under the banner 
of a ,frenchman1 and of such a          

,frenchman6  ,she wept4    ,no doubt    
some of his friends passed a different  
judgment4 ,your book1  said ,jacob      
,burckhardt1 enlarges the independence  
of the mind4 ,only  one book1 wrote     
,paul ,re1 has suggested as many        
thoughts to me as  has yours--the       
conversations of ,goethe and ,eckermann4
 ,peter ,gast  remained faithful1       
,overbeck and his wife were sure        
friends4 ,nietzsche  did not feel his   
defeat the less for it ,human1 ,all ,too
 ,human had no  success4 ,richard       
,wagner1 it was said1 was amused by the 
smallness of  the sales4 ,he chaffed the
 publisher3 ,ah1 ah6 now you see        
,nietzsche is  read only when he defends
 our cause2 otherwise1 no4    ,in       
,august1 #ahgh1 ,human1 ,all ,too ,human
 was judged and condemned in the        
,journal of ,bayreuth4 ,every ,german   
professor1 wrote the anonymous  author1 
in whom ,nietzsche recognised1 or       
believed that he recognised1  ,richard  
,wagner1 has to write once in his life a

 book to consecrate  his fame4 ,but as  
it is not given to all the world to find
 a truth1  one contents oneself1 to     
obtain the desired effect1 with proving 
the  radical nonsense of the views of a 
predecessor1 and the effect is so  much 
the greater when the predecessor who is 
put to shame was the more  considerable 
man4    ,this low style of judgment     
grieved ,friedrich ,nietzsche4 ,he now  
proposed  to explain1 in a tone of      
serenity and respect1 his attitude in   
respect  to his old masters1            
,schopenhauer and ,wagner4 ,only it     
seemed to him  that the time for        
courtesies had gone by1 and1 after      
reconsidering  his ,sorrento notes1 he  
undertook to write a sequel to the      
thoughts of  ,human1 ,all ,too ,human4  
,his sister had left him2 in ,september 
he was leading a painful and  miserable 
life1 a few features of which we can    
apprehend4 ,he was  avoided1 for his    
agitated condition gave alarm4 ,often1  
on coming out  of the ,university1 he   

would meet ,jacob ,burckhardt4 ,the wise
 historian  would slip off by a clever  
manuvre2 he esteemed his colleague1 but 
dreaded him4 ,in vain ,nietzsche sought 
to gather new disciples around  him4 ,i 
am hunting for men1 he wrote1 like a    
veritable corsair1 not  to sell them    
into slavery1 but to carry them off with
 me to liberty4  ,this unsociable       
liberty which he proposed failed to     
seduce the young  men4 ,a student1 ,herr
 ,schaffler1 has recorded his           
recollections3 ,i  attended ,nietzsche's
 lectures1 says he2 ,i knew him very    
slightly4  ,once1 at the end of a       
lecture1 he chanced to be near me1 and  
we walked  out side by side4 ,there were
 light clouds passing over the sky4     
',the  beautiful clouds1' he said to me1
 'how rapid they are6' ',they resemble  
the clouds of ,paul ,veronese1' ,i      
answered4 ,suddenly his hand seized my  
arm4 ',listen1' said he2 'the holidays  
are coming2 ,i am leaving soon1  come   
with me1 and we shall go together to see

 the clouds at ,venice4'  444 ,i was    
surprised1 ,i stammered out some        
hesitating words2 then ,i saw           
,nietzsche turn from me1 his face icy   
and rigid as death4 ,he moved away      
without saying a word1 leaving me alone4
    ,the break with ,wagner was his     
great and lasting sorrow4 ,such a       
farewell1 he wrote1 when one parts      
because agreement is impossible  between
 one's manner of feeling and one's      
manner of judging1 puts us  back in     
contact with that other person1 and we  
throw ourselves with  all our strength  
against that wall which nature has set  
up between  us and him4 ,in ,february1  
#ahgi1 ,lisbeth ,nietzsche wrote to     
,cosima  ,wagner3 had her brother       
advised her to make the overture8 ,did  
he know  of it8 ,did he approve of it8  
,we cannot say4 ,cosima answered with an
  imperial and sweet firmness4 ,do not  
speak to me of ,human1 ,all ,too        
,human1 she wrote4 ,the only thing that 
,i care to remember in writing  to you  

is this1 that your brother once wrote   
for me some of the most  beautiful pages
 that ,i know4444 ,i bear no malice     
against him3 he has  been broken by     
suffering4 ,he has lost the mastery of  
himself1 and this  explains his felony4 
,she added1 with more spirit than sense1
 ,to say  that his present writings are 
not definitive1 that they represent the 
stages of a mind that seeks itself1 is1 
,i think1 curious4 ,it is almost  as if 
,beethoven had said3 ',see me in my     
third manner6' ,moreover1 one           
recognises as one reads that the author 
is not convinced by his work2  it is    
merely sophism without impulse1 and one 
is moved to pity4    ,miscellaneous     
,opinions and ,apophthegms1 which formed
 the sequel to  ,human1 ,all ,too       
,human1 appeared in #ahgi4 ,but the     
offence which this  second volume might 
have given was attenuated and1 as it    
were1 warded  off1 by reason of the pity
 which ,nietzsche now inspired in those 
who  had formerly known him4 ,his state 

of health grew worse4 ,his head1 his    
stomach1 his eyes1 tormented him without
 intermission4 ,the doctors  began to be
 disquieted by symptoms which they could
 not ascertain1  by an invalid whom they
 could not cure4 ,it appeared to them   
that his  eyesight1 and perhaps his     
reason1 were threatened4 ,he divined    
their  alarms4 ,peter ,gast waited at   
,venice1 called to him from there2 but  
,nietzsche was forced to abandon the    
project of a voyage2 he had to  shut    
himself up in his room at ,basle behind 
closed shutters and drawn  curtains4    
,what was to become of him8 ,rohde1     
,gersdorff1 touched by the wreck of     
this man of whom they had hoped so much1
 wrote to ,overbeck3 ,they  say that    
,nietzsche is lost1 advise us4 ,alas1   
replied ,overbeck1  his condition is    
desperate4 ,even ,richard ,wagner       
remembered and was  touched4 ,can ,i    
forget him1 he wrote to ,overbeck1 my   
friend who  separated from me with such 
violence8 ,i clearly see that it would  

not  have been right to demand          
conventional considerations from a soul 
torn by such passions4 ,one must be     
silent and have pity4 ,but ,i am in     
absolute ignorance of his life1 and of  
his sufferings2 this afflicts  me4      
,would it be indiscreet if ,i asked you 
to write me news of my  friend8         
,apparently ,nietzsche did not know of  
this letter4 ,he had written1 a few     
months earlier1 among other notes3      
,gratitude is a bourgeois virtue2  it   
cannot be applied to a man like ,wagner4
 ,his happiness would have  been great1 
had he been able to read the identical  
thought1 written  by his master1 ,it    
would not have been right to demand     
conventional  considerations from a     
,nietzsche4    ,overbeck and his wife   
attended the invalid4 ,they wrote to his
 sister  that she ought to be at his    
side4 ,she came at once and scarcely    
recognised the stooping1 devastated man1
 aged in one year by ten years1  who    
thanked her for coming with a gesture of

 his hand4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,friedrich      
,nietzsche gave up his professorship2 he
 sent in his  resignation1 which was    
accepted4 ,in recompense for his        
services he was  to receive a pension of
 three thousand francs4    ,lisbeth took
 him away4 ,he thought himself a lost   
man1 and expressed  his last wishes4    
,make me a promise1 ,lisbeth2 let my    
friends only  accompany my corpse2 let  
none who are merely indifferent or      
curious be  present4 ,i shall no longer 
be able to defend myself1 and you must  
do  it4 ,let no priest1 let no one come 
and speak insincere words over my       
coffin4 ,see that ,i am buried like a   
loyal pagan1 with no lies told4    ,he  
longed for the most desert and silent   
places1 for the most complete  solitude2
 she brought him to the valleys of the  
,upper ,engadine4 ,at that  time very   
few people went up there4 ,nietzsche    
discovered this remote  ,switzerland and
 derived an unexpected comfort from the 

light and pure  quality of the air1 and 
the kindly light of the meadows1 which  
soothed  his worn-out eyes4 ,he liked   
the scattered lakes1 which recalled a   
,finland1 the villages with their       
singing names1 the fine peasant race1   
which proclaimed the presence of ,italy 
beyond the glaciers4 ,this  nature is   
familiar to me1 he wrote to ,re2 it does
 not astonish me1  there is an          
understanding between us4 ,with a       
convalescent's surprise  he began to    
live again4 ,he wrote scarcely any      
letters2 he wrote for  himself1 and it  
is in his work that we must seek the    
information which  his correspondence   
formerly gave us4 ,this is how he       
narrates his ascent  towards the        
,engadine4    ,et in ,arcadia           
ego4--,above the hills which take the   
shape of waves1  across the austere     
pines and the old fir-trees1 ,i have    
turned my gaze  upon a little lake whose
 water is green and milky4 ,around me   
were rocks  of every contour1 a soil    

painted in discordant colours with      
grasses  and flowers4 ,before me a flock
 moved1 now scattering1 now closing up  
its ranks2 some cows1 grouped afar-off1 
below a forest of pines1 stood  out in  
relief under the evening light2 others1 
nearer1 more sombre2  and everything    
calm in the peace of the approaching    
twilight4 ,my watch  registered         
half-past five4 ,the monarch of the herd
 was walking in the  foam-white brook2  
he stepped out slowly1 now stemming the 
fierce tide1  now giving way to it3 no  
doubt he found a kind of ferocious      
delight  in so doing4 ,two human beings1
 brown skinned1 of ,bergamesque origin1 
were the shepherds of this flock3 the   
young girl dressed almost like  a boy4  
,to the right1 above a large belt of    
forest1 edges of rocks1  fields of snow2
 to the left1 two enormous prongs of    
ice1 far over me1  in a veil of clear   
mist4 ,everything grand1 calm1 luminous4
 ,this beauty1  thus suddenly perceived1
 thrilled1 so as to bring into the soul 

a mute  adoration of this moment of     
revelation4 ,into this world of pure    
light  and sharp outline 7exempt from   
disquiet and desire1 expectation and    
regret71 one was tempted to introduce   
,grecian heroes--involuntarily1 as      
though it were the most natural thing4  
,one had to feel in the manner of       
,poussin and his pupils2 in a thoroughly
 heroic and idyllic manner4 ,and  it is 
thus that certain men have lived1 thus  
that they have felt life1  lastingly1   
within and without themselves2 and ,i   
recognise among them  one of the        
greatest of all men1 one who discovered 
a style of heroic  and idyllic          
philosopher3 ,epicurus4    ,friedrich   
,nietzsche stayed in the ,engadine1     
poorly lodged1 sparingly  fed1 till     
,september came2 but he was satisfied1  
though deprived of  friends1 with his   
music and books4 ,his sufferings were   
not intolerable3  he could work and had 
soon filled six copybooks with pencil   
notes of  his calmer thoughts1 which1   

though always sceptical1 were not       
bitter1  but seemed1 as it were1        
tempered by the unexpected indulgence4  
,he had  no illusions concerning this   
respite which he had received4 ,it was a
  respite and no more1 and he did not   
hope4 ,nevertheless he rejoiced  that1  
before his breakdown1 he had the        
opportunity of saying what  happiness   
had been procured him by the simple     
contemplation of things1  of human      
nature1 of the mountains and the sky2 he
 hastened to harvest  this last         
felicity4 ,at the beginning of          
,september1 #ahgi1 he sent his          
completed work to ,peter ,gast4    ,my  
dear1 dear friend1 he wrote1 when you   
receive these lines my  manuscript will 
be in your hands4 ,perhaps you will feel
 a little of  the pleasure which ,i have
 myself when ,i think of my work that is
 now  completed4 ,i am at the end of my 
thirty-fifth year1 'the middle of       
life1' they used to say some thousand   
years ago3 it is the age at which       

,dante had his vision1 as he tells us in
 the first verses of his poem4  ,i am   
now in this middle of life1 and on all  
sides so hard pressed by  death1 that at
 any hour it may take me2 my life is    
such that ,i must  foresee a rapid      
death1 in spasms4444 ,so ,i feel like a 
very old man1  and the more because ,i  
have done the work of my life4 ,i have  
poured  out a good drop of oil1 ,i know 
it1 it will be accounted to me4 ,i  have
 experienced my manner of life to the   
full2 many will experience  it after me4
 ,my continual1 my bitter sufferings    
have not altered my  humour up to the   
present4 ,on the contrary1 it seems to  
me that ,i feel  gayer1 more kindly1    
than ever ,i was3 whence comes this     
influence which  fortifies me and       
ameliorates my condition8 ,not from men1
 for all  but a few are provoked against
 me1#b and do not grudge the trouble  of
 letting me know it4 ,dear friend1 read 
this last manuscript from  end to end1  
and see if any trace of suffering or of 

depression is  there disclosed4 ,i think
 not1 and this very conviction assures  
me  that there must be some hidden      
strength in my thoughts1 and not that   
lassitude1 that powerlessness1 which    
those who do not approve of me  would   
like to find in them4    ,at this       
instant of his life ,nietzsche made     
ready to die4 ,how8 ,it is not  too     
hazardous to guess4 ,he was waiting for 
that rapid end in spasms1  which had    
swept off his father in madness1 and a  
pious sentiment  brought him back to the
 domestic hearth4 ,released from the    
obligations  which kept him at ,basle1  
free to choose his retreat1 he resisted 
the  call of ,peter ,gast from ,venice4 
,it was no time for learning to know and
  to love a new beauty4 ,no1 said he1 in
 spite of ,overbeck1 in spite  of my    
sister1 who press me to rejoin you1 ,i  
shall not go4 ,in certain               
circumstances1 as ,i think1 it is       
fitting that one should be closer to    
one's mother1 one's hearth1 one's       

souvenirs of childhood4444    ,it was to
 ,naumburg1 therefore1 that he          
proceeded4 ,he wished to lead  there a  
life of entire peace1 and to distract   
himself from thought by  manual labour4 
,in a tower of the old ramparts he hired
 a great room4  ,below the old wall     
there extended an unused piece of land1 
and this he  took on lease and          
cultivated4 ,i have ten fruit trees1 he 
wrote1 and  roses1 lilacs1 carnations1  
strawberries1 goose-berry bushes1 and   
green  gooseberries4 ,at the beginning  
of next year ,i shall have ten rows of  
vegetables growing4    ,but the invalid 
was soon obliged to abandon these plans4
 ,the winter was  rigorous4 ,friedrich  
,nietzsche could not withstand either   
the glare of  the snow which dazzled his
 eyes1 or the humid air which depressed 
and  shattered his nerves4 ,in a few    
weeks he had lost the benefit derived   
from his visit to the ,engadine4    ,the
 ,traveller and his ,shadow1 the proofs 
of which ,peter ,gast had  corrected1   

was published4 ,apparently it was better
 understood than the  preceding         
collections had been4 ,rohde wrote      
,nietzsche a letter which  pleased him4 
,certainly he did not express           
unqualified admiration4 ,this  clear but
 never emotional view of humanity1 said 
he1 pains him who  loves you and who    
hears the friend in every word4 ,but1 on
 the whole1  he admired4    ,what you   
give to your readers1 he wrote1 you can 
scarcely surmise1  for you live in your 
own mind4 ,but a voice like yours is one
 which  we never hear1 either in life or
 in books4 ,and1 as ,i read you1 ,i     
continue to experience what ,i          
experienced at your side in the time of 
our comradeship3 ,i feel myself raised  
into a higher order of things1  and     
spiritually ennobled4 ,the conclusion of
 your book penetrates the  soul4 ,you   
can and you should1 after these         
discordant harmonies1 give us  yet      
softer1 yet diviner strains4444         
,farewell1 my dear friend1 you are      

always he who gives1 ,i am always he who
 receives4444    ,nietzsche was happy4  
,thanks1 dear friend1 he wrote on the   
#bhth  of ,december1 #ahgi2 your old    
affection sealed anew--it is the most   
precious gift which these ,christmas    
days have brought me4 ,but his  answer  
was brief1 and the last two lines of his
 letter give the reason3  ,my condition 
has again become terrible1 my tortures  
are atrocious2  sustineo1 abstineo2 and 
,i am astonished at it myself4    ,this 
very strong language contains no        
exaggeration4 ,his mother and  sister1  
who saw him suffer1 bear witness to the 
awful days through  which he passed4 ,he
 accepted suffering as a test1 as a     
spiritual  exercise4 ,he compared his   
destiny to that of men who were great in
  sorrow--,leopardi1 for instance4 ,but 
,leopardi was not brave1 for1 in  his   
sickness1 he defamed life1              
and--,nietzsche discovered this hard    
truth--an invalid has not the right to  
be a pessimist4 ,or the ,christ4  ,but  

even ,christ weakened upon the cross4   
,father1 ,father6 ,he cried  out1 why   
hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,friedrich     
,nietzsche had no ,god1 no  father1 no  
faith1 no friends4 ,every prop he had   
taken from himself1  and yet he did not 
bend4 ,to complain1 even in a passing   
manner1 would  be to avow defeat4 ,he   
refused to make the avowal4 ,suffering  
did not  overwhelm him2 on the contrary1
 it instructed him1 and animated his    
thought4    ,the enormous tension of the
 intellect1 bent on the mastery of pain1
  he writes1 shows everything in a new  
light3 and the unspeakable  charm of    
every new light is often powerful enough
 to overcome all the  allurements of    
suicide1 and to make the continuance of 
life appear as  most desirable to the   
sufferer4 ,scornfully he reviews the    
warm and  comfortable dream-world1      
wherein the healthy man moves           
unthinkingly2  scornfully he reviews the
 noblest and dearest of the illusions in
 which  he formerly indulged2 this      

contempt is his joy1 it is the          
counterpoise  which enables him to hold 
his own against physical pain1 a        
counterpoise  the necessity of which he 
now feels4444 ,our pride revolts as it  
never  did before3 joyfully does it     
defend life against such a tyrant as    
pain1  that tyrant that would force us  
to testify against life4 ,to stand for  
life in the face of this tyrant is a    
task of infinite fascination4#c         
,friedrich ,nietzsche supposed that his 
end was close at hand4 ,on the  #adth of
 ,january1 wishing to give a last       
indication of his thought  to some      
friend1 he wrote ,frulein von ,meysenbug
 a letter which is a  farewell and a    
spiritual testament4 ,what an effort it 
must have cost  him6    ,although to    
write is one of the fruits which is most
 strongly  forbidden me1 still ,i want  
you to have one more letter from me1 you
  whom ,i love and venerate like a      
beloved sister--it will be the last6    
,for the awful and almost incessant     

martyrdom of my life gives me a  thirst 
for death1 and1 according to certain    
signs1 ,i am now near  enough to that   
access of fever1 which shall save me1 to
 be permitted  to hope4 ,i have suffered
 so much1 ,i have renounced so many     
things that  there is no ascetic1 of any
 time1 to whose life ,i have not the    
right to  compare my life in this last  
year4 ,nevertheless ,i have acquired a  
great  deal4 ,my soul has gained in     
purity1 in sweetness1 and ,i no longer  
need  religion or art for that4 7,you   
will remark that ,i have some pride2    
that  is because in my state of entire  
abandonment ,i have been able finally   
to discover my intimate sources of      
consolation47 ,i think that ,i have     
done the work of my life as a man may to
 whom no time is left4 ,but ,i  know    
that for many men ,i have poured out a  
drop of good oil1 that many  men will be
 guided by me towards a higher1 a more  
serene1 and lucid  life4 ,i give you    
this supplementary information3 when my 

humanity  shall have ceased to be1 men  
will say so4 ,no sorrow has been or will
 be  able to induce me to give false    
evidence on life1 as ,i know it4    ,to 
whom should ,i say all this if not to   
you8 ,i think--but it is  immodest to   
say so--that our characters resemble    
each other4 ,for  instance3 both of us  
are brave1 and neither distress nor     
contempt  has been able to turn us from 
the path which we recognised as the     
right path4 ,and both of us have known1 
in us1 around us1 many a  truth1 the    
dazzling splendour of which few of our  
contemporaries have  perceived--we hope 
for humanity and1 silently1 offer       
ourselves in  sacrifice for it1 do we   
not8    ,have you good news of the      
,wagners8 ,for three years ,i have heard
  nothing of them4 ,they1 too1 have     
forsaken me4 ,i knew for long that      
,wagner would separate from me as soon  
as he should have recognised the        
difference of our efforts4 ,i have been 
told that he writes against me4  ,let   

him3 all means must be used to bring the
 truth to light6 ,i think  of him with a
 lasting gratitude1 for ,i owe him some 
of the strongest  incitements towards   
spiritual liberty4 ,madame ,wagner1 as  
you know1  is the most sympathetic woman
 whom ,i have met4 ,but our relations   
are  ended1 and assuredly ,i am not the 
man to resume them4 ,it is too late4    
,receive1 dear friend1 who are a sister 
to me1 the salutation of a  young old   
man to whom life has not been cruel1    
although it has come  about that he     
desires to die4           99       99   
99       99       99    ,he lived1      
nevertheless4 ,paul ,re came to see him1
 read to him1 and  succeeded in         
distracting his thoughts4 ,the weather1 
which had tried  him so severely1 grew  
warmer1 and the snow1 which had dimmed  
his  eyesight1 melted4 ,peter ,gast1    
living as in the previous year at       
,venice1  steadily wrote and called to  
him4 ,in the middle of ,february he     
felt1  with surprise1 a reawakening of  

strength2 his desires1 his curiosities  
returned to him1 and he set out at once4
    ,he stayed for a month on the shores
 of ,lake ,garda1 at ,riva1 and the     
improvement in his letters gave his     
relatives some hope4 ,on the #acth of   
,march he was at ,venice3 from that day 
the end of this crisis and his          
convalescence must be dated4    ,he had 
not yet loved ,italy4 ,what parts of it 
did he know8 ,the ,lakes3  but their    
somewhat oppressive tepidity was        
ill-suited to him1 and  he did not      
relish their over-soft harmonies4       
,naples and its ,gulf3  but he was      
repelled by the ,neapolitan crowd2 the  
splendour of the  spectacle had no doubt
 conquered1 but it had scarcely charmed 
him4 ,no  intimate union had been       
established between this dazzling       
scenery and  his spiritual passions4    
,but from the first moment he yielded to
 the  fascination of ,venice4 ,in       
,venice he found1 at a glance1 without  
effort1  what his ,greek                

masters--,homer1 ,theognis1             
,thucydides--had formerly given  him3   
the sensation of a lucid intellect1     
which lived without dreams or  scruples4
 ,against dreams1 against scruples1     
against the prestige of a  romantic art1
 he had been fighting for four years4   
,the beauty of ,venice  was his         
deliverance4 ,he remembered his agonies 
and smiled at himself4  ,had he not     
flattered himself in supposing that he  
was the most wretched  of men8 ,what man
 who suffered has not had this thought1 
this childish  conceit8    ,when a first
 dawn of assuagement1 of recovery1      
supervenes1 he wrote1  then we          
ungratefully humiliate the pride which  
formerly made us  bear our sorrow1 we   
deal with ourselves like nave           
simpletons--as if  something unique had 
happened to us6 ,again we look around at
 men and at  nature1 with desire2 the   
tempered lights of life recomfort us2   
again  health plays its magical tricks  
with us4 ,we contemplate the spectacle  

as if we were transformed1 benevolent   
and still fatigued4 ,in this  condition 
one cannot hear music without weeping4  
,peter ,gast attended him with touching 
kindness4 ,he accompanied him in  his   
walks1 read to him1 played him his      
favourite music4 ,at this period        
,friedrich ,nietzsche liked ,chopin     
above all musicians2 he discovered a    
daring1 a freedom of passion in his     
rhapsodies1 which is seldom the  gift of
 ,german art4 ,doubtless we must think  
of ,chopin in reading those  last words1
 ,in this condition one cannot hear     
music without weeping4    ,peter ,gast  
also played the part of secretary1 for  
,nietzsche had  recovered his ardour for
 work4 ,day by day he dictated his      
thoughts4 ,he  chose1 immediately1 the  
title for a new collection 7he gave up  
the idea  quickly71 ,l',ombra di        
,venezia4 ,indeed1 did he not owe to the
 presence  of ,venice this richness1    
this force1 this subtlety of his mind8  
,he  essayed new researches4 ,was it    

true1 as he had written1 that a cold    
calculation of interest determines the  
actions of men8 that a mean  desire for 
safety1 for ease1 for happiness1 had    
created that excessive  beauty to which 
,venice stands witness8 ,venice is      
unique2 nevertheless1  she exists and   
must be explained4 ,a spiritual portent 
must explain the  physical marvel4      
,what1 then1 are the hidden springs     
which determine  our acts8 ,life1       
,schopenhauer used to say1 is a pure    
,will to ,live2  every being desires to 
persevere in being4 ,we may go further1 
thinks  ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 and say  
that life aspires ever to extend and    
surpass itself4 ,its desire is1 not     
conservation1 but growth2 a  principle  
of conquest and of exaltation must be   
linked to its essence4  ,how is this    
principle to be formulated8 ,nietzsche  
did not yet know2 but  the idea was with
 him1 and importunate4 ,he felt that he 
was on the eve  of a discovery1 on the  
threshold of an unknown world2 and he   

wrote1 or  dictated1 to his friend3     
,actions are never what they appear to  
be4 ,we have had such difficulty  in    
learning that external things are not   
what they appear to us4 ,well1  it is   
the same with the internal world6 ,deeds
 are in reality 'something  other'--more
 we cannot say of them1 and all deeds   
are essentially  unknown4    ,in ,july  
he tried the waters of ,marienbad4 ,he  
lived in a little inn1  situated        
opposite the wood1 where he walked all  
the length of the day4    ,i am         
absorbed1 and excavate zealously in my  
moral mines1 he wrote  to ,peter ,gast1 
and it seems to me that ,i have become  
an altogether  subterranean being--it   
seems to me1 at this moment1 that ,i    
have found a  passage1 an opening2 a    
hundred times ,i shall be thus persuaded
 and then  deceived4    ,in ,september  
he was at ,naumburg2 he seemed to be in 
a joyful and  talkative humour2 his     
sister ,lisbeth recognised on his face  
that  expression of cheerful sweetness  

which denotes good mental work1 a       
plenitude and an afflux of thoughts4 ,on
 the #hth of ,october1 fearing the      
fogs1 he descended towards ,italy4 ,he  
stopped at ,stresa1 on the shore of  the
 ,lake ,maggiore4 ,but the climate did  
not agree with his nerves1 and          
unsettled his meditations4 ,it was with 
terror that he recognised once  more    
that the tyranny of external influences 
held him at its mercy4  ,he took fright2
 could he1 if he lived always in a state
 of suffering1  express those           
innumerable ideas1 philosophical and    
lyrical1 which  pressed on him8 ,to     
acquire health was1 he thought1 his     
first duty4 ,he  left ,stresa and       
travelled towards ,sorrento4    ,genoa  
was on his road1 and there he stopped4  
,the place charmed him  at first sight4 
,its people were vigorous1 frugal1 and  
gay2 the  temperature1 in ,november1    
almost that of summer4 ,in ,genoa was   
combined  the double energy of mountain 
and of sea4 ,nietzsche liked those      

robust  palaces that stood athwart the  
little streets4 ,such monuments had been
  raised by ,corsair merchants to their 
own glory1 by men whose instincts  were 
fettered by no scruples4 ,and his       
visionary spirit evoked them1  for he   
stood in need of those ,italians of a   
former time who were so  lucid1 so      
grasping1 and who had in them so little 
of the ,christian2 who  lied to others1 
but were frank towards themselves1      
without sophistry4  ,he needed them in  
order to repress that romantic reverie  
which was  not to be extinguished in    
him4 ,he desired1 like ,rousseau1 a     
return to  nature4 ,but ,rousseau's     
,europe was one thing1 and ,nietzsche's 
another4  ,rousseau's offended against  
the sentiments of piety1 against human  
sympathy1 against goodness2 ,nietzsche's
 was a sluggish ,europe under the       
domination of the herd1 and it offended 
against other sentiments2 very          
different1 too1 was the oppressed nature
 which he exalted and in which  he      

sought the cure and the refreshment of  
his soul4    ,he wished to make a stay  
at ,genoa4 ,after some trouble he found 
a  perfect home3 a garret1 with a very  
good bed1 at the top of a staircase  of 
a hundred and four steps1 in a house    
which looked out on a path  so steep and
 stiff that no one passed that way1 and 
that grass grew  between the paving     
stones--,salita delle ,battistine1 #h4  
,he arranged his life in a manner as    
simple as his domicile1 and thus        
realised one of his many dreams4 ,often 
he used to say to his mother3  ,how do  
the common people live8 ,i would like to
 live like them4 ,his  mother would     
laugh4 ,they eat potatoes and greasy    
meat2 they drink  bad coffee and        
alcohol4444 ,nietzsche sighed3 ,oh1     
those ,germans6 ,in  his ,genoese house1
 with its poor inmates1 customs were    
different4 ,his  neighbours lived       
soberly4 ,he imitated them and ate      
sparely2 his thought  was quicker and   
livelier4 ,he bought a spirit lamp1 and1

 under his  land-lady's teaching1 learnt
 how to prepare his own risotto1 and fry
  his own artichokes4 ,he was popular in
 the big house4 ,when he suffered  from 
headaches1 he had many visitors1 full of
 concern for him4 ,i need  nothing1 he  
would say1 simply3 ,sono contento4      
,in the evening1 in order to rest his   
eyes1 he would lie stretched out  on his
 bed1 without light in the room4 ,it is 
poverty1 opined the  neighbours2 the    
,german professor is too poor to burn   
candles4 ,he was  offered some3 he was  
grateful1 smiled1 and explained the     
circumstances4  ,they called him ,il    
,santo1 il piccolo ,santo4 ,he knew it1 
and it amused  him4 ,i think1 he wrote1 
that many among us1 with their          
abstemious1  regular habits1 their      
kindliness and their clear sense1 would1
 were  they transported into the        
semi-barbarism of the sixth to the tenth
  centuries1 be revered like ,saints4   
,he conceived and drew up a rule of     
life3    ,an independence which offends 

no one2 a mollified1 veiled pride1 a    
pride which does not discharge itself   
upon others because it does not  envy   
their honours or their pleasures1 and is
 able to stand the test  of mockery4 ,a 
light sleep1 a free and peaceful        
bearing1 no alcohol1 no  illustrious or 
princely friendships1 neither women nor 
newspapers1 no  honours1 no             
society--except with superior minds2 in 
default of them1  the simple people 7one
 cannot dispense with them2 to see them 
is to  contemplate a sane and powerful  
vegetation72 the dishes which are most  
easily prepared1 and1 if possible1      
prepared by oneself1 and which do  not  
bring us into contact with the greedy   
and lip-smacking rabble4    ,for        
,friedrich ,nietzsche health was a      
fragile possession1 and the  more       
precious in that it must be incessantly 
conquered1 lost1 and  reconquered4      
,every favourable day made him feel that
 surprise which  constitutes the        
happiness of convalescents4    ,on      

jumping from his bed1 he equipped       
himself1 stuffed into his pouch a       
bundle of notes1 a book1 some fruit and 
bread2 and then started out on  the     
road4 ,as soon as the sun is risen1 he  
wrote1 ,i go to a solitary  rock near   
the waves and lie out on it beneath my  
umbrella1 motionless  as a lizard1 with 
nothing before me but the sea and the   
pure sky4  ,there he would remain for a 
long time1 till the very last hours of  
the twilight4 ,for these hours were     
kindly to those weak eyes of his1  that 
were so often deprived of light and so  
often blinded by it--those  menaced     
eyes1 the least of whose joys was a     
delight4    ,here is the sea1 he wrote1 
here we may forget the town4 ,though    
its bells are still ringing the         
,angelus--that sad and foolish1 yet     
sweet sound at the parting of day and   
night--only another minute6 ,now  all is
 hushed6 ,there lies the broad ocean1   
pale and glittering1 but  it cannot     
speak4 ,the sky is glistening in its    

eternal mute evening  glory1 in red1    
yellow1 green hues2 it cannot speak     
either4 ,the small  cliffs and crags1   
projecting into the sea--as though      
trying to find  the most lonely         
spot--not any of them can speak4 ,this  
eternal muteness  which suddenly        
overcomes us is beautiful and awful2 it 
makes the heart  swell4444#d    ,how    
often has he celebrated this hour1 when1
 as he says1 the humblest  fisherman    
rows with golden oars4 ,then he         
collected the fruits of  the day2 he    
wrote the thoughts which had come to    
him1 clothed in the  form and the music 
of their words4 ,he continued the       
researches which  he had begun at       
,venice4 ,what is human energy8 ,what is
 the drift of its  desires8 ,how are the
 disorders of its history1 the quagmire 
of its  manners1 to be explained8 ,he   
now knows the answer1 and it is this1   
that  the same cruel and ambitious force
 thrusts man against man1 and the       
ascetic against himself4 ,nietzsche had 

to analyse and to define this  force in 
order to direct it2 this was the problem
 which he set himself1  and he was      
confident that he would one day resolve 
it4 ,willingly he  compared himself to  
the great navigators1 to that ,captain  
,cook who for  three months navigated   
the coral-reefs1 fathom-line in hand4   
,in this  year #ahha1 his hero was the  
,genoese1 ,christopher ,columbus1 who1  
when  no land had yet appeared1         
recognised on the waves meadow grasses  
which  had been carried into the open   
sea by some unknown river1 the waters of
  which were milky and still free from  
salt4    ,whither do we wish to go8 he  
wrote4 ,do we long to cross the sea8    
,whither does this powerful desire urge 
us which we value above all our  other  
passions8 ,why this mad flight towards  
that place where every sun  has hitherto
 sunk and perished8 ,will they1 perhaps1
 one day1 relate  of us that we also    
steered westward1 hoping to reach an    
unknown ,india1  but that it was our    

fate to suffer shipwreck on the         
,infinite8 ,or else1  my brothers1 or   
else8    ,nietzsche liked this lyrical  
page2 he placed it at the end of his    
book  as a final hymn4 ,what other book1
 he wrote1 concludes with an ,or  ,else8
    ,by the end of ,january he had      
finished his work4 ,but he was not able 
to re-copy his manuscript2 his hand was 
too nervous1 his eyesight too  weak4 ,he
 sent it on to ,peter ,gast4 ,on the    
#acth of ,march the copy was  ready1 and
 ,nietzsche announced it to the         
publisher4    ,here is the manuscript1  
from which ,i find it hard to part4444  
,now1  hurry1 hurry1 hurry6 ,i shall    
leave ,genoa as soon as the book is out1
  and till then ,i shall live on        
cinders4 ,be quick1 hurry up the        
printer6  ,can't he give you a written  
promise that by the end of ,april1 at   
the  latest1 ,i shall have my book in   
hand1 ready1 complete8 444 ,my dear     
,herr  ,schmeitzner1 let us all1 for    
this once1 do our best4 ,the contents of

 my  book are so important6 ,it is a    
matter involving our honour that it be  
faulty in nothing1 that it come into the
 world worthy and stainless4  ,i conjure
 you1 do that for me2 no advertising4 ,i
 could tell you a  great deal more about
 it1 but you will be able to understand 
it all by  yourself when you have read  
my book4    ,the publisher read the     
manuscript1 but understood it ill2 he   
displayed  no enthusiasm4 ,in ,april1   
,nietzsche1 still at ,genoa1 was still  
waiting  for his proofs4 ,he had hoped  
to surprise his friends by despatching  
an  unexpected piece of work1 and had   
said nothing to anyone1 ,peter ,gast    
excepted4 ,at last he renounced the     
pleasure of having a secret4 ,good      
news6 he wrote to his sister4 ,a new    
book1 a big book1 a decisive  book6 ,i  
cannot think of it without a lively     
emotion4444 ,in ,may1 he  rejoined      
,peter ,gast in a village of ,venetia1  
,recoaro1 at the foot of  the ,alps4    
,his impatience grew every day4 ,the    

delays of his publisher  prevented him  
from clearing up the new thoughts which 
already pressed  hard on him4    ,the   
,dawn of ,day--this was the title which 
he finally  selected--appeared at the   
most unfavourable time of the year1 in  
,july4      #a ,lit4 torchlike4    #b   
,this is an evangelical reminiscence1   
thinks ,peter ,gast4 ,scriptural        
suggestions are frequent in the language
 and thought of ,nietzsche4    #c ,the  
,dawn of ,day1 cxiv4 ,this book1        
published in ,june1 #ahha1 gives  very  
reliable autobiographical indications on
 the period here studied4    #d ,the    
,dawn of ,day1 p4 #cja4 ,this passage is
 taken from ,miss ,johanna  ,volz's     
translation4 ,london3 ,t4 ,fisher       
,unwin4          ,,chapter ,,vi         
,,the ,,labour ,,of ,,zarathustra       
,i    ,the ,conception of the ,eternal  
,return    ,friedrich ,nietzsche        
regarded ,the ,dawn of ,day as the      
exercise of a  convalescent who amuses  
himself with desires and ideas1 and     

finds in  each a malicious or a         
delightful pleasure4 ,it had been a game
 which  must have an end4 ,i must now   
choose from among these half-perceived  
ideas1 he thought1 ,i must lay hold of  
one1 express it in its full  force1 and 
close my years of retreat and           
hesitation4 ,in times of  peace1 he had 
written1 the man of warlike instinct    
turns against  himself4 ,hardly done    
with his combats1 he sought a new       
occasion for  battle4    ,he had        
remained1 up to mid-,july1 in ,venetia1 
on the lower slopes of  the ,italian    
,alps4 ,he had to seek a cooler refuge4 
,he had not forgotten  those high       
,alpine valleys which had given him1 two
 years earlier1 in  his ill-health a    
respite and a rapid joy4 ,he went up    
towards them and  installed himself in a
 rustic fashion in the ,engadine1 at    
,sils-,maria4  ,he had1 for one franc a 
day1 a room in a peasant house2 a       
neighbouring  inn furnished him with his
 meals4 ,passers by were rare1 and      

,nietzsche1  when he found himself in   
talkative humour1 used to visit the cur 
or the schoolmaster4 ,these good people 
always remembered this very  singular   
,german professor who was so learned1 so
 modest1 and so good4    ,he was then   
reflecting on the problems of           
naturalistic philosophy4  ,spencer's    
system had just come into vogue4        
,friedrich ,nietzsche despised  this    
cosmogony which affected to supplant    
,christianity and yet remained  in      
submission to it4 ,spencer ignored      
,providence1 yet believed in  progress4 
,he preached the reality of a concert   
between the movements  of things and the
 aspirations of humanity4 ,he preserved 
the ,christian  harmonies in a ,god-less
 universe4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche had    
been a pupil  at more virile schools2 he
 heard ,empedocles1 ,heraclitus1        
,spinoza1  ,goethe1 thinkers who with a 
calm regard could study ,nature without 
seeking in her some assent to their     
longings4 ,he remained obedient to      

these masters1 and he felt growing and  
ripening in him a great and a  new idea4
    ,we can divine from his letters the 
emotion with which he was seized4 ,he   
needed to be alone1 and energetically   
defended his solitude4 ,paul ,re1  who  
admired ,the ,dawn1 wished to go to him 
and tell him so4 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche 
learnt this and was in despair4    ,,my 
,,good ,,lisbeth1 he wrote to his       
sister1 ,i cannot make up my mind  to   
telegraph to ,re not to come4           
,nevertheless1 ,i must consider him an  
enemy who comes to interrupt my summer's
 work1 my work in the ,engadine1  that  
is to say my duty itself1 my 'one thing 
necessary4' ,a man here1 in  the middle 
of all these thoughts which gush out    
from all sides within  me--it would be a
 terrible thing2 and if ,i cannot defend
 my solitude  better1 ,i leave ,europe  
for many years1 ,i swear it6 ,i have no 
more time  to lose4    ,frulein         
,nietzsche forewarned ,paul ,re1 who    
abandoned his project4    ,at length he 

found it1 the idea1 the presentiment of 
which had agitated  him with such       
violence4 ,one day1 when he was going   
across the wood  of ,sils-,maria as far 
as ,silvaplana1 he sat down not far from
 ,surlei  at the foot of a pyramidal    
rock2 at this moment and in this place  
he conceived the ,eternal ,return4 ,he  
thought3 ,time1 whose duration  is      
infinite1 must bring back1 from period  
to period1 an identical  disposition of 
things4 ,this is necessary2 therefore it
 is necessary  that all things return4  
,in a number of days that is            
unforeseeable1  immense1 yet limited1 a 
man like to me in everything1 myself in 
fact1  seated in the shade of this rock1
 will again find in this very place     
this very idea4 ,and this very idea will
 be rediscovered by this man not  once  
only1 but an infinite number of times1  
for this movement which  brings things  
back is infinite4 ,therefore we must    
throw all hope aside  and think         
resolutely3 no celestial world will     

receive men1 no better  future will     
console them4 ,we are the shadows of a  
blind and monotonous  nature1 the       
prisoners of every moment4 ,but beware6 
this redoubtable  idea which forbids    
hope ennobles and exalts every minute of
 our lives2  the moment is no longer a  
passing thing1 if it come back          
eternally2  the least thing is an       
eternal monument endowed with infinite  
value1  and1 if the word divine has any 
sense1 divine4 ,let everything return   
ceaselessly1 he wrote1 it is the extreme
 rapprochement of a world  of becoming  
with a world of being3 summit of        
meditation4#a    ,the emotion of the    
discovery was so strong that he wept1   
and remained  for a long time bathed in 
tears4 ,so his effort had not been in   
vain4  ,without weakening before        
reality1 without withdrawing from       
pessimism1  but1 on the contrary1       
leading the pessimistic idea to its     
final  consequences1 ,nietzsche had     
discovered this doctrine of the ,return1

  which1 by conferring eternity on the  
most fugitive things1 restores  in each 
of them the lyrical power1 the religious
 value necessary to  the soul4 ,in a few
 lines he formulated the idea1 and dated
 it3 the  beginning of ,august1 #ahha1  
at ,sils-,maria1 #f1ejj feet above the  
sea and  far more than that above all   
human things6    ,he lived for some     
weeks in a condition of rapture and of  
anguish3 no  doubt the mystics knew     
similar emotions1 and their vocabulary  
suits his  case4 ,he experienced a      
divine pride2 but simultaneously        
recoiled in  fear and trembling1 like   
those prophets of ,israel before ,god   
receiving  from ,him the function of    
their mission4 ,the unhappy man1 who had
 been  so wounded by life1 faced with an
 indescribable horror the perpetuity  of
 the ,return4 ,it was an insupportable  
expectation1 a torment2 but he  loved   
this torment1 and he forced this idea of
 the ,eternal ,return on  himself as an 
ascetic does martyrdom4 ,lux mea crux1  

he wrote in his  notes1 crux mea lux6   
,light my cross1 cross my light6 ,his   
agitation1  which time did not appease1 
became extreme4 ,he grew alarmed1 for he
 was  not unaware of the danger which   
lay over his life4    ,on my horizon    
thoughts rise1 and what thoughts6 he    
wrote to ,peter  ,gast on the #adth of  
,august4 ,i did not suspect anything of 
this kind4  ,i say no more of it1 ,i    
wish to maintain a resolute calm4 ,alas1
 my  friend1 presentiments sometimes    
cross my mind4 ,it seems to me that ,i  
am leading a very dangerous life1 for my
 machine is one of those which  may ,,go
 ,,smash6 ,the intensity of my          
sentiments makes me shudder and laugh   
--twice already ,i have had to stay in  
my room1 and for a ridiculous  reason2  
my eyes were inflamed1 why8 ,because    
while ,i walked ,i had cried  too much2 
not sentimental tears1 but tears of joy2
 and ,i sang and  said idiotic things1  
being full of a new idea which ,i must  
proffer to  men4444    ,then he         

conceived a new task4 ,all that he had  
hitherto done was but  an awkward       
experiment or research2 the time was    
come when he should  erect the structure
 of his work4 ,of what work8 ,he        
hesitated3 his gifts  as an artist1 as a
 critic1 as a philosopher1 seduced him  
in various  directions4 ,should he put  
his doctrine in the form of a system8   
,no1 it  was a symbol and must be       
surrounded with poetry and rhythm4      
,could he  not renew that forgotten form
 which was created by the thinkers of   
the  most ancient ,greece8 ,lucretius   
had handed down the model4 ,friedrich   
,nietzsche welcomed this idea2 it would 
please him to translate his  conception 
of nature into poetic language1 into    
musical and measured  prose4 ,he sought1
 and his desire for a rhythmical        
language1 for a  living and1 as it were1
 palpable form1 suggested a new thought 
to him3  could he not introduce at the  
centre of his work a human and prophetic
  figure1 a hero8 ,a name occurred to   

him2 ,zarathustra1 the ,persian         
apostle1 the mystagogue of fire4 ,a     
title1 a subtitle1 four lines  rapidly  
written1 announced the poem3            
,,midday ,,and ,,eternity    ,sign of a 
,new ,life    ,zarathustra1 born on the 
borders of ,lake ,urumiyah1 left his    
country  when thirty years old1 went    
towards the province of ,aria1 and in   
ten  years of solitude composed the     
,zend-,avesta4    ,henceforward his     
walks and meditations were no longer    
solitary4  ,friedrich ,nietzsche never  
ceased to hear and gather the words of  
,zarathustra4 ,in three distiches of a  
soft and almost tender seduction  he    
tells how this companion entered into   
his life3    ,sils-,maria    ,i sat     
there waiting--waiting for nothing1     
,enjoying1 beyond good and  evil1 now   
,the light1 now the shade2 there was    
only ,the day1 the lake1  the noon1 time
 without end4 ,then1 my friend1 suddenly
 one became  two--,and ,zarathustra     
passed by me4    ,in ,september the     

weather suddenly became cold and snowy4 
,friedrich  ,nietzsche had to leave the 
,engadine4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,the intemperate
 weather had tried him2 he lost his     
exaltation1 and a  long period of       
depression set in4 ,he constantly       
thought of the ,eternal  ,return1 but   
now1 having lost courage1 he only felt a
 horror of it4 ,i  have lived again     
through the days at ,basle1 he wrote to 
,peter ,gast4  ,over my shoulder death  
looks at me4 ,his complaints are brief2 
a word  is enough to let us divine the  
abysses4 ,thrice1 during these weeks of 
,september and ,october1 he was tempted 
to suicide4 ,whence came this           
temptation8 ,it was not that he wished  
to avoid suffering2 he was brave4  ,did 
he then wish to prevent the ruin of his 
intellect8 ,this second  hypothesis is  
perhaps the true one4    ,he stopped at 
,genoa4 ,the damp winds and the lowering
 skies of the  capricious autumn        
continued to try him4 ,he bore          

impatiently with the  absence of light4 
,a melancholy of another kind           
complicated his trouble3  ,the ,dawn of 
,day had had no success4 ,the critics   
had ignored the work1  his friends had  
read it with difficulty2 ,jacob         
,burckhardt had expressed  a polite but 
prudent judgment4 ,certain parts of your
 book1 he wrote1  ,i read like an old   
man1 with a feeling of vertigo4 ,erwin  
,rohde1 the  dearest1 the most esteemed1
 had not acknowledged the receipt of the
  book4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche wrote to  
him from ,genoa on ,october #bast3      
,,dear ,,old ,,friend1--,no doubt some  
embarrassment delays you4 ,i pray you1  
in all sincerity1 not to write6 ,there  
will be no change in our mutual         
sentiments2 ,i cannot bear to think that
 in sending a book to a friend ,i       
exercise upon him a sort of pressure4   
,what matters a book6 ,what ,i have     
still to do matters more--or why should 
,i live8 ,the moment is bitter1 ,i      
suffer much4 ,cordially your ,f4 ,n4    

,erwin ,rohde did not answer even this  
letter4 ,how explain the want of        
success of ,the ,dawn8 ,doubtless it is 
a very old story1 the constant1  the    
universal1 the irremediable misadventure
 of the unrecognised  genius because he 
is a genius1 a novelty1 a surprise1 and 
a scandal4  ,nevertheless we may1       
perhaps1 grasp some definite reasons4   
,nietzsche1  since he had withdrawn from
 the ,wagnerian circle1 had no more     
friends2  and a group of friends is the 
most indispensable intermediary between 
a great mind which is trying its skill  
and the mass of the public4 ,he  is     
alone before unknown readers1 who are   
disconcerted by his incessant           
variations4 ,he hopes that the lively   
form of his work will capture  and      
conquer them4 ,but even the form is     
unfavourable4 ,no book has so  difficult
 an address as a collection of aphorisms
 and brief thoughts4  ,the reader must  
give all his attention to every page and
 decipher an  enigma2 lassitude comes   

quickly4 ,besides1 it is probable that a
 ,german  public1 with little feeling   
for the art of prose1 unskilful in      
grasping  its features1 accustomed to   
slow and sustained effort1 was          
ill-prepared  to understand this        
unforeseen work4    ,november was fine2 
,friedrich ,nietzsche recovered his     
spirits4 ,i lift  myself above my       
disasters1 he wrote ,he wandered over   
the mountains of  the ,genoese coast1 he
 returned to the rocks on which had come
 to him  the prose of ,the ,dawn4  ,such
 was the mildness of the weather that he
  could bathe in the sea4 ,i feel so    
rich1 so proud1 he wrote to ,peter      
,gast1 altogether 'principe ,doria4 ,i  
miss only you1 dear friend1 you  and    
your music6    ,since the               
representations of the ,nibelungen at   
,bayreuth--that is1  for five           
years--,friedrich ,nietzsche had        
deprived himself of music4  ,cave       
musicam6 he wrote4 ,he feared that if he
 abandoned himself to  the delight in   

sound he would be recaptured by the     
magic of ,wagnerian  art4 ,but he was   
finally delivered from these fears4 ,his
 friend ,peter  ,gast had played him1 in
 ,june1 at ,recoaro1 songs and choruses 
which he  had amused himself in         
composing on the epigrams of ,goethe4   
,paul ,re  had said one day1 ,no modern 
musician would be capable of putting to 
music such slight verses4 ,peter ,gast  
had taken up the challenge and  won1    
thought ,nietzsche1 who was ravished by 
the vivacity of the rhythm4  ,persevere1
 he advised his friend2 work against    
,wagner the musician1  as ,i work       
against ,wagner the philosopher4 ,let us
 try1 ,re1 you and  ,i1 to free         
,germany4 ,if you succeed in finding a  
music suited to the  universe of ,goethe
 7it does not exist71 you will have done
 a great  thing4 ,this thought reappears
 in each of his letters4 ,his friend is 
at ,venice1 he is at ,genoa1 and he     
hopes that this winter ,italy will      
inspire in them both1 the two uprooted  

,germans1 a new metaphysic and a  new   
music4    ,he took advantage of his     
improved health to go to the theatre4   
,he listened to the ,semiramis of       
,rossini1 and four times to the         
,juliette of ,bellini4 ,one evening he  
was curious to hear a ,french  work1 the
 author being unknown to him3           
,hurrah6 dear friend1 he wrote to ,peter
 ,gast1 another happy  discovery1 an    
opera of ,georges ,bizet 7who is he1    
then871 ,carmen4 ,it  is like a story of
 ,mrime's1 clever1 powerful1 sometimes  
touching4 ,a  true ,french talent which 
,wagner has not misguided1 a frank      
disciple  of ,berlioz4444 ,i almost     
think that ,carmen is the best opera    
which  exists4 ,as long as we live it   
will remain in all the repertoires of   
,europe4    ,the discovery of ,carmen   
was the event of his winter4 ,many times
 he  spoke of it1 many times he returned
 to it2 when he heard this frank and    
impassioned music1 he felt better armed 
against the romantic seductions  which  

were always powerful in his soul4       
,carmen delivers me1 he was  to write4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,friedrich ,nietzsche again found the   
happiness which he had enjoyed  in the  
preceding year2 a like happiness1 but   
sustained by a graver  kind of emotion3 
the full midday of his thought rose     
after the dawn4  ,towards the end of    
,december he passed a crisis and        
surmounted it4 ,a  sort of poem in prose
 commemorated this crisis4 ,we will     
translate it  here4 ,it is the          
consequence of his meditations1 of those
 examinations  of conscience which he   
used to write down1 as a young man1 each
 ,saint  ,sylvester's ,day3    ,for the 
,new ,year4--,i still live1 ,i still    
think3 ,i must still live1  for ,i must 
still think4 ,sum1 ergo cogito3 cogito1 
ergo sum4 ,this is  the day upon which  
every one is permitted to express his   
desire and  his dearest thought3 ,i1    
too1 shall then express the inner wish  
which ,i  form to-day1 and say what     

thought ,i take to heart1 this year1    
before  all other--what thought ,i have 
chosen as the reason1 guarantee1 and    
sweetness of my life to come6 ,i wish to
 try each day to see in all  things     
necessity as a beauty--thus shall ,i be 
one of those who make  things beautiful4
 ,amor fati1 let that be henceforward my
 love6 ,i  do not wish to go to battle  
against the hideous4 ,i do not wish to  
accuse1 ,i do not even wish to accuse   
the accusers4 ,to avert my  gaze1 let   
that be my sole negation4 ,in a word1 ,i
 wish to be1 in every  circumstance1 a  
,yea-,sayer6    ,the thirty days of     
,january passed without a cloud         
appearing in the  sky4 ,he was to       
dedicate to this fine month1 as a sign  
of gratitude1  the fourth book of the   
,gay ,science1 which he entitled        
,sanctus  ,januarius2 an admirable book 
rich in critical thought1 in intimate   
refinements1 and from the first to the  
last line dominated by a sacred         
emotion--,amor fati4    ,in ,february   

,paul ,re1 passing through ,genoa1      
stayed some days with his  friend1 who  
showed him his favourite walks and      
brought him to those  rocky creeks where
 in some six hundred years1 some        
thousand years1 he  wrote gaily to      
,peter ,gast1 they will raise a statue  
to the author of  ,the ,dawn ,then ,paul
 ,re went on to ,rome1 where ,frulein   
von ,meysenbug  was waiting for him4 ,he
 had a curiosity to penetrate into the  
,wagnerian  world there1 which was      
greatly excited in expectation of       
,parsifal2  it was in ,july1 at         
,bayreuth1 that the ,christian mystery  
was to be  presented4 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche did not wish to accompany    
,paul ,re1 and  the approaching         
performance of the ,parsifal only made  
his ardour  for work the more active4   
,had he not--he1 too--a great work which
 he  must ripen8 ,had he not to write   
his anti-,christian mystery1 his poem   
of the ,eternal ,return8 ,it was his    
constant thought4 ,it procured him a    

happiness1 thanks to which he could     
recall with less torturing regret  the  
master of by-gone days4 ,richard ,wagner
 seemed very far and very  near2 very   
far as regards his ideas1 but what are  
ideas worth to a  poet8 ,very near in   
sentiments1 desires1 lyrical emotion2   
and were  not these the essential       
things8 ,all disaccord between poets is 
only  a question of shades1 for they    
inhabit the same universe1 they work    
with a like heart to give a significance
 and a supreme value to the  movements  
of the human soul4 ,reading this page   
which ,nietzsche then  wrote1 it is     
easier to understand the condition of   
his mind3    ,stellar ,friendship4--,we 
were friends1 and we have become        
strangers  to each other4 ,ah1 yes2 but 
it is well so1 and we wish to hide      
nothing1  to disguise nothing from one  
another2 we have nothing to be ashamed  
of4 ,we are two ships1 each with a      
bourne and a way4 ,by chance we have    
crossed paths2 we have made holiday     

together--and then our two good  ships  
have so tranquilly reposed in the one   
port and under the same  sun1 that it   
seemed as though they had both attained 
their bourne4 ,but  the all-powerful    
force of our mission has driven us      
afresh towards  divers seas and         
suns--and perhaps we shall not meet1 or 
recognise one  another again3 the divers
 seas and suns will have transformed us6
 ,we  had to become strangers2 a reason 
the more why we should mutually  respect
 ourselves6 ,no doubt there exists a far
 off1 invisible and  prodigious cycle   
which gives a common law to our little  
divagations3  let us uplift ourselves to
 this thought6 ,but our life is too     
short1  our vision too feeble2 we must  
content ourselves with this sublime     
possibility4 ,and if we must be enemies 
upon earth1 in spite of all we  believe 
in our stellar friendship4    ,what form
 did the poetical exposition of the     
,eternal ,return then take  in his soul8
 ,we do not know4 ,nietzsche did not    

care to talk about his  work2 he liked  
to complete it before making            
announcements4 ,however1  he wished that
 his friends should know the new        
movement in which his  thought was      
engaged4 ,he addressed to ,frulein von  
,meysenbug a letter in  which ,wagner   
was treated without deference1 then he  
added a mysterious  enough promise3 ,if 
,i am not illusioned as to my future1 it
 is by my  work that what is best in the
 work of ,wagner will be continued--and 
here1 perhaps1 is the comical side to   
the adventure4           99       99    
99       99       99    ,at the         
beginning of spring ,friedrich          
,nietzsche1 following out a  caprice1   
made a bargain with the captain of an   
,italian sailing  vessel bound for      
,messina and crossed the ,mediterranean4
 ,the passage  was a terrible one1 and  
he was sick to death4 ,but his stay was 
at  first happy3 he wrote verses1 a     
pleasure which he had not known for     
several years4 ,they are impromptus and 

epigrams1 perhaps inspired by  those    
,goethean sallies which ,peter ,gast had
 put to music4 ,nietzsche  then sought  
for a corner of nature and of humanity  
favourable to  the production of his    
great work3 ,sicily1 ,curb of the world 
where  ,happiness has her habitation1 as
 old ,homer teaches1 struck him as  an  
ideal refuge1 and1 suddenly forgetting  
that he could not bear the  heat1 he    
decided to stay in ,messina for the     
whole summer4 ,some days of  sirocco1   
towards the end of ,april1 prostrated   
him1 and he prepared for  departure4 ,it
 was in these circumstances that he     
received a message  from ,frulein von   
,meysenbug1 who urged him very keenly to
 stop at  ,rome4 ,rome was a natural    
stage on his journey1 and he accepted4  
,why  was ,frulein von ,meysenbug thus  
insistent8 ,we know4 ,this excellent    
woman had never been resigned to the    
unhappiness of the friend whose  destiny
 she had vainly sought to sweeten4 ,she 
knew the delicacy1 the  tenderness of   

his heart1 and often wished to find him 
a companion2 had  he not written to her1
 ,i tell you in confidence1 what ,i need
 is a  good woman8 ,in the spring of    
this year she thought that she had found
  her4#b    ,this accounted for her     
letter4 ,it was ,frulein von            
,meysenbug's habit to  do good1 and her 
taste2 but perhaps she sometimes forgot 
that goodness  is a difficult art in    
which the results of defeat are cruel4  
,the girl whom ,frulein von ,meysenbug  
had met was called ,lou ,salom4  ,she   
was scarcely twenty years old2 she was a
 ,russian and admirable as  regards her 
intelligence and intellectual ardour2   
her beauty was not  perfect1 but the    
more exquisite for its imperfections1   
and she was  fascinating in the extreme4
 ,sometimes it happens that there       
arises1  in ,paris1 in ,florence1 in    
,rome1 some excited young lady1 a native
 of  ,philadelphia1 of ,bucharest1 or of
 ,kief1 who comes with a barbarous      
impatience to be initiated into culture 

and to conquer a hearth in our  old     
capital4 ,the lady in question was of   
rare quality assuredly2 her  mother     
followed her across ,europe1 carrying   
the cloaks and the shawls4    ,frulein  
von ,meysenbug conceived an affection   
for her4 ,she gave her  ,nietzsche's    
works2 ,lou ,salom read them and seemed 
to understand4  ,she talked to her at   
great length of this extraordinary man  
who had  sacrificed friendship with     
,wagner for the maintenance of his      
liberty3  ,he is a very rugged          
philosopher1 she said1 but he is the    
most  sensitive1 the most affectionate  
friend1 and1 for those who know him1    
the thought of his solitary life is a   
source of sadness4 ,miss ,salom         
displayed a great deal of enthusiasm and
 longing2 she declared that she  felt   
vowed to a spiritual share in such a    
life1 and that she wished to  make      
,nietzsche's acquaintance4 ,in concert  
with ,paul ,re1 who1 it seems1  had     
known her for a longer time1 and also   

appreciated her1 ,frulein von           
,meysenbug wrote to ,friedrich          
,nietzsche4    ,he arrived1 he heard the
 praises of ,miss ,lou sung2 she was a  
woman  of elevated feeling1 shrewd and  
brave2 intransigent in research and  in 
affirmation2 a heroine in the manner of 
her childhood2 it was the  promise of a 
great life4 ,he agreed to see her4 ,one 
morning1 at ,st4  ,peter's1 she was     
presented to him and conquered him at   
once4 ,he had  forgotten1 during his    
long months of meditation1 the pleasure 
of being  listened to and of talking4   
,the young ,russian 7it is thus that he 
calls her in his letters7 listened      
deliciously4 ,she spoke little1 but  her
 calm look1 her assured and gentle      
movements1 her least words1 left  no    
doubt as to the quickness of her mind   
and to the presence of a soul4  ,very   
quickly1 perhaps at first sight1        
,nietzsche liked her4 ,there's a  soul1 
he said to ,frulein von ,meysenbug1     
which has made a little body  for itself

 with a breath4#c ,miss ,salom did not  
let herself be thus  enticed4           
,nevertheless1 she felt the singular    
quality of the man who  talked to her2  
she had long conversations with him1 and
 the violence of  his thought troubled  
her even in her sleep4 ,the             
adventure--it was in  fact a            
drama--commenced at once4    ,a few days
 after this first interview1 ,miss      
,salom and her mother left  ,rome4 ,the 
two philosophers1 ,nietzsche and ,re1   
went with her1 both of  them enthusiasts
 for the young girl4 ,nietzsche said to 
,re3    ,there's an admirable woman1    
marry her4 ,no1 answered ,re2 ,i am a   
pessimist1 and the idea of propagating  
human life is odious to me4  ,marry her 
yourself2 she is the companion that you 
want4444 ,nietzsche  dismissed this     
idea4 ,perhaps he said to his friend1 as
 he had said  to his sister3 ,i marry6  
,never1 ,i would have to be a bar       
somewhere  or other4 ,miss ,salom's     
mother examined these two men who were  

so attentive to her child2 ,friedrich   
,nietzsche perplexed her2 she  preferred
 ,paul ,re4    ,the two friends and the 
two philosophers stopped at ,lucerne4   
,friedrich  ,nietzsche wished to show   
his new friend that house at ,triebschen
 where  he had known ,richard ,wagner4  
,who was not then thinking of the       
master8  ,he brought her as far as the  
poplars whose high foliage enclosed the 
gardens4 ,he recounted to her the       
unforgettable days1 the gaieties1  the  
magnificent angers of the great man4    
,seated by the border of the  lake1 he  
talked in a low1 contained voice1 and   
turned his face a  little away1 for it  
was troubled by the memory of those joys
 of which  he had deprived himself4     
,suddenly he grew silent1 and the young 
girl1  observing him1 saw that he wept4 
,he confessed all his life to her2 his  
childhood1 the pastor's house1  the     
mysterious grandeur of the father who   
had been so quickly taken  away2 the    
pious years1 the first doubts1 and the  

horror of this world  without a ,god in 
which one must resolve to live2 the     
discovery of  ,schopenhauer and of      
,wagner1 the religious feeling which    
they had  inspired in him and which had 
consoled him for the loss of his faith4 
,yes1 said he 7,miss ,salom reports     
these words71 my adventures began  in   
this manner4 ,they are not ended4 ,where
 will they lead me8 ,whither  shall ,i  
adventure again8 ,should ,i not come    
back to the faith8 to some  new belief8 
,he added gravely3 ,in any case a return
 to the past is more likely than        
immobility4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche had
 not yet avowed his love2 but he felt   
its force  and no longer resisted4 ,only
 he feared to declare himself4 ,he      
begged  ,paul ,re to speak in his name1 
and withdrew4    ,on the #hth of ,may1  
settled for some days in ,basle1 he saw 
the  ,overbecks and confided in them    
with a strange exaltation4 ,a woman has 
come into his life2 it is a happiness   
for him2 it will benefit his  thought1  

which will henceforward be livelier1    
richer in its shades and  emotion4      
,assuredly he would prefer not to marry 
,miss ,lou1 he disdains  all fleshly    
ties2 but perhaps he ought to give her  
his name for her  protection against    
scandalmongers1 and from this spiritual 
union would  be born a spiritual son3   
the prophet ,zarathustra4 ,he is poor2  
this is a  vexation1 an obstacle4 ,but  
could he not sell all his future work in
 a  lump to some publisher for a        
considerable sum8 ,he thought of doing  
so4  ,these out-bursts did not fail to  
trouble the ,overbecks1 who augured ill 
of a liaison so bizarre and of an       
enthusiasm so ready4    ,friedrich      
,nietzsche at last received ,lou        
,salom's reply3 she did not  wish to    
marry4 ,an unhappy love affair1 which   
had just crossed her life1  left her1   
she said1 without strength to conceive  
and nourish a new  affection4 ,she      
therefore refused ,nietzsche's offer4   
,but she was able to  sweeten the terms 

of this refusal3 the only thing of which
 she could  dispose1 her friendship1 her
 spiritual affection1 she offered4      
,friedrich ,nietzsche returned at once  
to ,lucerne4 ,he saw ,lou ,salom  and   
pressed her to give a more favourable   
reply2 but the young girl  repeated her 
refusal and her offer4 ,she was to be   
present in ,july at  the ,bayreuth      
festivals1 from which ,nietzsche wished 
to abstain4 ,she  promised to rejoin him
 when they were over and to stay for    
some weeks  at his side4 ,she would then
 listen to his teaching1 she would      
confront  the last thought of the master
 with that of the liberated disciple4   
,nietzsche had finally to accept these  
conditions1 these limits which  the     
young girl placed on their friendship4  
,he advised her to read  one of his     
books1 ,schopenhauer as ,educator4 ,he  
was always glad to  acknowledge this    
work of his youth1 this hymn to the     
bravery of a  thinker and to voluntary  
solitude4 ,read it1 he said to her1 and 

you  will be ready to hear me4          
,friedrich ,nietzsche left ,basle and   
re-entered ,germany1 desirous of        
becoming reconciled to his country4 ,he 
was1 as we know1 accustomed to  such    
absorbing and unexpected desires4 ,a    
,swiss1 whom he had met at  ,messina1   
had praised the beauty of ,grunewald1   
near ,berlin2 he wished to  settle      
there1 and wrote to ,peter ,gast1 to    
whom1 six weeks earlier1 he  had        
suggested as a summer residence         
,messina4    ,he went to visit this     
,grunewald1 which pleased him well      
enough2 but he  saw1 on the same        
occasion1 ,berlin and a few ,berliners1 
who displeased  him extremely4 ,he      
perceived that his last books had not   
been read1 and  that his thought was    
ignored4 ,he was only known as the      
friend of ,paul  ,re1 and no doubt his  
disciple4 ,this he did not like4 ,he    
went without  delay to spend some weeks 
in ,naumburg1 where he dictated the     
manuscript  of his coming book1 ,la     

,gaya ,scienza#d4 ,to his own people1 it
 seems1  to his mother and to his       
sister1 he spoke discreetly of the new  
friend4  ,his gaiety amazed them3 they  
did not discern its cause4 ,they did not
  know that their strange ,friedrich had
 in his heart a sentiment1 a hope  of   
happiness1 which ,lou ,salom had been   
far from discouraging4    ,the          
representation of ,parsifal was fixed   
for the #bgth ,july4 ,friedrich         
,nietzsche went to stay in a village of 
the ,thuringian forests1  ,tautenburg1  
not far from ,bayreuth1 where all his   
friends were to  foregather3 the        
,overbecks1 the ,seydlitzs1 ,gersdorff1 
,frulein von  ,meysenbug1 ,lou ,salom1  
,lisbeth ,nietzsche4 ,he alone was      
absent from  the rendezvous4 ,at this   
moment a word from the master would     
perhaps  have sufficed to bring him     
back2 perhaps he waited for and hoped   
for this word4 ,frulein von ,meysenbug  
wished to make an attempt at            
reconciliation3 she dared to name       

,nietzsche in ,wagner's presence4       
,wagner told her to be silent and went  
out of the room banging the door4    ,so
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 who no doubt    
never knew of this overture1  remained  
in those forests in which he had spent  
such hard days in  #ahgf4 ,how miserable
 he had then been and now how rich he   
was6 ,he had  repressed his doubts2 a   
great thought animated his mind1 a great
  affection his heart4 ,lou ,salom had  
just dedicated to him1 as a sign of     
spiritual sympathy1 a beautiful poem4   
,,to ,,sorrow4        ,wer kann dich    
fliehn1 den du ergriffen hast1          
,wenn du die ernsten ,bliche auf ihn    
richtest8      ,ich will nicht flchten1 
wenn du mich erfasst1      ,ich glaube  
nimmer1 dass du nur vernichtest6        
,ich weiss1 durch jedes ,erden--,dasein 
muss du gehn1      ,und nichts bleibt   
unberhrt von dir auf ,erden3      ,das  
,leben ohne dich--es wre schn1      ,und
 doch--auch1 du bist werth1 gelebt zu   
werden4#e      ,peter ,gast1 having read

 these verses1 thought they were        
,nietzsche's1  who rejoiced over his    
error4    ,no1 he wrote to him1 this    
poetry is not by my hand4 ,it is one of 
the  things which exercise upon me a    
tyrannical power1 ,i have never been    
able to read it without tears2 it has   
the accent of a voice which ,i  might   
have waited for1 expected since my      
childhood4 ,my friend ,lou1 of  whom you
 have not yet heard1 has written it4    
,lou is the daughter of a  ,russian     
general1 she is twenty years old2 her   
mind is as piercing as an  eagle's      
vision1 she has the courage of a lion1  
and yet she is a very  feminine child1  
who1 perhaps1 will hardly live4444      
,he re-read his manuscript for the last 
time and sent it to the printer4  ,he   
hesitated a little at the moment of     
publishing this new collection  of      
aphorisms4 ,his friends1 as he knew1    
would find fault with these  too        
numerous volumes1 these too brief       
essays1 these scarcely formed  sketches4

 ,he listened to them1 heard what they  
had to say1 answered  them with an      
apparent good will4 ,no doubt his       
modesty was feigned2 he  could not bring
 himself to believe that his essays1    
short though they  were1 his sketches1  
which were so weak in form1 were not    
worth being  read4    ,he thought much  
of the ,bayreuth festivals1 but he      
dissembled or only  half avowed his     
regrets4 ,i am well content that ,i     
cannot go1 he wrote  to ,lou ,salom4    
,and1 nevertheless1 if ,i could be at   
your side1 in good  humour to talk2 if  
,i could say in your ear this1 that1    
well1 ,i could  endure the music of the 
,parsifal 7otherwise ,i could not74     
,parsifal triumphed4 ,nietzsche         
mockingly welcomed the news4 ,long live 
,cagliostro6 he wrote to ,peter ,gast4  
,the old enchanter has again had a      
prodigious success2 the old gentlemen   
sobbed4    ,the young ,russian came to  
rejoin him as soon as the festivals were
  over2 ,lisbeth ,nietzsche accompanied 

her4 ,the two ladies installed          
themselves in the hotel where ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche awaited them2 then  he      
undertook to initiate his friend4       
,she had heard the ,christian mystery at
 ,bayreuth1 the history of human  sorrow
 traversed like an ordeal and consoled  
at last by beatitude4  ,friedrich       
,nietzsche taught her a more tragic     
mystery3 sorrow is our  life and our    
destiny itself2 let us not hope to      
traverse it2 let us  accept it more     
entirely than the ,christians ever did6 
,let us espouse  it2 let us love it with
 an active love2 let us be1 like it1    
ardent and  pitiless2 hard to others as 
to ourselves2 cruel1 let us accept it2  
brutal1 let us accept it4 ,to lessen it 
is to be cowardly2 and let us  meditate 
on the symbol of the ,eternal ,return to
 practise our courage4  ,unforgettable  
for me are those hours in which he      
revealed to me his  thoughts1 wrote     
,miss ,salom4 ,he confided them to me1  
as though they  were a mystery          

unspeakably hard to tell2 he only spoke 
of them in a low  voice1 with every     
appearance of the most profound horror4 
,and truly  life had been for him such  
bitter suffering that he suffered from  
the ,eternal ,return as from an         
atrocious certainty4 ,that ,miss ,salom 
listened to these confessions with great
 intelligence and real emotion1  the    
pages which she afterwards wrote assure 
us4    ,she conceived a brief hymn which
 she dedicated to ,friedrich ,nietzsche3
          ,as friend loves friend1      
,so love ,i thee1 life surprising6      
,do ,i weep or joy in thee1      ,givest
 thou me joy or suffering1      ,i love 
thee with thy joy and pain4      ,and if
 thou must destroy me1      ,i shall    
suffer1 leaving thee4      ,as the      
friend who teareth himself from the arms
 of the friend1      ,i caress thee with
 my whole strength3      ,hast thou no  
other joy for me8      ,so be it1 ,i    
have still--thy suffering4              
,friedrich ,nietzsche1 delighted with   

the gift1 wished to reply to it  by     
another gift4 ,for eight years he had   
forbidden himself musical  composition1 
which enervated and exhausted him4 ,he  
undertook to compose  a sorrowful       
dithyramb on the verses of ,miss ,salom4
 ,this work was  too moving and caused  
him great pain3 neuralgia1 crises of    
doubt1  barrenness and satiety4 ,he had 
to take to his bed4 ,even from his room 
he addressed short notes to ,lou ,salom4
 ,in bed1 terrible attack4 ,i  scorn    
life4    ,but these weeks at ,tautenburg
 had their secret history of which we   
know  little4 ,lou ,salom1 writes       
,frulein ,nietzsche1 was never the      
sincere  friend of her brother2 he      
roused her curiosity1 but her passion1  
her enthusiasm1 were only feigned1 and  
she was often wearied by his  terrible  
agitation4 ,she wrote to ,paul ,re1 from
 whom ,frulein ,nietzsche  was surprised
 to receive a very singular message3    
,your brother1 he  said1 tires our      
friend2 shorten1 if it be possible1 the 

meeting4    ,we are inclined to think   
that ,frulein ,nietzsche was jealous of 
this  initiation which she had not      
received1 jealous1 too1 of this young   
,slav1 whose charm was tinged with      
mystery1 and that we must take what  she
 has to say with caution4    ,no doubt1 
,nietzsche alarmed ,lou ,salom by the   
violence of his passions  and by the    
loftiness of his demands4 ,she had not  
foreseen1 in offering  to be his friend1
 the crises of a friendship ruder than a
 stormy love4  ,he demanded an absolute 
assent to each of his thoughts4 ,the    
young girl  refused such assent3 may the
 intellect1 like the heart1 be given8   
,nietzsche could not brook her proud    
reserve1 and reproached her1 as  though 
it were a fault1 for the independence   
which she wished to  preserve4 ,a letter
 to ,peter ,gast gives us a glimpse into
 these disputes4    ,lou remains another
 week with me1 he wrote1 on the #bjth of
 ,august1  from ,tautenburg4 ,she is the
 most intelligent of all women4 ,every  

five days a little tragical scene arises
 between us4 ,all that ,i have  written 
to you about her is absurd1 and not less
 absurd1 no doubt1 than  what ,i now    
write to you4    ,this somewhat cautious
 and reticent phrasing does not suggest 
that the  heart had escaped its         
captivity4 ,lou ,salom left ,tautenburg2
 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche continued to    
write letters to her1 many of which are 
known  to us4 ,he confided his work and 
projects to ,lou ,salom3 he wished to   
go to ,paris or ,vienna to study the    
physical sciences and deepen his  theory
 of the ,eternal ,return2 for it was not
 enough that it should be  fascinating  
and beautiful1 ,nietzsche wished that it
 should be true4  ,thus we saw him1 and 
always will see him1 hampered by his    
critical  spirit when he pursues a      
lyrical inspiration2 hampered by his    
lyrical  genius when he pursues a       
critical analysis4 ,he related to her   
the happy  success of the ,hymn to ,life
 which her verses had inspired1 and     

which  he was submitting to the judgment
 of his musical friends4 ,an orchestral 
conductor gave him hope of a hearing3   
ready for hope as he was1 he            
communicated the news4 ,by this little  
path1 he writes1 we can reach  posterity
 together--all other paths remaining    
open4 ,on ,september  #afth he wrote    
from ,leipsic to ,peter ,gast4 ,latest  
news3 on the #bnd of  ,october ,lou     
comes here2 two months later we leave   
for ,paris2 and we  shall stay there1   
perhaps for years4 ,such are my         
projects4    ,his mother and sister     
blamed him2 he knew it1 and their       
hostility did  not displease him3 ,all  
the virtues of ,naumburg are against me1
 he  wrote1 it is well that it is so 444
    ,two months later1 the friendship   
was broken4 ,perhaps we may perceive    
what had happened4 ,lou ,salom came to  
find ,nietzsche at ,leipsic1 as  she had
 promised2 but ,paul ,re accompanied    
her4 ,no doubt she wished  ,nietzsche to
 understand once and for all the nature 

of a friendship  which was always open  
to him3 free1 not slavish2 sympathy1 not
  intellectual devotion4 ,had she well  
weighed the difficulties of such an     
enterprise1 the dangers of such an      
attempt8 ,these two men were in love    
with her4 ,what was her attitude between
 them8 ,may she not have yielded1  when 
she tried to keep them both by her1 to  
some instinct1 perhaps an  unconscious  
one1 of intellectual curiosity1 of      
conquest and feminine  domination8 ,who 
can say1 who will ever know8            
,friedrich ,nietzsche became melancholy 
and suspicious4 ,one day he  imagined   
that his companions1 talking together   
under their breath1 were  laughing at   
him4 ,a piece of gossip reached him1 and
 upset his mind4  ,the story1 puerile   
though it be1 must be told4 ,re1        
,nietzsche1 and ,lou  ,salom had been   
photographed together4 ,lou ,salom and  
,re had said to  ,nietzsche3 ,get into  
this child's cart3 we will hold the     
shafts2 it  will be a symbol of our     

union4 ,nietzsche had answered3 ,i      
refuse2 ,miss  ,lou will be in the cart2
 we will hold the shafts1 ,paul ,re and 
,i4 ,this  ,miss ,lou did4 ,and she     
7according to the story repeated to him7
 sent the  photograph to numerous       
friends1 as a symbol of her supremacy4  
,a more cruel thought soon began to     
torture ,friedrich ,nietzsche3 ,lou  and
 ,re are in agreement against me1 he    
thought2 their agreement  condemns them1
 they love one another and are deceiving
 me4 ,then all  became poor and vile    
around him4 ,a miserable strife         
terminated the  spiritual adventure of  
which he had dreamed4 ,he lost his      
strange and  seductive disciple2 he lost
 the best and most intelligent friend of
 his  last eight years4 ,finally1       
affected and impaired by these          
humiliating  conditions1 he himself did 
a wrong to friendship and denounced ,re 
to  ,lou4    ,he has a marvellous mind1 
he said1 but it is feeble and aimless4  
,his education is the cause of the      

trouble3 every man should have been     
brought up in some sort for a soldier4  
,and every woman1 in some sort1  for a  
soldier's wife4    ,nietzsche had       
neither the experience nor the necessary
 resolution to  decide an infinitely    
painful situation4 ,his sister1 who     
detested ,miss  ,salom1 encouraged his  
suspicions and his rancours4 ,she       
intervened in  a brutal manner1 and1 it 
seems1 without authorisation1 wrote the 
young  girl a letter which determined   
the rupture4 ,miss ,salom was angry4    
,we have the rough draft of the last    
letter which ,friedrich ,nietzsche      
addressed to her2 it throws little light
 on the detail of these  difficulties4  
,but1 ,lou1 what letters yours are6 ,a  
little angry schoolgirl writes in  this 
way4 ,what have ,i got to do with these 
bickerings8 ,understand me3 ,i  wish you
 to rise in my opinion2 not to sink     
again4    ,i only reproach you for this3
 you ought to have sooner given an      
account of what ,i expected from you4   

,at ,lucerne ,i gave you my essay on    
,schopenhauer--,i told you that my views
 were essentially there1 and that  ,i   
believed that they would also be yours4 
,then you should have read  and said3   
,no 7in such matters ,i hate all        
superficiality74 ,you would  have spared
 me much6 ,your poem1 ',sorrow1' written
 by you1 is a profound  counter-truth4  
,i believe that no one thinks more good 
things of you than ,i do1 or  more bad4 
,do not defend yourself3 ,i have already
 defended you1 to  myself and to others1
 better than you could do it4 ,creatures
 like you  are only bearable to others  
when they have a lofty object4    ,how  
poor you are in veneration1 in          
gratitude1 in piety1 in courtesy1  in   
admiration1 in delicacy--,i do not speak
 of higher things4 ,how would  you      
answer if ,i asked you3 ,are you brave8 
,are you incapable of treason8    ,do   
you not then feel that when a man like  
myself approaches you1 he  needs to     
constrain himself very greatly8 ,you    

have had to do with one of  the most    
for-bearing and benevolent of men       
possible3 but against petty  egoism and 
little weaknesses1 my argument1 know it 
well1 is disgust4  ,no one is so easily 
conquered by disgust as ,i4 ,i have not 
deceived  myself again on any point     
whatsoever2 ,i saw in you that holy     
egoism  which forces us to serve what is
 highest in us4 ,i do not know by what  
sorcery's aid you have exchanged it for 
its contrary1 the egoism of the  cat1   
which only desires life4    ,farewell1  
dear ,lou1 ,i shall not see you again4  
,protect your soul from  like deeds1 and
 succeed better with others in regard to
 things that1 so  far as ,i am          
concerned1 are irreparable4    ,i have  
not read your letter to the end1 but ,i 
have read too much of  it4 ,your1    ,f4
 ,n4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche left      
,leipsic4      #a ,this formula is given
 in the ,wille zur ,macht1 paragraph    
#bhf4    #b ,this intimate history has  
never been known except to a few people1

  who are now1 for the most part1 out of
 our ken4 ,two women survive3 one1      
,frau ,frster-,nietzsche1 has published 
some accounts which one would  wish were
 more lucid and tranquil2 the other1    
,miss ,salom1 has written  a book on    
,friedrich ,nietzsche in which some     
facts are indicated and  some letters   
cited2 she has refused to enter into    
polemics on a subject  which1 as she    
considers1 concerns herself alone4 ,oral
 traditions are  numerous and           
contradictory4 ,some1 rife in ,roman    
society1 where the  adventure took      
place1 are less favourable to ,miss     
,salom2 she appears  as a sort of ,marie
 ,bashkirtseff1 an intellectual         
adventuress who was  somewhat too       
enterprising4 ,others1 rife in ,germany 
among ,miss ,salom's  friends1 are very 
different4 ,we have heard all these     
traditions4 ,the  first have influenced 
the account which we have given in the  
,cahiers  de la quinzaine1 the second   
volume of the tenth series1 pp4 #bd et  

seq42 the second1 which we learned      
later1 we now prefer4 ,but all hope  of 
certainty must be adjourned4    #c ,da  
ist eine ,seele welche sich mit einen   
,hauch eine ,krperchen  geschaffen hat4 
#d ,the y in the word ,gaya does not    
seem to be ,italian4 ,we follow         
,nietzsche's orthography4    #e ,who    
that hath once been seized by thee can  
fly1 if he hath felt  thy grave look    
turned on him8 ,i shall not save myself1
 if thou takest  me1 ,i shall never     
believe thou dost naught but destroy4   
,yea1 thou must  visit all that liveth  
upon earth1 nothing upon earth can evade
 thy  grip3 life without thee--it were  
beautiful1 yet--thou too art worthy to  
be lived4        ,,ii      ,thus ,spake 
,zarathustra      ,his departure was    
prompt1 like a flight4 ,he passed       
through ,basle and  stopped with his    
friends the ,overbecks1 who listened to 
his plaint4  ,he had awakened from his  
last dream2 everyone had betrayed him3  
,lou1  ,re1 feeble and perfidious2      

,lisbeth1 his sister1 who had acted     
grossly4  ,of what betrayal did he      
complain1 and of what act8 ,he did not  
say1  and continued his bitter          
complaints4 ,the ,overbecks wished him  
to stay  with them for some days4 ,he   
escaped them2 he wished to work1 and    
surmount alone the sadness of having    
been deceived1 the humiliation of       
having deceived himself4 ,perhaps he    
also wished to put to profit that       
condition of paroxysm and the lyrical   
sursum whither his despair had  carried 
him4 ,he left4 ,to-day1 said he to his  
friends1 ,i enter into a  complete      
solitude4    ,he left1 and stopped in   
the first instance at ,genoa4 ,cold1    
sick4 ,i  suffer1 he wrote briefly to   
,peter ,gast4 ,he left this town1 where 
he was importuned perhaps by memories of
 a happier time1 and moved  away along  
the coast4 ,at the time of which we     
speak1 ,nervi1 ,santa  ,margherita1     
,rapallo1 ,zoagli1 were places unknown  
to the tourist1 market  towns inhabited 

by fishermen who1 each evening1 drew in 
their barques  to the recesses of the   
coves and sang as they mended their     
nets4  ,friedrich ,nietzsche discovered 
these magnificent spots1 and chose1 to  
humiliate his misery there1 the most    
magnificent of them1 ,rapallo4 ,he      
relates1 in simple language1 the        
circumstances of his sojourn3    ,i     
spent my winter1 #ahhb to #ahhc1 in the 
charming and quiet bay of  ,rapallo that
 is hollowed out by the ,mediterranean  
not far from ,genoa1  between the       
promontory of ,portofino and ,chiavari4 
,my health was not of  the best2 the    
winter was cold1 rainy2 a little inn1#f 
situated at the  very edge of the sea1  
so near it that the noise of the waves  
prevented  me sleeping at night1 offered
 me a shelter very unsatisfactory from  
all points of view4 ,nevertheless--and  
it is an instance of my maxim  that all 
that is decisive comes 'nevertheless    
'--it was during this  winter and in    
this discomfort that my noble           

,zarathustra was born4 ,in  the morning 
,i would climb towards the south by the 
magnificent mountain  road1 towards     
,zoagli1 among the pines and dominating 
the immense sea2  in the evening        
7according as my health permitted it7 ,i
 would go round  the bay of ,santa      
,margherita as far as ,portofino4444 ,on
 these two  roads came to me all the    
first part of ,zarathustra 7fiel mir    
ein72  and more1 ,zarathustra himself1  
as type2 more exactly he fell upon me   
7berfiel mich74444    ,in ten weeks he  
conceived and completed his poem4 ,it is
 a new work and1  if one affects to     
follow the genesis of his thought1 a    
surprising one4  ,no doubt1 he meditated
 a lyrical work1 a sacred book4 ,but the
 essential  doctrine of this work was to
 be given by the idea of the ,eternal   
,return4 ,now1 in the first part of     
,zarathustra1 the idea of the ,eternal  
,return does not appear4 ,nietzsche     
follows a different and opposing  idea1 
the idea of the ,superman1 the symbol of

 a real progress which  modifies things1
 the promise of a possible escape beyond
 chance and  fatality4    ,zarathustra  
announces the ,superman1 he is the      
prophet of good tidings4  ,he has       
discovered in his solitude a promise of 
happiness1 he bears this  promise2 his  
strength is sweet and benevolent1 he    
predicts a great  future as the reward  
of a great work4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 
in other  times1 will put a more bitter 
speech into his mouth4 ,if one reads    
this first part1 and takes care not to  
confound it with those which            
immediately follow1 one will feel the   
sanctity1 the frequent suavity of  the  
accent4    ,why this abandonment of the 
,eternal ,return8 ,nietzsche does not   
write  a word which throws light upon   
this mystery4 ,miss ,lou ,salom tells   
us that at ,leipsic1 during his short   
studies1 he had realised the            
impossibility of founding his hypothesis
 in reason4 ,but this did not  diminish 
the lyrical value of which he knew how  

to take advantage  a year later2 and    
this cannot explain1 in any case1 the   
appearance  of a contrary idea4 ,what   
are we to think8 ,perhaps his stoicism  
was  vanquished by the betrayal of his  
two friends4 ,in spite of all1 he  wrote
 on ,december #crd to ,peter ,gast1 ,i  
would not like to live these  latter    
months over again4 ,we know that he     
never ceased to experience  in himself  
the efficacy of his thoughts4 ,incapable
 of enduring the  cruel symbol1 he did  
not think that he could sincerely offer 
it to men1  and he invented a new       
symbol1 ,uebermensch1 the ,superman4 ,i 
do not  desire a recommencement1 he     
writes in his notes 7ich will das leben 
nicht wieder74 ,how was ,i able to      
endure the idea8 ,in creating1 in       
fixing my view on the ,superman1 who    
says yea to life1 ,i have myself  tried 
to say ,yea--alas6    ,to the cry of his
 youth3 ,ist ,veredlung mglich8 7,is the
 ennobling  of man possible87 ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche desires to reply1 and to    

reply  ,yes4 ,he wishes to believe in   
the ,superman1 and succeeds in doing    
so4 ,he can grasp this hope2 it suits   
the design of his work4 ,what  does he  
propose to himself8 ,among all the      
inclinations which urge  him1 this one  
is strong3 to answer the ,parsifal1 to  
oppose work to  work4 ,richard ,wagner  
desired to depict humanity drawn from   
its languor  by the ,eucharistie        
mystery1 the troubled blood of men      
renovated by  the ever poured out blood 
of ,christ4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche wishes
 to  depict humanity saved from languor 
by the glorification of its own         
essence1 by the virtues of a chosen and 
willing few which purify and  renew its 
blood4 ,is this all his desire8 ,surely 
not4 ,thus ,spake  ,zarathustra is more 
than an answer to the ,parsifal4 ,the   
origins of  ,nietzsche's thoughts are   
always grave and distant4 ,what is his  
last  wish8 ,he desires to guide and    
direct the activity of men2 he wishes to
  create their morals1 assign to the    

humble their tasks1 to the strong  their
 duties and their commandments1 and to  
raise them all towards a  sublime       
destiny4 ,as a child1 as a youth1 as a  
young man1 he had this  aspiration2 at  
thirty-eight years of age1 at this      
instant of crisis and  of decision1 he  
finds it again and desires to act4 ,the 
,eternal ,return  no longer satisfies   
him3 he cannot consent to live          
imprisoned in a  blind nature4 ,the idea
 of the ,superman on the contrary       
captivates him3  it is a principle of   
action1 a hope of salvation4    ,what is
 the import of this idea8 ,is it a      
reality or a symbol8 ,it is  impossible 
to say4 ,nietzsche's mind is rapid and  
always oscillating4  ,the vehemence of  
the inspiration which carries him along 
leaves  him neither leisure nor strength
 to define4 ,he hardly succeeds in      
understanding the ideas which agitate   
him1 and interprets them himself  in    
divers ways4 ,at times1 the ,superman   
appears to him as a very serious        

reality4 ,but more often1 it seems1 he  
neglects or disdains all literal        
belief1 and his idea is no more than a  
lyrical phantasy with which he  trifles 
for the sake of animating base humanity4
 ,it is an illusion1  a useful and      
beneficent illusion1 he would say1 were 
he still a  ,wagnerian1 dared he to     
re-adopt the vocabulary of his thirtieth
 year4  ,then he had liked to repeat the
 maxim from ,schiller3 ,dare to dream   
and to lie4 ,we may believe that the    
,superman is chiefly the dream and      
falsehood of a lyrical poet4 ,every     
species has its limits which it  cannot 
transgress4 ,nietzsche knows this and   
writes it4    ,it was a painful labour4 
,friedrich ,nietzsche1 ill-disposed to  
conceive  a hope1 had frequent revolts  
against the task which he imposed on    
himself4 ,every morning on awakening    
from a sleep which chloral had  rendered
 sweet1 he rediscovered life with       
frightful bitterness4  ,conquered by    
melancholy and rancour1 he wrote pages  

which he had at  once to re-read        
attentively1 to correct or erase4 ,he   
dreaded these bad  hours in which anger1
 seizing him like a vertigo1 obscured   
his best  thoughts4 ,then he would evoke
 his hero1 ,zarathustra1 always noble1  
always serene1 and seek from him some   
encouragement4 ,many a passage of  his  
poem is the expression of this agony4   
,zarathustra speaks to him3             
,yea3 ,i know thy danger4 ,but by my    
love and hope1      ,i conjure thee3    
reject not thy love and thy hope4       
,the noble one is always in danger of   
becoming an      insolent1 a sneering   
one and a destroyer4 ,alas1 ,i have     
known noble ones who lost their highest 
hope4 ,then      they slandered all high
 hopes4        ,by my love and my hope  
,i conjure thee2 do not cast      away  
the hero in thy soul6 believe in the    
holiness of thy      highest hope4      
,the struggle was always perceptible2   
nevertheless ,friedrich ,nietzsche      
advanced his work4 ,every day he had to 

learn wisdom anew1 and to  moderate1    
crush1 or deceive his desires4 ,he      
succeeded in this rude  exercise and    
managed to bring back his soul into a   
calm and fecund  condition4 ,he         
completed a poem which was but the      
opening of a vaster  poem4 ,zarathustra1
 returning towards the mountains1       
abandons the world  of men4 ,twice      
again1 before he dictates the tables of 
his law1 he is  to descend to it4 ,but  
what he says suffices to give us a      
glimpse of  the essential forms of a    
humanity obedient to its lite4 ,it      
consists  of three castes3 at the       
bottom1 the popular caste1 allowed to   
retain  its humble beliefs2 above1 the  
caste of the chiefs1 the organisers and 
warriors2 above the chiefs themselves1  
the sacred caste1 the poets who  create 
the illusions and dictate the values4   
,one recalls that essay by  ,richard    
,wagner on art1 religion1 and politics1 
formerly so much admired  by ,nietzsche3
 in it a similar hierarchy was proposed4

    ,in its ensemble the work is serene4
 ,it is ,friedrich ,nietzsche's finest  
victory4 ,he has repressed his          
melancholy2 he exalts force1 not        
brutality2 expansion1 not aggression4   
,in the last days of ,february1  #ahhb1 
he wrote these final pages1 which are   
perhaps the most beautiful  and the most
 religious ever inspired by naturalistic
 thought4    ,my brethren1 remain       
faithful to the earth1 with all the     
force of your  love6 ,let your great    
love and your knowledge be in accord    
with the  meaning of the earth4 ,i pray 
you and conjure you4    ,let not your   
virtue fly far from terrestrial things1 
and beat its  wings against the eternal 
walls6 ,alas6 there is always so much   
virtue  gone astray6    ,like myself1   
bring back towards the earth the virtue 
which goes  astray--yea1 towards the    
flesh and towards life2 that it may give
 a  meaning to the earth1 a human       
meaning4444    ,whilst he completed the 
composition of this hymn on the ,genoese

  coast1 ,richard ,wagner died in       
,venice4 ,nietzsche learnt the news     
with a grave emotion1 and recognised a  
sort of providential accord  in the     
coincidence of events4 ,the poet of     
,siegfried was dead2 so  be it6 humanity
 would not be for a moment deprived of  
poetry1 since  ,zarathustra had already 
spoken4    ,for more than six years he  
had given no sign of life to ,cosima    
,wagner2  now he had to tell her that he
 had forgotten nothing of past days and 
that he shared her sorrows4 ,you will   
approve of me in this1 ,i am sure  he   
wrote to ,frulein von ,meysenbug4#g     
99       99       99       99       99  
,on the #adth of ,february he wrote to  
,schmeitzner1 the publisher3    ,to-day 
,i have some news for you3 ,i have just 
taken a decisive step--,i  mean1 one    
profitable to you4 ,it concerns a little
 work1 scarcely  #ajj pages long1       
entitled3 ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra1 a  
book for all  and none4 ,it is a poem or
 it is a ,fifth ,gospel1 or something   

which  has no name2 by far the most     
serious1 and also the most happy1 of my 
productions and one that is open to all4
    ,he wrote to ,peter ,gast and to    
,frulein von ,meysenbug3 ,this year1    
said  he1 no society4 ,i shall go       
straight from ,genoa to ,sils6 ,thus did
  ,zarathustra1 who left the great city 
and returned to the mountains4 ,but     
,friedrich ,nietzsche is not            
,zarathustra2 he is feeble1 solitude    
exalts  and frightens him4 ,some weeks  
passed4 ,schmeitzner1 the publisher1    
was slow3 ,nietzsche grew impatient and 
modified his projects for the  summer2  
he wished to hear the sound of human    
speech4 ,his sister1 at  ,rome with     
,frulein von ,meysenbug1 guessed that he
 was accessible and  weary1 and seized  
this opportunity of a reconciliation4   
,he did not  defend himself and promised
 to come4    ,here he was at ,rome4 ,his
 old friend immediately introduced him  
into a  brilliant society4 ,lenbach was 
there1 and also that ,countess ,dnhoff1 

to-day ,princess von ,buelow1 an amiable
 woman and a great musician4  ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche felt with vexation how      
different he was from these  happy      
talkers1 how he belonged to another     
world1 how they misunderstood  him4 ,a  
curious1 a singular man1 they think2 a  
very eccentric man4 ,a  great mind8 ,no 
one ventured to pass this rash judgment4
 ,and ,friedrich  ,nietzsche1 so proud  
when he was alone1 was astonished1      
disturbed1 and  humiliated4 ,it seemed  
that he had not the strength to despise 
these  people who did not hearken to    
him2 he was disquieted and began to fear
  for his well-beloved son1             
,zarathustra4    ,they will run through 
my book1 he wrote to ,gast1 and it will 
be a  subject of conversation4 ,that    
inspires me with disgust4 ,who is       
serious  enough to hear me8 ,if ,i had  
the authority of old ,wagner1 my affairs
  would be in a better way4 ,but at     
present no one can save me from  being  
delivered over to 'literary people4' ,to

 the devil6    ,other vexations affected
 him3 he had taken to chloral1 during   
the  winter1 in order to combat his     
insomnia4 ,he deprived himself of it and
  recovered1 not without difficulty1 his
 normal sleep4 ,schmeitzner1 the        
publisher1 did not hurry to print ,thus 
,spake ,zarathustra2 what was  the cause
 of the delay8 ,nietzsche enquired and  
was told3 ,five hundred  thousand copies
 of a collection of hymns had first to  
be printed for  the ,sunday-schools4    
,nietzsche waited some weeks1 received  
nothing1  asked again2 another story3   
the collection of hymns was published1  
but  a big lot of anti-,semitic         
pamphlets had to be printed and thrown  
upon  the world4 ,june came3            
,zarathustra had not yet appeared4      
,friedrich  ,nietzsche lost his temper  
and suffered for his hero1 who was      
thwarted  by the two platitudes1        
,pietism and anti-,semitism4    ,he was 
discouraged and ceased to write2 he left
 his luggage at the  station with the   

books and manuscripts which he had      
brought3 one  hundred and four kilos of 
paper4 ,everything in ,rome harassed    
him3 the  nasty people1 a mob of        
illegitimates2 the priests1 whom he     
could not  tolerate2 the churches1      
caverns with unsavoury odours4 ,his     
hatred  of ,catholicism is instinctive  
and has far-off origins2 always when he 
approaches it1 he shudders4 ,it is not  
the philosopher who judges and          
reproves2 it is the son of the pastor1  
who has remained a ,lutheran3 who       
cannot endure the other ,church1 full of
 incense and idols4    ,the desire came 
to him to leave this town4 ,he heard the
 beauty of  ,aquila praised4 ,friedrich 
von ,hohenstaufen1 the ,emperor of the  
,arabs and the ,jews1 the enemy of the  
popes1 resided there2 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche wished to reside there1 too4 
,still1 the room which he  occupied was 
a fine and well-situated one1 ,piazza   
,barberini1 at the  very top of a house4
 ,there one could forget the town3 the  

murmur of  water falling from a triton's
 horn stilled the noise of humanity and 
sheltered his melancholy4 ,there it was 
that1 one evening1 he was to  improvise 
the most poignant expression of his     
despair and solitude3    ,i am light2   
alas if ,i were night6 ,but this is my  
solitude1 to be  always surrounded by   
light4    ,alas that ,i am not shadow   
and gloom6 ,how ,i would drink from the 
breasts of light6    444 ,but ,i live in
 my own light1 ,i drink the flames which
 escape from  me6    ,thus ,spake       
,zarathustra1 a ,book for ,all and      
,none1 at last appeared  during the     
first days of ,june4    ,i am very much 
on the move1 wrote ,nietzsche4 ,i am in 
agreeable  society1 but as soon as ,i am
 alone ,i feel moved as ,i have never   
been4  ,he soon knew the fate of his    
book4 ,his friends spoke to him very    
little  of it2 the newspapers1 the      
reviews1 did not mention it2 no one was 
interested in this ,zarathustra1 the    
strange prophet who in a biblical  tone 

taught unbelief4 ,how bitter it is6 said
 ,lisbeth ,nietzsche and  ,frulein von  
,meysenbug2 these two women1 ,christians
 at heart that they  were1 took offence4
 ,and ,i1 wrote ,nietzsche to ,peter    
,gast1 ,i who find  my book so gentle6  
,the heat dispersed this ,roman society4
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche knew  not where  
to go4 ,he had hoped for such different 
days6 ,he had been  persuaded that he   
would move lettered ,europe1 that he    
would at last  attract readers to       
himself1 or 7more precisely perhaps7    
that he would  attract1 not towards his 
feeble self1 but towards ,zarathustra1  
who was  so strong1 disciples or even   
servitors4 ,for this summer1 he wrote in
  ,may to ,peter ,gast1 ,i have a       
project3 to choose1 in some forest1 some
  castle formerly fitted up by the      
,benedictines for their meditations1    
and to fill it with companions1 chosen  
men 444 ,i must go on a quest for  new  
friends4 ,about the #bjth ,june1        
thunderstruck by the loss of his  hopes1

 he went up towards his favourite       
retreat1 the ,engadine4    ,lisbeth     
,nietzsche1 who was returning to        
,germany1 accompanied him4 ,never  had  
she seen him more brilliant or more gay1
 she said1 than during  these few hours 
of travel4 ,he improvised epigrams1     
bouts-rimes1 the  words of which his    
sister suggested2 he laughed like a     
child1 and1 in  fear of troublesome     
people who would have disturbed his     
delight1 he  called and tipped the guard
 at every station4           99       99
       99       99       99             
,friedrich ,nietzsche had not seen the  
,engadine since that summer of  #ahha in
 which he had conceived the ,eternal    
,return and the words  of ,zarathustra4 
,in the clutch of these memories and of 
the sudden  solitude1 carried away by a 
prodigious movement of inspiration1 he  
wrote in ten days the second part of his
 work4    ,it was bitter4 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche could no longer repress the  
rancours1 the menace of which he had    

felt last winter2 he could  no longer   
unite force to sweetness2 ,i am not a   
hunter of flies1  ,zarathustra used to  
say1 and he disdained his adversaries4  
,he had  spoken as a benefactor1 and he 
had not been heard4 ,nietzsche put  into
 his mouth another speech3 ,zarathustra 
the judge1 he wrote in  his short notes2
 the manifestation of justice in its    
most grandiose  form2 of justice which  
fashions1 which constructs1 and which1  
as a  consequence1 must annihilate4     
,zarathustra the judge has only insults 
and lamentations upon his lips4  ,he    
sings this nocturnal chant which        
,nietzsche1 at ,rome1 had one evening   
improvised for himself alone3    ,i am  
light2 alas if ,i were night6 ,but this 
is my solitude1 to be  always surrounded
 by light4    ,this is no longer the    
hero whom ,friedrich ,nietzsche had     
created so  superior to all humanity2 it
 is a man in despair1 it is ,nietzsche1 
in  short1 too weak to express anything 
beyond his anger and his plaints4       

,verily1 my friends1 ,i walk among men  
as among the fragments and  members of  
man4    ,to see men broken and scattered
 as though they lay over a butcher's    
shambles1 this is to my eye the most    
frightful thing4    ,and when my eye    
fleeth from the present to the past1 it 
ever findeth  the same3 fragments1      
members1 and frightful catastrophes--but
 no men6    ,the present and the past   
upon the earth--alas1 my friends1 these 
are  to me the most unbearable things2  
and ,i could not live were ,i not a     
visionary of what must come4    ,a      
visionary1 a creator1 the future itself 
and a bridge unto the  future--alas6 in 
some sort also1 a cripple upon this     
bridge3  ,zarathustra is all this4444 ,i
 walk among men1 the fragments of the   
future3 of the future which ,i          
contemplate in my visions4    ,friedrich
 ,nietzsche derided the moral           
commandments which had upheld  ancient  
humanity3 he wished to abolish them and 
to establish his own4  ,shall we know it

 at length1 this new law8 ,he delays in 
telling it to  us4 ,the qualities of the
 ,superman become more and more visible1
  he writes in his notes4 ,he would wish
 that it were so2 but can he1  absorbed 
as he is in discontent and bitterness1  
enunciate1 define a  form of virtue1 a  
new good1 a new evil1 as he had         
promised8 ,he tries4  ,he is the prey of
 a bitter and violent mood1 and the     
virtue which he  exalts is naked force  
undisguised1 that savage ardour which   
moral  prescriptions have always wished 
to attenuate1 vary1 or overcome4 ,he    
yields to the attraction which it       
exercises upon him4    ,with delight ,i 
regard the miracles which the ardent sun
 brings to  birth1 says ,zarathustra4   
,they are tigers1 palm-trees1           
rattlesnakes4444  ,verily1 there is a   
future even for evil1 and the hottest   
noon has not  yet been discovered for   
man4444 ,one day there will come to the 
world  the greatest dragons4444 ,thy    
soul is so far from what is great that  

thou wouldst find the ,superman awful in
 his goodness4    ,there is emphasis    
upon this page4 ,the words are noisy    
rather than  strong4 ,perhaps ,nietzsche
 disguises in this way an embarrassment 
of  thought3 he does not insist upon    
this gospel of evil1 and prefers  to    
adjourn the difficult moment in which   
his prophet will announce  his law4     
,zarathustra must first complete his    
duties as judge1 the  annihilator of the
 weak4 ,he must strike3 with what       
weapon8 ,here  ,nietzsche again takes up
 the idea of the ,eternal ,return which 
he  had withdrawn from his first        
section4 ,he modifies the sense and the 
application of it4 ,it is no longer an  
exercise of spiritual life1  a process  
of internal edification2 it is a hammer1
 as he says1 an  instrument of moral    
terrorism1 a symbol which disperses     
dreams4    ,zarathustra assembles his   
disciples and wishes to communicate to  
them  the doctrine1 but his voice       
falters2 he is silent4 ,suddenly he is  

moved  by pity1 and the prophet himself 
suffers as he evokes the terrible  idea4
 ,he hesitates at the moment that he is 
about to destroy these  illusions of a  
better future1 these expectations of    
another life and  of a spiritual        
beatitude which veil from men the misery
 of their state4  ,he grows anxious4 ,a 
hunchback1 who divines this1            
interpolates with a  sneer3 ,why doth   
,zarathustra speak unto his disciples   
otherwise than  he speaketh unto        
himself8 ,zarathustra feels his fault   
and seeks a new  solitude4 ,the second  
part is thus completed4    ,on the #bdth
 ,june of this year1 #ahhb1 ,nietzsche  
was installed at ,sils2  before the     
#ajth of ,july he wrote to his sister3  
,i beg you instantly to see ,schmeitzner
 and engage him orally or by  writing1  
as you think best1 to give the second   
part of ,zarathustra to  the printer as 
soon as the manuscript is delivered4    
,this second part  exists to-day3 try to
 imagine it1 the vehemence of such a    

creation2  you will scarcely be able to 
exaggerate it4 ,there is the danger4 ,in
  ,heaven's name1 arrange things with   
,schmeitzner2 ,i am too irritable       
myself4    ,schmeitzner promised and    
kept his word2 in ,august the proofs    
arrived4  ,nietzsche had not strength   
enough to correct them and left the work
 to  ,peter ,gast and his sister4 ,the  
terrible things which he had said1 the  
more terrible things which he had yet to
 say1 bruised him4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,other   
vexations were added to the melancholy  
of his thought4 ,an awkward  step on his
 sister's part awoke again the          
dissensions of the previous  summer4 ,in
 the spring1 during their reconcilement1
 he had said to her1  aware of her      
quarrelsome nature3 ,promise me never to
 go back on the  stories of ,lou ,salom 
and of ,paul ,re4 ,for three months she 
had kept  her peace1 then she broke her 
word and spoke4 ,what did she say8 ,we  
do not know2 we are again in the        

obscurity of this obscure history4      
,lisbeth1 he wrote to ,madame ,overbeck1
 absolutely wants to avenge  herself on 
the young ,russian4 ,no doubt she       
reported to him some fact1  some        
observation of which he was ignorant4 ,a
 sickening irritation laid  hold of him4
 ,he wrote to ,paul ,re1 and this is the
 letter1 a sketch of  which has been    
found4 7,was it sent as we read it8 ,it 
is not certain47    ,too late1 almost a 
year too late1 ,i learn of the part     
which you took  in the events of last   
summer1 and my soul has never been so   
overwhelmed  with disgust as it is at   
present1 to think that an insidious     
individual  of your kind1 a liar and a  
knave1 had been able to call himself my 
friend for years4 ,it is a crime1 in my 
opinion1 and not only a crime  against  
me1 but above all against friendship1   
against this very empty  word1          
friendship4    ,fie1 sir6 ,so you are   
the calumniator of my character1 and    
,miss ,salom  has only been the         

mouthpiece1 the very unsatisfactory     
mouthpiece1 of  the judgment which you  
passed on me2 so it is you who1 in my   
absence1  naturally1 spoke of me as     
though ,i were a vulgar and low egoist1 
always  ready to plunder others2 so it  
is you who have accused me of having1   
so far as concerned ,miss ,salom1       
pursued the most filthy designs under  a
 mask of idealism2 so it is you who dare
 to say of me that ,i was mad  and did  
not know what ,i wanted8 ,now1 of a     
surety1 ,i understand better  the whole 
of this business which has made men whom
 ,i venerated and many  whom ,i         
esteemed1 as my nearest and dearest1    
strangers to me4444 ,and ,i  thought you
 my friend2 and nothing1 perhaps1 for   
seven years has done  more harm to my   
prospects than the trouble that ,i took 
to defend you4    ,it seems then that ,i
 am not very well advanced in the art of
 knowing  men4 ,that furnishes you no   
doubt with matter for mockery4 ,what a  
fool  you have made of me6 ,bravo6 ,as  

regards men of your stamp1 rather than  
understand them1 ,i had rather they     
mocked me4    ,i would have great       
pleasure in giving you a lesson in      
practical  morals with a pair of        
pistols2 ,i would succeed perhaps1 under
 the most  favourable circumstances1 in 
interrupting once and for all your works
  on morals3 one needs clean hands for  
that1 ,dr4 ,paul ,re1 not dirty  ones6  
,this letter cannot be considered       
sufficient to condemn ,paul ,re4        
,friedrich ,nietzsche wrote it in a     
moment of anger upon information  given 
by his sister1 who was often more       
impassioned than accurate4 ,it  is a    
precious witness to his impression2 to  
the ill-known data of the  cause1 it is 
a mediocre witness4 ,what was the       
conduct of ,paul ,re8  ,what were the   
rights and wrongs8 ,in ,april1 #ahhc1   
six months after the  difficulties of   
,leipsic1 he had offered ,nietzsche the 
dedication of a  work on the origins of 
the moral conscience1 a work altogether 

inspired  by ,nietzschean ideas4        
,nietzsche had refused this public      
compliment3 ,i  no longer want1 he wrote
 to ,peter ,gast1 to be confounded with 
any  one4 ,a letter written by ,george  
,brandes in #ahhh shows us ,paul ,re    
living in ,berlin with ,miss ,salom1 as 
brother and sister1 according  to both  
their accounts4 ,there is no doubt that 
,re helped ,miss ,salom1  towards #ahhc1
 to write her book on ,friedrich        
,nietzsche3 a very  intelligent and a   
very noble book4 ,we incline to believe 
that between  these two men there was   
only the misfortune of a common love    
which the  same woman inspired in them4 
,friedrich ,nietzsche wrote long and    
febrile letters4 ,he complained of      
being alone at forty years1 betrayed by 
his friends4 ,franz ,overbeck  grew     
anxious and went up to ,sils-,maria to  
distract him from the  solitude which   
wounded and consumed him4 ,his sister1 a
 prudent lady1  and bourgeois in her    
tastes1 advised him in answer to his    

complaints3  ,you are alone1 it is true1
 said she to him2 have you not sought   
solitude8 ,get an appointment in some   
,university3 when you have a title  and 
pupils1 you will be recognised and      
people will cease to ignore  your books4
 ,nietzsche listened indulgently1 but   
did listen1 and wrote  to the ,rector of
 ,leipsic1 who1 without hesitation1     
dissuaded him from  making any          
overtures1 no ,german ,university being 
in a position to allow  an atheist1 a   
declared anti-,christian1 among its     
teachers4 ,this reply  has given me     
courage6 wrote ,nietzsche to ,peter     
,gast2 to his sister he  sent a strong  
letter whose thrusts she felt4    ,it is
 necessary that ,i be misunderstood1    
better still1 ,i go to meet  calumny and
 contempt4 ,my 'near ones' will be the  
first against me3 last  summer ,i       
understood that1 and ,i was             
magnificently conscious that ,i was  at 
last on my road4 ,when it comes to me to
 think1 ',i can no longer  endure       

solitude1' then ,i experience an        
unspeakable humiliation before          
myself--,i feel myself in revolt against
 what there is of highest in  me4444    
,in ,september he directed his steps    
towards ,naumburg1 where it was his     
intention to stay some weeks4 ,his      
mother and sister inspired in him a     
mixed feeling1 which baffles analysis4  
,he liked his own people because  they  
were his own1 and because he was tender1
 faithful1 infinitely  sensible to      
memories4 ,but every one of his ideas1  
every one of his  desires1 drew him from
 them1 and his mind despised them4      
,nevertheless  the old house of         
,naumburg was the only place in the     
world where there  was1 so long as he   
stayed there for a short time only1 some
 sweetness  of life for him4    ,mother 
and daughter were quarrelling4 ,lisbeth 
loved a certain ,frster1  an agitator1  
an idealogue of ,germanist and          
anti-,semitic views1 who was  organising
 a colonial enterprise in ,paraguay4    

,she wished to marry him  and to follow 
him2 her despairing mother wished to    
retain her4 ,madame  ,nietzsche welcomed
 her son as a saviour and related to him
 the mad  projects which ,lisbeth was   
forming4 ,he was overwhelmed2 he knew   
the  person and his ideas1 he despised  
the low and dull passions which the     
propaganda excited1 and suspected him of
 having spoken maliciously of  his work4
 ,that ,lisbeth1 the companion of his   
childhood1 should follow  this man was  
more than he could allow4 ,he called    
her1 spoke violently  to her4 ,she      
answered him bravely4 ,there was little 
that was delicate  or subtle in this    
woman's composition1 but she had energy4
 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche1 so weak in the 
depth of his soul1 valued in her the    
quality  which he lacked4 ,he might     
sermonise1 scold1 but he could not get  
his  way4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,the late autumn  
came1 and ,naumburg was covered with    
fogs4 ,nietzsche  left and went to      

,genoa4 ,these quarrels had lessened his
 self-respect4    ,things go badly with 
me1 very badly1 he wrote in ,october to 
,frulein  von ,meysenbug2 my visit in   
,germany is the cause4 ,i can live only 
at  the seaside4 ,every other climate   
depresses me1 destroys my nerves and    
eyes1 makes me melancholy1 puts me into 
a black humour--that awful  tare2 ,i    
have had to combat it in my life more   
than the hydras and other  celebrated   
monsters4 ,in trivial ennui is hidden   
the most dangerous  enemy2 great        
calamity adds to one's stature4444      
,towards mid-,november he left ,genoa1  
and1 circling the western coast1  began 
the quest for a winter residence4 ,he   
passed by ,san ,remo1 ,mentone1         
,monaco1 and stopped at ,nice1 which    
enchanted him4 ,there he found that     
keen air and that plenitude of light1   
that multitude of bright days  which he 
needed3 ,light1 light1 light1 he wrote'2
 ,i have regained my  equilibrium4      
,the cosmopolitan city displeased him1  

and at first he rented a room  in a     
house of the old ,italian city1 not     
,nice1 but ,nizza1 as he always  wrote4 
,for neighbours he had quite simple     
people1 workmen1 masons1  employs1 who  
all spoke ,italian4 ,it was in similar  
conditions that in  #ahha he had enjoyed
 at ,genoa a certain happiness4    ,he  
chased away his vain thoughts and made  
an energetic effort to  complete        
,zarathustra4 ,but then arose the       
greatest of his misfortunes3  the       
difficulty of his work was extreme1     
perhaps insurmountable4 ,to  complete   
,zarathustra--what did that imply8 ,the 
work was immense3  it had to be a poem  
which would make the poems of ,wagner   
forgotten2  a gospel which should make  
the ,gospel forgotten4 ,from #ahge to   
#ahha1  during six years1 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche had examined all the moral   
systems and shown the illusion which is 
at their foundation2 he had  defined his
 idea of the ,universe3 it was a blind  
mechanism1 a wheel  which turned        

eternally and without object4 ,yet he   
wished to be a  prophet1 an enunciator  
of virtues and of purposes3 ,i am he who
  dictates the values for a thousand    
years1 he said in those notes in  which 
his pride bursts forth4 ,to imprint his 
hand on the centuries1 as  on soft wax1 
write on the will of millennia as upon  
brass1 harder than  brass1 more noble   
than brass1 there1 ,zarathustra was to  
say1 is the  beatitude of the ,creator4 
,what laws1 what tables1 did ,nietzsche 
wish to dictate8 ,what values  would he 
choose to honour or depreciate8 and what
 right had he to  choose1 to build up an
 order of beauty1 an order of virtue1 in
 nature1  where a mechanical order      
reigns8 ,he had the right of the poet1  
no  doubt1 whose genius1 the creator of 
illusions1 imposes upon the  imagination
 of man this love or that hatred1 this  
good or that evil4  ,thus ,nietzsche    
would answer us1 but he did not fail to 
recognise the  difficulty4 ,on the last 
pages of the second part of his poem he 

avowed  it4    ,this1 this is my danger1
 says ,zarathustra1 that my glance      
throweth  itself to the summit1 whereas 
my hand would fain grasp and rest       
upon--the void4    ,he wished to bring  
his task to a head4 ,he had felt1 this  
very summer1  as something very close   
and urgent1 the tragic menace that hung 
over  his life4 ,he was in haste to     
complete a work which he could at last  
present as the expression of his final  
desires1 as his final thought4  ,he had 
intended to complete his poem in three  
parts2 three were written  and almost   
nothing was said4 ,the drama was not    
sketched4 ,zarathustra  had to be shown 
at close quarters with men1 announcing  
the ,eternal  ,return1 humiliating the  
feeble1 strengthening the strong1       
destroying  the ancient ways of         
humanity2 ,zarathustra as lawgiver      
dictating his  ,tables1 dying at last of
 pity and of joy as he contemplates his 
work4  ,let us follow his notes3--      
,zarathustra reaches at the same moment 

the most extreme distress and  his      
greatest happiness4 ,at the most        
terrible moment of the contrast1 he  is 
broken4    ,the most tragical history   
with a divine dnouement4    ,zarathustra
 becomes gradually more grand4 ,his     
doctrine develops with  his grandeur4   
,the ,eternal ,return shines like a sun 
setting on the last catastrophe4    ,in 
the last section great synthesis of him 
who creates1 who loves1 who  destroys4  
,in the month of ,august1 ,nietzsche had
 indicated a dnouement4 ,his  condition 
of mind was then very bad1 and his work 
suffered in  consequence4 ,he now took  
up the draft again1 and tried to make   
the best  of it4    ,it was a drama     
which he had the ambition to write4 ,he 
places his  action in an antique frame1 
in a city devastated by the pest4 ,the  
inhabitants wish to commence a new era4 
,they seek a lawgiver2 they call        
,zarathustra1 who descends among them1  
followed by his disciples4    ,go1 said 
he to them1 announce the ,eternal       

,return4    ,the disciples are afraid   
and avow it4    ,we can endure thy      
doctrine1 they say1 but can this        
multitude8    ,we must make an          
experiment with truth6 answers          
,zarathustra4 ,and if  the truth should 
destroy humanity1 so be it6    ,the     
disciples hesitate again4 ,he commands3 
,i have put in your hands  the hammer   
which must strike men2 strike6    ,but  
they fear the people and abandon their  
master4 ,then ,zarathustra  speaks      
alone4 ,the crowd as it hears him is    
terrified1 loses its temper  and its    
wits4    ,a man kills himself3 another  
goes mad4 ,a divine pride of the poet   
animates him3 everything must be brought
 to light4 ,and at the moment  that he  
announces the ,eternal ,return and the  
,superman together1 he  yields to pity4 
,everyone disowns him4 ',we must1' they 
say1 'stifle this doctrine and  kill    
,zarathustra4'    ',there is now no soul
 on the earth who loves me1' he murmurs2
 'how  shall ,i be able to love life8'  

,he dies of sadness on discovering the  
suffering which is his work4            
',through love ,i have caused the       
greatest sorrow2 now ,i yield to the    
sorrow which ,i have caused4'    ,all   
go1 and ,zarathustra1 left alone1       
touches his serpent with his  hand3     
',who counsels wisdom to me8'--,the     
serpent bites him4 ,the eagle  tears the
 serpent to bits1 the lion throws itself
 upon the eagle4 ,as  soon as           
,zarathustra sees the combat of the     
animals1 he dies4    ,fifth ,act3 ,the  
,lauds4    ,the league of the faithful  
who sacrifice themselves upon the tomb  
of ,zarathustra4 ,they had fled3 now1   
seeing him dead1 they become the        
inheritors of his soul and rise to his  
height4    ,funeral ceremony3 ',it is we
 who have killed him4'--,the ,lauds4    
,the great ,noon4 ,midday and eternity4 
,friedrich ,nietzsche abandoned this    
plan1 which yet gives glimpses of  great
 beauty4 ,did he dislike displaying the 
humiliation of his hero8  ,probably1 and

 we shall note his search for a         
triumphant dnouement4  ,but it is       
chiefly to be noted that he has dashed  
against a fundamental  difficulty1 the  
nature of which he perhaps does not     
plainly conceive3  the two symbols on   
which he bases his poem1 the ,eternal   
,return and the  ,superman1 in          
conjunction create a misunderstanding   
which renders the  completion of the    
work impossible4 ,the ,eternal ,return  
is a bitter truth  which suppresses all 
hope4 ,the ,superman is a hope1 an      
illusion4 ,from  one to the other there 
is no passage1 the contradiction is     
complete4  ,if ,zarathustra teaches the 
,eternal ,return1 he will fail to excite
 in  men's souls an impassioned belief  
in superhumanity4 ,and if he teaches    
the ,superman1 how can he propagate the 
moral terrorism of the ,eternal         
,return8 ,nevertheless1 ,friedrich      
,nietzsche assigns him these two tasks2 
the breathless disorder of his thoughts 
drives him to this absurdity4    ,does  

he clearly perceive the problem8 ,we do 
not know4 ,these real  difficulties     
against which he breaks are never       
avowed4 ,but if he  perceives them ill1 
at least he feels the inconvenience and 
seeks by  instinct some way of escape4  
,he writes a second sketch which is     
certainly skilful3 the same scene1  the 
same fever-stricken city1 the same      
supplication to ,zarathustra1  who comes
 among a decimated people4 ,but he comes
 as a benefactor and  is careful about  
announcing the terrible doctrine4       
,first1 he gives  his laws and has them 
accepted4 ,then1 and only then1 will he 
announce  the ,eternal ,return4 ,what   
are these laws which he has given8      
,friedrich  ,nietzsche indicates them4  
,here is one of the very rare pages1 in 
which  we discern the order which he has
 dreamed4    7a7 ,the day divided       
afresh3 physical exercises for all the  
ages of  life4 ,competition as a        
principle4             4      4      4  
4      4     4    7b7 ,the new nobility 

and its education4 ,unity4 ,obtained by 
selection4 ,for the foundation of each  
family1 a festival4    7c7 ,the         
experiments4 7,with the wicked1         
punishments47 ,charity  in a new form1  
based on a concern for the generations  
to come4 ,the  wicked respectable so far
 as they are destroyers1 for destruction
 is  necessary4 ,and also as a source of
 strength4    ,to let oneself be taught 
by the wicked1 not to deny them         
competition4  ,to utilise the           
degenerate4--,punishment justifiable    
when the criminal is  utilised for      
experimental purposes 7for a new        
aliment74 ,punishment is  thus made     
holy4    7d7 ,to save woman by keeping  
her woman4    7e7 ,the slaves 7a hive74 
,the humble and their virtues4 ,to teach
  the enduring of repose4               
,multiplication of machines4            
,transformation of  the machines into   
beauty4    ',for you faith and          
servitude6'    ,the times of solitude4  
,division of the times and days4 ,food4 

,simplicity4 ,a feature of union between
 the poor and the rich4    ,solitude    
necessary from time to time1 that the   
being may examine  himself and          
concentrate4             4      4      4
      4      4     4    ,the ordinance  
of festivals1 founded on a system of the
 ,universe3  festival of cosmic         
relations1 festival of the earth1       
festival of  friendship1 of the great   
,noon4    ,zarathustra explains his     
laws1 he makes them loved by all2 he    
repeats  his sermons nine times1 and    
finally announces the ,eternal ,return4 
,he  speaks to the people2 his words    
have the accent of a prayer4    ,the    
great question3    ,the laws have       
already been given4 ,everything is ready
 for the  production of the             
,superman--grand and awful moment6      
,zarathustra reveals  his doctrine of   
the ,eternal ,return--which may now be  
endured2 he  himself1 for the first     
time1 endures it4    ,decisive moment3  
,zarathustra interrogates all this      

multitude  assembled for the festival4  
',do you wish1' he says1 'the return of 
it all8' ,all reply3 ,yes6    ,he dies  
of joy4    ,zarathustra dying holds the 
earth locked in his arms4 ,and although 
no  one said a word1 they all knew that 
,zarathustra was dead4    ,it is a fine 
issue3 ,nietzsche was soon to find it   
too easy1 too fine a  one4 ,this        
,platonic aristocracy1 rather quickly   
established1 left him  in doubt4 ,it    
corresponded exactly to his desires2 did
 it correspond to  his thoughts8        
,nietzsche1 ready in the destruction of 
all the ancient  moralities1 did not    
find that he had the right of proposing 
another  so soon8 ,all answered3 ,yes6  
,was that conceivable8 ,human societies 
would always draw after them an         
imperfect mass which would have to be   
constrained by force or by laws4        
,friedrich ,nietzsche knew it3 ,i am a  
seer1 he wrote in his notes2 but my     
conscience casts an inexorable  light   
upon my vision1 and ,i am myself the    

doubter4 ,he gave up this  last plan4   
,never was he to recount the active life
 and the death of  ,zarathustra4    ,no 
document admits us to the secret of his 
sadness4 ,no letter1 no  word presents  
us with the expression of it1 ,we may1  
surely1 take this  very silence as the  
avowal of his distress and humiliation4 
,friedrich  ,nietzsche had always wished
 to write a classical work1 a history1  
system1 or poem1 worthy of the old      
,greeks whom he had chosen for  masters4
 ,and never had he been able to give a  
form to this ambition4    ,at the end of
 this year #ahhc he had made an all but 
despairing attempt2  the abundance1 the 
importance of his notes let us measure  
the vastness  of a work which was       
entirely vain4 ,he could neither found  
his moral  ideal nor compose his tragic 
poem2 at the same moment he fails in his
  two works and sees his dream vanish4  
,what is he8 ,an unhappy soul1  capable 
of short efforts1 of lyrical songs and  
cries4    ,the year #ahhd opened sadly4 

,some chance fine weather in ,january   
reanimated him4 ,suddenly he improvised3
 no city1 no people1 no laws2 a         
disorder of complaints1 appeals1 and    
moral fragments which seem to be  the   
debris left over from the ruin of his   
great work4 ,it is the third  part of   
,zarathustra4 ,the prophet1 like        
,friedrich ,nietzsche1 lives alone  and 
retired upon his mountain4 ,he speaks to
 himself1 deceives himself1  forgets    
that he is alone2 he threatens1 he      
exhorts a humanity which  neither fears 
nor hearkens to him4 ,he preaches to it 
the contempt  of customary virtues1 the 
cult of courage1 love of strength and of
  the nascent generations4 ,but he does 
not go down to it1 and no one  hears his
 predication4 ,he is sad1 he desires to 
die4 ,then1 ,life1 who  surprises his   
desire1 comes to him and raises his     
courage4    ,o ,zarathustra6 says the   
goddess1 do not crack thy whip so       
terribly4  ,thou knowest1 noise         
murdereth thought4 ,and even now ,i have

 very tender  thoughts4 ,hear me1 thou  
art not faithful enough unto me1 thou   
lovest me  not nearly as much as thou   
sayst1 ,i know1 for thou thinkest of    
leaving  me4444    ,zarathustra listens 
to the reproach1 smiles and hesitates4  
,true1 he  says at last1 but thou also  
knowest4 444 ,they gaze at each other1  
and he tells her something in her ear1  
among all her confused1 stupid  yellow  
tresses4 ,what though ,i die8 he says2  
nothing can separate1  nothing can      
reconcile1 for every moment has its     
return1 every moment is  eternal4       
,what1 answers the goddess1 that thou   
knowest1 ,zarathustra8 ,that no  one    
knoweth4    ,their eyes meet4 ,they look
 at the green meadow over which the cool
 of  evening was spreading2 they weep1  
then1 in silence1 they listen1 they     
understand the eleven sayings of the old
 bell which strikes midnight in  the    
mountain4    ,one6 ,oh man6 ,lose not   
sight6    ,two6 ,what saith the deep    
midnight8    ,three6 ,i lay in sleep1 in

 sleep2    ,four6 ,from deep dream1 ,i  
woke to light4    ,five6 ,the world is  
deep1    ,six6 ,and deeper than ever day
 thought it might4    ,seven6 ,deep is  
its woe--    ,eight6 ,and deeper than   
woe--delight4    ,nine6 ,saith woe3     
,pass1 go6    ,ten6 ,eternity's sought  
by all delight--,eleven6 ,eternity deep 
by  all delight4#h    ,twelve6          
4      4      4      4      4     4     
,then ,zarathustra rises3 he has        
recovered his security1 his sweetness1  
and his strength4 ,he takes up his staff
 and sings as he goes down  towards men4
 ,a similar versicle completes the seven
 strophes of his  hymn3          ,never 
yet have ,i found the woman by whom ,i  
would like to      have children1 if it 
be not the woman whom ,i love3 for ,i   
love thee1 oh ,eternity6        ,for ,i 
love thee1 oh ,eternity6      ,at the   
opening of the poem ,zarathustra entered
 the great town--the  ,multi-coloured   
,cow he names it--and began his         
apostolate4 ,at the end of  the third   

part ,zarathustra descends to the great 
town to recommence his  apostolate      
there4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 a         
vanquished warrior1 after two  years of 
labour1 has quailed4 ,in #ahgb he sent  
to ,frulein von ,meysenbug  the         
interrupted series of his lectures on   
the future of ,universities3  ,it gives 
one a terrible thirst1 he said to her1  
and1 in the long  run1 nothing to drink4
 ,the same words apply to his poem4     
#f ,albergo la ,poata 7information given
 by ,m ,lanzky74    #g ,an unpublished  
letter1 communicated by ,m4 ,romain     
,rolland4    #h ,translation published  
by ,t4 ,fisher ,unwin4        ,,iii     
,heinrich von ,stein    ,in ,april1     
#ahhd1 the third and fourth sections 7of
 ,zarathustra7 were  published          
simultaneously4 ,for the moment         
,nietzsche seems to have been  happy4   
,everything comes in its own good time1 
he wrote to ,peter ,gast on  ,march     
#eth4 ,i am forty and ,i find myself at 
the very point ,i proposed1  when       

twenty1 to reach at this age4 ,it has   
been a fine1 a long1 and a  formidable  
passage4    ,to you1 he wrote to ,rohde1
 who are homo litteratus1 ,i need not   
hesitate to avow that in my opinion ,i  
have with this ,zarathustra  brought the
 ,german language to its pitch of       
perfection4 ,after ,luther  and ,goethe 
a third step remained to be taken--and  
consider1 my old and  dear comrade1 were
 ever strength1 subtlety1 and beauty of 
sound so  linked in our language8 ,my   
style is a dance2 ,i trifle with        
symmetries  of all sorts1 and ,i play on
 these symmetries even in my selection  
of  vowels4    ,this joy lasted only for
 a little while4 ,without fresh work to 
hand  ,nietzsche's ardour had no purpose
 and turned to ennui4 ,should he        
arrange his system methodically1 draw up
 a philosophy of the future8  ,he       
considers this1 but finds that he is    
weary of thought and of  writing4 ,what 
he needs is rest and the refreshment of 
music2 but the  music which he could    

love does not exist4 ,italian music is  
flabby1  ,german music preachy1 and his 
taste is for the live and the lyrical2  
for something grave and delicate2       
something rhythmical1 scornful1 and     
passionate4 ,carmen pleases him well    
enough1 and yet to ,carmen he  prefers  
the compositions of his disciple1 ,peter
 ,gast4 ,i need your  music1 he wrote to
 ,gast4    ,peter ,gast was at this time
 in ,venice1 where ,nietzsche wished to 
join  him4 ,but ,venice was damp1 and he
 dared not leave ,nice before           
mid-,april4  ,clearly an invalid's      
exigencies are becoming each year more  
and more  urgent4 ,a gloomy day lowers  
his spirits1 a week without the sun     
prostrates him4    ,on the #bfth of     
,april he arrived in ,venice4 ,peter    
,gast found rooms for  him not far from 
the ,rialto1 with windows that opened on
 the ,grand  ,canal4 ,he had not been in
 ,venice for four years1 and it was with
 a  child's pleasure that he remade the 
acquaintance of the loved city4 ,he     

stayed in the labyrinth of ,venice2     
,venice--whose spirit is compounded  of 
the magic of sun and water1 the         
gracefulness of a gay and tactful       
people1 and glimpses of unexpected      
gardens with flowers and mosses         
springing among the stones4 ,one hundred
 profound solitudes1 he notes1  compose 
,venice--hence her magic4 ,a symbol for 
the men of the future4  ,for four or    
five hours every day he walked the      
little streets as he had  walked the    
hills1 sometimes isolating himself1     
sometimes moving with  the ,italian     
crowd4    ,he was endlessly reflecting  
upon the difficulties of his task4 ,what
  should he write next8 ,he had thought 
of annotating some verses of  his poem  
by means of a series of pamphlets1 but  
then no one had read  the words of      
,zarathustra4 ,those friends to whom    
they had been sent  preserved a         
melancholy silence which constantly     
astonished him4 ,a young  author1       
,heinrich von ,stein1 was almost alone  

in sending him a word of  warm          
congratulation4 ,nietzsche therefore    
gave up the idea1 feeling that  it would
 be ridiculous to comment upon a ,bible 
which the public ignored4    ,very      
seriously he considered a philosophy of 
the future4 ,his  intention was to give 
up1 or at least to defer1 further work  
on his  poem2 he would confine himself  
to long study--five1 six years of       
meditation and of silence1 maybe--and   
formulate his system in a  precise and  
definite manner4 ,various projects were 
in his mind when1  towards the middle of
 ,june1 he left ,venice for             
,switzerland4 ,he wished  first to read 
certain books on historical and natural 
science in the  libraries of ,basle1 but
 his stay in that town was brief1 for he
 found  the heavy heat oppressive and   
his friends there failed to please him4 
,either they had not read ,thus ,spake  
,zarathustra or they had read it  very  
badly4 ,i might have been among cows1 he
 wrote to ,peter ,gast1  and returned to

 the ,engadine4           99       99   
99       99       99    ,on the #bjth of
 ,august ,heinrich von ,stein wrote that
 he was coming4    ,stein was at this   
time a very young man1 scarcely         
twenty-six years  of age4 ,but there was
 no ,german writer of whom greater      
things were  expected than of him4 ,in  
#ahgh he had published a little volume  
called  ,the ,ideals of ,materialism1   
,lyrical ,philosophy4 ,friedrich        
,nietzsche  made the acquaintance of the
 author1 in whose essay he recognised a 
research analogous to his own4 ,he      
thought that he had found a kindred     
spirit1 a comrade in his task2 but this 
hope deceived him4 ,frulein  von        
,meysenbug had prided herself on        
bringing ,heinrich von ,stein under     
,wagner's influence4 ,it was her defect 
to be always more benevolent than       
far-sighted4 ,thanks to her good        
offices1 ,wagner's house was opened to  
,stein as it had been opened ten years  
earlier to ,nietzsche1 and there  ,stein

 lived in spite of ,nietzsche's warning1
 ,you admire ,wagner1 and it  is right  
that you should do so--provided your    
admiration does not last  long4 ,wagner 
talked1 and ,stein1 who could neither   
free himself from  the master's         
influence nor oppose it1 listened4 ,his 
intellectual quest1  which had hitherto 
been unquiet but fruitful1 now came to  
an end4 ,he  closed his notebooks2 he   
was conquered by a man too great for    
him1  sucked in and sucked dry4    ,the 
works which he published--he died at    
thirty--are temperate and  acute1 but   
they lack one quality1 precisely that   
which gives a high  value to his first  
essays--audacity1 daring1 the charm of a
 nascent  thought1 ill-expressed but    
intense4    ,nietzsche continued to     
interest himself in ,stein1 and         
superintended the  young man's work and 
his friendships4 ,heinrich von ,stein1  
he wrote  in ,july to ,madame ,overbeck1
 is at present the adorer of ,miss      
,salom4  ,my successor in that          

employment as in much else4 ,the danger 
that ,stein  ran caused him a great deal
 of uneasiness4 ,stein1 however1 read   
and  appreciated his books1 as          
,nietzsche rejoiced to know4    ,he was 
strangely moved on receiving the letter1
 for ,stein had seemed  to understand   
,thus ,spake ,zarathustra1 and it might 
be that a longing  for liberty was the  
explanation of his visit4 ,stein would  
make up to  him for all the friends that
 he had lost2 and what a revenge1       
moreover1  if he should conquer this    
disciple of ,wagner's1 this philosopher 
from ,bayreuth6 ,he hastily sent a      
welcome1 signed ,the ,solitary of       
,sils-,maria4    ,there is a possible   
interpretation of ,stein's movements    
which never  occurred to ,nietzsche4    
,it must be remembered that ,stein was  
the intimate and faithful friend  of    
,cosima ,wagner2 and certainly he did   
not now come to ,nietzsche  without     
first consulting this shrewd woman and  
receiving her  approbation4 ,moreover1  

,nietzsche himself had not yet attacked1
 but had  merely withdrawn from ,wagner4
 ,in ,july1 #ahhb1 he had seemed        
favourable  to a reconciliation4        
,frulein von ,meysenbug's endeavours1   
whether he  had authorised them or no1  
caused him to consider the possibility2 
and  in ,february1 #ahhc1 after         
,wagner's death1 he wrote to ,cosima    
,wagner4 ,he  had so far been able to   
avoid saying anything irreparable1 and  
all his  later work1 even the very end  
of ,zarathustra1 with its very vague    
lyricism1 did not close the door on the 
hope of an understanding4 ,this  was    
,stein's own impression1 and he wrote to
 ,nietzsche3    ,how ,i long for you to 
come this summer to ,bayreuth and hear  
,parsifal4 ,when ,i think of that work  
,i imagine a poem of pure beauty1  a    
spiritual adventure that is purely      
human1 the development of a youth  who  
becomes a man4 ,i can find in ,parsifal 
no pseudo-,christianity of  any sort and
 fewer tendencies than in any other of  

,wagner's works4 ,if  ,i write to       
you--in a spirit at once audacious and  
timid--it is not  because ,i am a       
,wagnerian1 but because ,i wish for     
,parsifal such a  hearer as you1 and for
 such a hearer as you ,i wish ,parsifal4
    ,cosima ,wagner's judgments were    
sound1 and she knew ,nietzsche's worth4 
,she now carried the heavy burden of    
,wagner's fame2 she had a tradition  to 
prolong1 a heritage to maintain4 ,by    
recalling ,nietzsche to her side  she   
would aid an extraordinary man1 a rare  
soul that was wasting itself  in        
solitary effort1 and she would aid      
herself at the same time--or so  she may
 have thought4 ,one does not like to say
 in so many words that  she chose       
,heinrich von ,stein as emissary and    
conciliator4 ,but one may  be certain   
that she knew of1 and did not           
disapprove1 the young man's  attempt4   
,if there was such a thing as a         
,wagnerian equal to the enterprise1 it  
was ,heinrich von ,stein4 ,he was the   

most open-minded of the disciples4  ,for
 him that mysticism of doubtful quality 
which ,parsifal propagated  was not the 
last word in religion4 ,he included     
,schiller1 ,goethe1 and  ,wagner in one 
tradition as the creators of myths and  
the educators  of their age and race4   
,for him the theatre of ,bayreuth was   
not an  apotheosis1 but a promise1 an   
instrument for the future1 the symbol of
  a lyrical tradition4    ,stein was    
anxious to acquit himself well of his   
mission1 but he spoke  little4 ,it was  
,nietzsche himself1 the man1 to whom he 
appealed1 who  spoke1 and who saw that  
he was heard4 ,we may perhaps picture   
the  interview and ,nietzsche's words3  
,you admire ,wagner8 ,who does not8 ,as 
well as you and better than  you have ,i
 known1 revered1 and hearkened to him4  
,i learnt from him  not the style of his
 art1 but the style of his life--his    
valour and  enterprise4 ,i am aware that
 ,i have been accused of ingratitude1   
which  is a word ,i ill understand4 ,i  

have continued my work4 ,in the best    
sense  of the word1 ,i am his disciple4 
,you frequent ,bayreuth1 which is very  
agreeable for you1 too agreeable4       
,wagner offers you for your delight  all
 the legends1 all the beliefs of the    
past--,german1 ,celtic1 pagan1  and     
,christian4 ,you should leave him for   
the same reason that ,i left  him1      
because this delight is destructive to  
the spirit which seeks  truth4 ,mark    
you1 ,i say no word against art or      
religion4 ,i believe that  their day    
will be again4 ,not one of the old      
values will be abandoned4  ,they will   
re-appear1 transfigured no doubt1 and   
more powerful and more  intense1 in a   
world thoroughly illuminated to its     
depths by science4  ,we shall rediscover
 all the things that we loved in our    
childhood and  in our adolescence1 all  
that has upheld and exalted our         
fathers--a  poetry1 a goodness1 the most
 sublime virtues1 the humblest1 too1    
each  in its glory and its dignity4 ,but

 we must accept the darkness1 we must   
renounce and search4 444 ,the           
possibilities are unheard of1 but alone 
,i  am weak4 ,help me1 therefore2 stay  
or come back here1 six thousand feet    
above ,bayreuth6#i    ,stein listened4  
,his diary reveals the growing vividness
 of his  impressions3    #bd viii4 '#hd4
 ,sils-,maria4 ,evening with ,nietzsche4
    #bg4 ,his freedom of intellect1 the 
imagery of his speech1 a great          
impression4 ,snow and winter winds4     
,headaches4 ,at night ,i watch him      
suffer4    #bi4 ,he has not slept1 but  
has all the ardour of a young man4 ,a   
sunny  and magnificent day6    ,after   
three days1 the too-youthful emissary   
left1 greatly moved by what  had passed1
 and promising to rejoin ,nietzsche at  
,nice1 as the latter1  at least1        
understood4 ,nietzsche felt that he had 
greatly carried the  day4 ,such an      
encounter as ours must have an early and
 far-reaching  importance1 he wrote to  
,stein a few days after his departure4  

,believe  me1 you now belong to that    
little band whose fate1 for good or ill1
 is  linked to mine4 ,stein answered    
that the days at ,sils-,maria were to   
him  a great memory1 a grave and solemn 
moment of his life2 and then1 rather    
prudently1 went on to speak of the      
binding conditions imposed on him  by   
his works and his profession4 ,what he  
did not say was1 ,yes1 ,i am  yours4    
,was ,nietzsche's mind open enough to   
perceive the reservation8 ,one  cannot  
tell4 ,he was making marvellous plans1  
and dreamt anew of an  ideal cloister4  
,to ,frulein von ,meysenbug he made the 
nave proposal  that she should come to  
,nice and spend the winter near him4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,chance permits us to discover the      
depths of his soul4 ,he had gone down   
to ,basle in ,september1 and there      
,overbeck visited him at his hotel1 and 
found him in bed1 suffering from a sick 
headache1 very low in himself1  and at  
the same time exceedingly talkative4    

,his excited speech troubled  ,overbeck1
 who was initiated into the mystery of  
the ,eternal ,return4  ,one day we shall
 be here together again in this very    
place2 ,i again1  as ,i now am1 sick2   
you again1 as now you are1 amazed at my 
words4 ,he  spoke in a low and trembling
 voice1 and his face was troubled--this 
is  the ,nietzsche that ,lou ,salom has 
described4 ,overbeck listened gently1   
but avoided argument of any sort1 and   
left with evil forebodings4 ,not  until 
the tragic meeting in ,turin in         
,january1 #ahhi1 was he again to see    
his friend4    ,nietzsche merely passed 
through ,basle4 ,his sister1 whom he had
 not  seen since the quarrel of the     
previous autumn1 gave him a rendezvous  
at ,zrich4 ,it was to announce her      
marriage1 which had taken place in      
secret some months before4 ,she was now 
no longer ,frulein ,nietzsche  but      
,madame ,frster1 ready to leave for     
,paraguay with the colonists who  were  
under the charge of her husband4        

,recrimination would therefore  have    
been a waste of time4 ,the step had been
 taken2 ,nietzsche did not  discuss it1 
and did his best to be pleasant once    
again to the sister  who was lost to    
him4 ,my brother1 wrote ,madame ,frster1
 seems to be  in a very satisfactory    
condition4 ,he is bright and charming2  
we have  been together for six weeks1   
talking1 laughing over everything4      
,she has left us a record of these days 
which she supposes--or  pretends to     
suppose--were happy4 ,nietzsche came    
upon the works of one  ,freiligrath1 a  
mediocre and popular poet4 ,on the cover
 of the volume  was inscribed           
,thirty--eighth ,edition4 ,with comical 
solemnity he  exclaimed1 ,here1 then1 we
 have at last a true ,german poet4 ,the 
,germans  buy his verse6 ,he decided to 
be a good ,german for the day1 and      
bought  a copy4 ,he read and was hugely 
diverted--          ,wstenknig ist der  
,lwe2      ,will er sein ,gebiet        
durchfliegen4       7,king of deserts is

 the ,hon3      ,will he traverse his   
dominion47      ,he declaimed the       
pompous hemistiches4 ,the ,zrich hotel  
resounded with  his childish laughter as
 he amused himself improvising verses on
 every  subject in the manner of a      
,freiligrath4    ,hullo6 said an old    
general to the brother and sister4 ,what
 is  amusing you two8 ,it makes one     
jealous to hear you4 ,one wants to laugh
  like you4    ,it is unlikely that     
,nietzsche had much cause for laughter4 
,one wonders  whether he could          
contemplate those thirty-eight editions 
of ,freiligrath  without bitterness4    
,during his stay in ,zrich he went to   
the library to  look through the files  
of the newspapers and reviews for his   
name4 ,it  would have meant a good deal 
to him to have read a capable criticism 
of  his work1 to have seen his thought  
reflected in another's2 but no voice    
ever answered his labours4    ,the sky  
is beautiful1 worthy of ,nice1 and this 
has lasted for days1  he wrote to ,peter

 ,gast on ,september #cjth4 ,my sister  
is with me1 and it  is very agreeable   
for us to be doing each other good when 
for so long  we had been doing harm     
only4 ,my head is full of the most      
extravagant  lyrics that ever haunted a 
poet's skull4 ,i have had a letter from 
,stein4 ,this year has brought me many  
good things1 and one of the most        
precious of its gifts has been ,stein1 a
 new and a sincere friend4    ,in short1
 let us be full of hope2 or we may      
better express it by  saying with old   
,keller--          ',trinkt1 ,o ,augen1 
was die ,wimper hlt      ,von dem       
goldnen ,ueberfluss der ,welt6 '        
,brother and sister left ,zrich1 the one
 bound for ,naumburg1 the other  for    
,nice4 ,on the way ,nietzsche stopped at
 ,mentone4 ,hardly had he  settled down 
there than he wrote3 ,this is a         
magnificent place4 ,i have  already     
discovered eight walks4 ,i hope that no 
one will join me4 ,i need  absolute     
quiet4    ,it is possible that the      

project which he had formed at the      
beginning of  the summer1 when he spoke 
of six years of meditation and of       
silence1  was again in his mind4 ,but he
 lacked the force of will which long and
  silent meditation demands4 ,he was1   
however1 deeply moved by the hope of  a 
friend and by the loss of a sister1 and 
his lyric impatience broke  the bonds4  
,yielding to instinct he composed poems 
off-hand--songs1  short stanzas1        
epigrams4 ,practically all the poems    
which are to  be found in his later     
works--the light verse1 the biting      
distich1  inserted in the second edition
 of the ,gaya ,scienza1 the grandiose   
,dionysian chants--were finished or     
conceived during these few weeks4  ,and 
once more he began to think of the still
 incomplete ,thus ,spake  ,zarathustra4 
,a fourth1 a fifth1 a sixth part are    
inevitable1 he  writes4 ,whatever       
happens ,i must bring my son            
,zarathustra to his noble  end4 ,alive1 
he leaves me no peace4    ,at the end of

 ,october ,nietzsche left ,mentone4 ,the
 sight of so many  invalids disturbed   
him1 and he set out for ,nice4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,there an unexpected companion1 ,paul   
,lanzky by name1 soon joined  him4      
,lanzky was an intellectual1 by birth a 
,german and by taste a  ,florentine1 who
 lived a wandering life4 ,chance had put
 the works of  ,nietzsche into his      
hands2 and he had understood them4      
,applying to  ,schmeitzner1 the         
publisher1 for the author's address1 he 
was told--  ,herr ,friedrich ,nietzsche 
lives a very lonely life in ,italy4     
,write  to ,poste ,restante1 ,genoa4    
,the philosopher replied promptly and   
graciously1 ,come to ,nice this winter  
and we will talk6 ,so ,nietzsche  was   
not so unsociable and solitary after    
all6 ,this correspondence took  place   
during the autumn of #ahhc1 but ,lanzky 
was not free at the moment1  and begged 
to be excused4 ,in ,october1 #ahhd1 he  
reached the rendezvous4  ,meanwhile he  

had had the opportunity of acquainting  
himself with the  two last sections of  
,zarathustra1 and had published very    
intelligent  summaries of them in a     
,leipsic magazine and in the ,rivista   
,europea of  ,florence4    ,on the very 
morning of his arrival in ,nice there   
was a knock at his  door4 ,a            
gentle-looking man entered the room and 
came towards him  smiling4 ,also ,sie   
sind gekommen6 said ,nietzsche4 ,so here
 you are6  ,he took him by the arm1 and 
examined curiously this student of his  
works4 ,let's see what you are made of6 
,nietzsche's eyes were fixed upon him2  
those eyes which had once been          
beautiful1 and were1 at moments1 still  
beautiful1 clouded though they  now were
 by reason of prolonged suffering4      
,lanzky was astonished4 ,he  had come to
 do honour to a redoubtable prophet1 and
 here was the most  affable1 the        
simplest1 and1 as it seemed to him1 the 
most modest of  ,german professors4     
,as the two men went out together1      

,lanzky avowed his surprise--  ,master1 
he began4444    ,you are the first to   
call me by that name1 said ,nietzsche   
with a  smile4 ,but he let the word     
pass1 for he knew that he was a master4 
,master1 continued ,lanzky1 what a      
mistaken idea of you one gathers  from  
your books2 tell me 444    ,no1 no1 not 
to-day4 ,you do not know ,nice4 ,i will 
do the honours1 and  show you this sea1 
these mountains1 these walks4444        
,another day we  shall talk1 if you     
will4    ,by the time they returned it  
was six o'clock in the evening1 and     
,lanzky  had discovered how tireless a  
walker was his prophet4    ,they        
organised their life in common4 ,at six 
o'clock in the morning it  was          
,nietzsche's custom to make himself a   
cup of tea1 which he took  alone2       
towards eight ,lanzky would knock at his
 door and ask how he had  passed the    
night--,nietzsche often slept badly--and
 how he intended to  employ his morning4
 ,usually ,nietzsche began the day by   

skimming the  newspapers in a public    
reading hall2 he then went to the shore1
 where  ,lanzky either joined him or    
respected his desire for a solitary     
walk4  ,both of them lunched in their   
pension4 ,in the afternoon they walked  
out together4 ,at night1 ,nietzsche     
wrote or ,lanzky read to him aloud1     
often from some ,french book1 such as   
the ,letters of the ,abb ,galiani1      
,stendhal's ,le ,rouge et le ,noir1 ,la 
,chartreuse1 ,l',armance4    ,to live   
courteously1 yet withhold from ordinary 
gaze the secret of  one's life1 is a    
whole art in itself2 and this art       
,nietzsche had  mastered4 ,indeed1 as   
regards the scheme of manners that he   
had composed  for himself1 this solitary
 of the table d'hte was1 deliberately1  
hypocritical and almost cunning4 ,more  
than once ,lanzky was nonplussed4  ,one 
,sunday a young lady asked ,nietzsche   
had he been to church4    ,to-day1 no1  
he replied courteously4    ,to ,lanzky1 
who admired his prudence1 he explained  

that every truth was  not good for      
everyone4 ,if ,i had troubled that      
girl's mind1 he added1  ,i should be    
horrified4    ,occasionally it amused   
him to announce his future greatness4   
,he would  tell his neighbours during   
meals that in forty years' time he would
 be  illustrious throughout ,europe4    
,they would say3 ,well1 then lend us    
your books4    ,he refused their        
requests most positively1 and again     
explained to  ,lanzky that his writings 
were not for the man in the street4     
,master1 asked ,lanzky1 why do you print
 them8    ,it appears that no answer was
 given to this reasonable question4     
,nietzsche1 however1 dissembled even    
with ,lanzky4 ,the formation of a       
society of friends1 of an idealistic    
phalanstery similar to that in  which   
,emerson lived--this old dream of his he
 loved to repeat and  elaborate for him4
    ,he often led ,lanzky to the        
peninsula of ,saint-,jean4 ,here1 he    
would  say in ,biblical phrase--,here we

 shall pitch our tents4 ,he went so far 
as to select a group of little villas   
which seemed to be suitable for  his    
purpose4 ,but the members were not yet  
decided upon1 and the name of  ,heinrich
 von ,stein1 the only friend1 the only  
disciple whom he really  wanted1 was    
never mentioned in ,lanzky's presence4  
,there was no news of ,stein's coming1  
nor of his plans4 ,to ,nietzsche  he    
gave no sign4 ,we may assume that he had
 gone to ,sils-,maria to  conciliate1 if
 possible1 the two masters4 ,but one of 
them had said that  he must choose      
between the two3 perhaps he had been    
disturbed for a  moment4 ,he returned1  
however1 to his ,germany1 and there he  
saw ,cosima  ,wagner again4 ,nietzsche  
had required that he should choose1 and 
he  remained faithful to ,wagner4       
,nietzsche anticipated a new desertion4 
,he was afraid1 and1 yielding to  a     
humble and mournful impulse1 wrote1 in  
the form of a poem1 an appeal  which he 
addressed to the young man3          ,o 

midday of life6 ,o solemn time6      ,o 
garden of summer6      ,unquiet         
happiness ,i am there3 listening1       
waiting6      ,night and day1 living in 
hope of the friend2     ,where are ye1  
friends8 ,come6 ,it is time1 it is      
time6#aj      ,heinrich von ,stein felt 
it incumbent upon him to reply4 ,he     
wrote3 ,to  an appeal such as yours     
there is but one suitable reply4 ,it is 
that ,i  should come and give myself    
entirely to you1 vowing1 as to the      
noblest  of tasks1 all my time to the   
understanding of the new ,gospel which  
you  have to preach4 ,but this is       
forbidden me4 ,an idea1 however1 strikes
 me4  ,every month ,i entertain two     
friends and read with them some article 
from the ,wagner-,lexicon4 ,it is taken 
as text1 and1 on it1 ,i speak to  them4 
,these conversations are becoming more  
and more lofty and free4  ,latterly we  
have found this definition of sthetic   
emotion--a passage  to the impersonal   
through very fulness of personality4 ,i 

think that our  meetings would please   
you4 ,and how if ,nietzsche should now  
and again  send us the text8 ,would you 
communicate with us in this way8 ,would 
you  not see in such a correspondence an
 introduction1 a step towards your  idea
 of a cloister8    ,this letter was     
obviously the letter of an excellent    
pupil1 and it  exasperated ,nietzsche4  
,wagner was named1 doubtless            
intentionally1 and  the ,wagnerian      
,encyclopedia1 the sum of an absurd and 
puerile theology1  was indicated as the 
text of ,stein's meditations4 ,here was 
the old  adversary again standing in the
 way1 ,wagner1 the quack of thought1 the
  seducer of young men4 ,frster1 who was
 taking his sister from him1 was  a     
,wagnerian2 and ,heinrich von ,stein1 on
 ,wagner's account1 refused him  his    
devotion4 ,it was a cruel liberty that  
he had won1 alone and at the  cost of a 
struggle whose wounds he still bore4 ,he
 wrote to his sister3    ,what a foolish
 letter ,stein has written me in answer 

to such poetry6  ,i am painfully        
affected4 ,here ,i am ill again4 ,i have
 recourse to the  old means chloral1 and
 ,i utterly hate all men1 myself        
included1 whom  ,i have known4 ,i sleep 
well1 but on waking ,i experience       
misanthropy and  rancour4 ,and yet there
 can be few men living who are better   
disposed1  more benevolent than ,i6     
,lanzky remarked ,nietzsche's trouble of
 mind without suspecting the  cause4    
,the crisis was very severe1 but        
,nietzsche did not allow himself  to be 
crushed by it and laboured              
energetically4 ,more often now than     
heretofore he walked alone1 and ,lanzky 
would watch him trip as lightly  as a   
dancer across the ,promenade des        
,anglais or over the mountain  paths4   
,he would leap and gambol at times1 and 
then suddenly interrupt  his capers to  
write down a few words with a pencil4   
,what was the new  work on which he was 
busy8 ,lanzky had no idea4    ,one      
morning in ,march he entered1 as was his

 custom1 the little room  which the     
philosopher occupied1 to find him in bed
 notwithstanding the  advanced hour4 ,he
 made anxious enquiries4    ,i am ill1  
said ,nietzsche2 ,i have just had my    
confinement4    ,what's that you say8   
asked ,lanzky1 much perturbed4    ,the  
fourth part of ,zarathustra is written4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,this fourth section does not enable us 
to discover at length an advance  in the
 work1 an attained precision of thought4
 ,it is merely a singular  fragment1 an 
interlude1 as ,nietzsche called it4 ,it 
illustrates a  strange episode in the   
life of the hero1 one which has         
disconcerted  many a reader4 ,we may    
perhaps best understand it if we        
consider the  deception to which        
,nietzsche has just been subjected4     
,the superior men go up to ,zarathustra 
and surprise him in his  mountainous    
solitude3 an old pope1 an old historian1
 an old king1  unhappy beings who are   
suffering from their abasement and wish 

to ask  succour of a sage whose strength
 they feel4 ,was it not thus that       
,stein1  that distinguished young man1  
etiolated by ,bayreuth1 went to         
,nietzsche8    ,zarathustra admits these
 superior men to his presence1 and      
keeping  in check his savage humour1    
makes them sit down in his cave1 is     
sorry  for their disquietude1 listens   
and talks to them4 ,was it not thus that
  ,nietzsche had received ,stein8       
,zarathustra's soul is in its depths    
less hard than it should be1 and  he    
allows himself to be seduced by the     
morbid charm and delicacy of  the       
superior men2 he takes pity on them and1
 forgetting that their  misery is       
irremediable1 yields to the pleasures of
 hope4 ,he had looked  for friends1 and1
 perhaps1 with these superior men they  
have come at  last4 ,had not ,nietzsche 
hoped for some help from ,stein8        
,zarathustra leaves his friends for a   
moment1 and ascends alone to the        
mountain4 ,he returns to his cave to    

find the superior men1 all of  them     
prostrate before a donkey4 ,the aged    
pope is saying ,mass before the  new    
idol4 ,in this posture ,stein1          
interpreting a ,wagnerian bible with    
two friends1 had been surprised by      
,nietzsche4    ,zarathustra hunts his   
guests away1 and calls for new workmen  
for a new  world4 ,but will he ever find
 them8    ,my children1 my pure-blooded 
race1 my beautiful new race2 what is it 
that keeps my children upon their isles8
    ,is it not time1 full time--,i      
murmur it in thine ear1 good spirit of  
the tempests1--that they should return  
to their father8 do they not  know that 
my hair grows gray and whitens in       
waiting8    ,go1 go1 spirit of the      
tempests1 indomitable and beneficent6   
,leave thy  gorges and thy mountains1   
precipitate thyself upon the seas and   
bless  my children before the night has 
come4    ,bear them the benediction of  
my happiness1 the benediction of that   
crown of happy roses6 ,let these roses  

fall upon their isles1 let  them remain 
fallen there1 as a sign1 which asks3    
',whence can such a  happiness come8'   
4      4      4      4      4     4     
,then they shall ask3 ',still lives he1 
our father ,zarathustra8 ,what1  can our
 father ,zarathustra be still alive8    
,does our old father1  ,zarathustra1    
still love his children8'    ,the wind  
breathes1 the wind breathes1 the moon   
shines bright--,oh my  far-off1 far-off 
children1 why are ye not here1 with your
 father8 ,the  wind breathes no cloud   
passes over the sky1 the world sleeps4  
,oh1 joy6  ,oh1 joy6    ,nietzsche      
omitted this page from his work4        
,perhaps he felt ashamed of  so plain   
and so melancholy an avowal4    ,the    
fourth part of ,zarathustra found no    
publisher4 ,a few months  earlier       
,schmeitzner had informed ,nietzsche    
that the public would not  read his     
aphorisms4 ,he now contented himself    
with stating that the  public had chosen
 to ignore ,zarathustra2 and there the  

matter rested1  so far as he was        
concerned4    ,nietzsche then made      
certain overtures which only hurt his   
pride and had  no result2 then he took a
 more dignified course and had the      
manuscript  printed at his own expense  
in an edition limited to forty copies4  
,to tell the truth1 his friends were not
 so numerous4 ,he found seven           
consignees--none of whom were truly     
worthy4 ,if we may guess1 these were    
the seven3 his sister--whose loss he    
never ceased to deplore2 ,overbeck  -a  
strict friend1 an intelligent reader1   
but cautious and reserved2  ,burckhardt1
 the ,basle historian--who always       
replied to ,nietzsche's  messages1 but  
was too polite to be easily fathomed2   
,peter ,gast--the  faithful disciple    
whom1 no doubt1 ,nietzsche found too    
faithful and  obedient2 ,lanzky--his    
good companion of the wintertide2       
,rohde--who  scarcely disguised the     
ennui that these forced readings gave   
him4  ,these were the seven1 we may     

presume1 who received copies of the     
work1  and not all of them troubled to  
read this fourth and last section1  the 
interlude which ends1 and yet does not  
complete1 ,thus ,spake  ,zarathustra4   
#i ,phrase in a passage from ,ecce      
,homo4    #aj        ,oh ,lebens        
,mittag6 ,feierliche ,zeit6      ,oh    
,sommergarten6      ,unruhig ,glck im   
,stehn und ,spahn und ,warten6      ,der
 ,freunde harr' ,ich1 ,tag und ,nacht   
bereit2      ,wo bleibt ihr1 ,freunde8  
,kommt6 s'ist ,zeit6 s'ist ,zeit6       
,,chapter ,,vii      ,,the ,,final      
,,solitude      ,i    ,beyond ,good and 
,evil    ,the lyrical work was          
abandoned4 ,at moments ,friedrich       
,nietzsche was  to regret and wish to   
resume it2 but these were brief         
velleities4  ,henceforth1 he wrote 7this
 time the assurance is exact71 ,i shall 
speak1 and not ,zarathustra4    ,the    
work remained in an incomplete          
condition4 ,nietzsche knew it1 and  the 
mass of thoughts which he had not       

expressed saddened him like a  remorse4 
,he was about to attempt another test4  
,it was without joy that  he returned to
 philosophy and strove to express in    
abstract terms what1  as poet1 he had   
failed to utter4 ,he opened new         
notebooks1 he essayed  titles3 ,the     
,will to ,power1 a new interpretation of
 ,nature 444 ,the ,will  to ,power1 an  
essay towards a new interpretation of   
the universe 4444  ,these formulas1 the 
first that he had found1 were to stand4 
,nietzsche  resumed and developed here  
the ,schopenhauerian datum4 ,the        
foundation of  things1 he thinks1 is not
 a blind will to live2 to live is to    
expand1  it is to grow1 to conquer3 the 
foundation of things may be better      
defined as a blind will to power1 and   
all the phenomena that arise in  the    
human soul may be interpreted as a      
function of this will4    ,it was an    
immense work of prudent reflection which
 ,nietzsche envisaged  with fear4 ,how  
should one discern in the soul of men   

what is power and  what is1 without     
doubt1 weakness8 ,perhaps the anger of  
,alexander is  weakness1 and the        
mystic's exaltation power4 ,nietzsche   
had hoped that  disciples1 philosophers 
or physiologists1 would have made the   
necessary  analyses for him4 ,heinrich  
von ,stein's help would have been       
precious4  ,but1 being alone1 he had to 
assume every task4 ,he grew sad4        
,denuded  of lyricism1 thought had no   
attraction for him4 ,what does he love8 
,instinctive strength1 finesse1 grace1  
ordered and rhythmical sounds--he  loves
 ,venice and dreams of the fine weather 
which will allow him to fly  from this  
,nice pension where the food and the    
company are so bad4 ,on  the #cjth of   
,march he writes to ,peter ,gast3       
,,dear ,,friend1--,it seldom happens    
that ,i consider a removal with         
pleasure4 ,bat on this occasion3--when  
,i think that ,i shall soon be at       
,venice1 and near you1 ,i grow animated1
 am ravished2 it is like the hope  of   

cure after a long and terrible sickness4
 ,i have made this discovery3  ,venice  
remains till to-day the only place which
 is always sweet and  good to me4444    
,sils-,maria as a place of passage suits
 me very well2 but  not as a residence4 
,ah6 if ,i could contrive to live there 
worthily as a  hermit or solitary6      
,but--,sils-,maria becomes fashionable6 
,my dear friend and maestro1 you and    
,venice are linked for me4 ,nothing     
gives me more pleasure than your        
persistent taste for this town4 ,how    
much ,i have thought of you in these    
times6 ,i was reading the memoirs  of   
old ,de ,bross 7#agci-dj7 on ,venice and
 on the maestro who was then  admired   
there1 ,hasse 7il detto ,sassonne74 ,do 
not get angry1 ,i haven't  the least    
intention of making disrespectful       
comparisons between you4    ,i have just
 written to ,malvida3 thanks to ,peter  
,gast1 our friends the  low comedians1  
the self-styled geniuses of music1 gone 
hence very soon1  will cease to corrupt 

taste4 ',gone hence very soon'--is1     
perhaps1 a  gross exaggeration4 ,in a   
democratic period few men discern       
beauty3  pulchrum paucorum est hominum1 
,i rejoice that for you ,i am one of    
these 'few4' ,the profound and joyous   
men who please me1 avec des  ames       
mlancoliques et folles#a like my defunct
 friends ,stendhal and  the ,abb        
,galiani1 could not have stayed on the  
earth if they had not  loved some       
musician of joy 7,galiani without       
,puccini1 ,stendhal without  ,cimarosa  
and ,mozart74    ,ah1 if you knew how   
alone ,i am in the world at present6 and
 how ,i must  play a comedy to prevent  
myself from spitting1 now and again1 in 
some  one's face1 out of satiety4       
,happily some of the courteous manners  
of my  son ,zarathustra exist also in   
his rather crazed father4    ,but when  
,i shall be with you1 and in ,venice1   
then1 for a time1 there  will be an end 
of 'courtesy' and 'comedy' and 'satiety'
 and of all the  malediction of ,nice1  

won't there1 my good friend8    ,not to 
be forgotten3 we shall eat bacoli6      
,cordially1    ,f4 ,n4    ,in ,april and
 ,may ,nietzsche sojourned at ,venice1  
and found the joy  for which he had     
hoped4 ,he wandered through the little  
sheltered and  murmurous streets1 he    
contemplated the beautiful town4 ,he    
listened to  the music of his friend4   
,the galleries of ,st4 ,mark's ,square  
shaded  his walks and he compared them  
to those porticoes of ,ephesus whither  
,heraclitus went to forget the agitation
 of the ,greeks and the sombre  menace  
of the ,persian ,empire4 ,how easily1 he
 thinks1 one here  forgets the sombre   
,empire--our own2 let us not defame our 
,europe2  she still offers us beautiful 
refuges6 ,it is my finest workroom1     
this ,piazza ,san ,marco4444 ,this      
shortlived happiness awoke the  poetic  
impulse in him4 ,he wished to chant the 
triumph and death of  ,zarathustra1 now 
for some hours drawn from oblivion4 ,he 
wrote out a  sketch1 but soon abandoned 

it2 it was his last4    ,june brought   
him back to the ,engadine4 ,the chances 
of hotel life  procured him a secretary2
 a certain ,madame ,rder1 otherwise     
unknown1  offered to help him4 ,he      
dictated and tried to grasp his problem 
more  closely4 ,what was his end8 ,to   
criticise that multitude of moral       
judgments1 prejudices and routines which
 fetter modern ,europeans2 to  appraise 
their vital value1 that is to say1 the  
quantity of energy  which they express1 
and thus to fix a hierarchy of virtues4 
,he wished  finally to realise the      
,umwerthung aller ,werthe 7he found this
  formula71 the transvaluation of all   
values4 ,all1 he writes2 his  pride was 
not content with less4 ,he then         
recognised1 and succeeded in  defining1 
certain modes of virtue which the       
professional moralists  knew not how to 
observe3 mastery over oneself1          
dissimulation of one's  intimate        
sentiments1 politeness1 gaiety1         
exactitude in obedience and  command1   

deference1 exigence of respect1 taste   
for responsibilities and  for dangers4  
,such were the usages1 the tendencies1  
to-day depreciated1  of the old         
aristocratic life1 the sources of a     
morality more virile  than our own4     
,it is probable that he then undertook  
some serious enough readings4 ,he       
studied the ,biological ,problems of    
,rolph1 where he could find the         
analysis of that vital growth which was 
the basis of his metaphysic4  ,perhaps  
he then read again some book by         
,gobineau 7he admired the man  and his  
works72 one may hazard this conjecture4 
,but what mattered his  readings8       
,nietzsche was forty-two years old4 ,he 
had passed the age of  learning1 he had 
gathered in all his ideas4 ,reading     
helped1 nourished  his meditations1 but 
never directed them4    ,the difficulty 
of his work was great and insomnia      
overcame him4  ,nevertheless he         
persevered1 and denied himself the sad  
joy of a final  embrace of his sister   

,lisbeth1 who was about to follow her   
husband to  ,south ,america4 ,you will  
live down there then1 he wrote to her1  
and ,i  here1 in a solitude more        
unattainable than all the ,paraguays4   
,my mother  will have to live alone and 
we must all be courageous4 ,i love you  
and ,i  weep4--,,friedrich4    ,a week  
passed1 and he had formed other         
projects4 ,he was negotiating  with his 
publisher in regard to the repurchase of
 his books and their  republication4 ,it
 was a pretext that he grasped for going
 to ,germany4  ,a business matter1 which
 makes my presence of use1 comes to the 
aid of  my desire1 he wrote1 and set out
 for ,naumburg without delay4    ,the   
meeting was a grave one3 brother and    
sister conversed tenderly on  the eve of
 a separation which they knew to be     
definitive4 ,nietzsche  made no secret  
of the difficulties of his life4 ,alone 
,i confront a  tremendous problem1 he   
said2 it is a forest in which ,i lose   
myself1 a  virgin forest--,wald und     

,urwald4 ,i need help4 ,i need          
disciples1 ,i need  a master4 ,to obey  
would be sweet6 ,if ,i had lost myself  
on a mountain1  ,i would obey the man   
who knew that mountain2 sick1 ,i would  
obey a  doctor2 and if ,i should meet a 
man capable of enlightening me on moral 
ideas1 ,i would listen to him1 ,i would 
follow him2 but ,i find no one1  no     
disciples and fewer masters4 444 ,i am  
alone4 ,his sister repeated  the advice 
which she had constantly given3 that    
,friedrich should return  to some       
,university2 young men had always       
listened to him1 they would  listen to  
him1 they would understand him4 ,young  
men are so stupid6  answered ,nietzsche1
 and professors still more stupid6      
,besides1 all the  ,german ,universities
 repel me2 where could ,i teach8 ,in    
,zrich1 his  sister suggested4 ,there is
 only one town that ,i can tolerate1 and
 it  is ,venice4    ,he went to ,leipsic
 to negotiate with his publisher1 who   
received  him without much attention2   

his books did not sell4 ,he returned to 
,naumburg1 said a final farewell1 and   
left4    ,where was he to find a refuge 
for the winter8 ,on the last occasion   
he had been irritated by the noisy      
swarms of ,nice4 ,he thinks of          
,vallombrosa4 ,lanzky had recommended   
this beautiful forest in the  ,tuscan   
,apennines1 and was waiting for him at  
,florence4 ,before leaving  ,germany1   
,nietzsche1 passing through ,munich1    
visited a former friend1  the ,baron von
 ,seydlitz1 who introduced him to his   
wife and showed him  his ,japanese      
collection4 ,the wife was young and     
charming1 the ,japanese  things pleased 
,nietzsche2 he discovered this art1 he  
liked these  stamps1 these little gay   
objects which conformed so little to the
 sad  modern taste1 so very little to   
the sad taste of the ,germans4 ,seydlitz
  understood beautiful things1 and knew 
how to live2 ,nietzsche envied him  a   
little4 ,perhaps it is time1 dear       
,lisbeth1 he wrote to his sister1  for  

you to find me a wife4 ,let us say1     
still young1 pretty1 gay2 in  short1 a  
courageous little being  la ,irne von   
,seydlitz 7we almost  'thee and thou'   
each other74    ,he reached ,tuscany4   
,lanzky received him1 accompanied him1  
and brought  him to the observatory of  
,arcetri1 on the heights of ,san        
,miniato1  where lived a man of a rare  
kind--a reader of his books4 ,leberecht 
,tempel kept on his table1 near his     
bizarre instruments1 the works of  ,herr
 ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 many passages of
 which he knew by heart and  willingly  
recited4 ,leberecht ,tempel was a       
singularly noble1 sincere1  and         
disinterested nature4 ,the two men      
talked for half an hour and1 it  seems1 
understood each other4 ,when ,nietzsche 
left he was deeply moved4    ,i wish    
that this man had never known my books1 
said he to ,lanzky4 ,he  is too         
sensible1 too good4 ,i shall harm him4  
,for he knew the terrible consequences  
of his thoughts and feared for  those   

who read them suffering similar to his  
own4    ,he did not stay in ,tuscany3   
the harsh1 cold air which descended from
  the mountains upon ,florence          
incommoded him4 ,he was recaptured by   
memories of ,nice1 the town with two    
hundred and twenty days of full         
sunshine--it was from ,nice that he     
wrote to his sister1 on the #aeth of    
,november1 #ahhe3    ,do not be         
astonished1 dear sister1 if your        
brother1 who has some of  the blood of  
the mole and of ,hamlet in his veins1   
writes to you not  from ,vallombrosa1   
but from ,nice4 ,it has been very       
precious to me to  experiment almost    
simultaneously with the air of ,leipsic1
 of ,munich1  of ,florence1 of ,genoa1  
and of ,nice4 ,you would never believe  
how much  ,nice has triumphed in this   
group4 ,i have put up1 as last year1 at 
the  ,pension de ,genve1 ,petite ,rue   
,saint-,etienne4 ,i find it recarpeted1 
refurnished1 repainted1 become very     
comely4 ,my neighbour at table is a     

bishop1 a ,monsignor who speaks ,german4
 ,i think of you a great deal4 ,your    
,,prince ,,eichorn4    ,here ,i am      
returned to ,nice1 he wrote in another  
letter1 that is  to say to reason4 ,his 
pleasure is such that he observes with  
some  indulgence the cosmopolitan city1 
and is amused by it4 ,my window looks   
out on the square of the ,phnicians1 he 
wrote to ,peter ,gast4 ,what  a         
prodigious cosmopolitanism in this      
alliance of words6 ,don't you  laugh8   
,and it's true1 ,phnicians lived here4  
,i hear sounding in the  air something  
of the conqueror and the                
,super-,european1 a voice which  gives  
me confidence and says to me3 ,here thou
 art in thy place 4444  ,how far one is 
from ,germany here--',ausserdeutsch6' ,i
 cannot say it  with force enough4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,he returned to his habit of walking in 
the sun over the white roads  which     
overlook the waves4 ,the memories of    
seven years linked his  thought with    

this sea1 these strands1 these          
mountains2 his fantasy  awoke1 he       
listened to it and followed it4 ,not an 
hour passed vainly2  each one was happy1
 and left1 as the souvenir and witness  
of the  gladness which it brought1 an   
epigram1 a poem in prose1 a maxim1 some 
lied or song4    ,he defamed the        
moderns2 it was his pleasure1 and1 as he
 thought1 his  duty as a philosopher1   
who1 speaking for coming times1 must    
contradict  his own period4 ,in the     
sixteenth century a philosopher did well
 to  praise obedience and kindliness4   
,in the nineteenth century1 in our      
,europe impaired by ,parisian decadents 
and ,wagnerian ,germans1 in this  feeble
 ,europe which is ever seeking the      
co-operation of the masses1 the  line of
 least effort and the least pain1 a     
philosopher had to praise  other        
virtues4 ,he had to affirm3 ,that man is
 great who knows how to  be the most    
solitary1 the most hidden1 the most     
distant2 who knows how  to live beyond  

good and evil1 the master of his        
virtues1 powerful in  his will4         
,greatness is there4 ,and he must       
urgently ask3 ,is greatness  possible   
to-day8--,ist ,veredlung mglich8 ,we    
never cease to hear this  question which
 he first put at twenty-six4    ,he     
defamed the ,germans2 this was his other
 pleasure1 a more intimate  and lively  
one4 ,germanised ,europe had unlearned  
freedom4 ,she  dissimulated her spites1 
her immodesties1 her cunning4 ,she      
needed to  recover the spirit of the old
 world1 of those ,frenchmen of former   
times  who lived in so fine a liberty1  
with so fine a clear-sightedness and    
force4 ,we must mediterraneanise music1 
wrote he1 and our taste1  our manners   
also4 ,across these pages of ,nietzsche1
 it is easy to hear  the counsels of his
 defunct friends1 ,stendhal and the ,abb
 ,galiani4    ,men of profound          
melancholy1 he wrote1 betray themselves 
when they  are happy3 they seize upon   
their happiness as though they would    

strangle it and stifle it out of        
jealousy4444 ,alas1 they know too well  
that happiness flies before them6       
,december neared its end1 and those     
festivals1 the memories of which moved  
his faithful heart1 approached2         
,nietzsche had seen his happiness in    
flight before him4 ,the pleasure  of    
lively thoughts1 of beautiful images1   
did not entirely satisfy  him4 ,he was  
no longer amused by the crowd at ,nice1 
the square of the  ,phnicians diverted  
him no more4 ,what mattered to him the  
,gai  ,saber and its precepts--sunlight1
 wind and ,provenal song8 ,he was a     
,german1 the son of a pastor1 and it was
 with an oppressed heart that he        
watched ,christmas and ,saint           
,sylvester's day approach--that         
venerated  time4    ,he took a disgust  
for the poor pension in which he lodged3
 its  furniture was touched by too many 
hands1 its sitting-room degraded  by    
being common property4 ,then the cold   
weather came4 ,being poor1 he  could not

 get the warmth he needed2 he froze1    
bitterly regretting the  stoves of      
,germany4 ,wretched places where he     
cannot ever be alone6 ,to  the right1 a 
child is clattering its scales2 above1  
two amateurs are  practising on the     
trumpet and violin4 ,friedrich          
,nietzsche1 yielding to  bitterness1    
wrote to his sister1 who was spending a 
last ,christmas at  ,naumburg3    ,how  
stupid it is that ,i have no one here   
who might laugh with me6 ,if ,i  were   
stronger1 and if ,i were richer1 ,i     
should set up in ,japan1 to know  a     
little gaiety4 ,at ,venice ,i am happy  
because there one can live in the       
,japanese manner without too great      
difficulty4 ,all the rest of ,europe  is
 pessimist and mournful2 ,wagner's      
horrible perversion of music is a       
particular case of the perversion1 of   
the universal trouble4    ,here is      
,christmas again1 and it is sad to think
 that ,i must continue  to live1 as ,i  
have done for seven years1 like a man   

proscribed1 like a  cynical contemner of
 men4 ,no one bothers about my existence
 any more2  the ,lama has 'better to    
do1' and in any case enough to do4444   
,isn't  it fine1 my ,christmas letter8  
,long live the ,lama6    ,your ,f4      
,why do you not go to ,japan8 ,it is the
 most sensible life1 and so gay4        
,eight days later he wrote a better     
letter2 perhaps he had reproached       
himself for his confession4    ,chrie1  
the weather is magnificent to-day1 and  
your ,fritz must  afresh put on a good  
face for you1 though in these latter    
times he has  had nights and days that  
were most melancholy4 ,by chance my     
,christmas  was a real festival day4 ,at
 noon1 ,i receive your kind presents2   
very  quickly ,i pass round my neck your
 watch-chain1 and slide your pretty     
little calendar into my waistcoat       
pocket4 ,as to the 'money1' if there    
was money in the letter 7our mother     
wrote me that there was71 it  escaped my
 fingers4 ,excuse your blind animal who 

undid his packet in  the road2 something
 no doubt fell from it1 as ,i opened    
your letters  very impatiently4 ,let us 
hope that a poor old woman1 passing     
there1  found her 'little child ,jesus' 
on the pavement4 ,then ,i go on foot to 
my peninsula of ,saint ,jean1 ,i walk a 
great round along the coast1 and        
finally install myself not far from the 
young soldiers who are playing  at      
skittles4 ,fresh-blown roses1 geraniums 
in the hedges1 everything  green1       
everything warm3 nothing of the north6  
,there1 your ,fritz drinks  three       
glasses of a sweet wine of the country1 
and perhaps gets a trifle  tipsy2 at    
least he begins to talk to the waves1   
and1 when they foam as  they break too  
strongly against the shore1 he says to  
them1 as one does  to fowl3 ',butsch6   
,butsch6 ,butsch6' ,finally1 ,i re-enter
 ,nice and1 in the  evening1 dine at my 
pension in princely style in the glitter
 of a great  ,christmas-tree4 ,would you
 believe it1 ,i have found a baker de   

luxe  who knows what ',quackkuchen' is2 
he told me that the ,king of ,wrtemburg 
had ordered some of it1 similar to the  
kind ,i like1 for his birthday4 ,i      
remembered this while ,i was writing 'in
 princely style4' 444 ,in alter  liebe1 
,your ,f4    ,n4,b4--,i have begun to   
sleep again 7without narcotics74    ,in 
,january1 ,february1 and ,march1 #ahhf1 
his melancholy appeared to  be less     
acute4 ,he gave a form to his work1 to  
those notes which his  fantasy had      
dictated to him4 ,for four years he had 
ceased to publish  his aphorisms1 his   
short essays4 ,the matter with which his
 notebooks  supplied him was immense4   
,he proposed to extract a volume from   
it2 his  whole task was to arrange and  
select4    ,had he forgotten the        
systematic work of which he had thought 
the  previous winter8 ,no1 for he always
 felt the heavy necessity and the       
reproach of it4 ,he wished to make peace
 with his own conscience in  regard to  
the delay3 he needed a little pleasure1 

the amusement of a  lively book1 before 
commencing the immense work4 ,he found a
 title1  ,beyond ,good and ,evil2 a     
sub-title1 ,prelude to a ,philosophy of 
the  ,future4 ,thus he announced the    
more important and always deferred work4
  ,he deceived himself in connecting by 
an artificial tie his pleasure and  his 
duty4           99       99       99    
99       99    ,remember how joyously he
 used to announce the completion of the 
book2  how communicative he was and how 
confident6 ,confidence and joy are      
gone4 ,he knows that he will not be     
read4 ,but his ill-fortune always       
exceeds his expectation1 and ,nietzsche1
 once again1 has not foreseen  the      
ordeal which he must endure3 ,beyond    
,good and ,evil finds no  publisher4 ,he
 negotiates with a house in ,leipsic    
which declines his  proposals4 ,he      
writes to ,berlin without better        
success4 ,everywhere his  book is       
refused4 ,what is he to do with it8 ,he 
thinks of cutting it up  into pamphlets 

which will perhaps reach the public more
 easily4 ,he  writes an experimental    
preface4    ,these pamphlets1 he is to  
say1 form a sequel to the ',thoughts out
 of  ,season' which ,i published some   
ten years ago in the hope of drawing to 
me 'my fellows4' ,i was then young      
enough to go fishing for associates     
with an impatient hope4 ,to-day--after a
 hundred years3 ,i measure the  time by 
my measure--,i am not yet old enough to 
have lost all hope and  confidence4     
,but he soon abandoned this idea too4   
,there is nothing else for me to  do1 he
 wrote to his sister1 but to tie up my  
manuscript with a string  and put it in 
a drawer4    ,in the spring he stayed at
 ,venice1 as his custom was1 but did not
  meet his friend1 who was visiting the 
,german towns in the vain hope  of      
placing his music4 ,peter ,gast had     
composed an opera1 ,the ,lion  of       
,venice1 which was being rejected by one
 theatre after another4  ,nietzsche     
wrote to comfort and encourage him4     

,like ,nietzsche1 ,gast was  a ,german  
by birth1 a ,mediterranean in taste4    
,the one lived at ,nice1 the  other at  
,venice2 they had the same ambition1 the
 same unhappy destiny4    ,come back1 he
 wrote to him1 come back to the solitude
 in which  we both know how to live1 in 
which we alone know how to live6 ,it is 
,wagnerism which bars your road1 and    
it's also that ,german grossness and    
thickness which1 since the ',empire1'   
goes growing1 growing4 ,we must be      
circumspect and march under arms1 you   
and ,i1 to prevent ourselves from  being
 forced to die of silence4444           
,friedrich ,nietzsche felt his solitude 
alleviated by this comradeship in  a    
difficult lot4 ,peter ,gast's distress  
was similar to his own2 he spoke  to him
 as to a brother4 ,peter ,gast was poor3
 ,let us share my purse1  said          
,nietzsche2 let us share the little that
 ,i have4 ,peter ,gast grew  discouraged
 and lost confidence in himself3        
,nietzsche knew this agony2  he knew the

 great necessity of confidence to the   
man who worked1 and  how quickly the    
contempt of the public must overwhelm   
him4 ,courage1  he wrote2 do not let    
yourself be cast down2 be sure that ,i1 
at least1  believe in you2 ,i need your 
music2 without it ,i could not live4 ,we
  need not doubt that ,nietzsche was    
sincere when he thus expressed  himself4
 ,all his power of love and admiration1 
which was immense1 he  brought to bear  
upon this last companion who remained to
 him1 and his  friendship transfigured  
the music of ,peter ,gast4    ,he was   
unhappy1 even at ,venice2 the light hurt
 the delicate nerves of  his eyes4 ,as  
at ,basle in former times1 he was       
obliged to shut himself  up behind      
closed shutters1 and deny himself the   
pleasure of the fine  ,italian days4    
,what refuge could he find8 ,he recalled
 the vast ,german  forests1 so shady and
 beneficent to his eyes1 and he took to 
regretting  his country4 ,though she    
angered him1 though he revolted against 

her1  he loved ,germany2 how could he   
help loving her8 ,without her divine    
music1 which had governed the impulses  
of his first desires1 his soul  would   
have been other2 without her tongue1    
that splendid and difficult  instrument1
 his thought would have been other4     
,schopenhauer and ,wagner1  two         
,germans1 were his real masters1 and    
remained so 7he secretly avowed  it72   
his true disciples1 if ever they were to
 exist1 would be born in  ,germany1 that
 cruel ,fatherland which he could not   
abjure4    ,thence he received a piece  
of news which moved him3 ,rohde was     
appointed  professor in the ,university 
of ,leipsic4 ,nietzsche was happy for   
his  friend1 and congratulated him in   
exquisite terms4 ,nevertheless1 he      
could not prevent himself from sadly    
drawing a personal moral4 ,at  present1 
he wrote to ,peter ,gast1 the ,faculty  
of ,philosophy is half  composed of my  
'good friends' 7,zarncke1 ,heinze1      
,leskien1 ,windisch1  ,rohde1 c474      

,suddenly he wished to depart2 he wanted
 to see his  mother1 whom her two       
children had left2 he wished to attend  
his old  comrade's course2 lastly1 he   
wished to confront those famous         
publishers  who printed twenty thousand 
volumes a year1 and refused his own4 ,he
  left ,venice and went straight to     
,leipsic4    ,he stepped up to ,rohde's 
rooms2 the time was badly chosen4 ,he   
found  a busy and preoccupied man1 who  
received this unexpected visitor1  this 
too singular personage who had failed in
 life1 with vexation and  constraint4 ,i
 saw ,nietzsche1 ,rohde wrote later in a
 few lines in  which he explained his   
cold welcome4 ,all his person was marked
 with an  indescribable strangeness1 and
 it disquieted me4 ,there was about him 
something that ,i had never known1 and  
of the ,nietzsche whom ,i had known     
many features were effaced4 ,he seemed  
to have come from an uninhabited  land4 
,nietzsche said3 ,i would like to hear  
you speak4 ,rohde brought  him1 and put 

him to sit among young men who were     
ignorant of his work  and of his very   
name4 ,nietzsche listened1 then went    
away4 ,i have heard  ,rohde at the      
,university1 he wrote to his sister     
briefly4 ,i can no  longer communicate  
with any one4 ,leipsic is1 it is clear1 
no place of  refuge or of repose for me4
    ,he would have fled from ,leipsic1  
as he had fled from ,venice and ,nice2  
but the difficulty of his negotiations  
obliged him to remain there4  ,he       
applied to various publishers1 and      
applied in vain4 ,finally1 his  dignity 
revolted4 ,he wished his book to appear1
 and1 however heavy the  cost1 he       
resolved to pay out of his own pocket   
the cost of the printing4    ,his mother
 was waiting for him at ,naumburg1 where
 since ,lisbeth's  departure she lived  
alone4 ,nietzsche felt a very lively    
pity for her2  he knew her to be        
desolated by the loss of her family1 and
 in despair  over the impieties which he
 published in his books4 ,don't read    

them1  ignore them1 he told her         
ceaselessly3 it is not for you that ,i  
write4 ,nevertheless1 she could not     
repress her curiosity1 and her          
discontent was never appeased4          
,nietzsche did not wish to leave without
  giving her a little happiness4 ,he    
went to spend a week at home2 but he    
had not the strength to keep the secret 
of his vexations to himself2  he        
bewailed himself1 he grew exalted2 he   
saddened the poor woman1 whom  finally  
he left in a more unhappy condition than
 ever4    ,passing through ,munich1 he  
called on the ,baron and ,baroness von  
,seydlitz4 ,he wished to snatch a brief 
repose under the roof of his  amiable   
host2 but ,seydlitz was away from home1 
and his house was shut  up4             
,nietzsche1 having left this ,germany   
which he was never again to see1        
continued on his road towards the ,upper
 ,engadine1 from which he  always       
expected some benefit4 ,here in ,july he
 found himself among icy  fogs1 and felt

 the first symptoms of a long crisis of 
neuralgia and  melancholy4        ,,ii  
,the ,will to ,power    ,shall we say   
that he met friends8 ,is the word       
suitable to those vague  figures1 to    
those ,russian1 ,english1 ,jewish1 and  
,swiss women who1  seeing this charming 
man return each season1 did not refuse  
him their  quick sympathy8 ,we set down 
their names3 ,mesdames ,rder and        
,marasoff2  ,miss ,zimmern and ,frulein 
von ,salis ,marschlins 7this last a     
friend of  ,frulein von ,meysenbug72    
others1 whose names remain unknown1 may 
be  guessed4    ,how did they judge him8
 ,carefully he avoided any speech that  
might have  pained or surprised them4   
,he kept his dangerous thoughts to      
himself4  ,so far as they were          
concerned1 he wished to be1 and knew how
 to be1 an  amiable companion 444       
learned1 refined1 and reserved4 ,still1 
whatever  secret he made of his work1   
his friends did not fail to get an      
inkling  into the mystery of his        

reserve4 ,one of them1 an ,englishwoman 
in  delicate health1 whom he often went 
to visit and distract1 broached the     
subject4    ,i know1 ,herr ,nietzsche1  
why you won't let us see your books4 ,if
 one  were to believe what you say in   
them1 a poor1 suffering creature like   
myself would have no right to live4     
,nietzsche was apologetic1 and warded   
off the accusation as best he  could4   
,another1 having said to him one day3 ,i
 have been told about your  books4      
,you've written in one of them1 ',if    
thou goest among women1 do  not forget  
thy whip4'    ,dear lady1 dear friend1  
answered ,nietzsche1 in a pained voice1 
taking  the hands of her who reproached 
him in his own2 do not misunderstand    
me2 it is not thus that ,i am to be     
understood4    ,did they admire him8 ,to
 dare to admire an unrecognised author a
 very  sure judgment is needed2 and no  
doubt they lacked in necessary daring4  
,they esteemed1 they liked their hotel  
companion1 and recognised his  singular 

genius in conversation2 at the table    
d'hte they looked  to have the place    
near his3 little enough it seems if one 
consider  his present fame2 then it was 
a great deal to him4 ,he recovered in   
the ,engadine1 thanks to them1 a little 
of the confidence which was  necessary  
to his soul and which he had been losing
 in ,germany4 ,during  the summer of    
#ahhf1 some good musicians passed       
through ,sils4 ,in  ,nietzsche they     
discovered a very rare listener1 and    
they liked to be  heard by him4 ,this   
courtesy touched him3 ,i notice1 he     
wrote to ,peter  ,gast1 that our artists
 only sing and play for me4 ,i should be
 greatly  spoilt if this continued4     
,a certain ,oriental story narrates the 
adventures of a masked sovereign  who   
travels in his provinces2 he is not     
recognised but divined2 an  instinct of 
respect awakes at his approach4 ,in this
 mountain hotel1  does not ,nietzsche   
appear as a masked1 a half-divined      
sovereign8    ,nevertheless it was but a

 poor comfort4 ,could these women       
lighten a  distress which they could not
 measure8 ,nietzsche was traversing that
  grave moment of life in which a man1  
however unwilling to be taught1  must   
learn at last what his fate with        
inexorable constancy gives and  refuses 
him2 he had to tear his last hopes from 
his heart4 ,i have been  unspeakably sad
 in these latter days1 he wrote to      
,peter ,gast1 and  cares have deprived  
me of sleep4 ,the information is brief4 
,to his  sister he avows more2 he       
addresses to her pages upon pages that  
are  terrible in their power and        
monotony4    ,where are they1 those old 
friends1 with whom ,i formerly felt so  
closely bound8 ,we inhabit different    
worlds1 we no longer speak the  same    
tongue6 ,as a stranger1 a proscribed    
man1 ,i wander among them2  never a     
word1 never a look now reaches me4 ,i   
hold my peace--for none  understands my 
speech--ah1 ,i can say it1 they have    
never understood  me6 444 ,it is        

terrible to be condemned to silence1    
when one has so  many things to say4 ,am
 ,i created for solitude1 never to find 
any  one with whom ,i may make myself   
understood8 ,incommunicability is in    
truth the most awful of solitudes1 to be
 different1 to wear a mask  of brass    
harder than any mask of brass--perfect  
friendship is only  possible inter      
pares4 ,inter pares6 a phrase which     
intoxicates me3  what confidence1 what  
hope1 what perfume1 what beatitude it   
promises  the man who necessarily and   
constantly lives alone2 to a man who is 
different--who has never met any one of 
his race4 ,and nevertheless  he is a    
good seeker2 he has sought much4 ,ah1   
the swift folly of those  hours in which
 the solitary thinks he has found a     
friend1 embraces him  and holds him in  
his arms2 it is a present from heaven1  
an inestimable  gift4 ,an hour later he 
rejects him with disgust1 he rejects    
himself  with disgust1 as though soiled1
 diminished1 sick from his own society4 

,a profound man needs friends1 unless   
indeed he has a ,god4 ,and ,i have      
neither ,god nor friend6 ,ah1 my sister1
 those whom you call by this  name1 once
 they were friends--but now8    ,excuse 
this burst of passion2 my last journey  
is the cause4444    ,my health is       
neither good nor bad2 it is only the    
poor soul which is  wounded and         
thirsting4 ,give me a little circle of  
men who will listen  to me and          
understand--and ,i am in good health4   
,here everything takes its course2 the  
two ,english-women and the old  ,russian
 lady1 the musician1 have come back2 the
 latter very ill4444    ,nietzsche now  
went on with his labours on the ,wille  
zur ,macht4 ,his  unfortunate passage   
through ,germany had modified his       
arrangements4 ,he  thought3 ,what use is
 it my writing warlike books8 ,without  
allies1  without readers1 ,i cannot     
prevent the abasement of ,europe2 let it
  be brought about then4 ,one day it    
will find its goal--a day which ,i      

shall not see4 ,then my books will be   
discovered1 then ,i shall have  my      
readers4 ,for them ,i should write1 for 
them ,i should determine my  fundamental
 ideas4 ,to-day1 ,i cannot fight1 for ,i
 have not enemies  even4444 ,at the     
beginning of ,july1 when leaving the    
,germany which had  tried him so hardly1
 he drew up a detailed plan4 ,in        
,september he wrote3    ,i announce1 for
 the next four years1 the completion of 
my work in four  volumes4 ,the title    
alone is alarming3 ,the ,will to ,power1
 an essay  towards a ,transvaluation of 
all ,values4 ,for this all is necessary 
to  me--health1 solitude1 good          
humour--perhaps a wife 7eine ,frau7     
also4    ,in what retirement should he  
compose this new work8 ,genoa had       
inspired  the two books which he wrote  
as a convalescent1 ,the ,dawn of ,day   
and  ,the ,gay ,science2 ,rapallo1      
,nice1 had inspired ,zarathustra4 ,he   
now  thought of ,corsica4 ,for long he  
had been curious about this savage      

island1 and1 in the island itself1 of a 
town1 ,corte--    ,there ,napoleon was  
not born but--what is perhaps more      
important--conceived1 and is it not the 
clearly indicated spot in which  ,i     
should undertake the transvaluation of  
all values8 444 ,for me1 too1  it is a  
conception that is in question4         
,alas6 this ,napoleonic work1 the title 
of which alone should strike  terror1   
thus struck its author4 ,nietzsche was  
not unaware whither that  via mala des  
consequences which he had been long     
following led him4  ,since a covetous1  
conquering force is at the heart of     
nature1 every  act which does not       
correspond precisely with this force is 
inexact and  feeble4 ,he said this1 he  
wrote it1 and such indeed was his       
thought3  man is never so great as when 
he combines an alertness and refinement 
of mind with a certain native brutality 
and cruelty of instinct4 ,thus  the     
,greeks understood virtu1 and the       
,italians virt4 ,the ,french            

politicians1 and1 after them1 ,frederick
 ,,ii41 ,napoleon and ,bismarck1  acted 
in accordance with these maxims4        
,troubled by his doubts1 lost  in his   
problem1 ,nietzsche firmly grasped this 
fragmentary but certain  truth3 one must
 have the courage of psychological      
nudity1 he was  to write4 ,he trained   
himself to it1 but remained             
dissatisfied4 ,his  mind was too clear1 
his soul too pensive1 and this          
definition of the  strongest men was too
 curt and icy for his dreams4 ,formerly 
he had  chosen ,schiller and ,mazzini   
for masters4 ,did he admire them no     
longer8  ,no soul was ever as constant  
as his4 ,only he feared that1 in        
following  them1 he would gratify a     
certain feebleness1 and the masters whom
 he  now wished to prefer were called   
,napoleon and ,csar ,borgia4    ,on this
 occasion1 too1 he turned away from his 
task1 shunning harsh  affirmations4 ,the
 publisher ,fritsch consented1 on the   
condition that he  received pecuniary   

aid1 to publish a second edition of the 
,origin of  ,tragedy1 ,the ,dawn of     
,day1 and ,the ,gay ,science4 ,this had 
long been  one of ,nietzsche's desires3 
he wished to add prefaces to these old  
works1 to touch them up1 and perhaps to 
add to them4 ,he undertook this  new    
work and became absorbed in it4         
,instead of going to ,corsica he        
returned to the ,genoese coast1 to      
,ruta1  not far from ,rapallo1 above    
,portofino1 which thrusts its wooded    
crest  out into the sea4 ,again he found
 the walks and familiar places in  which
 ,zarathustra had spoken to him4 ,how   
sad he had then been6 ,he had  just lost
 his two last friends1 ,lou ,salom and  
,paul ,re4 ,nevertheless  he had        
continued his task and1 indeed1 created1
 at the moment of his  profoundest      
sorrow1 his bravest book4 ,friedrich    
,nietzsche let himself  be stirred by   
these memories of the past4    ,he now  
received a letter which was the first   
sign of his coming fame4  ,in ,august1  

#ahhf1 in despair of being listened to  
by his compatriots1  he had sent his    
book1 ,beyond ,good and ,evil1 to two   
foreign readers1  to the ,dane ,georges 
,brandes1 and to the ,frenchman         
,hippolyte ,taine4  ,georges ,brandes   
did not reply4 ,hippolyte ,taine wrote  
7,october #ag1 #ahhf7  a letter which   
gave ,nietzsche some joy4    ,on my     
return from a voyage1 ,i found the book 
which you were good  enough to send me2 
as you say1 it is full of 'thoughts from
 behind'  7'penses de derrire'72 the    
form1 which is so lively1 so literary1  
the impassioned style1 the often        
paradoxical turn1 will open the eyes  of
 the reader who wants to understand2 ,i 
will in particular recommend  to        
philosophers your first piece on        
philosophers and philosophy 7pp4  #ad1  
#ag1 #bj1 #be72 but the historians and  
critics will also have their  share in  
the booty of new ideas 7for example #da1
 #ge1 #gf1 #adi1 #aej1 c74  ,what you   
say of national genius and character in 

your eighth essay  is infinitely        
suggestive1 and ,i shall re-read this   
piece1 although ,i  find there a far too
 flattering word relative to myself4    
,you do me a  great honour in your      
letter by putting me by the side of ,m4 
,burckhardt  of ,basle1 whom ,i greatly 
admire2 ,i think that ,i was the first  
man in  ,france to announce in the press
 his great work upon the ,culture of the
  ,renaissance in ,italy4444 ,with best 
thanks1 ,i am1    ,yours sincerely1     
,h4 ,,taine4    ,paul ,lanzky rejoined  
,friedrich ,nietzsche at ,ruta4 ,not    
having seen him  for eighteen months1 he
 was struck by the change which he      
observed  in him4 ,the body was weighed 
down1 the features altered4 ,but the man
  remained the same2 however bitter his 
life had become1 he was still           
affectionate and nave1 quick to laughter
 like a child4 ,he brought  ,lanzky up  
the mountain which gives at every       
instant such magnificent  views over the
 snowy ,alps and the sea4 ,the two      

rested in the most  beautiful spots2    
then they gathered up bits of old timber
 and twigs  from the autumn vines and   
lit fires1 ,nietzsche saluting the      
flames and  the rising smoke with cries 
of joy4    ,it was then1 it was in this 
inn at ,ruta1 that ,nietzsche drew up   
the prefaces to ,the ,dawn of ,day and  
,the ,gay ,science1 in which  he        
recounted with so strange a vivacity his
 spiritual ,odyssey3  ,triebschen and   
,wagner's friendship2 ,metz and the     
discovery of war2  ,bayreuth1 hope and  
mishap2 the rupture with ,richard       
,wagner2 the  bruising of his love2 the 
cruel years which he spent deprived of  
poetry  and of art2 finally ,italy1     
which gave him back both2 ,venice and   
,genoa1  the two towns which saved him1 
and the ,ligurian coast1 ,zarathustra's 
cradle4    ,while ,nietzsche wrote thus 
and struggled against depression1 may it
 not  be that he was taking drugs to    
excite himself to work8 ,there is some  
evidence to suggest it4 ,but we shall   

never have exact information on  this   
point4 ,we know that he was absorbing   
chloral and an extract of  ,indian hemp 
which1 in small doses1 produced an      
inward calm2 in large  doses1           
excitement4 ,perhaps he handled a more  
complicated pharmacopoeia  in secret2 it
 is the habit of nervous persons4       
,friedrich ,nietzsche liked this coast4 
,imagine1 he wrote to ,peter  ,gast1 a  
little island in the ,greek archipelago1
 pushed down here by  the winds4 ,it is 
a coast of pirates1 swift1 deceitful1   
dangerous4444  ,he proposed to pass the 
winter there4 ,but soon he modified his 
plans1  and wished to return to ,nice4  
,lanzky sought in vain to keep him back4
    ,you complain of being abandoned1 he
 said to him4 ,whose fault is it8  ,you 
have disciples and you discourage them4 
,you call me here1 you call  ,peter     
,gast2 and you leave4    ,i need the    
light1 the air of ,nice1 answered       
,nietzsche2 ,i need the  ,bay of the    
,angels4    ,he went alone4 ,during this

 winter1 he completed his prefaces1 he  
re-read and touched-up his books4 ,he   
lived1 it seems1 in a singular          
condition of relaxation1 indecision and 
melancholy4 ,he sent his  manuscripts to
 ,peter ,gast1 as he always did1 but his
 requests for  advice have an unusual   
accent of unrest and humility4 ,bead me1
 he  wrote in ,february1 #ahhg1 with    
more distrust than you generally do2 say
  simply3 this will do1 this won't do ,i
 like this1 why not alter that1  c1 c4  
,he read1 and his readings seemed guided
 by a queer curiosity and less  under   
the rigorous sway of his prejudices4    
,he familiarised himself with the works 
of the ,french decadents4 ,he           
appreciated ,baudelaire's writings on   
,richard ,wagner1 ,paul ,bourget's      
,essais de ,psychologie ,contemporaine4 
,he read the ,contes of  ,maupassant and
 admired this great ,latin4 ,he ran     
through some volumes  by ,zola and did  
not allow himself to be seduced by a    
merely popular  style of thought1 by a  

merely decorative art4 ,he bought1 and  
commented  in pencil on the margin1 the 
,esquisse d'une ,morale sans obligation 
ni sanction4 ,guyau1 like ,nietzsche and
 at the same moment1 had had  the idea  
of founding a system of morals on the   
expansive modalities  of life4 ,but he  
understood them in another sense and    
interpreted as  a force of love what    
,nietzsche understood as a conquering   
force4  ,nevertheless the initial       
agreement was certain4 ,nietzsche valued
  highly the purity and intelligence of 
idea which he found in the work  of the 
,french philosopher4 ,the vogue of the  
,russian novelists was  then beginning4 
,nietzsche took an interest in these    
poets of a young1  violent1 and         
sensitive race1 whose charm he always   
felt4 ,do you know  ,dostoievsky8 he    
wrote to ,peter ,gast4 ,no one1 with the
 exception of  ,stendhal1 has so        
satisfied and ravished me4 ,there is a  
psychologist  with whom ,i am in        
agreement6 ,he indicated the new author 

to all  his correspondents4 ,the        
religious fervour of the ,slavs         
interested  him and found him indulgent4
 ,it was not a symptom of weakness1 he  
thought2 it was the return of an energy 
which could not accept the  cold        
constraints of modern society and whose 
insubordination took  the form of a     
revolutionary ,christianity4 ,these     
barbarians1 thwarted  in their          
instincts1 were disconcerted and        
self-accusatory2 they had  precipitated 
a crisis which was still undecided1 and 
,nietzsche wrote3  ,this bad conscience 
is a malady1 but a malady of the nature 
of  pregnancy4 ,for1 hoping always1 he  
obstinately defended his thoughts       
against his disgusts4 ,he wished his    
thoughts to remain free1 kindly and     
confident1 and when there rose within   
him and towards them a hatred of        
,europe and of its debased peoples2 when
 he feared that he might yield  to his  
bitter humour1 he corrected himself at  
once3 ,no1 he kept on  saying1 ,europe  

is at present richer than ever in men1  
in ideas1 in  aspirations1 better       
prepared for great tasks1 and we must1  
contrary to  all semblance1 hope        
everything from these multitudes1 though
 their ugly  disposition seems to forbid
 hope4    ,during these early months of 
#ahhg1 ,friedrich ,nietzsche became     
intimate  with a certain ,madame ,v4 ,p4
 ,they went together to ,san ,remo and  
,monte  ,carlo4 ,we do not know this    
woman's name2 we have no letter1 either 
written by her or addressed to her4 ,we 
may infer some mystery1 perhaps  a      
mystery of love4    ,madame ,v4 ,p4 was 
no doubt ,nietzsche's companion#b when  
he heard the  prelude to ,parsifal at   
the concerts in the ,casino at ,monte   
,carlo4  ,he listened without any       
bitterness1 with the sudden indulgence  
of a  worn-out adversary4 ,i loved      
,wagner1 he wrote in ,september to      
,peter  ,gast2 ,i still love him4       
,assuredly he still loved him1 when he  
could  speak as he did of this symphony 

which he had just heard4    ,i do not   
seek to know whether this art can or    
should serve some end1  he wrote to     
,peter ,gast1 ,i ask myself3 ,has       
,wagner ever done better8  ,and ,i find 
this3 the most exact conscience and     
psychological precision  in the manner  
of relating1 expressing1 and            
communicating emotion2 the  shortest and
 most direct form2 every nuance of      
sentiment defined with  an almost       
epigrammatical brevity3 such descriptive
 clearness that  in listening to this   
music one thinks of some buckler of     
marvellous  workmanship2 lastly1 a      
sentiment1 a musical experience of a    
soul which  is extraordinary and        
sublime2 a haughtiness1 in the          
formidable  meaning of the word2 444 a  
sympathy1 a penetration1 which enters   
like a  knife into the soul--and a pity 
for what he has discovered and judged   
at the bottom of that soul4 ,such       
beauties one finds in ,dante and        
nowhere else4 ,what painter has ever    

painted so melancholy a look of  love as
 ,wagner in the last accents of his     
prelude8    ,how easy it would have been
 for him to be a great critic1 equal in 
his  delicacy1 superior in the largeness
 of his views1 to that ,sainte-,beuve   
whom he esteemed so highly6 ,he knew it1
 and found it hard to resist  the       
seductions of that dilettantism of      
analysis--the expression is  his own4   
,his best readers of ten remarked this4 
,what a historian  you are6 ,burckhardt 
used to say1 and ,hippolyte ,taine      
repeated it4  ,it did not satisfy       
,nietzsche4 ,he despised the calling of 
historian  or of critic4 ,he was        
informed by a young ,german whom he met 
at ,nice  that the professors of        
,tbingen took him as a merely dissolvent
 mind1  radical and nihilistic2 it      
saddened him4 ,he had not torn himself  
from the romanticism of pity and love to
 sink at last in the inverse            
romanticism of violence and energy4 ,he 
admired ,stendhal1 but did not  intend  

to be a ,stendhalian4 ,the ,christian   
belief had nourished his  infancy1 the  
disciplines of ,pforta had ripened it1  
,pythagoras1 ,plato1  ,wagner had       
increased1 elevated his desires4 ,he    
wished to be a poet and  a moralist1 an 
inventor of virtues1 venerations1 and   
serenities3 none  of his readers1 none  
of his friends1 had understood this     
intention4 ,in  correcting the proofs of
 ,the ,dawn of ,day1 he re-read this old
 page1  the truth of which still held   
good4    ,we are still on our knees     
before power--according to the old      
custom  of slaves--and yet1 when the    
degree of venerability shall have to be 
fixed1 only the degree of rationality in
 power will be decisive2 we  have to    
investigate to what extent power has    
indeed been overcome by  something      
higher of which it is now the tool and  
instrument4 ,but as yet  there is an    
absolute lack of eyes for such          
investigations2 nay1 in most  cases the 
appraisement of genius is even          

considered a crime4 ,and thus  perhaps  
the most beautiful of all spectacles    
still takes place in the  dark and1     
after bursting into bloom1 soon fades   
into perpetual night--,i  mean the      
spectacle of that power which a man of  
genius employs1 not  in his works1 but  
in the development of himself1 regarded 
as a work1  that is1 in the task of     
self-mastery1 in the purification of his
  imagination1 in his deliberate choice 
and ordering of the course of his  tasks
 and inspirations4 ,and yet the great   
man is still invisible in the  greatest 
thing which claims worship1 invisible   
like a distant star2 his  triumph over  
power continues to be without eyes1     
hence also without  song and poets4 ,as 
yet the order of greatness has not been 
settled for  the sum total of human     
history4444    ,alas1 for victory over  
force1 one must possess some exterior   
force1  reason or faith4 ,nietzsche1    
denying to the one or to the other all  
their rights1 has disarmed himself for  

the combat4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,at the         
beginning of ,march a violent earthquake
 terrified the  cosmopolitan flaneurs of
 ,nice4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche admired   
these  movements of nature which        
reminded man of his nothingness4 ,two   
years  earlier the catastrophe of       
,krakatoa1 which destroyed two thousand 
human beings in ,java1 had filled him   
with enthusiasm4 ,it's grand1  he said  
to ,lanzky1 whom he had asked to read   
the telegrams to him2  two thousand     
human beings annihilated at a stroke6   
,it's magnificent4  ,this is how        
humanity should come to its end--how one
 day it will end4  ,and he hoped that a 
tidal wave would at least do away with  
,nice and  its peoples4 ,but1 observed  
,lanzky1 we should be done away with    
ourselves4 ,what matter6 answered       
,nietzsche4 ,his almost realised  desire
 amused him4 ,he did not advance his    
departure by a single day4    ,hitherto1
 he wrote on ,march #gth1 among these   

thousands of people in  a condition of  
folly1 ,i have lived with a sentiment of
 irony and cold  curiosity4 ,but one    
cannot answer for oneself2 perhaps      
to-morrow ,i shall  be as unreasonable  
as any one4 ,here there is an imprvu    
which has its  charm4    ,by the middle 
of ,march he would have ended his work  
on the prefaces2  and1 as he says in one
 of them3 ,what do ,herr ,nietzsche1 his
 illnesses  and recoveries1 matter to   
us8 ,let us speak frankly1 let us go    
straight  to the problem4 ,yes1 surely1 
let us go straight to the problem2      
determine1 among the many ends which men
 propose to themselves1 those  which    
truly elevate and ennoble them2 succeed 
at last in gaining our  triumph over    
power4  ,on ,march #agth he sketched out
 a plan3          ,first ,book3         
,european ,nihilism4      ,second ,book3
 ,criticism of ,superior ,values4       
,third ,book3 ,principle of a ,new      
,evaluation4      ,fourth ,book3        
,discipline and ,selection4      ,he had

 sketched a very similar programme in   
,july1 #ahhf3 two books of  analysis and
 criticism2 two books of doctrine and   
affirmation2 in all  four books--four   
volumes4    ,every springtime brought   
him back to a condition of uncertainty  
and  uneasiness2 between ,nice and the  
,engadine2 he did not know where to     
find an air which should be bright      
enough and not too warm2 a fine  light  
that would not hurt his eyes4 ,in this  
year1 #ahhg1 he let himself  be tempted 
by the ,italian lakes1 and1 leaving     
,nice1 set out for ,lake  ,maggiore4    
,this midget ,mediterranean1 enclosed in
 the mountains1 pleased  him infinitely 
at first4 ,this place strikes me as more
 beautiful than  any part of the        
,mediterranean1 he wrote1 and more      
moving--how is  it that ,i took so many 
years to discover it8 ,the sea1 like all
 huge  things1 has something stupid and 
indecent which will not be found  here4 
,he corrected the proofs of the ,gaya   
,scienza2 he re-read  ,human1 ,too      

,human1 and again paused to contemplate 
with pity his  unrecognised work4       
,but he recovered possession of himself4
 ,the coming work alone mattered4  ,he  
forced himself to recommence his        
meditations1 and at once became         
enervated and exhausted4 ,he had planned
 a visit to ,venice2 suddenly he  gave  
it up4 ,my health is against it1 he     
wrote to ,peter ,gast4 ,i am  unworthy  
of seeing such beautiful things4        
,from aggravation of ennui1 an          
epistolary quarrel arose between ,erwin 
,rohde and himself4 ,he had occasion to 
write a word to the most  intimate      
friend of past days1 and could not      
resist the pleasure of  adding a        
malicious touch4 ,i suit old people     
only1 he wrote2 ,taine1  ,burckhardt1   
and even you are not old enough for     
me4444 ,erwin ,rohde  did not like this 
touch4 ,a professor1 whereas ,nietzsche 
was nothing2 a  scholar with a          
reputation among ,european scholars1    
whereas ,nietzsche  was still unknown   

despite his eccentric books1 he would   
not permit  irreverence1 and defended   
his dignity4 ,his letter must have been 
strongly worded1 for he had it restored 
to him later1 and destroyed it4    ,this
 misadventure tried ,nietzsche4 ,his    
health was in every respect  impaired2  
he resolved to follow a rgime of waters1
 massage and baths1  in a special       
establishment in ,switzerland1 at       
,coire4 ,he went there1 and  surrendered
 himself to the doctors4    ,he kept on 
working1 however1 and made an energetic 
effort to discover  and define the moral
 values which he wished to propound4    
,but in vain2  do what he would1 the    
problem of his third book--,principle of
 a ,new  ,evaluation--remained unsolved4
 ,we may here transcribe the more       
precise definition with which we are    
furnished by another draft4    ,third   
,book3 the problem of the legislator4   
,to bind anew the  unregulated energies 
in such a manner that they are not      
mutually  annihilated by running foul of

 one another2 to mark the real          
augmentation of force4    ,what does    
this mean8 ,what real augmentation1 what
 real direction of  things is indicated 
us by these words8 ,is it an            
augmentation of  intensity8 ,then every 
shade of energy1 provided it be intense1
 will  be good4 ,but we must not take it
 in this sense4 ,nietzsche selected1    
preferred1 excluded4 ,this augmentation 
is then the sign of an order1 of  a     
natural hierarchy4 ,but in every        
hierarchy there must be a criterion  by 
which the ranks are distributed2 what   
should this criterion be8  ,nietzsche   
would formerly have said3 ,it will be my
 logical affirmation1  the beliefs which
 ,i shall have given4 ,does he still    
think it8  ,doubtless2 his thoughts     
hardly vary4 ,but his audacity was      
lessened  by his sorrows1 his critical  
mind had been rendered more exacting by 
long indecisions4 ,he desired1 he       
sought1 he seemed to ask science1 the   
doctor-philosopher1 for a real basis    

which all his habits of thought  refused
 him4    ,mournful news completed the   
ruin of his courage4 ,heinrich von      
,stein  died1 before his thirtieth year1
 of a heart failure4    ,this has put me
 out of my senses1 wrote ,nietzsche to  
,peter ,gast2 ,i  truly loved him4 ,i   
always thought that he was reserved for 
me some day4  ,he belonged to that      
little number of men whose existence    
rejoiced  me2 and he too had great      
confidence in me4444 ,in this very place
 how  we laughed6 444 ,he paid a two    
days' visit to ,sils1 he had not a      
glance  for ,nature or ,switzerland--he 
came straight from ,bayreuth2 he went   
back  straight to ,halle1 to his        
father2--one of the rarest and most     
delicate  homages ,i have ever received4
 ,it made an impression4 ,he had said at
 the  hotel3 ',if ,i come1 it is not for
 the ,engadine4'    ,three weeks passed4
 ,he complained of bitter inclinations1 
of  susceptibility which lowered his    
soul4 ,nevertheless1 he announced a  new

 work4 ,what was it8           99       
99       99       99       99    ,it is 
not ,the ,will to ,power4 ,his          
impatience1 which is added to by        
fatigue1 does not easily bend to the    
delays of meditation4 ,of his old       
gifts1 his genius for improvising1 his  
polemical genius alone survive4  ,herr  
,widmann1 a ,swiss critic1 had just     
written a study on ,beyond ,good  and   
,evil and saw in this work but a manual 
of anarchism3 ,this is  dynamite1 he    
said4 ,friedrich ,nietzsche wished to   
reply1 and at once  drew up at a spurt  
in fifteen days one1 two1 three short   
essays which  he entitled as a whole1 ,a
 ,genealogy of ,morals4 ,this work1 he  
wrote  on the title-page1 is destined to
 complete and elucidate my last book1   
,beyond ,good and ,evil4    ,i have     
said1 he wrote in substance1 that ,i    
place myself beyond ,good  and          
,evil--,gut und ,bse4 ,does this mean   
that ,i wish to liberate myself  from   
every moral category8 ,no4 ,i challenge 

the exaltation of meekness  which is    
called good2 the defamation of energy   
which is called bad2 but  the history of
 the human conscience--do the moralists 
know that such  a history               
exists8--displays to us a multitude of  
other moral values1  other ways of being
 good1 other ways of being bad1 numerous
 shades of  honour and of dishonour4    
,even here the reality is moving1       
initiative is  free2 one must seek1 one 
must create4    ,but ,nietzsche         
developed his thought further3 ,i have  
wished1 he wrote  some months later     
propos of this little book1 ,i have     
wished to fire  a cannon-shot with more 
sonorous powder4 ,he exposed the        
distinction  between the two moralities1
 the one dictated by the masters1 the   
other  by the slaves2 and he thought to 
recognise in the verbal roots of the    
words good and evil1 their old meaning4 
,bonus1 buonus1 said he1  comes from    
duonus1 which signifies warrior2 malus  
comes from  1 black3 the blonde ,aryans1

 the ancestors of the ,greek1  indicated
 by this word the type of conduct       
habitual to their slaves  and subjects1 
the ,mediterraneans crossed with ,negro 
and ,semitic blood4  ,these primitive   
notions of what is noble and what is    
vile1 ,friedrich  ,nietzsche does not   
challenge4    ,on the #ahth of ,july1   
writing from ,sils-,maria1 he announced 
the new work  to ,peter ,gast4    ,i    
have energetically employed these last  
days1 which were better1 he  wrote4 ,i  
have drawn up a little piece of work    
which1 as ,i think1 puts  the problem of
 my last book in a clear light4 ,every  
one has complained  of not having       
understood me2 and the hundred copies   
sold do not permit  me to doubt that in 
effect ,i am not understood4 ,you know  
that for three  years ,i have spent     
about #ejj thalers to defray the cost of
 my books2  no honorarium1 it goes      
without saying1 and ,i am #dc years old1
 and ,i  have written fifteen books6    
,further3 experience1 and many          

applications1  more painful to me than  
,i care to say1 force me to certify1 as 
a fact1  that no ,german editor wants to
 have anything to do with me 7even if   
,i abandon my author's rights74 ,perhaps
 this little book which ,i am           
completing to-day will help to sell some
 copies of my last book 7it  always     
pains me to think of the poor ,fritzsch 
on whom all the weight of  my work      
rests74 ,perhaps my publishers will some
 day benefit from me4 ,as  for myself1  
,i know only too well that when people  
begin to understand  me1 ,i shall not   
benefit from it4    ,on the #bjth of    
,july1 he despatched the manuscript to  
the publisher4  ,on the #bdth ,july1 he 
called it back by telegram in order to  
add a  few features1 a few pages4 ,all  
his summer was spent in discomfort1     
melancholy1 and the correction of his   
book1 which he never ceased to  touch   
up1 to draw out1 to render more violent 
and more alive4 ,towards  the end of    
,august1 perceiving an empty space on   

the last page of the  first section1    
,nietzsche added this curious note1 in  
which he indicated  the unstudied       
problems which he was to have neither   
strength nor time  to attack4           
,remark4--,i take the opportunity       
presented by this essay to express      
publicly and formally a wish which1 so  
far1 ,i have only mentioned             
occasionally to certain scholars1 in    
chance conversations4 ,some ,faculty  of
 ,philosophy ought1 by a series of      
academical prize-dissertations1 to      
further studies in the history of       
morality2 perhaps this book will  serve 
to give a vigorous impetus in this      
direction4 ,i would propose the         
following question3    ,what hints are  
furnished by philology1 more especially 
by  etymological research1 with         
reference to the history of the         
development  of moral concepts8    ,on  
the other hand it will be as necessary  
to interest physiologists  and doctors  
in these problems4 ,in fact and above   

all1 all tables of  values1 every 'thou 
shalt' known to history and ethnological
 research1  need to be explained and    
elucidated in the first place from their
  physiological side1 before any attempt
 is made to interpret them  through     
psychology4444 ,the question3 ,what is  
this or that table of  values and       
morality worth8 must be considered from 
the most varied  perspectives4          
,especially 'the worth for what8' must  
be considered with  extraordinary       
discernment and delicacy4 ,a thing1 for 
instance1 which  has evident value with 
reference to the greatest durability of 
a race  might possess quite another     
value1 if it were a question of creating
  a higher type4 ,the good of the       
greatest number and the good of the     
smallest number are antithetical points 
of view in valuation2 we shall  let the 
simplicity of ,english biologists       
suppose that the former is  by itself of
 higher value4 ,all sciences must       
prepare the way for  the philosopher of 

the future1 whose task will consist in  
solving the  problem of values and      
determining their hierarchy4            
,september came4 ,the proofs were       
corrected1 the ,engadine became cold4   
,the wandering philosopher had to find  
new quarters and new work4    ,to tell  
the truth1 he wrote to ,peter ,gast1 ,i 
hesitate between ,venice  and ,leipsic2 
,i should go there to work1 ,i still    
have a lot to learn1  many questions to 
ask and much to read for the great      
thought of my  life of which ,i must now
 acquit myself4 ,it would not be a      
matter of  an autumn1 but of a whole    
winter spent in ,germany4 ,and1 weighing
  everything together1 my health        
dissuades me very strongly from essaying
  a like experience this year4 ,it will 
be then ,venice or ,nice2 and from  a   
quite personal point of view1 that is   
better perhaps4 ,moreover1 ,i  need     
solitude and contemplation rather than  
study and inquiry into five  thousand   
problems4    ,peter ,gast was at        

,venice1 and ,venice1 as one might have 
foreseen1  carried the day4 ,nietzsche  
lived for some weeks1 a flaneur and all 
but happy1 in the town with a hundred   
profound solitudes4 ,he scarcely  wrote3
 his days1 according to ,peter ,gast1   
were idle or seemed to be  so4 ,it was  
not to shut himself up in a room in     
,venice that he gave up  the libraries  
of ,leipsic4 ,he walked1 frequented the 
poor trattoria1  where at midday the    
humblest1 the most courteous of lower   
classes sit  down to eat2 when the light
 was too strong he went to rest his eyes
 in  the shade of the basilica2 when day
 began to decline he recommenced  his   
perpetual walks4 ,then he could look at 
,st4 ,mark1 with its flocks  of familiar
 pigeons1 without suffering1 at the     
lagoon with its islands  and temples4   
,he kept on thinking of his work4 ,he   
imagined it logical  and free1 simple in
 its plan1 numerous in its details1     
luminous with  a little mystery1 a      
little shade on every line2 he wished in

 short  that it should resemble that    
city which he loved1 that ,venice whose 
sovereign will allied itself to the play
 of all fantasy and grace4    ,let us   
read this page of notes1 written in     
,november1 #ahhg2 ,l',ombra di          
,venezia1 is it not obvious there8    ,a
 perfect book to consider3    7#a7      
,form4 ,style4 ,an ideal monologue1 all 
that has a learned  appearance1 absorbed
 in the depths4 ,all the accents of     
profound  passion1 of unrest and also of
 weakness4 ,alleviations1 sun           
tasks--short  happiness1 sublime        
serenity4 ,to go beyond demonstration2  
to be  absolutely personal1 without     
employing the first person4 ,memoirs as 
it were2 to say the most abstract things
 in the most concrete1 in the  most     
cutting manner4 ,the whole history as if
 it had been lived and  personally      
suffered4 ,visible things1 precise      
things1 examples1 as  many as possible4 
,no description2 all the problems       
transposed into  sentiment as far as    

passion4    7#b7 ,expressive terms4     
,advantage of military terms4 ,to find  
expressions  to replace philosophical   
terms4    ,on the #bbnd of ,october he  
was at ,nice4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,two events 7the
 word is assuredly not too strong7      
occupied the first  two weeks of his    
stay4 ,he lost his oldest friend2 he    
acquired a reader4    ,the lost friend  
was ,erwin ,rohde4 ,the quarrel begun in
 the previous  spring was then          
consummated4 ,nietzsche wrote to ,rohde1
 and his first  intention was not to    
wound4 ,do not withdraw from me too     
lightly1 he  wrote in announcing the    
despatch of his last book1 ,the         
,genealogy of  ,morals2 at my age and in
 my solitude ,i can hardly bear to lose 
the  few men in whom ,i formerly        
confided4 ,but he could not limit       
himself to  these words4 ,he had        
received a second note1 a very amiable  
one1 from  ,hippolyte ,taine1#c whom    
,erwin ,rohde had criticised            

disrespectfully in  his letter of ,may4 
,nietzsche wished to defend his ,french 
correspondent1  and continued3          
,n4,b4--,i beg that you judge ,m4 ,taine
 more sensibly4 ,the scurrilities  that 
you express and think about him irritate
 me4 ,i pardon them to the  prince      
,napoleon1 not to friend ,rohde4 ,it is 
difficult to me to think  that any one  
who misunderstands this great-hearted   
and severe-minded  race can understand  
anything of my task4 ,besides1 you have 
never  written me a word which shows    
that you have the least suspicion of the
  destiny which weighs me down4 ,i have 
forty-three years behind me and am  as  
alone as if ,i were a child4    ,all    
relations were broken off4    ,the new  
reader acquired was ,georges ,brandes1  
who acknowledged the  despatch of the   
,genealogy in an extraordinarily        
intelligent and vivid  letter4    ,i get
 the breath of a new mind from your     
books1 he wrote3 ,i do not  always      
entirely understand what ,i read1 ,i do 

not always see whither  you are bound1  
but many features are in accord with my 
thoughts  and sympathies2 like you ,i   
hold the ascetic ideal in poor esteem2  
democratic mediocrity inspires in me1 as
 in you1 a profound repugnance2  ,i     
appreciate your aristocratic radicalism4
 ,i am not quite clear with  regard to  
your contempt for the ethic of pity 444 
,of you ,i know nothing4 ,i see with    
astonishment that you are a  professor4 
,in any case ,i offer you my best       
compliments on being1  intellectually1  
so little of a professor4444 ,you are of
 the small  number of men with whom ,i  
would like to talk4    ,it would seem as
 if ,nietzsche ought to have felt very  
strongly the  comfort of having found   
two witnesses to his work1 and of so    
rare a  quality3 ,brandes and ,taine4   
,did he not learn1 about this time1 that
  ,brahms was reading ,beyond1 ,good and
 ,evil with much relish8 ,but the  iron 
had entered into his soul1 and the      
faculty of receiving happy  impressions 

was1 as it were1 extinguished in him4   
,he had lost that  interior joy1 that   
resistant serenity of which he was      
formerly so  proud1 and his letters     
displayed only melancholy4    ,with this
 disaster there survived the activity of
 his mind alone1  which worked with     
singular energy4 ,we can with difficulty
 enumerate  the objects which occupied  
his attention4 ,peter ,gast transcribed 
his  ,hymn to ,life for the orchestra2  
,nietzsche superintended1 sometimes     
corrected1 always navely admired1 this  
new form of his work4    ,the journal of
 the ,goncourts appeared2 he read this  
very interesting  novelty1 and sat down 
to table at ,magny's with ,flaubert1    
,sainte-,beuve1  ,gautier1 ,taine1      
,gavarri and ,renan4 ,all these         
distractions did not  prevent him from  
embarking resolutely on his new work1   
the decisive  work in which his wisdom  
and not his rage would speak2 the calm  
work  in which polemics would be without
 rights4 ,he defined in six lines the   

design which he had formed4    ,to have 
run through every chamber of the modern 
soul1 to have eaten  in each of its     
corners3 my pride1 my torture1 and my   
joy4 ,to transcend  pessimism           
effectively1 and1 in short1 a ,goethean 
regard full of love  and good-will4     
,friedrich ,nietzsche in this note      
designated the inspirer of his last     
work2 it was to be ,goethe4 ,no nature  
differed so much from his own1 and  this
 very difference determined his choice4 
,goethe had humiliated no  mode of human
 activity1 he had excluded no idea from 
his intellectual  world2 he had received
 and administered as a benevolent lord  
the  immense heritage of human culture4 
,such was ,friedrich ,nietzsche's last  
ideal1 his last dream4 ,he wished1 in   
this extremity of life 7he knew  his    
destiny71 to spread1 like the sinking   
sun1 his softest lights2 to  penetrate  
everywhere1 to justify and illumine     
everything1 so that not  one shadow     
should exist upon the surface of things1

 not one sorrow in  the privacy of      
souls4    ,he easily determined the     
directing ideas of his first two        
volumes3  ,european ,nihilism1 ,the     
,criticism of ,higher ,values4 ,for four
 years  he had not written a line which 
was not a part of this analysis or      
criticism4 ,he wrote rapidly1 angrily4  
,a little fresh air1 he cried2  this    
absurd state of ,europe cannot last much
 longer4 ,it was only a  cry1 and very  
quickly suppressed4 ,nietzsche put      
patience behind him1  like a weakness2  
with a song of love that he would answer
 the attacks  of life4 ,he wished to    
return1 and did1 in fact1 return1 to    
calmer  thoughts4 ,he put this question3
 ,is it true that the condition of      
,europe is absurd8 ,perhaps a reason for
 the facts exists1 and escapes  us4     
,perhaps in this debility of the will1  
in this democratic abasement1  one      
should rightly recognise a certain      
utility1 a certain value of             
conservation4 ,they seem irrepressible2 

perhaps they are necessary1  perhaps in 
the long run salutary1 though to-day1   
and1 so far as we are  concerned1 they  
must be deplored4    ,reflexion3 ,it is 
madness to suppose that all this victory
 of values  can be anti-biological2 one 
must seek to explain it by a vital      
interest for the maintenance of the type
 man1 even though it must  be attained  
by the preponderance of the feeble and  
the disinherited4  ,perhaps if things   
went differently1 man would cease to    
exist8--,problem4    ,the elevation of  
the type is dangerous to the            
conservation of the  species4 ,why8     
,the strong races are the prodigal      
races4444 ,here we are confronted by  a 
problem of economy4444    ,he repressed 
all disgust1 refused to allow himself   
the use of abusive  speech1 tried to    
consider1 and did consider1 serenely1   
those tendencies  which he condemned4   
,he asked3 ,must we deny to the masses  
the right to  seek their truths1 their  
vital beliefs8 ,the masses are the basis

 of  all humanity1 the foundation of all
 cultures4 ,without them1 what would    
become of the masters8 ,they require    
that the masses be happy4 ,we must  be  
patient2 we must suffer our insurgent   
slaves 7for the moment our  masters7 to 
invent the illusions which are          
favourable to them4 ,let them  believe  
in the dignity of work6 ,if they thus   
become more docile in  work1 their      
belief is salutary4    ,the problem1 he 
writes1 is to render man as utilisable  
as possible1  and make him approximate1 
as far as may be done1 as closely as    
possible  to the machine which never    
makes a mistake2 for this1 he must be   
armed  with the virtues of the machine1 
he must be taught to endure ennui1 to   
lend to ennui a superior charm 4442 the 
agreeable sentiments must  be put back  
to a lower rank4444 ,the mechanical form
 of existence1  considered as the       
noblest1 the highest1 should adore      
itself4    ,a high culture can only be  
raised on a vast site1 over a firm and  

well-consolidated mediocrity4444    ,the
 sole end must1 for a long while yet1 be
 the lessening of man3  for there must  
first be created a large foundation on  
which the race of  strong men may be    
raised4444    ,the lessening of the     
,european man is the great process which
 may  not be impeded2 it should be      
accelerated again4 ,it is the active    
force which allows one to hope for the  
arrival of a stronger race1 of  a race  
which should possess to excess those    
very qualities which the  impoverished  
species lack 7will1 responsibility1     
certitude1 the faculty  of fixing an end
 for oneself74    ,thus at the end of   
#ahhg1 ,nietzsche had succeeded in      
drawing up a first  sketch of the work  
of synthesis which he had proposed to   
himself4 ,he  concedes a certain right1 
a certain dignity1 to those motives     
which he  formerly reviled4 ,the final  
rough drafts of ,zarathustra had already
  given us similar indications4 ,the    
disciples of ,zarathustra1 wrote        

,nietzsche1 give to the humblest1 not to
 themselves1 the expectation  of        
happiness4 444 ,they distribute         
religions and systems1 according to  a  
hierarchy4 ,nietzsche now writes1 and   
the intention is similar3 ,the          
humanitarian tendencies are not         
anti-vital1 they suit the masses who    
live slowly1 and thus suit humanity     
which needs the satisfaction of the     
masses4 ,the ,christian tendencies are  
also benevolent1 and nothing is so      
desirable1 writes ,nietzsche1 as their  
permanence2 for they suit all  those who
 suffer1 all the feeble1 and it is      
necessary for the health  of human      
societies that suffering1 that          
inevitable weaknesses1 be  accepted     
without revolt1 with submission1 and1 if
 possible1 with love4  ,whatever ,i may 
happen to say of ,christianity1 wrote   
,nietzsche in #ahha  to ,peter ,gast1 ,i
 cannot forget that ,i owe to it the    
best experiences  of my spiritual life2 
and ,i hope never to be ungrateful to it

 at the  bottom of my heart4 ,this      
thought1 this hope1 has never left him2 
and  he rejoices to have found a word of
 justice for the religion of his        
childhood1 the only one which still     
offers itself to souls4    ,on ,december
 #ad1 #ahhg1 he addressed a letter to an
 old correspondent of  the ,basle days1 
,carl ,fuchs4 ,the accent is a proud    
one4    ,almost all that ,i have written
 should be erased4 ,during these latter 
years the vehemence of my internal      
agitations has been terrible4  ,to-day1 
at the moment when ,i should be rising  
higher1 my first task is  to modify     
myself1 to depersonalise myself towards 
higher forms4    ,am ,i old8 ,i do not  
know1 and moreover ,i do not know what  
kind of youth  is necessary to me4      
,in ,germany1 people complain strongly  
of my 'eccentricities4' ,but as  they do
 not know where my centre is1 they can  
hardly discern when or  how ,i happen to
 be eccentric4    ,from the dates of his
 notes1 it seems that ,nietzsche        

approached  a different problem in the  
month of ,january1 #ahhh4 ,those humble 
multitudes whose rights he admits and   
measures would not deserve to  live1 if 
their activity were not1 in the last    
instance1 governed by an  lite1 utilised
 for glorious ends4 ,what would be the  
virtues of this  lite1 what ends would  
it serve8 ,nietzsche was thus brought   
back to the  problem which was his      
torment4 ,would he define at length this
 unknown1  and perhaps unattainable     
grandeur1 towards which his soul had for
 so  long aspired8 ,he was again a prey 
to sadness4 ,he complained of his       
sensibility1 of his irritability1 which 
had become such that each day1  on the  
arrival of the post1 he hesitated and   
shivered before opening  his letters4   
,never has life appeared so difficult to
 me1 he wrote to ,peter ,gast on        
,january #aeth4 ,i can no longer keep on
 terms with any sort of reality3  when  
,i do not succeed in forgetting them1   
they break me4444 ,there are  nights    

when ,i am overwhelmed with distress4   
,and so much remains to be  done--all1  
so to say6--,therefore ,i must hold out4
 ,to this wisdom ,i  apply myself1 at   
least in the mornings4 ,music1 these    
days1 gives me  sensations which ,i had 
never known4 ,it frees me1 it lets me   
recover  from the intoxication of       
myself2 ,i seem to consider myself from 
a  great height1 to feel myself from a  
great height2 thus it renders  me       
stronger1 and regularly1 after an       
evening's music 7,i have heard  ,carmen 
four times71 ,i have a morning full of  
energetic perceptions  and lucky        
discoveries4 ,it is quite admirable4 ,it
 is as though ,i had  bathed myself in a
 more natural element4 ,without music   
life is merely  a mistake1 a weariness1 
an exile4    ,let us try to follow the  
course of his work4 ,he subjected       
himself to  an historical research and  
attempted to discover the social class1 
the  nation1 the race or the party which
 authorised the hope of a more noble    

humanity4 ,here was the modern          
,european3    ,how could a race of      
strong men disengage itself from it8 a  
race  with the classical taste8 ,the    
classical taste1 that is1 the will to   
simplification1 to accentuation 444 the 
courage of psychological  nudity4444 ,to
 raise oneself from this chaos to this  
organisation1 one  must be constrained  
by a necessity4 ,one must be without    
choice2  disappear or impose oneself4 ,a
 dominant race can only have terrible   
and  violent origins4 ,problem3 where   
are the barbarians of the twentieth     
century8 ,evidently they will only be   
able to appear and impose  themselves   
after huge socialistic crises--these    
will be the elements  most capable of   
the most persistent hardness in respect 
of themselves1  and who will be able to 
become the guarantees of the most       
persistent  will4    ,is it possible to 
discern in modern ,europe these elements
 predestined  to victory8 ,nietzsche    
busied himself with this problem1 and   

wrote down  the results of his          
researches in his notebook4    ,the most
 favourable impediments and remedies    
against modernity4    ,and first3    #a4
 ,obligatory military service1 with     
genuine wars which put an end  to all   
lightness of mind4    #b4 ,national     
narrowness which simplifies and         
concentrates4    ,other indications     
corroborate the above4    ,the          
maintenance of the military state1 which
 is the only means left  to us1 whether 
for the maintenance of the great        
traditions1 or for the  institution of  
the superior type of man4 ,and all      
circumstances which  perpetuate         
unfriendliness1 distance between states1
 find themselves  thus justified4       
,what an unforeseen conclusion to       
,nietzschean polemics6 ,he had          
dishonoured nationalism2 and for the    
support which he sought in this  grave  
hour he fell back on nationalism4 ,a yet
 more unexpected discovery  was to come4
 ,nietzsche1 proceeding with his        

researches1 foresaw1  defined1 and      
approved of a party which can be but a  
form or a reform of  ,positivist        
democracy4 ,he discerned the lineaments 
of the two vigorous  and sane groupings 
which suffice to discipline man4    ,a  
party of peace1 not sentimental1 which  
denies war to itself and  its members1  
which also denies them recourse to the  
courts of law2  which provokes against  
itself1 struggle1 contradiction1        
persecution3  a party of the oppressed1 
at least for a time2 soon the great     
party  opposed to sentiments of rancour 
and vengeance4    ,a party of war1 which
 with the same logic and severity       
against  itself1 proceeds in an opposite
 sense4    ,should we recognise in these
 two parties the organised forces  which
 will produce that tragical era of      
,europe which ,nietzsche  announces8    
,perhaps2 but let us be careful not to  
exaggerate the  value of these notes4   
,they are rapidly written2 as they      
surged and  passed in ,nietzsche's mind1

 they should surge and pass before us4  
,his  view pierces in every direction3  
it never settles upon one object4  ,no  
working-class ,puritanism can satisfy   
him1 for he knows that the  brilliancy  
of human culture stands or falls with   
the freedom of the  aristocracies4 ,no  
nationalism can satisfy him1 for he     
loves ,europe and  her innumerable      
traditions4    ,what resource is left to
 him8 ,he has bound himself to seek in  
his  own time the points of support for 
a higher culture4 ,for a moment he      
thinks he has found them2 he has        
deceived himself1 and turns away1  for  
these supports impose a narrowness of   
direction which his mind  cannot        
tolerate4 ,there is this that is        
extraordinary in the life of a  thinker1
 he wrote in #ahge--the age of the text 
proves the permanence  of the conflict--
 that two contrary inclinations oblige  
him to follow1  at the same moment1 two 
different directions and hold him under 
their  yokes2 on the one hand he wishes 

to know and1 abandoning without         
weariness the firm ground which sustains
 the life of men1 he adventures  into   
unknown regions2 on the other hand he   
wishes to live1 and1 without  ever      
wearying1 he seeks a place in which to  
five4444 ,nietzsche had  abandoned      
,wagner1 wandered in uncertain regions4 
,he seeks a final  security2 what does  
he find8 ,the narrow refuge of          
nationalism4 ,he  withdraws from it3 it 
may be a vulgar recourse1 a useful      
artifice for  maintaining some solidity 
in the crowds1 a certain principle of   
taste  and of severity2 it may not be1  
it must not be1 the doctrine of the     
,european lite1 a scattered and1 no     
doubt1 non-existent lite to whom  his   
thoughts are addressed4    ,nietzsche   
put the idea of nationalism out of his  
mind2 it was the  expedient of a weak   
century4 ,he ceased to devote himself to
 his  search4 ,what mattered to him the 
beliefs which should be beneficent to   
the humble8 ,he thought of ,napoleon and

 of ,goethe1 both of whom rose  superior
 to their times1 and to the prejudices  
of their countries4  ,napoleon was      
contemptuous of the ,revolution1 but    
artfully turned its  energy to          
advantage2 he despised ,france1 but     
ruled her4 ,goethe held  ,germany in    
poor esteem and took little interest in 
her struggles3 he  wished to possess and
 reanimate all the ideas1 all the dreams
 of men1  to conserve and enrich the    
vast heritage of moral riches which     
,europe  had created4 ,napoleon knew the
 grandeur of ,goethe1 and ,goethe       
joyfully  observed the life of the      
conqueror1 ens realissimum4 ,the        
soldier1  the poet1 the one who kept men
 in submission and silence1 held them   
to effort1 the other who watched1       
meditated1 and glorified1 such is  the  
ideal couple that reappear at every     
decisive instant in ,friedrich          
,nietzsche's life4 ,he had admired the  
,greece of ,theognis and ,pindar1  the  
,germany of ,bismarck and ,wagner2 a    

long winding course led him  back       
towards his dream1 towards that         
unrealised ,europe of strength  and     
beauty of which ,goethe and ,napoleon   
were1 upon the morrow of the            
,revolution1 the solitary               
representatives4           99       99  
99       99       99    ,we can tell1   
from a letter addressed to ,peter ,gast 
7,february #ac1 #ahhg71  that ,nietzsche
 was at this date by no means satisfied 
with his work4 ,i  am still in the      
tentative1 the introductory1 the        
expectant stage 444  he wrote1 and he   
added3 ,the first rough draft of my     
,essay towards a  ,transvaluation is    
ready2 it has been1 on the whole1 a     
torture1 and  ,i have no longer the     
courage to think of it4 ,in ten years ,i
 shall do  better4 ,what was the cause  
of this dissatisfaction8 ,was he weary  
of  that tolerance1 that condescension  
to the needs of the feeble and of  the  
crowd which he had imposed on himself   
for three months8 ,was he  impatient to 

express his anger8    ,the letters which
 he then addressed to his mother and    
sister let  us approach him in a more   
intimate manner4 7,they have not all    
been  published47 ,he wrote to these two
 women from whom he was separated with  
a tenderness which rendered difficult   
dissimulation and even courage  itself4 
,he let himself go1 as though it pleased
 him to find himself at  their knees a  
child again4 ,he was gentle1 obedient   
with his mother2  he signed himself     
humbly3 ta vieille crature4 ,with his   
sister he  talked like a comrade2 he    
seemed to have forgotten all the        
grievances  he had had against her in   
other times2 he knew that she would     
never  return from far-off ,paraguay3 he
 regretted her1 he loved her because    
she was lost4 ,she is energetic1 is     
,lisbeth1 and valiantly risks her  life4
 ,nietzsche admired in her the virtues  
which he esteemed above  all virtues1   
and which are1 he thinks1 the virtues of
 his race1 the  noble race of the       

,counts ,nietzki4 ,how strongly ,i feel1
 he wrote her1  in all you do and say1  
that the same blood runs in our veins4  
,he  hearkened to her1 but she did not  
cease to offer him overwise advice4  ,as
 he complains of being alone1 why does  
he not get made a professor1  why does  
he not marry8 ,nietzsche answered too   
easily3 ,where would ,i  find a wife8   
and if by chance ,i did find one1 would 
,i have the right to  ask her to share  
my life8 ,he knew nevertheless1 and said
 so1 that a  wife would be sweet to him4
    ,,nice1 ,january #be1 #ahhh4 ,i must
 relate a little adventure to you3      
yesterday1 as ,i was taking my usual    
walk1 ,i heard1 not far off1 a warm  and
 frank laugh 7,i thought that ,i heard  
your laugh72 and when this  laughing    
person came near me--,i saw a very      
charming girl1 with brown  eyes1        
delicate as a deer4 ,the sight warmed my
 heart1 my old solitary  philosopher's  
heart--,i thought of your matrimonial   
advice1 and for the  rest of my walk1 ,i

 could not rid myself of the image of   
this young and  gracious girl4          
,assuredly it would do me good to have  
so gracious a  thing by me--but would it
 do her good8 ,would not ,i1 with my    
ideas1 make  this girl unhappy8 ,and    
would not my heart break 7we assume that
 ,i love  her7 if ,i saw so amiable a   
creature suffering8 ,no1 no marriage6   
,was it not now that a singular and     
unwholesome idea fixed itself in his    
thought8 ,at every moment he was        
picturing to himself the joys of which  
he was deprived3 fame1 love1 and        
friendship2 he thought rancourously  of 
those who possessed them1 and above all 
of ,richard ,wagner1 whose  genius had  
been always so sumptuously rewarded4    
,how beautiful she had  been1 when he   
knew her at ,triebschen1 this           
incomparable woman ,cosima  ,lizst1     
come1 while yet married1 to the scandal 
of the world1 to live  with ,wagner and 
help in his work6 ,attentive and        
clear-minded1 active  and helpful1 she  

assured him the security which he had   
hitherto lacked4  ,without her1 what    
would have become of him8 ,could he have
 mastered his  impatient1 restless1     
excitable temperament8 would he have    
been capable  of realising those great  
works which he was for ever announcing8 
,cosima  appeased him1 directed him2    
thanks to her1 he achieved the          
,tetralogy1  he reared ,bayreuth1 he    
wrote ,parsifal4444 ,nietzsche recalled 
those  fine days at ,triebschen4 ,cosima
 welcomed him1 listened to his ideas and
  projects1 read his manuscripts1 was   
benevolent1 talked brightly to him4     
,suffering and irritation deformed his  
memories2 he became infatuated  with the
 thought that he had loved ,cosima      
,wagner and that she1 perhaps1  had     
loved him4 ,nietzsche wished to believe 
this1 and came to believe  it4 ,yes1    
there had been love between them1 and   
,cosima would have saved  him1 as she   
saved ,wagner1 if1 by lucky chance1 she 
had only known him  a few years earlier4

 ,but every circumstance had been       
unfavourable to  ,nietzsche4 ,here again
 ,wagner had robbed him4 ,he had taken  
all1 fame1  love1 friendship4    ,we can
 divine this strange romance in the last
 works of ,friedrich  ,nietzsche4 ,a    
,greek myth helps him to express and    
veil his thoughts2 it  is the myth of   
,ariadne1 ,theseus1 and ,bacchus4       
,theseus was lost2 ,ariadne  has met him
 and led him to the exit from the       
labyrinth2 but ,theseus is  treacherous3
 he abandons upon the rock the woman who
 has saved him2  ,ariadne would die     
alone and in despair if ,bacchus did not
 intervene1  ,bacchus-,dionysios who    
loves her4 ,the enigma of these three   
names may  be solved3 ,ariadne is       
,cosima2 ,theseus1 ,wagner2             
,bacchus-,dionysios1  ,nietzsche4    ,on
 the #cast of ,march he wrote again1 and
 his language was that of a  lost soul4 
,night and day1 ,i am in a state of     
unbearable tension and oppression1  by  
reason of the duty imposed upon me and  

also on account of my  conditions of    
life1 which are absolutely opposed to   
the accomplishment  of this duty2 here  
no doubt the cause of my distress must  
be sought4    444 ,my health1 thanks to 
an extraordinarily fine winter1 to good 
nourishment1 to long walks1 has remained
 sufficiently good4 ,nothing is  sick1  
but the poor soul4 ,besides1 ,i will not
 conceal the fact that my  winter has   
been very rich in spiritual acquisitions
 for my great work3  so the mind is not 
sick2 nothing is sick1 but the poor     
soul4    ,nietzsche left ,nice next day4
 ,he wished1 before going up to the     
,engadine1 to make the experiment of a  
stay in ,turin4 ,its dry air and        
spacious streets had been praised in his
 hearing4 ,he travelled with            
difficulty2 he lost his luggage and his 
temper1 quarrelled with the  porters1   
and remained for two days ill at        
,sampiedarena1 near ,genoa2  in ,genoa  
itself1 he spent three days of rest1    
fully occupied with the  happy memories 

which he found again4 ,i thank my luck1 
he wrote to  ,peter ,gast1 that it led  
me back to this town1 where the will    
rises1  where one cannot be cowardly4 ,i
 have never felt more gratitude than    
during this pilgrimage to ,genoa4444 ,on
 ,saturday1 ,april #fth1 he arrived  at 
,turin1 broken with fatigue4 ,i am no   
longer capable of travelling  alone1 he 
said to ,peter ,gast in the same letter4
 ,it agitates me too  much1 everything  
affects me stupidly4        ,,iii       
,towards the ,darkness      ,here we    
should discontinue our story to forewarn
 the reader4 ,hitherto1  we have been   
following the history of ,nietzsche's   
thought4 ,nietzsche's  thought has now  
no longer a history1 for an influence1  
come not from  the mind1 but from the   
body1 has affected it4 ,people sometimes
 say that  ,nietzsche was mad long      
before this4 ,it may be that they are   
right2 it  is impossible to reach an    
assured diagnosis4 ,at least he had     
retained  his power of reflection1 his  

will4 ,he could still hold himself and  
his  judgments in check4 ,in the spring 
of #ahhh he lost this faculty4 ,his     
intelligence is not yet darkened2 there 
is not a word he writes but is          
penetrating and trenchant4 ,his lucidity
 is extreme1 but disastrous1  since it  
exercises itself only to destroy4 ,as   
one studies the last  months of this    
life1 one feels as though one were      
watching the work of  some engine of war
 which is no longer governed by the hand
 of man4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche       
abandoned those moral researches which  
had  strengthened his work till now1    
enriched and elevated it4 ,let us recall
  a letter addressed to ,peter ,gast in 
,february1 #ahhh3 ,i am in a state  of  
chronic irritability which allows me1 in
 my better moments1 a sort  of revenge1 
not the finest sort--it takes the form  
of an excess of  hardness4 ,these words 
shed light on the three coming books3   
,the ,case  of ,wagner1 ,the ,twilight  
of the ,idols1 ,the ,antichrist4    ,we 

shall hurry on with the story of those  
months in which ,nietzsche is  no longer
 quite himself4           99       99   
99       99       99    ,about the #gth 
of ,april he received an unexpected     
letter at ,turin4  ,georges ,brandes    
wrote informing him of a projected      
series of  conferences which were to be 
devoted to his philosophy4 ,it annoys   
me1 wrote ,brandes1 to think that no one
 knows you here1 and ,i wish  to make   
you known all of a sudden4 ,nietzsche   
replied3 ,truly1 dear  sir1 this is a   
surprise4 ,where did you get such       
courage that you can  speak in public of
 a vir obscurissimus8444 ,perhaps you   
imagine that  ,i am known in my own     
country4 ,they treat me as something    
singular and  absurd1 which it is not at
 all necessary to take seriously ,he    
ended  by remarking1 ,the long          
resistance has exasperated my pride a   
little4  ,am ,i a philosopher8 ,what    
does it matter8    ,the letter should   
have been an occasion of great joy2 and1

 perhaps1 had  it been possible to save 
him1 the occasion of his salvation4     
,assuredly  he felt some happiness1 but 
we scarcely discern it4 ,the hour was   
late1  and ,nietzsche now followed the  
tracks whither his destiny had drawn    
him4    ,during these days of weariness 
and tension1 he procured a translation  
of the ,laws of ,manu1 for he wished to 
become familiar with the  model of those
 hierarchic societies for whose         
renovation he hoped4 ,he  read1 and his 
expectations were not deceived2 this1   
the last study  of his life1 turned out 
to be one of the most important he had  
ever  undertaken4 ,it delighted him to  
ecstasy--here was a code on which were  
established the customs and the order of
 four castes1 a language that  was      
beautiful1 simple1 human in its very    
severity1 a constant nobleness  of      
thought4 ,and the impression of         
security1 of sweetness which detached   
itself from the book as a whole6 ,here  
are some commandments from its  earlier 

pages3    ,before the cutting of the    
navel string1 a ceremony is prescribed  
at the birth of a male2 he must be made1
 while sacred texts are  pronounced1 to 
taste a little honey and clarified      
butter from a golden  dish4    ,let the 
father fulfil the ceremony of the giving
 of a name1 on the  tenth or twelfth day
 after birth1 on a propitious lunary    
day1 at a  favourable moment1 under a   
star of happy influence4    ,let the    
first name in the compound name of a    
,brahman express the  propitious favour2
 that of a ,kshatriya1 power2 that of a 
,vaisya1  riches3 that of a ,sudra1     
abjection4    ,let the name of a girl be
 soft1 clear1 agreeable1 propitious and 
easily spoken1 terminating in long      
vowels1 and resembling words of         
benediction4    ,friedrich ,nietzsche   
read and admired4 ,he copied out many a 
passage1  recognising in the old ,hindu 
text that ,goethean gaze1 full of love  
and  of good will1 hearing in its pages 
that canto d' amore1 which he had       

himself wished to sing4    ,but if he   
admired1 he also judged4 ,that ,hindu   
order had as basis a  mythology of which
 the priests who interpreted it were not
 the dupes4  ,these sages1 wrote        
,nietzsche1 do not believe in all       
this--or  they would not have found     
it4444 ,the laws of ,manu were clever   
and  beautiful lies4 ,necessarily so1   
since ,nature is a chaos1 a derision of 
all thought and of all order1 and       
whoever aspires to the foundation of  an
 order1 must turn away from her and     
conceive an illusory world4 ,those      
master builders1 the ,hindoo lawgivers1 
are masters also in the art of  lying4  
,if ,nietzsche were not careful1 their  
genius would drag him into  the path of 
falsehoods4    ,here was the instant of 
a crisis of which we know nothing but   
the  origin and the term4 ,nietzsche was
 alone at ,turin1 no one was by him  as 
he worked1 he had no confidant4 ,what   
was he thinking8 ,doubtless he  was     
studying1 meditating continually over   

the old ,aryan book which gave  him the 
model of his dreams1 that book which was
 the finest monument of  sthetic and    
social perfection1 and1 at the same     
time1 of intellectual  knavery4 ,how he 
must have loved and yet hated it6 ,he   
mused1 was amazed1  and suspended his   
work4 ,four years earlier a similar     
difficulty had  prevented him from      
completing his ,zarathustra4 ,it was no 
longer  a question of the ,superman1 of 
an ,eternal ,return4 ,these nave  formul
 were abandoned1 but the tendencies     
which they cloaked--the one1  lyrical1  
avid of construction and of order1 even 
though illusory2 the  other1 avid of    
destruction and of lucidity--these      
unvarying tendencies  again exercised   
their influence at this point4          
,nietzsche hesitated3  should he finally
 listen to these ,brahmins1 these       
priests1 these crafty  leaders of men4  
,no2 loyalty is the virtue upon which he
 can never  compound4 ,later perhaps1   
much later1 when a few centuries are    

gone by1  humanity1 more learned in the 
meaning of its life1 in the origins and 
values of its instincts1 in the         
mechanism of heredities1 may essay  new 
lawgivings4 ,to-day it cannot3 it would 
only add falsehoods and  hypocrisies to 
the old lies1 the old hypocrisies1 which
 already fetter  it4 ,nietzsche turned  
away from the thoughts which he had     
followed with  such energy for six      
months1 and suddenly found himself      
exactly as he  had been in his thirtieth
 year1 indifferent to all that was not  
in the  service of truth4    ,all that  
is suspect and false must be brought    
into the light6 he had  then written4   
,we do not wish to build prematurely1 we
 do not know that  we can build1 and    
that it may not be better to build      
nothing4 ,there are  pessimists who are 
cowardly and resigned--of those we do   
not wish to  be4    ,when he had thus   
expressed himself1 ,nietzsche still     
possessed strength  enough to consider  
calmly a labour made the easier by hope4

 ,but in ten  years he has lost his old 
force1 his old calm1 and all hope has   
left  him4 ,his sick soul can no longer 
offer any resistance--irritability      
overcomes it4 ,he gives up the          
composition of his great work1          
relinquishes it to write a pamphlet4 ,by
 this circumstance our  conjectures are 
solved and1 indeed1 terminated4    ,the 
days of serenity have gone by4 ,wounded 
to the death1 ,nietzsche  wishes to     
return blow for blow4 ,richard ,wagner  
is his mark1 the false  apostle of      
,parsifal1 the illusionist who has      
seduced his period4 ,if  he formerly    
served ,wagner1 now he will disserve    
him1 out of passion  as out of a sense  
of duty4 ,he thinks3 ,it is ,i who made 
,wagnerism2  it is ,i who must unmake   
it4 ,he wishes to liberate1 by means of 
a  violent attack1 those of his         
contemporaries who1 weaker than himself1
  still submit to the prestige of this  
art4 ,he wants to humiliate this  man   
whom he has loved1 whom he still loves2 

he wishes to defame this  master who was
 the benefactor of his youth2 in short1 
if we do not  mistake1 he wishes to take
 vengeance on a lost happiness4 ,so he  
insults  ,wagner2 calls him a decadent1 
a low comedian1 a modern ,cagliostro4   
,this  indelicacy--an unheard-of thing  
in ,nietzsche's life--suffices to prove 
the presence of the evil4    ,no scruple
 haunted him4 ,a happy excitement       
favoured and hastened on  his work4     
,alienists are familiar with those      
singular conditions which  precede the  
last crises of general paralysis1 and   
,friedrich ,nietzsche  seemed to abandon
 himself to an afflux of joy4 ,he       
attributed the  benefit to the climate  
of ,turin1 which he was now trying4     
,turin1 dear friend1 wrote he to ,peter 
,gast1 is a capital discovery4  ,i tell 
you with the idea at the back of my mind
 that you may perhaps  also profit from 
it4 ,my humour is good1 ,i work from    
morning to night--a  little pamphlet on 
music occupies my fingers--,i digest    

like a demi-god1  ,i sleep in spite of  
the nocturnal noises of carriages3 so   
many symptoms  of the eminent           
suitability of ,turin to ,nietzsche4    
,in ,july1 in the ,engadine1 some damp  
and cold weeks did him a great  deal of 
harm4 ,he lost his sleep4 ,his happy    
excitement disappeared1 or  transformed 
itself into bitter and febrile humours4 
,it was then that  ,frulein von         
,salis-,marschlins1 who has recounted   
her recollections in  an interesting    
brochure1 saw him1 after a separation of
 ten months4  ,she remarked the change  
in his condition2 how he walked alone1  
his  hurried carriage1 his sharp        
salute--he would stop scarcely or not at
  all1 in such a hurry was he to get    
back to his inn and put down the        
thoughts which his walk had inspired in 
him4 ,on the visits he paid her  he did 
not conceal his preoccupations4 ,he was 
in dread of pecuniary  embarrassments3  
the capital which had constituted his   
little fortune  was almost gone2 and    

could he1 with the three thousand francs
 which  the ,university of ,basle       
allowed him as a pension1 provide for   
his  everyday needs and for the         
publication1 always onerous1 of his     
books8  ,it was in vain that he         
regulated his journeys and restricted   
himself  to the simplest lodgings and   
food4 ,he was reaching the limits of his
  resources4    ,the ,case of ,wagner   
was completed2 to the text1 a           
preliminary  discourse1 a postscript1 a 
second postscript1 and an epilogue were 
added4 ,he could not cease extending his
 work1 and making it more  bitter4      
,nevertheless he was not satisfied1 and 
felt1 after having  written it1 some    
remorse4    ,i hope that this very risqu
 pamphlet has pleased you1 he wrote to  
,peter ,gast on the #aath of ,august1   
#ahhh4 ,that would be for me a comfort  
by no means negligible4 ,there are      
certain hours1 above all1 certain       
evenings1 when ,i do not feel enough    
courage in myself for so many  follies1 

for so much hardheartedness2 ,i am in   
doubt over some passages4  ,perhaps ,i  
went too far 7not in the matter1 but in 
my manner of  expressing the matter74   
,perhaps the note in which ,i speak of  
,wagner's  family origins could be      
suppressed4    ,a letter addressed about
 this time to ,frulein von ,meysenbug   
gives food  for thought4    ,i have     
given to men the most profound book1 he 
writes2 one pays  dearly for that4 ,the 
price of being immortal is sometimes    
life6 444 ,and  always on my road that  
cretinism of ,bayreuth6 ,the old seducer
 ,wagner1  dead though he be1 continues 
to draw away from me just those few men 
whom my influence might touch4 ,but in  
,denmark--how absurd to think6--,i  have
 been celebrated this winter4 ,dr4      
,georges ,brandes1 whose mind is  so    
full of vitality1 has dared to talk     
about me before the ,university  of     
,copenhagen4 ,and with brilliant        
success6 ,always more than three        
hundred listeners6 ,and a final         

ovation6--,and something similar is     
being  arranged in ,new ,york4 ,i am the
 most independent mind in ,europe and   
the only ,german writer--which is       
something6    ,he added in a postscript3
 ,only a great soul can endure my       
writings4  ,thus ,i have had the good   
luck to provoke against myself all that 
is  feeble and virtuous4 ,no doubt the  
indulgent ,frulein von ,meysenbug  saw  
in these lines a point directed against 
herself4 ,she answered1  as usual1 in   
her kindly manner3 ,you say that        
everything feeble and  virtuous is      
against you8 ,do not be so paradoxical4 
,virtue is not  weakness but strength1  
words say it plainly enough4 ,and are   
you  not yourself the living            
contradiction of what you say8 ,for you 
are  virtuous1 and the example of your  
life1 if men could only know it1  would1
 as ,i am assured1 be more persuasive   
than your books4 ,nietzsche  replied3 ,i
 have read your charming letter1 dear   
lady and dear friend1  with real        

emotion2 no doubt you are right--so am  
,i4    ,how headlong a thing is his     
life6 ,days spent in walking1 in getting
 the  rhythm of phrases1 in sharpening  
thoughts4 ,often he works through the   
dawn and is writing still when the      
innkeeper rises and goes noiselessly    
out to follow the traces of the chamois 
among the mountains4 ,am ,i not  myself 
a hunter of chamois8 thinks ,nietzsche1 
and goes on with his  work4    ,the     
,case of ,wagner being completed1       
,nietzsche began a new pamphlet1        
directed not against a man1 but against 
ideas--against all ideas that  men have 
found whereby to guide their acts4      
,there is no metaphysical  world1 and   
the rationalists are dreamers2 there is 
no moral world1  and the moralists are  
dreamers4 ,what then remains8 ,the world
 of  appearances1 perhaps8 ,but no2 for 
with the world of truth we have         
abolished the world of appearances6     
,nothing exists but energy1 renewed  at 
every instant4 ,incipiet ,zarathustra4  

,friedrich ,nietzsche looked  for a     
title for his new pamphlet3 ,leisure    
,hours of a ,psychologist was  his first
 idea2 then1 ,the ,twilight of the      
,idols1 or ,the ,philosophy  of the     
,hammer4  ,on ,september #gth he sent   
his manuscript to the  publisher4 ,this 
little book--he wrote--must strike1     
scandalise1 and  strain people's minds1 
and prepare them for the reception of   
his great  work4    ,of it he is always 
thinking1 and his second pamphlet is    
scarcely  finished when he starts on    
this labour4 ,but we no longer recognise
 the  calm and ,goethean work which it  
had been his desire to write4 ,he tries 
new titles3 ,we other ,immoralists1 ,we 
other ,hyperboreans3 then returns  to   
his old title and keeps to it--,the     
,will to ,power3 ,an ,essay towards  the
 ,transvaluation of all ,values4        
,between ,september #crd and ,september 
#cjth he draws up a first section3 ,the 
,antichrist2 and it is a third          
pamphlet4 ,this time he speaks outright1

 he indicates his ,yea and his  ,nay1   
his straight line and his goal3 he      
exalts the most brutal energy4  ,all    
moral imperatives1 whether dictated by  
,moses or by ,manu1 by the  people or by
 the aristocracy1 are lies4 ,europe was 
near to greatness1  he writes1 when1    
during the first years of the sixteenth 
century1 it  was possible to hope that  
,csar ,borgia would seize the ,papacy4  
,are we  bound to accept these thoughts 
as definitive1 because they are the last
  that ,nietzsche expressed8    ,while  
he was drawing up ,the ,antichrist1 he  
returned again to his  ,dionysian       
,songs1 outlined in #ahhd1 and completed
 them4 ,here we find  the sure          
expression of the presentiments that    
then agitated him4          ,the sun    
sets1      ,soon thy thirst shall be    
quenched1      ,burning heart6      ,a  
freshness is in the air1      ,i breathe
 the breath of unknown mouths1      ,the
 great cold comes4444        ,the sun is
 in its place1 and burns upon my head at

 noon4      ,i salute ye1 ye who come1  
,o swift winds1      ,o fresh spirits of
 the afternoon        ,the air stirs1   
peaceable and pure4      ,has it not    
darted towards me a sidelong glance1    
,a seductive glance1      ,to-night8    
,be strong1 brave heart6      ,ask not3 
why8        ,eve of my life6      ,the  
sun sets4      ,on the #bast ,september 
we find him at ,turin4 ,on the #bbnd    
,the ,case of  ,wagner was published4   
,here at last was a book of which the   
newspapers  spoke a little4 ,but        
,nietzsche was exasperated by their     
comments4 ,with  the exception of a     
,swiss author1 ,carl ,spiteler1 no one  
had understood  him4 ,every word gave   
him the measure of the public ignorance 
as regards  his work4 ,for ten years he 
had been seeking and following ideas    
found  by him alone3 of this the ,german
 critics knew nothing2 they knew only   
that a certain ,herr ,nietzsche1 a      
disciple of ,wagner's1 had been an      
author2 they read ,the ,case of ,wagner 

and surmised that ,herr ,nietzsche  was 
just fallen out with his master4        
,besides1 he felt that he had  incurred 
the blame of some of his later friends4 
,jacob ,burckhardt1  always so precise1 
did not acknowledge the receipt of the  
pamphlet2 the  good ,meysenbug wrote an 
indignant and severe letter4    ,these  
are subjects1 ,nietzsche answered him1  
with regard to which ,i  cannot permit  
any contradiction4 ,upon the question of
 decadence ,i am  the highest authority 
7instance7 in the world3 the men of     
to-day1 with  their querulous and       
degenerate instinct1 should consider    
themselves  fortunate that they have by 
them some one who offers them a generous
  wine in their most sombre moments4    
,that ,wagner succeeded in making       
himself believed in1 assuredly proves   
genius2 but the genius of  falsehood4 ,i
 have the honour to be his opposite--a  
genius of truth4    ,in spite of the    
agitation thus displayed1 his letters   
expressed an  unheard-of happiness4     

,there is nothing which he does not     
admire4 ,the  autumn is splendid2 the   
roads1 the galleries1 the palaces1 the  
cafs  of ,turin1 are magnificent2       
repasts are succulent and prices modest4
 ,he  digests well1 sleeps marvellously4
 ,he hears ,french operettas3 there is  
nothing as perfect as their buoyant     
manner1 the paradise of all the         
refinements4 ,he listens to a concert3  
each piece1 whether ,beethoven1         
,schubert1 ,bossaro1 ,goldmarck1 ,vibac1
 or ,bizet be its author1 seems to  him 
equally sublime4 ,i was in tears1 he    
wrote to ,peter ,gast4 ,i think  that   
,turin1 from the point of view of the   
musical sense1 as from every  other     
point of view1 is the most solid town   
that ,i know4    ,one might hope that   
this intoxication of spirit kept        
,nietzsche from  knowledge of his       
destiny4 ,but a rare word sufficiently  
indicates his  clairvoyance4 ,he has a  
sense of the approaching disaster4 ,his 
reason  escapes from him and he measures

 its flight4 ,on the #acth of ,november1
  #ahhh1 he expressed to ,peter ,gast a 
desire to have him near1 his  regret    
that he could not come2 this was his    
constant plaint1 the very  constancy of 
which indeed diminished its             
significance4 ,nietzsche1 who  knew     
this1 warned his friend3 ,what ,i tell  
you1 take tragically1 he  wrote4 ,on the
 #ahth of ,november he sent a letter    
which seemed quite  happy4 ,he spoke of 
operettas which he had just heard1 of   
,judic1 and of  ,milly ,meyer4 ,for our 
bodies and for our souls1 dear friend1  
he wrote1  a light ,parisian            
intoxication1 'tis salvation4 ,he       
concluded3 ,this  letter also1 ,i pray  
you to take tragically4    ,thus the    
condition of physical jubilation to     
which imminent madness  brought him let 
him escape neither presentiment nor     
anguish4 ,he wished  to reassemble for  
the last time the memories and          
impressions which  life had left to him1
 and to compose a work which should be  

bizarre1  triumphant1 and desperate4    
,look at the titles of the chapters3    
,why  ,i am so prudent4--,why ,i am so  
wise4--,why ,i have written such good   
books4--,why ,i am a fatality4--,glory  
and eternity4444 ,he calls his  last    
work3 ,ecce ,homo4 ,what does he mean8  
,is he ,antichrist or another  ,christ8 
,he is both together4 ,like ,christ1 he 
has sacrificed himself4  ,christ is man 
and ,god3 ,he has conquered the         
temptations to which ,he  made ,himself 
accessible4 ,nietzsche is man and       
,superman3 he has known  every feeble   
desire1 every cowardly thought1 and has 
cast them from  him4 ,none before him   
was so tender or so hard2 no reality has
 alarmed  him4 ,he has taken upon       
himself not the sins of men1 but all    
their  passions in their greatest force4
 ,jesus on the ,cross1 he writes1  is an
 anathema upon life2 ,dionysos broken in
 bits is a promise of  life1 of life    
indestructible and ever-renewed4 ,the   
solitary ,christian  had his ,god3      

,nietzsche lives alone and without ,god4
 ,the sage of old  had his friends3     
,nietzsche lives alone and without      
friends4 ,he lives  nevertheless1 and   
can sing1 in his cruel extremity1 the   
,dionysian  hymn4 ,i am not a saint1 he 
writes1 but a satyr4 ,and again1 ,i have
  written so many books1 and such       
beautiful ones3 how should ,i not be    
grateful to life8    ,no2 ,nietzsche was
 a saint1 not a satyr1 and a wounded    
saint who aspired  to die4 ,he said that
 he felt grateful to life2 it was false1
 for his  soul was quite embittered4 ,he
 lied1 but sometimes man has no other   
way  to victory4 ,when ,arria1 dying    
from the blow she had given herself1    
said  to her husband as she passed him  
her weapon3 ,pte1 non dolet444  she     
lied1 and it was to her glory that she  
lied4 ,and here1 may we not  pass on    
,nietzsche himself the judgment that he 
had passed upon her8 ,her  holy         
falsehood1 he wrote in #ahgi1 obscures  
all the truths that have  ever been said

 by the dying4 ,nietzsche had not       
triumphed4 ,ecce ,homo3  he was broken  
but would not avow it4 ,a poet1 he      
wished that his cry of  agony should be 
a song2 a last lyrical transport        
uplifted his soul and  gave him the     
force to lie4            ,thou sinkst to
 eve6      ,thine eye already           
,gleams half-bruised2      ,drops from  
thy dew1      ,like tears outstrewn1    
,stream2 the purple of thy love         
,goes silent over the milky sea1        
,thy ultimate1 tardy blessedness4444    
,all around1 only the waves and their   
mirth4      ,what once was hard         
,has foundered in a blue oblivion--     
,my boat lies idle now4      ,tempest   
and travel--how unlearnt      ,hope and 
desire are drowned1      ,the soul and  
the sea he sleek4        ,seventh       
solitude      ,never felt ,i            
,closer to me the sweet serenity1       
,warmer the rays of the sun4            
--,shines not even the ice of my summit8
        ,a rapid1 silvery fish1      ,my

 bark glides away1 afar4                
,nevertheless he was conscious that the 
fame1 so long desired1  approached4     
,georges ,brandes1 who was going to     
repeat and publish his  lectures1 found 
him a new reader1 the ,swede ,auguste   
,strindberg4 ,very  pleased1 ,nietzsche 
announced it to ,peter ,gast4           
,strindberg has written  to me1 he said1
 and for the first time ,i receive a    
letter in which  ,i find a              
world-historic 7,welthistorik7 accent4  
,in ,st4 ,petersburg  they were getting 
ready to translate his ,case of ,wagner4
 ,in ,paris1  ,hippolyte ,taine sought  
and found him a correspondent3 ,jean    
,bordeau1  contributor to the ,dbats and
 the ,revue des ,deux ,mondes4 ,at last1
  wrote ,nietzsche1 the grand ,panama   
,canal towards ,france has been  opened4
 ,his old comrade ,deussen handed him   
two thousand francs1 the  offering of an
 unknown who wished to subscribe to an  
edition of his  works4 ,madame de ,salis
 ,marschlins offered him a thousand4    

,friedrich  ,nietzsche should have been 
happy1 but it was too late4    ,how were
 his last days spent8 ,we do not know4  
,he lived in a furnished  apartment1 the
 guest of a humble family1 which lodged 
him and1 if he  wished1 fed him4 ,he    
corrected the proofs of ,ecce ,homo1    
adding a  postscript to the early text1 
then a dithyrambic poem2 meanwhile he   
prepared a new pamphlet for publication1
 ,nietzsche contra ,wagner4  ,before    
launching the first edition of my great 
work1 he wrote to  his publisher1 we    
must prepare the public1 we must create 
a genuine  tension--or it will be       
,zarathustra over again4 ,on the #hth of
  ,december he wrote to ,peter ,gast3 ,i
 have re-read ,ecce ,homo1 ,i have      
weighed every word in scales of gold3   
literally it cuts the history of        
humanity into two sections--the highest 
superlative of dynamite4 ,on  the #bith 
of ,december he wrote to his publisher3 
,i am of your opinion1  as to ,ecce     
,homo2 let us not exceed #a1jjj copies2 

a thousand copies  for ,germany of a    
book1 written in the grand style1 is    
indeed rather  more than reasonable4    
,but in ,france1 ,i say it quite        
seriously1 ,i count  on an issue of     
#hj1jjj--or #dj1jjj copies4 ,on the #bnd
 of ,january another  letter 7in a rough
 and deformed hand73 ,return me the     
poem--on with  ,ecce6    ,there exists a
 tradition1 difficult to verify1 that1  
during these  latter days1 ,nietzsche   
often played fragments of ,wagner to his
 hosts4  ,he would say to them3 ,i knew 
him1 and talk of ,triebschen4 ,the      
thing does not seem improbable1 for now 
his memories of his greatest  happiness 
may well have visited him1 and he may   
have found delight in  recounting them  
to simple people ignorant of his life4  
,had he not just  written in ,ecce      
,homo3    ,since ,i am here recalling   
the consolations of my life1 ,i ought to
  express in a word my gratitude for    
what was by far my most profound and    
best-loved joy--my intimacy with        

,richard ,wagner4 ,i wish to be just    
with  regard to the rest of my human    
relationships2 but ,i absolutely cannot 
efface from my life the days at         
,triebschen1 days of confidence1 of     
gaiety2 of sublime flashes--days of     
profound happiness4 ,i do not know  what
 ,wagner was for others3 our sky was    
never darkened by a cloud4           99 
99       99       99       99    ,on the
 #ith of ,january1 #ahhi1 ,franz        
,overbeck was sitting1 with his  wife1  
at the window of his quiet house in     
,basle1 when he saw old  ,burckhardt    
stop and ring at his door4 ,he was      
surprised3 ,burckhardt was  not an      
intimate1 and some intuition warned him 
that ,nietzsche1 their  common friend1  
was the cause of this visit4 ,for some  
weeks he had had  disquieting notes from
 ,turin4 ,burckhardt brought him a long 
letter  which all too clearly confirmed 
his presentiments4 ,nietzsche was mad4  
,i am ,ferdinand de ,lesseps1 he wrote1 
,i am ,prado1 ,i am ,chambige the  two  

assassins with whom the ,paris          
newspapers were then occupied2 ,i  have 
been buried twice this autumn4    ,a few
 moments later ,overbeck received a     
similar letter1 and all  ,nietzsche's   
friends were likewise advised4 ,he had  
written to each of  them4    ,friend    
,georges1 he wrote to ,brandes1 since   
you have discovered me1  it is not      
wonderful to find me3 what is now       
difficult is to lose me4    ,,the       
,,crucified4    ,peter ,gast received a 
message the tragic significance of which
 he did  not understand3          ,a mon
 maestro ,pietro4        ,sing me a new 
song4 ,the world is clear and all the   
skies      rejoice4        ,ariadne1 ,i 
love you1 he wrote to ,cosima ,wagner4  
,overbeck started immediately4 ,he found
 ,nietzsche1 watched over by his  hosts1
 ploughing the piano with his elbow1    
singing and crying his  ,dionysian      
glory4 ,he was able to bring him back to
 ,basle1 and introduce  him1 without too
 painful a scene1 into a hospital1 where

 his mother  came to seek him4    ,he   
lived another ten years4 ,the first of  
them were cruel1 the later  more kindly2
 sometimes even there seemed to be hope4
 ,he would recall  his work4    ,have ,i
 not written fine books8 he would say4  
,he was shown portraits of ,wagner4     
,him1 he would say1 ,i loved much4      
,these returns of consciousness might   
have been frightful2 it seems that  they
 were not4 ,one day his sister1 as she  
sat by his side1 could not  restrain her
 tears4    ,lisbeth1 he said1 why do you
 cry8 ,are we not happy8    ,the ruined 
intellect could not be saved1 but the   
uncorrupted soul kept  sweet and        
charming1 open to pure impressions4     
,one day a young man who was occupied   
with the publication of his work  was   
out with him on his short walk4         
,nietzsche perceived a little girl  at  
the side of the road1 and was charmed4  
,he went up to her1 stopped1  and with a
 hand drew back the hair which lay low  
on her forehead2 then1  contemplating   

the frank face with a smile1 he said3   
,is it not the picture of innocence8    
,friedrich ,nietzsche died at ,weimar on
 the #beth of ,august1 #aijj4      #a   
,in ,french in the text4    #b ,morals  
are free in the pensions on the         
,mediterranean1 and no doubt  we are    
unaware of all the episodes of          
,friedrich ,nietzsche's life4 ,but  this
 reservation must be made4 ,according to
 evidence which we have  been able to   
gather1 his manner of life1 in the      
,engadine1 never gave  occasion for the 
least gossip4 ,on the contrary he seems1
 we are told1  to have avoided young    
women4    #c ,i am very happy1 wrote    
,taine1 that my articles on ,napoleon   
have struck you as true1 and nothing can
 more exactly sum up my  impression than
 the two ,german words which you use3   
,unmensch und  ,uebermensch4--,letter of
 ,july #ab1 #ahhg4              ,,index 
,a        ,about      schylus2 ,greece  
of      ,alexander      ,alsace         
,anaxagoras      ,anti-,christ1 ,the    

,apollo1 ,leader of ,states             
,apollonian ,spirit1 ,the1 ,nietzsche's 
definition of      ,aquila      ,arabs1 
,the      ,ariadne      ,aristotle      
,athens      ,attica        ,b          
,bacchus-,dionysus      ,bach1          
,nietzsche's love of      ,bahnsen      
,bashkirtseff1 ,marie      ,basle1      
,nietzsche's appointment at ,university 
of2        ,nietzsche's life at         
,baudelaire1 ,c4      ,baumbrach1       
,professor      ,baumgarten1 ,marie     
,bavaria      ,bayreuth1 theatre of2    
,wagner at2        destiny of2          
foundation stone of theatre laid2       
financial difficulties at2              
,nietzsche's appeal on its behalf2      
rehearsals at2        its beautiful     
souls2        its journal condemns      
,human1 ,all ,too ,human2               
,parsifal played at2        #f1jjj feet 
above ,bayreuth      ,beethoven2        
,nietzsche studies life of2             
centenary of      ,bellini      ,bergamo
      ,berlin2 ,nietzsche in2           

parliamentary intrigues of      ,berlioz
      ,bestimmung der ,oper1 ,die       
,beyond ,good and ,evil      ,birth of  
,tragedy2        its ,wagnerian tendency
      ,bismarck      ,bizet      ,blanc1
 ,louis      ,bohemia      ,bonn1       
,university of2        ,nietzsche at    
,bordeau1 ,jean      ,borgia1 ,csar     
,bourget1 ,paul      ,brahms            
,brandes1 ,georges2        appreciates  
,genealogy of ,morals2        lectures  
on ,nietzsche      ,brenner1 ,a4        
,brockhaus1 ,madame      ,bucharest     
,bchner      ,blow1 ,hans von           
,burckhardt1 ,jacob ,nietzsche's        
confidant at ,basle2        shares      
,nietzsche's grief      ,byron2         
,nietzsche's love of        ,c          
,carlsruhe      ,carmen      ,case of   
,wagner1 ,the2        publication of    
,catholicism1 ,nietzsche's detestation  
of      ,cavour      ,chamfort          
,chiavari      ,chillon1 ,nietzsche at  
,choephores of schylus1 ,the            
,chopin      ,christianity1 ,wagner and2

 and ,nietzsche's spiritual life        
,cimarosa      ,cloisters1 ,nietzsche's 
project of      ,coire      ,cologne    
,columbus1 ,christopher      ,cook1     
,captain      ,copenhagen1 ,university  
of      ,corsica      ,culture of ,the  
,renaissance in ,italy ,the        ,d   
d',agoult1 ,madame      ,dante          
,darwinism      ,dawn of ,day1 ,the2    
failure of2        preface to      ,de  
,bross      ,democritus      ,descartes 
,deussen1 ,paul1 ,nietzsche's college   
comrade2        ,nietzsche's letter to  
on becoming ,professor at ,basle        
,diogenes ,laertius      ,dionysian     
,songs      ,dionysos2 ,nietzsche as    
,dnhoff1 ,countess      ,don ,quixote   
,dresden      ,dhring2 ,the ,value of   
,life      ,drer        ,e              
,ecce ,homo      ,eckermann             
,educational ,institutions1 ,the ,future
 of      ,emerson1 ,r4 ,w4              
,empedocles      ,engadine1 ,the1       
,nietzsche in      ,eternal ,return1    
,the1 ,nietzsche's conception of2       

his horror of2        abandons the idea2
        re-adopts it2      ,euripides   
,europe1 condition of2        tragical  
era of2      ,europe1 ,goethe1 and      
,napoleon        ,f        ,faust1      
quoted      ,feuerbach      ,fichte     
,finland      ,flaubert1 ,gustave       
,flimms      ,florence      ,frster1    
marriage with ,nietzsche's sister       
,france1 ,nietzsche in                  
,franco-,german ,war      ,frankfurt1   
,peace of      ,frederick the ,great    
,frederick ,,ii      ,frederick ,william
 of ,prussia      ,freiligrath          
,friburg      ,friedrich von            
,hohenstaufen      ,friendship1         
,nietzsche's view of      ,fritzsch     
,froeschwler      ,fuchs1 ,carl         
,g        ,galiani1 ,abb1 ,the          
,garda1 ,lake of1 ,nietzsche at         
,garibaldi      ,gast1 ,peter2          
with ,nietzsche at ,venice2        aids 
,nietzsche2      ,nietzsche's           
correspondence with      ,gautier       
,gavarri      ,gay ,science1 ,the2      

preface to      ,genealogy of ,morals1  
,geneva      ,genoa1 ,nietzsche at      
,germany1 ,nietzsche's hopes of2        
its delirium of conceit after ,metz12   
fails to celebrate ,beethoven2          
,nietzsche abandons2        the mission 
of the ,german ,empire2        the two  
,germanys2        ,nietzsche's projected
 mission to2        ,nietzsche spits out
 lava on2        ,nietzsche's summons to
        the sombre ,empire12            
defaming the ,germans      ,gersdorff1  
,baron von1 ,nietzsche's correspondence 
with      ,gobineau1 ,count             
,goethe2        quoted by ,mazzini2     
to inspire ,nietzsche's great work      
,goldmarck      ,goncourts1 ,journal of 
the      ,greek poets1 ,nietzsche's love
 of      ,greeks1 ,the1 genius of2      
,germanic ,hellenism2        the        
,homeric problem2        ,goethe1       
,wagner1 and2        and tragedy2       
,nietzsche's lectures on sthetic of     
,greek tragedy2        the ,greek genius
 and war2        of the sixth and       

seventh centuries2        the two       
,greeces2        tragic philosophers of 
,grunewald      ,guyau        ,h        
,hamburg      ,hartmann1 ,e4 von        
,hasse      ,hegel      ,heidelberg1    
,union of      ,heinze      ,helen      
,hellenism and ,pessimism               
,heraclitus      ,herodotus      ,herzen
      ,hildebrant1 ,karl      ,hlderlin1
 read by ,nietzsche2        life and    
work of2        similarity to ,nietzsche
      ,homer      ,human1 ,all ,too     
,human      ,humboldt      ,hymn to     
,friendship      ,hymn to ,life         
,hymn to ,solitude        ,i            
,iliad1 ,the      ,italy        ,j      
,java1 ,earthquake of      ,jena        
,judic        ,k        ,kant      ,kief
      ,kiel      ,klingenbrunn          
,kselitz1 see ,peter ,gast        ,l    
,lange      ,lanzky1 ,paul        with  
,nietzsche at ,nice2        with        
,nietzsche at ,ruta      ,laws of ,manu1
 ,the      ,leipsic2      ,nietzsche at 
,lenbach      ,leopardi      ,leskien   

,lessing      ,letters of an ,heretical 
esthete1 ,the      ,liszt               
,litterarisches ,centralblatt1 ,the     
,lohengrin1      ,l',ombra di ,venezia  
,london      ,louis of ,bavaria2 ,wagner
 writes      treatise for2 saves        
,bayreuth      ,louvre1 ,the1 burning of
      ,lucerne      ,lucretius          
,lugano2 ,nietzsche among the ,germans  
at      ,lunville      ,luther2         
,nietzsche's ,lutheranism        ,m     
,maggiori1 ,lake      ,manfred          
,mannheim      ,marasoff1 ,madame       
,marguerite of ,savoy      ,marienbad   
,maupassant1 ,guy de      ,mazzini1     
meeting with ,nietzsche2                
,nietzsche's veneration for             
,meiningen      ,meistersingers1        
,mendelssohn      ,mentone      ,mrime1 
,prosper      ,messina      ,metz       
,meyer1 ,milly      ,meysenbug1 ,frulein
 von2        her ,memoirs of an         
,idealist2        correspondence with   
,nietzsche2        at ,naples with      
,nietzsche      ,michelet      ,mill1   

,s4      ,miscellaneous ,opinions and   
,apothegms      ,moltke1 von            
,monaco      ,mond1 ,g4      ,montaigne 
,mozart      ,mucius ,scvola            
,munich      ,music of the ,future1 ,the
        ,n        ,nancy      ,naples1  
,nietzsche at      ,napoleon the ,great 
,napoleon ,,iii                         
,naumburg-sur-,saale1 ,nietzsche's home 
at2        provinciality of2            
,nietzsche spends ,christmas of #ahgc at
      ,newton      ,new ,york           
,nibelungen1 ,the1      ,nice1          
,nietzsche at      ,nietzki1 ,counts    
,nietzsche1 ,frau1 goes to ,naumburg    
with her family        ,nietzsche's     
tender letters to      ,nietzsche1      
,friedrich1 birth of2        death of   
his father and brother2        his      
journal2        residence at ,naumburg2 
desires to become a clergyman2          
first composition2        enters college
 at ,naumburg2        writes history of 
childhood2        scholarship at        
,pforta2 life at ,pforta2               

weakening of religious faith2           
question of his future2        address  
to his masters and comrades2            
leaves ,pforta2 enters ,university of   
,bonn2        his new life2 fights a    
duel2        dislike of ,bonn2 studies  
philology2        love of the ,greek    
poets2        letter to his sister on   
,christianity2        flies from ,bonn2 
completes his studies at ,leipsic2      
reads ,the ,world as ,will end          
,representation2        researches on   
,theognis of ,megara2        as         
,prussian patriot2 second year at       
,leipsic2        enthusiasm for art and 
the classics2 style2        friendship  
with ,rohde2        as conscript2 falls 
from horse2        opinion of ,german   
politics2        discovery of ,wagner2  
meeting with ,wagner2        appointed  
,professor at ,basle2        visits     
,wagner at ,triebschen2        lectures 
on the ,homeric ,problem2        his    
admiration for ,wagner2        ,the     
,birth of ,tragedy2 ,hellenism2         

aids ,wagner2 on ,socrates2             
serves as ambulancer in                 
,franco-,prussian ,war2        illness  
of2 distrust of ,prussian power2        
returns to ,basle and sees ,wagner      
again2        project of a cloister2 on 
,war2        at ,lugano2 his horror at  
the burning of the ,louvre2             
,wagner's guest2 publishes ,the ,birth  
of ,tragedy12        ill-success of the 
book2 farewell to ,triebschen2        at
 ,bayreuth2 wishes to fight for ,wagner2
        and ,frulein von ,meysenbug2    
in ,north ,italy2 at ,splgen2           
return to ,basle2 how to found a        
culture2        holidays at ,naumburg2  
philosophical formulas2        goes to  
,bayreuth2 attack on ,strauss2          
his friendship with ,gersdorff2         
,thoughts ,out of ,season2              
proposed series of twenty pamphlets2    
begins to distrust ,wagnerian art2      
,schopenhauer as ,educator2             
visits the ,wagners with his sister2    
depression2 serious illness2        with

 his sister at ,basle2        at ,chlon2
        letter to ,frulein von          
,meysenbug on her        ,memoirs of an 
,idealist2        his book on ,wagner2  
absence from ,bayreuth rehearsals2      
at ,bayreuth festivals2        his      
distress2 failure of eyesight2          
visit to ,frulein von ,meysenbug at     
,naples2        sees ,wagner at         
,sorrento2 isolates himself2        life
 at ,naples2        his veneration for  
,mazzini2 leaves ,naples2        takes  
cure at ,rosenlaui2        friendship   
with ,re2        ,human1 ,all ,too      
,human12        impression of           
,parsifal12        his grief over       
,wagner2        resigns professorship2  
awaits death in ,engadine2              
returns to ,naumburg2        terrible   
sufferings2        first visit to       
,venice and convalescence2 at ,genoa2   
publication of ,the ,dawn of ,day12 at  
,sils-,maria2        conceives the      
,eternal ,return at ,sils-,maria2       
the discovery of ,carmen2               

,nietzsche and ,lou ,salom2        his  
quarrel with ,re and ,lou2        the   
poem of ,zarathustra2        the        
principle of the ,superman2             
attempts to complete his poem2          
friendship with ,heinrich von ,stein2   
joined by ,lanzky at ,nice2             
failure to win ,stein from ,wagnerism2  
abandons his lyrical work2        says  
farewell to his sister at ,naumburg2    
at ,nice2        ,beyond ,good and      
,evil12        his kindness to ,peter   
,gast2        visits ,rohde at ,leipsic2
        visits his mother at ,naumburg2 
returns to the ,engadine2        the    
,will to ,power12        ,taine's letter
 of praise2        prefaces to the ,dawn
 of ,day and ,the ,gay ,science2        
returns to ,nice2 as a critic2          
,the ,genealogy of ,morals12            
returns to ,venice2        relations    
with ,rohde2        ,georges ,brandes's 
letter2        design for new work2     
arrival at ,turin2        reads ,the    
,laws of ,manu2        attack on        

,wagner2        the ,antichrist3        
,ecce ,homo2        his opinion of      
,strindberg2        loss of reason2     
death of      ,nietzsche1 ,lisbeth      
7,frster-,nietzsche72        with       
,nietzsche at ,naumburg2        with    
,nietzsche at ,lugano2        with      
,nietzsche at ,flimms2        with      
,nietzsche at ,basle2        accompanies
 ,nietzsche to ,engadine2               
marriage of2        reconciliation with 
,nietzsche2        correspondence with  
,nietzsche      ,nietzsche contra       
,wagner      ,novalis        ,o         
,o41 ,madame      ,odyssey      dipus   
,of the ,state and ,religion1 ,wagner's 
,old ,faith and the ,new1 ,the1         
,overbeck1 ,professor        ,p         
,paraguay      ,paris      ,parmenides  
,parsifal      ,pascal      ,pforta     
,philadelphia      ,philology of the    
,future1 ,the      ,philosophers of     
,tragic ,greece1 ,the      ,pindar      
,plato      ,plutarch      ,pobles      
,poland      ,portofino      ,port      

,royal des ,champs      ,prague         
,prussia      ,puccini      ,pythagoras 
,pythagoreans1 ,the        ,r           
,rapallo      ,recoaro      ,reden      
,eines ,hoffenden      ,re1 ,paul2      
rupture with ,nietzsche      ,renan     
,rhinegold1 ,the      ,ritschl1         
,nietzsche's master at ,bonn            
,rivista ,europa1 ,la      ,rcken       
,rder1 ,madame      ,rohde1 ,erwin1     
friendship with ,nietzsche2             
spends holiday with ,nietzsche2         
project of travel with ,nietzsche2      
defends ,birth of ,tragedy2             
appointed ,professor at ,leipsic2       
quarrel with ,nietzsche2                
correspondence with ,nietzsche          
,rolph      ,rome2 ,nietzsche at1       
,romundt2        enters orders          
,rosenlaui      ,rossaro      ,rossini  
,rousseau      ,russians1 ,the1         
,nietzsche's view of      ,ruten        
,s        ,sadowa1 ,battle of           
,sainte-,beuve      ,salis-,marschlins1 
,frulein von      ,salom1 ,lou2         

poems to ,nietzsche2        her         
description of ,nietzsche2              
quarrel with ,nietzsche      ,san ,remo 
,santa ,margherita      ,schaffler1     
,herr      ,schelling      ,schiller    
,schlegels1 ,the      ,schmeitzner1     
,herr      ,schopenhauer1 ,arthur1      
,the ,world as ,will and                
,representation2        ,nietzsche's    
admiration of2        truest philosopher
        ,schopenhauer as ,educator1     
,schubert      ,schumann      ,schre1   
,e41 his description of ,nietzsche      
,scott1 ,walter      ,sedan             
,semiramis      ,seydlitz1 ,baron von   
,seydlitz1 ,irene von      ,sicily      
,siegfried1 ,idyll performed at         
,triebschen      ,sienna                
,sils-,maria1 ,nietzsche at             
,simonides      ,singer1 ,herr          
,slavery1 ,nietzsche's view of its      
necessity      ,socialism               
,socrates2      ,nietzsche's            
condemnation of2      ,socratic ,greece2
      ranked above schylus              

,sophocles      ,sparta      ,spencer1  
,herbert      ,spinoza      ,spiteler1  
,carl      ,splgen      ,state1 ,the    
,stendhal      ,stein1 ,h4 von2         
mission to ,nietzsche2        visit to  
,sils2        death of      ,steinabad1 
,nietzsche at      ,stellar ,friendship 
,stewart1 ,b4      ,strassbourg2        
,university of      ,strauss1 ,d4       
,stresa      ,strindberg1 ,a4           
,sulzer      ,superman1 ,the            
,surlei      ,sutta ,nipata1 ,the1      
,swiss1 ,the ,loyal      ,switzerland   
,t        ,tacitus      ,taine1 ,h41    
letter to ,nietzsche      ,tautenberg   
,tempel ,leborecht1 meeting with        
,nietzsche      ,thales      ,theognis  
of ,megara      ,theseus      ,thoughts 
out of ,season      ,thucydides         
,thus ,spake ,zarathustra2              
publication of2 second part of2         
,nietzsche's attempt to complete poem2  
its perfection of language2 failure with
 public2        the fourth section      
,traveller and his ,shadow1 ,the        

,treischke1 ,herr1 ,german historian    
,triebschen1 ,wagner at2                
,christmas festivals at2        changed 
life of2        ,wagner's departure from
      ,tristan      ,tbingen            
,turgenieff1 ,ivan      ,turin2         
,nietzsche at      ,tuscany             
,twilight of the ,gods      ,twilight of
 the ,idols        ,u                   
,universities1 prestige of in ,germany  
,use and ,abuse of ,history1 ,the       
,v        ,v4 ,p41 ,madame              
,valkyrie1 ,the1 ,nietzsche's criticism 
of      ,vallambrosa      ,vauvenargues 
,venice2        ,nietzsche's visit to2  
,nietzsche with ,gast at      ,vibac    
,voltaire        ,w        ,wagner1     
,cosima2        ,nietzsche and          
,wagner1 ,richard1 ,nietzsche's         
discovery        of and acquaintance    
with2        and ,schopenhauer2 at      
,triebschen2        his treatise ,on the
 ,state and ,religion2        interest  
in ,nietzsche and correspondence2       
the poet of ,germany2        and the    

,beethoven centenary2        and the    
,german victories2        buffoonery of2
        advises ,nietzsche on his work2 
his intimates2        visits ,mannheim  
with ,nietzsche2        ,nietzsche      
spends ,christmas with2        praises  
,the ,birth of ,tragedy2        leaves  
,triebschen2        lays                
foundation-stone of ,bayreuth ,theatre2 
his distrust2 the ,wagnerian cult2      
renewed intimacy with ,nietzsche2       
mention of2        difficulties at      
,bayreuth2        as an art2        his 
liking for ,nietzsche2        relations 
with ,nietzsche2        letters to      
,nietzsche2        ,nietzsche's book on2
        his neo-,christianity2          
triumphs of2 at ,sorrento2        and   
,human1 ,all ,too ,human2               
references to2        death of2         
further references to2        ,case of  
,wagner2        ,nietzsche contra       
,wagner      ,wahnfried      ,war1      
,nietzsche's views on      ,weimar2     
,nietzsche's death at      ,will to     

,power1 ,the      ,willamowitz          
,william1 ,emperor      ,windisch       
,wissenberg      ,wolf1 ,f4 ,a4         
,world as ,will and ,representation1    
,the      ,wrth        ,z               
,zarathustra2        the lawgiver       
,zarncke      ,zimmern1 ,miss           
,zoagli      ,zola      ,zrich1         
,nietzsche at