Part 11: Chapter XI: 1900-1906: Also Sprach Zarathrusta

Chapter XI: 1900-1906: Also Sprach Zarathrusta



At this time, Zarathrusta ventured to the great city, illuminated as it was in an artificial glow of the light of mankind, and it came to pass that all those who passed him recognized him at once, though the years had weathered Zarathrusta's face, leaving it wrinkled and worn. "O Master," they said, "Tell us what is right in this time. Bernstein says the prince and the pauper shall share from common wealth, while the man of means says that the poor has no place. Prithee, O Great Prophet, tell us which man is right, that we may vote."





"Wherefore must you townsmen ask my counsel?" Zarathrusta inquired. "Indeed, has not Bernstein made his case quite openly? And have not the industrialists of whom you speak made their case? I have recently returned from my sojourn and am unfamiliar as to the questions you ask."







"Zarathrusta, it is the way of Man to lie to Man. Bernstein, after years of opposing suffrage to women, has opened the way to votes for them in a vain hope of clinging to power. In fact, he has adopted a great many reforms he denied he ever would in an attempt to gain our favor. May we trust such a man?"




"O townspeople, the Liberal and the Socialist feud like children because they are children, like all Mankind. They engage in their primitive clashes of will because neither of them has ever experienced the Will. Verily, have I not come to you to discourse on matters of far greater weight than the affairs of politicians? I have come to tell you about that which will come after Man."

"Zarathrusta has gone mad! Let us leave him!" The townspeople exclaimed and went back to their entertainment. Zarathrusta continued along.



It came to pass that along the road Zarathrusta met the Scientist, an eminent man of Reason. The Scientist wore a white coat, the emblem of his guild, and in an excited tone approached Zarathrusta. "O Prophet, have you heard the news? Even the atom is not the smallest particle of matter, it can be split, and the energy that results from the split can destroy whole towns."

Zarathrusta . "O Scientist, the problems with which thou grapples are but a trifle to the Overman, for what is the power of the split atom against that of His Will? The split atom can destroy cities. I say unto you that the Will of the Overman can build cities that put the hovels of man to shame. The split atom results in particles a man cannot see with his eye. I say unto you that the Will of the Overman is so mighty that no man can sense its greatness with all his senses combined."



"But, verily, Zarathustra, Man has set foot on the Polar Ice!" the Scientist rebutted, indignant after his achievements had been so readily dismissed.

"Man may venture to the Polar Ice, or under the sea, or even to the stars, if he wills it. No one forbids these realms to Man except God, and He is dead. Nevertheless, master of the frigid Polar Ice as Man may be, he will freeze solid in the face of the Overman," Zarathrusta rebutted and continued on.




In time, Zarathustra came across the Rebel, still carrying his tattered red and black banner of revolution. "Whither goest thou, Zarathrusta?" the Rebel inquired.

"I go to meet the Overman," said Zarathrusta.

"We willed that Austria be free of Munich, and yet my comrades died by the tens of thousands. How can this be, O Prophet?"

"The will of Man is like unto a summer's breeze. The Will of the Overman is like unto a hurricane." Zarathrusta stated. Ignoring the Rebel's pleas for elaboration Zarathrusta continued on his journey until he came to a crossroads where Men came and went. On one side approached the Athlete, on the other side approached the Merchant.




"Whither goest thou, Zarathustra," both the Athlete and the Merchant asked him. Upon receiving the Prophet's customary reply, the Athlete informed Zarathustra that he was on the road to the Paris Olympiad while the Merchant headed to Munich for a trade show.

"Which of your endeavors is the greater?" inquired Zarathustra.




The Athlete replied, "At the Olympics I must not only contend with the other athletes, but substandard housing, packs of wild dogs roaming the streets, and problematic plumbing, and despite these perils I must be in prime physical shape." The Merchant replied, "Our merchants compete with merchants the world over and have to take care to achieve even the slightest profit."

Zarathustra shook his head. "Thou, Athlete. Run, but in front of thee is a gaping chasm a Man's length wide. Upon grabbing the ledge, you form a human bridge across, a bridge on which the Overman casually runs to the other side as you, undertrod, cry out in agony and shame. And thou, Merchant. Lo, all the gold in thy coffers will serve but to buy a morsel of food for the Overman." And Zarathrusta continued on his way.



Along the road Zarathrusta met the Psychiatrist. "Whither goest thou, Zarathrusta?" the Psychologist inquired. Upon receiving the Prophet's customary answer, the Psychiatrist replied, "It is well that thou seeks a successor to Man, for Man is a pale successor to the Ape. If properly conditioned through reinforcements, Man can be reduced to canine servility."

Zarathustra replied, "Verily I say unto thee this day, Psychiatrist, the day shall come when thou shall be the subject of a conditioning far greater than thy primitive techniques. Whilst thou arrogantly sets thyself above thy fellow Man, the Will of the Overman is too powerful for any Man to overcome. Thy positive reinforcement shall be the privilege of bearing witness to the majesty of his Will, thy negative reinforcement an end to the haughty arrogance that leads to thy self-imposed isolation." Zarathustra left the Psychiatrist to fume and continued onwards into the diplomatic neighborhood, where he met the Indian.





"Whither goest thou, O Zarathrusta?" asked the Indian. Upon receiving the Prophet's customary reply, the Indian responded, "I have come fleeing chaos and anarchy in my homeland. The government has shattered its ties with Munich and the predatory British and the cynical King of Mysore have attempted to take advantage of my homeland's weakness. Prithee tell me, O great Prophet, which course my people should take."




"It is well that thou has come to me, O Indian," replied Zarathrusta. "Thy people willed themselves free of the bonds of Munich and placed themselves in the bonds of Seringapatam and London. Thy people need not will themselves free, but Will the end of their oppression to convention, to commerce, and to the dictates of the God that is dead. Thy people believe that virtue will reward them in later existence, but I say unto you that their only reward is slavery. Open your ears and you will hear the Will of the Overman bellow louder than any elephant trumpeting in the Ganges. Follow him."

Zarathrusta continued along through the embassies until he came to the section of embassies of newly "Westernized" nations. Their ambassadors decided to call on the Prophet.








"Whither goest thou, Zarathustra?" inquired the Ambassadors. Upon receiving Zarathustra's customary reply, they ecstatically replied, "Verily, so do we. Behold, our nations, once weak and vulnerable, have adopted the styles and mores of this land."

Zarathustra raged at this reply. "Fools," he exclaimed, "you seek to discover the Overman by aping the crudest and most vile in this world? Of the coming of the Overman surely no man knows the hour, but the industrialist and the politician are no closer to him than the priest and the chief. The Man of South Germany is arrogant and presumes his superiority, but he is as to the Overman as Ape is to Man. In the eyes of the Overman you are all but Apes, be you from Munich or Rangoon; do not fret so much about aping the styles of the other clan of Ape, O Ambassadors." Zarathrusta made his way to the port, where he met the Sailors.







"Ahoy! Whither goest thou, Zarathrusta, and may I offer thee a ride there?" the Sailor politely inquired, for the Sailor had, in his youth, known Zarathrusta. "The Navy of the SGF is tenfold the force it was in thy day, Zarathustra, and for thee I am prepared to sail from Trieste to Tahiti."

"Is there anything afloat that can take down thy navy, boy?" asked Zarathrustra.




"We might not take the Swedes in a fair fight, honored Prophet, but I am confident we can outmaneuver them. Our ships are made of steel now."

"Thy vessels made of steel, perhaps, but the Will is made of sterner stuff than thy hull. The Overman's Will can overturn thy proud dreadnought as easily as a canoe." Zarathustra went through the docks towards the army base. On the way he met the Diplomat.







"Whither goest thou, Zarathustra?" inquired the Diplomat. Upon hearing the Prophet's customary reply, the Diplomat responded, "Perhaps, O Prophet, this Overman could sort out affairs in Latin America. Is there no end to the bloodshed?"

Zarathustra replied, "Is the extent of thy tasks to belittle and mock those to whose courts thou has been sent? Here men blatantly seize Alsace-Lorraine and dare to piously judge the world for seizing land? A diplomat standing against the Will is like a beaver defending a broken dam against the deluge: he must either flee or drown." Zarathustra proceeded until he met the Liberal Politician and his canine companion, the Firedog.



Zarathustra immediately recognized them. "Long have I anticipated this reunion, O Deceiver of Mankind," Zarathustra said to the dog. “The Socialists did keep thee locked up in a kennel, but the Liberal government has turned thee loose upon the world once again.”

The Firedog smiled and barked, “Well met, Zarathustra. You seek the Man beyond Man? He already lived. Lo, he was crucified and on the third day he walked again, and even now he plans his triumphant return in which he shall judge all Men for the righteousness of their actions!”



Zarathustra furiously vented his wrath upon the dog’s master. “Wherefore has the great liar been unleashed again after the previous regime was content to leave him in his kennel? His words are a greater poison than typhoid miasma.”






“Zarathrustra, the Firedog has been tamed, see the collar around his neck. If Man is to be free to determine events on his own all voices must be heard, including the Firedog’s voice. Verily have I finally set mankind free in South Germany, and all is determined according to the will of the electorate.”

“The will of a body of all men is but a cacophony of charlatans and demagogues and the confused hue and din of the masses. The Will of the Overman is one irresistible call. In the world of the Overman, the Firedog will never be set free again, even on a leash.”



“I have it!” cried the Politician. “Zarathustra is a Russian spy!”

“The man who decrees himself supreme Autocrat is but an infant compared to the Overman to come,” Zarathustra contemptuously remarked. Zarathrusta left The Politician and The Firedog, walking towards the Theater, where he met The Pleasure-seekers.





One among the Pleasure-Seekers came forth, he was the Musician. “Zarathustra, long have I admired your work. I, too, seek the Overman and have created a piece of music dedicated to your quest for him. My friends have created music as well, in a new style that renounces the flinching deference to the old and embraces new meters, chord progressions, and innovation. One may hear either of our compositions carried out over the air in every direction by invisible radio waves. Be thou well pleased with us?”

Zarathustra smiled. “Though clearly thou are one who seeks the Overman, know that the Will is louder and speaks with a voice more varied than an eighty piece orchestra.” The Musician nodded and turned back, and the Architect stepped up.



“O mighty Prophet, see how we now pierce the very skies with great towers of steel! Are they not the greatest sign of the triumph of Man?”

Zarathustra rebuked the Architect: “To the Overman the towers of steel of Man are but mere anthills. The grandeur of his Will cannot fit inside such structures. Cease constructing for him who is here and build for him who is to come.” The Architect retreated, leaving the Novelist and the Painter.




“Zarathustra, we have seen the world as it is. It is a corrupted, vile, mendacious place and we have both worked to expose its true form to the masses by portraying it as warped, nonsensical, and abstract in our art. The Novelist has portrayed valiant struggles of ordinary men to stay afloat in a world that cares not for them while I, the Painter, have portrayed the world as it really is, with hideous abstract monsters and stylized heroic workingmen. Be thou well pleased with our efforts?”



“O Artist, O Painter, do you not both see how the masses whose courage you lionize rush to see the man in the bowler hat take pratfalls on the flickering wall of Plato’s cavern? The common man for whom you fight cares little for your struggles, why should you continue fighting for him when you could fight for the Overman who is to come?” Abashed, the Pleasure-seekers all retreated, and Zarathustra met the Soldier.



“O Soldier, why do you prepare for war when thy government has been praised for Peace?”






“Thou knows well the answer to thy query, O Zarathustra. The French shall never forgive us for the wrong for which they accuse us, that of the annexation of Alsace. Even now their armies head for us for one final confrontation.”




“The will of politicians is crude and mean, O Soldier, but I say unto you the Will of the Overman is such that no nation dare resist it. Why strive in pointless warfare when thou could join me on my quest to meet him that is to come?”

“Sadly, I cannot desert my post, and, verily, my regiment does march on Paris next week. Should it happen that fate spares me and I am still alive next year, perhaps I shall join you, O Prophet.” Zarathustra continued on and met his final two companions, the Futurist and the Ape of Zarathustra, the fool who had mastered his style of rhetoric but not the content. The Futurist spoke first.






“Hail war, O great mother of innovation! In the shells that rain down upon Alsace the light of the future is shown. Zarathustra, I hear thou seeks the man who is to come. The Overman can only appear once the works of man have been torn down in a hail of bullets and explosions and poison gas!”

“Lo, thou has heard of the Overman but know nothing of the contents of his Will, for it is a Will to Power and not a Will to Destruction. The Overman has no need for Man to destroy the steel towers of Man, for to the Overman the power to do so is trivial. Do the activities of tribes of chimpanzees towards one another hold thy interest? The Overman has just as much interest in this petty war.” Abashed, the Futurist retreated, leaving only Zarathustra’s Ape.





“Whither goest thou,” Zarathustra asked his Ape.

“I search for the Overman,” the Ape replied. “His majestic Will to Power shall enslave Man to achieve that which Man can scarcely begin to dream. He will roar a command and it will be done. He will subjugate the petty princes of the world and rebuild their world, destroy their towers of steel and replace them with a towering Will. He will be Man’s Leader, and crush those Men who are little more than Apes.”

“Thou are a greater fool than any I have yet encountered,” Zarathustra raged. “Verily what they said was true, you ape my style yet care little for the content of the message of the coming Overman. Thy prattling is the reason that Man distrusts and fears the Overman rather than rejoicing in his coming. Begone from my sight.” The Ape left, leaving Zarathustra alone. In time, Zarathustra returned to his mountaintop to await the Overman.

SGF demographics:



World Map, 1906: