Jest, Cunning and Revenge
Original German
Vorspiel in deutschen Reimen.
1 Einladung.
Wagt’s mit meiner Kost, ihr Esser!Morgen schmeckt sie euch schon besserUnd schon übermorgen gut!Wollt ihr dann noch mehr, — so machenMeine alten sieben SachenMir zu sieben neuen Muth.
2 Mein Glück.
Seit ich des Suchens müde ward,Erlernte ich das Finden.Seit mir ein Wind hielt Widerpart,Segl’ ich mit allen Winden.
3 Unverzagt.
Wo du stehst, grab tief hinein!Drunten ist die Quelle!Lass die dunklen Männer schrein:„Stets ist drunten — Hölle!“
4 Zwiegespräch.
A. War ich krank? Bin ich genesen?Und wer ist mein Arzt gewesen?Wie vergass ich alles Das!B. Jetzt erst glaub ich dich genesen:Denn gesund ist, wer vergass.
5 An die Tugendsamen.
Unseren Tugenden auch soll’n leicht die Füsse sich heben:Gleich den Versen Homer’s müssen sie kommen und gehn!
6 Welt-Klugheit.
Bleib nicht auf ebnem Feld!Steig nicht zu hoch hinaus!Am schönsten sieht die WeltVon halber Höhe aus.
7 Vademecum — Vadetecum.
Es lockt dich meine Art und Sprach,Du folgest mir, du gehst mir nach?Geh nur dir selber treulich nach: —So folgst du mir — gemach! gemach!
8 Bei der dritten Häutung.
Schon krümmt und bricht sich mir die Haut,Schon giert mit neuem Drange,So viel sie Erde schon verdaut,Nach Erd’ in mir die Schlange.Schon kriech’ ich zwischen Stein und GrasHungrig auf krummer Fährte,Zu essen Das, was stets ich ass,Dich, Schlangenkost, dich, Erde!
9 Meine Rosen.
Ja! Mein Glück — es will beglücken —,Alles Glück will ja beglücken!Wollt ihr meine Rosen pflücken?
Müsst euch bücken und versteckenZwischen Fels und Dornenhecken,Oft die Fingerchen euch lecken!
Denn mein Glück — es liebt das Necken!Denn mein Glück — es liebt die Tücken! —Wollt ihr meine Rosen pflücken?
10 Der Verächter.
Vieles lass ich fall’n und rollen,Und ihr nennt mich drum Verächter.Wer da trinkt aus allzuvollenBechern, lässt viel fall’n und rollen —,Denkt vom Weine drum nicht schlechter.
11 Das Sprüchwort spricht.
Scharf und milde, grob und fein,Vertraut und seltsam, schmutzig und rein,Der Narren und Weisen Stelldichein:Diess Alles bin ich, will ich sein,Taube zugleich, Schlange und Schwein!
12 An einen Lichtfreund.
Willst du nicht Aug’ und Sinn ermatten,Lauf’ auch der Sonne nach im Schatten!
13 Für Tänzer.
Glattes EisEin ParadeisFür Den, der gut zu tanzen weiss.
14 Der Brave.
Lieber aus ganzem Holz eine Feindschaft,Als eine geleimte Freundschaft!
15 Rost.
Auch Rost thut Noth: Scharfsein ist nicht genug!Sonst sagt man stets von dir: „er ist zu jung!“
16 Aufwärts.
„Wie komm ich am besten den Berg hinan?“Steig nur hinauf und denk nicht dran!
17 Spruch des Gewaltmenschen.
Bitte nie! Lass diess Gewimmer!Nimm, ich bitte dich, nimm immer!
18 Schmale Seelen.
Schmale Seelen sind mir verhasst;Da steht nichts Gutes, nichts Böses fast.
19 Der unfreiwillige Verführer.
Er schoss ein leeres Wort zum ZeitvertreibIn’s Blaue — und doch fiel darob ein Weib.
20 Zur Erwägung.
Zwiefacher Schmerz ist leichter zu tragen,Als Ein Schmerz: willst du darauf es wagen?
21 Gegen die Hoffahrt.
Blas dich nicht auf: sonst bringet dichZum Platzen schon ein kleiner Stich.
22 Mann und Weib.
„Raub dir das Weib, für das dein Herze fühlt!“ —So denkt der Mann; das Weib raubt nicht, es stiehlt.
23 Interpretation.
Leg ich mich aus, so leg ich mich hinein:Ich kann nicht selbst mein Interprete sein.Doch wer nur steigt auf seiner eignen Bahn,Trägt auch mein Bild zu hellerm Licht hinan.
24 Pessimisten-Arznei.
Du klagst, dass Nichts dir schmackhaft sei?Noch immer, Freund, die alten Mucken?Ich hör dich lästern, lärmen, spucken —Geduld und Herz bricht mir dabei.
Folg mir, mein Freund! Entschliess dich frei,Ein fettes Krötchen zu verschlucken,Geschwind und ohne hinzugucken! —Das hilft dir von der Dyspepsei!
25 Bitte.
Ich kenne mancher Menschen SinnUnd weiss nicht, wer ich selber bin!Mein Auge ist mir viel zu nah —Ich bin nicht, was ich seh und sah.Ich wollte mir schon besser nützen,Könnt’ ich mir selber ferner sitzen.Zwar nicht so ferne wie mein Feind!Zu fern sitzt schon der nächste Freund —Doch zwischen dem und mir die Mitte!Errathet ihr, um was ich bitte?
26 Meine Härte.
Ich muss weg über hundert Stufen,Ich muss empor und hör euch rufen:„Hart bist du! Sind wir denn von Stein?“ —Ich muss weg über hundert Stufen,Und Niemand möchte Stufe sein.
27 Der Wandrer.
„Kein Pfad mehr! Abgrund rings und Todtenstille!“ —So wolltest du’s! Vom Pfade wich dein Wille!Nun, Wandrer, gilt’s! Nun blicke kalt und klar!Verloren bist du, glaubst du — an Gefahr.
28 Trost für Anfänger.
Seht das Kind umgrunzt von Schweinen,Hülflos, mit verkrümmten Zeh’n!Weinen kann es, Nichts als weinen —Lernt es jemals stehn und gehn?Unverzagt! Bald, sollt’ ich meinen,Könnt das Kind ihr tanzen sehn!Steht es erst auf beiden Beinen,Wird’s auch auf dem Kopfe stehn.
29 Sternen-Egoismus.
Rollt’ ich mich rundes RollefassNicht um mich selbst ohn’ Unterlass,Wie hielt’ ich’s aus, ohne anzubrennen,Der heissen Sonne nachzurennen?
30 Der Nächste.
Nah hab den Nächsten ich nicht gerne:Fort mit ihm in die Höh und Ferne!Wie würd’ er sonst zu meinem Sterne? —
31 Der verkappte Heilige.
Dass dein Glück uns nicht bedrücke,Legst du um dich Teufelstücke,Teufelswitz und Teufelskleid.Doch umsonst! Aus deinem BlickeBlickt hervor die Heiligkeit!
32 Der Unfreie.
A. Er steht und horcht: was konnt’ ihn irren?Was hört er vor den Ohren schwirren?Was war’s, das ihn darniederschlug?B. Wie Jeder, der einst Ketten trug,Hört überall er — Kettenklirren.
33 Der Einsame.
Verhasst ist mir das Folgen und das Führen.Gehorchen? Nein! Und aber nein — Regieren!Wer sich nicht schrecklich ist, macht Niemand Schrecken:Und nur wer Schrecken macht, kann Andre führen.Verhasst ist mir’s schon, selber mich zu führen!Ich liebe es, gleich Wald- und Meeresthieren,Mich für ein gutes Weilchen zu verlieren,In holder Irrniss grüblerisch zu hocken,Von ferne her mich endlich heimzulocken,Mich selber zu mir selber — zu verführen.
34 Seneca et hoc genus omne.
Das schreibt und schreibt sein unausstehlich weises Larifari,Als gält es primum scribere,Deinde philosophari.
35 Eis.
Ja! Mitunter mach’ ich Eis:Nützlich ist Eis zum Verdauen!Hättet ihr viel zu verdauen,Oh wie liebtet ihr mein Eis!
36 Jugendschriften.
Meiner Weisheit A und OKlang mir hier: was hört’ ich doch!Jetzo klingt mir’s nicht mehr so,Nur das ew’ge Ah! und Oh!Meiner Jugend hör ich noch.
37 Vorsicht.
In jener Gegend reist man jetzt nicht gut;Und hast du Geist, sei doppelt auf der Hut!Man lockt und liebt dich, bis man dich zerreisst:Schwarmgeister sind’s —: da fehlt es stets an Geist!
38 Der Fromme spricht.
Gott liebt uns, weil er uns erschuf! —„Der Mensch schuf Gott!“ — sagt drauf ihr Feinen.Und soll nicht lieben, was er schuf?Soll’s gar, weil er es schuf, verneinen?Das hinkt, das trägt des Teufels Huf.
39 Im Sommer.
Im Schweisse unsres AngesichtsSoll’n unser Brod wir essen?Im Schweisse isst man lieber Nichts,Nach weiser Aerzte Ermessen.Der Hundsstern winkt: woran gebricht’s?Was will sein feurig Winken?Im Schweisse unsres AngesichtsSoll’n unsren Wein wir trinken!
40 Ohne Neid.
Ja, neidlos blickt er: und ihr ehrt ihn drum?Er blickt sich nicht nach euren Ehren um;Er hat des Adlers Auge für die Ferne,Er sieht euch nicht! — er sieht nur Sterne, Sterne.
41 Heraklitismus.
Alles Glück auf Erden,Freunde, giebt der Kampf!Ja, um Freund zu werden,Braucht es Pulverdampf!Eins in Drei’n sind Freunde:Brüder vor der Noth,Gleiche vor dem Feinde,Freie — vor dem Tod!
42 Grundsatz der Allzufeinen.
Lieber auf den Zehen noch,Als auf allen Vieren!Lieber durch ein Schlüsselloch,Als durch offne Thüren!
43 Zuspruch.
Auf Ruhm hast du den Sinn gericht?Dann acht’ der Lehre:Bei Zeiten leiste frei VerzichtAuf Ehre!
44 Der Gründliche.
Ein Forscher ich? Oh spart diess Wort! —Ich bin nur schwer — so manche Pfund’!Ich falle, falle immerfortUnd endlich auf den Grund!
45 Für immer.
„Heut komm’ ich, weil mir’s heute frommt“ —Denkt Jeder, der für immer kommt.Was ficht ihn an der Welt Gered’:„Du kommst zu früh! Du kommst zu spät!“
46 Urtheile der Müden.
Der Sonne fluchen alle Matten;Der Bäume Werth ist ihnen — Schatten!
47 Niedergang.
„Er sinkt, er fällt jetzt“ — höhnt ihr hin und wieder;Die Wahrheit ist: er steigt zu euch hernieder!
Sein Ueberglück ward ihm zum Ungemach,Sein Ueberlicht geht eurem Dunkel nach.
48 Gegen die Gesetze.
Von heut an hängt an härner SchnurUm meinen Hals die Stunden-Uhr:Von heut an hört der Sterne Lauf,Sonn’, Hahnenschrei und Schatten auf,
Und was mir je die Zeit verkünd’t,Das ist jetzt stumm und taub und blind: —Es schweigt mir jegliche NaturBeim Tiktak von Gesetz und Uhr.
49 Der Weise spricht.
Dem Volke fremd und nützlich doch dem Volke,Zieh ich des Weges, Sonne bald, bald Wolke —Und immer über diesem Volke!
50 Den Kopf verloren.
Sie hat jetzt Geist — wie kam’s, dass sie ihn fand?Ein Mann verlor durch sie jüngst den Verstand,Sein Kopf war reich vor diesem Zeitvertreibe:Zum Teufel gieng sein Kopf — nein! nein! zum Weibe!
51 Fromme Wünsche.
„Mögen alle Schlüssel dochFlugs verloren gehen,Und in jedem SchlüssellochSich der Dietrich drehen!“Also denkt zu jeder FristJeder, der — ein Dietrich ist.
52 Mit dem Fusse schreiben.
Ich schreib nicht mit der Hand allein:Der Fuss will stets mit Schreiber sein.Fest, frei und tapfer läuft er mirBald durch das Feld, bald durchs Papier.
53 „Menschliches, Allzumenschliches.“ Ein Buch.
Schwermüthig scheu, solang du rückwärts schaust,Der Zukunft trauend, wo du selbst dir traust:Oh Vogel, rechn’ ich dich den Adlern zu?Bist du Minerva’s Liebling U-hu-hu?
54 Meinem Leser.
Ein gut Gebiss und einen guten Magen —Diess wünsch’ ich dir!Und hast du erst mein Buch vertragen,Verträgst du dich gewiss mit mir!
55 Der realistische Maler.
„Treu die Natur und ganz!“ — Wie fängt er’s an:Wann wäre je Natur im Bilde abgethan?Unendlich ist das kleinste Stück der Welt! —Er malt zuletzt davon, was ihm gefällt.Und was gefällt ihm? Was er malen kann!
56 Dichter-Eitelkeit.
Gebt mir Leim nur: denn zum LeimeFind’ ich selber mir schon Holz!Sinn in vier unsinn’ge ReimeLegen — ist kein kleiner Stolz!
57 Wählerischer Geschmack.
Wenn man frei mich wählen liesse,Wählt’ ich gern ein Plätzchen mirMitten drin im Paradiese:Gerner noch — vor seiner Thür!
58 Die krumme Nase.
Die Nase schauet trutziglichIn’s Land, der Nüster blähet sich —Drum fällst du, Nashorn ohne Horn,Mein stolzes Menschlein, stets nach vorn!Und stets beisammen find’t sich das:Gerader Stolz, gekrümmte Nas.
59 Die Feder kritzelt.
Die Feder kritzelt: Hölle das!Bin ich verdammt zum Kritzeln-Müssen? —So greif’ ich kühn zum TintenfassUnd schreib’ mit dicken Tintenflüssen.Wie läuft das hin, so voll, so breit!Wie glückt mir Alles, wie ich’s treibe!Zwar fehlt der Schrift die Deutlichkeit —Was thut’s? Wer liest denn, was ich schreibe?
60 Höhere Menschen.
Der steigt empor — ihn soll man loben!Doch Jener kommt allzeit von Oben!Der lebt dem Lobe selbst enthoben,Der ist von Droben!
61 Der Skeptiker spricht.
Halb ist dein Leben um,Der Zeiger rückt, die Seele schaudert dir!Lang schweift sie schon herumUnd sucht und fand nicht — und sie zaudert hier?
Halb ist dein Leben um:Schmerz war’s und Irrthum, Stund’ um Stund’ dahier!Was suchst du noch? Warum? — —Diess eben such’ ich — Grund um Grund dafür!
62 Ecce homo.
Ja! Ich weiss, woher ich stamme!Ungesättigt gleich der FlammeGlühe und verzehr’ ich mich.Licht wird Alles, was ich fasse,Kohle Alles, was ich lasse:Flamme bin ich sicherlich.
63 Sternen-Moral.
Vorausbestimmt zur Sternenbahn,Was geht dich, Stern, das Dunkel an?
Roll’ selig hin durch diese Zeit!Ihr Elend sei dir fremd und weit!
Der fernsten Welt gehört dein Schein:Mitleid soll Sünde für dich sein!
Nur Ein Gebot gilt dir: sei rein!
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of the expanded second edition (E. W. Fritzsch, Leipzig, 1887): the preface, the verse prologue “Jest, Cunning and Revenge”, all five books (aphorisms 1–383), and the appendix “Songs of Prince Free-as-a-Bird”. Made directly from the German, read from the printed pages; verse stays verse, and Nietzsche’s own emphases, dashes and numbered divisions are kept.
Prelude in German Rhymes.
1 Invitation.
Dare to try my fare, you eaters!Tomorrow it will taste you better,and the day after tomorrow, good.If you want more then — let my oldseven dishes make me sevennew kinds of courage for the road.
2 My Happiness.
Since I grew weary of the search,I learned the art of finding.Since a wind stood against me,I sail with all the winds.
3 Undaunted.
Where you stand, dig deep down!Below is the spring!Let the dark men scream:“Below is always — hell!”
4 Dialogue.
A. Was I sick? Am I recovered?And who has been my doctor?How did I forget all that!B. Only now do I believe you recovered:for he is healthy who has forgotten.
5 To the Virtuous.
Our virtues too should lift their feet lightly:like Homer’s verses they must come and go!
6 Worldly Wisdom.
Do not stay on level ground!Do not climb too high!The world looks bestfrom half a height.
7 Vademecum — Vadetecum.
My ways and my speech entice you,you follow me, you trail after me?Just follow yourself faithfully: —so you follow me — slowly! slowly!
8 At the Third Shedding.
Already my skin twists and breaks on me,already with new urgethe snake in me lusts, after all the earthit has digested, for earth.Already I crawl between stone and grass,hungry, on a crooked track,to eat what I always ate,you, snake-food, you, earth!
9 My Roses.
Yes! My happiness — it wants to make happy —,all happiness wants to make happy!Would you pick my roses?
You must bend down and hidebetween rock and thorn-bush,often lick your little fingers!
For my happiness — it loves teasing!For my happiness — it loves malice! —Would you pick my roses?
10 The Despiser.
Much I let fall and roll,and you call me despiser for it.Whoever drinks from cups too fulllets much fall and roll —,thinks no worse of the wine for that.
11 The Proverb Speaks.
Sharp and mild, coarse and fine,intimate and strange, dirty and clean,the tryst of fools and of the wise:all this am I, want to be,dove at once, snake and swine!
12 To a Friend of Light.
If you would not weary eye and sense,follow the sun too in the shade!
13 For Dancers.
Smooth iceis a paradisefor him who knows how to dance.
14 The Brave Man.
Better an enmity cut from whole woodthan a friendship glued together!
15 Rust.
Rust is needed too: being sharp is not enough!Otherwise people always say of you: “he is too young!”
16 Upward.
“How do I best get up the mountain?”Just climb up and do not think about it!
17 Word of the Man of Violence.
Never beg! Stop that whining!Take, I beg you, take always!
18 Narrow Souls.
Narrow souls are hateful to me;nothing good stands there, hardly anything bad.
19 The Involuntary Seducer.
He shot an empty word to pass the timeinto the blue — and yet a woman fell for it.
20 For Consideration.
Twofold pain is easier to bearthan one pain: will you dare it?
21 Against Pride.
Do not puff yourself up: otherwisea little prick will burst you.
22 Man and Woman.
“Steal the woman your heart feels for!” —so thinks the man; the woman does not rob, she steals.
23 Interpretation.
If I interpret myself, I read myself into myself:I cannot be my own interpreter.But whoever climbs only on his own pathcarries my image too into a brighter light.
24 Pessimist’s Medicine.
You complain that nothing tastes good to you?Still the same old whims, my friend?I hear you blaspheme, clamor, spit —patience and heart break in me at it.
Follow me, my friend! Resolve, freely,to swallow a fat little toad,quickly and without looking! —That will cure you of dyspepsia!
25 Request.
I know many people’s mindsand do not know who I myself am!My eye is far too near me —I am not what I see and saw.I would have profited myself better,could I sit farther from myself.Though not so far as my enemy!The nearest friend already sits too far —but the middle between him and me!Do you guess what I am asking for?
26 My Hardness.
I must go over a hundred steps,I must go up and hear you call:“You are hard! Are we then made of stone?” —I must go over a hundred steps,and no one wants to be a step.
27 The Wanderer.
“No path any more! Abyss all round and dead silence!” —that was what you wanted! Your will left the path!Now, wanderer, it counts! Now look cold and clear!You are lost, you believe — to danger.
28 Comfort for Beginners.
See the child grunted round by pigs,helpless, with crooked toes!It can weep, nothing but weep —will it ever learn to stand and walk?Courage! Soon, I should think,you could see the child dance!Once it stands on both legs,it will stand on its head too.
29 Star Egoism.
Did I not roll myself, a round barrel,around myself without ceasing,how would I endure it, without burning up,to run after the hot sun?
30 The Neighbor.
I do not like the neighbor near me:away with him, into height and distance!How else would he become my star? —
31 The Disguised Saint.
So that your happiness does not oppress us,you put devil’s tricks around you,devil’s wit and devil’s dress.In vain! Out of your glanceholiness looks out!
32 The Unfree.
A. He stands and listens: what could have misled him?What does he hear whirring before his ears?What was it that struck him down?B. Like everyone who once wore chains,he hears everywhere — the clatter of chains.
33 The Solitary.
Following and leading are both hateful to me.To obey? No! And yet again no — to rule!Whoever is not terrible to himself makes no one afraid:and only who makes afraid can lead others.It is hateful to me already, to lead myself!I love it, like the animals of forest and sea,to lose myself for a good while,to squat brooding in sweet confusion,and at last to lure myself home from afar,to myself — to seduce myself.
34 Seneca et hoc genus omne.
He writes and writes his unbearable wise larifari,as if it were primum scribere,deinde philosophari.
35 Ice.
Yes! Now and then I make ice:ice is useful for digestion!If you had much to digest,oh how you would love my ice!
36 Youthful Writings.
My wisdom’s A and Osounded here: what did I hear!Now it no longer sounds so to me,only the eternal Ah! and Oh!I still hear my youth.
37 Caution.
In that region one does not travel well now;and if you have spirit, be doubly on your guard!They lure and love you till they tear you apart:they are enthusiasts —: spirit is always what they lack!
38 The Pious Man Speaks.
God loves us because he created us! —“Man created God!” — so you fine ones reply.And should he not love what he created?Should he deny it just because he created it?That limps, that carries the devil’s hoof.
39 In Summer.
In the sweat of our broware we to eat our bread?In sweat one would rather eat nothing,by wise doctors’ judgment.The dog star beckons: what is lacking?What does its fiery beckoning want?In the sweat of our broware we to drink our wine!
40 Without Envy.
Yes, he looks without envy: and you honor him for it?He does not look round after your honors;he has the eagle’s eye for distances,he does not see you! — he sees only stars, stars.
41 Heracliteanism.
All happiness on earth,friends, is given by struggle!Yes, to become friends,it takes powder-smoke!Three in one are friends:brothers before distress,equals before the enemy,free men — before death!
42 Principle of the All-Too-Fine.
Better on tiptoe still,than on all fours!Better through a keyhole,than through open doors!
43 Encouragement.
You have set your mind on fame?Then heed the teaching:in good time renounce freelyhonor!
44 The Thorough One.
A researcher, I? Oh spare the word! —I am only heavy — so many pounds!I fall, fall on and onand finally on the ground!
45 Forever.
“Today I come, because today suits me” —so thinks everyone who comes forever.What does the world’s talk matter to him:“You come too early! You come too late!”
46 Judgments of the Weary.
All the weary curse the sun;the value of trees, to them, is — shade!
47 Decline.
“He sinks, he falls now” — you scoff now and then;the truth is: he descends to you!
His excess of happiness became his harm,his excess of light goes after your darkness.
48 Against the Laws.
From today on, on a harder cord,the hour-clock hangs at my neck:from today on the course of the stars has stopped,sun, cockcrow and shadow,
and whatever once announced time to meis now mute and deaf and blind: —all nature falls silent for meat the tick-tock of law and clock.
49 The Wise Man Speaks.
Strange to the people and useful to the people,I go my way, sun now, now cloud —and always above this people!
50 Lost His Head.
She has spirit now — how did she come by it?A man recently lost his reason through her,his head was rich before this pastime:his head went to the devil — no! no! to the woman!
51 Pious Wishes.
“May all keys nowbe lost in a hurry,and in every keyholethe pick turn!”Thus thinks at every seasoneveryone who — is a pick.
52 Writing with the Foot.
I do not write with the hand alone:the foot wants always to be in on the writing.Firm, free and brave it runs for menow through the field, now through the paper.
53 “Human, All Too Human.” A Book.
Sadly shy, as long as you look backward,trusting the future where you trust yourself:oh bird, do I count you among the eagles?Are you Minerva’s darling, oo-hoo-hoo?
54 To My Reader.
A good set of teeth and a good stomach —that is what I wish you!And once you have digested my book,you will certainly get along with me!
55 The Realistic Painter.
“True to nature and whole!” — how does he set about it:when was nature ever finished in a picture?The smallest piece of the world is infinite! —In the end he paints of it what pleases him.And what pleases him? What he can paint!
56 Poet’s Vanity.
Just give me glue: for the glueI will find the wood myself!To put sense into four senseless rhymes —that is no small pride!
57 Choosy Taste.
If I were free to choose,I would gladly choose a little placeright in the middle of paradise:more gladly still — before its door!
58 The Crooked Nose.
The nose looks defiantlyinto the land, the nostril swells —that is why you fall, rhinoceros without horn,my proud little man, always forward!And always these two are found together:straight pride, crooked nose.
59 The Pen Scrawls.
The pen scrawls: to hell with it!Am I condemned to have to scrawl? —So I boldly seize the inkwelland write with thick ink-floods.How that runs, so full, so broad!How everything succeeds for me, whatever I do!True, the writing lacks clarity —what of it? Who reads what I write?
60 Higher Men.
That one climbs up — he should be praised!But the other always comes from above!That one lives exempt from praise itself,that one is from on high!
61 The Skeptic Speaks.
Half of your life is over,the hand moves on, your soul shudders!Long has it strayed aboutand sought and not found — and it hesitates here?
Half of your life is over:it was pain and error, hour by hour here!What do you still seek? Why? — —That is just what I seek — reason on reason for it!
62 Ecce Homo.
Yes! I know where I come from!Unsated like the flameI glow and consume myself.Light becomes everything I grasp,coal everything I leave:flame I certainly am.
63 Star Morality.
Predestined to the star’s orbit,what is darkness to you, star?
Roll blessedly through this time!Its misery be strange and far to you!
The farthest world owns your shine:pity should be sin for you!
Only one commandment holds for you: be pure!
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made directly from the same 1887 German text, division by division and aphorism by aphorism. Same divisions and numbering; it explains what Nietzsche’s compressed German leaves implicit instead of imitating its cadence.
Prelude in German Rhymes.
1 Invitation.
Try my cooking, you eaters!Tomorrow it will already taste better to you,And the day after tomorrow, good!If you want more then, well—my oldSeven things give me the courageFor seven new ones.
2 My Happiness.
Since I grew tired of searching,I have learned to find.Since one wind stood against me,I sail with all the winds.
3 Undaunted.
Where you stand, dig deep!Down below is the spring!Let the gloomy men shout:“Down below is always—hell!”
4 Dialogue.
A. Was I sick? Am I cured?And who was my doctor?How I have forgotten all that!B. Only now do I believe you are cured:For whoever has forgotten is healthy.
5 To the Virtuous.
Our virtues, too, should lift their feet lightly:Like the verses of Homer, they should come and go!
6 Worldly Wisdom.
Don’t stay on level ground!Don’t climb too high!The world looks most beautifulFrom halfway up.
7 Go With Me—Go With Yourself.
My way and my speech attract you,You follow me, you go after me?Just follow yourself faithfully—Then you follow me—easy now, easy!
8 At the Third Shedding of the Skin.
Already my skin curls and cracks,Already, with a new urge, the snake in me,However much earth it has already digested,Craves earth.Already I crawl between stone and grass,Hungry, along a crooked trail,To eat what I have always eaten:You, snake food, you, earth!
9 My Roses.
Yes! My happiness wants to make others happy—All happiness wants to make others happy!Do you want to pick my roses?
You will have to stoop and hideBetween rocks and thorn hedges,And often lick your little fingers!
For my happiness loves to tease!For my happiness loves wicked tricks!—Do you want to pick my roses?
10 The Scorner.
I let many things fall and roll,And that is why you call me a scorner.Whoever drinks from cups that areToo full lets much fall and roll—Don’t think any worse of the wine for that.
11 The Proverb Speaks.
Sharp and mild, coarse and fine,Familiar and strange, dirty and pure,The meeting place of fools and wise men:All this I am, all this I want to be,Dove, snake and pig at once!
12 To a Friend of Light.
If you don’t want your eyes and mind to grow tired,Chase the sun in the shade, too!
13 For Dancers.
Smooth iceIs a paradiseFor anyone who knows how to dance well.
14 The Decent Man.
I would rather have an enmity made of solid woodThan a friendship held together with glue!
15 Rust.
Rust is needed too: being sharp is not enough!Otherwise people will always say of you: “He is too young!”
16 Upward.
“What is the best way to climb the mountain?”Just climb up, and don’t think about it!
17 Saying of the Man of Force.
Never beg! Stop this whimpering!Take, I beg you, always take!
18 Narrow Souls.
Narrow souls are hateful to me;They hold nothing good, and hardly anything bad.
19 The Unintentional Seducer.
He shot an empty word, to pass the time,Into the blue—and yet a woman fell because of it.
20 For Consideration.
Double pain is easier to bearThan one pain: do you want to take the chance?
21 Against Haughtiness.
Don’t puff yourself up: otherwiseOne small prick is enough to make you burst.
22 Man and Woman.
“Seize the woman your heart feels for!”—So thinks the man; the woman does not seize, she steals.
23 Interpretation.
If I explain myself, I read myself into it:I cannot be my own interpreter.But whoever simply climbs on their own pathAlso carries my picture up into a brighter light.
24 Medicine for Pessimists.
You complain that nothing tastes good to you?Still the same old whims, my friend?I hear you cursing, making noise, spitting—My patience and my heart break at it.
Follow me, my friend! Make up your mind freelyTo swallow a fat little toad,Quickly and without looking at it!—That will cure you of your indigestion!
25 A Request.
I know the minds of many peopleAnd do not know who I myself am!My eye is much too close to me—I am not what I see and saw.I would already make better use of myselfIf I could sit farther away from myself.Not as far away as my enemy, though!Even the nearest friend sits too far away—But the middle between him and me!Do you guess what I am asking for?
26 My Hardness.
I have to go on over a hundred steps,I have to climb up and I hear you calling:“You are hard! Are we made of stone, then?”—I have to go on over a hundred steps,And nobody wants to be a step.
27 The Wanderer.
“No path anymore! Abyss all around and deathly silence!”—That is what you wanted! Your will left the path!Now, wanderer, it counts! Now look coldly and clearly!You are lost, if you believe—in danger.
28 Comfort for Beginners.
Look at the child, with pigs grunting around it,Helpless, with twisted toes!It can cry, nothing but cry—Will it ever learn to stand and walk?Don’t lose heart! Soon, I think,You will see the child dance!Once it stands on both legs,It will also stand on its head.
29 The Egoism of the Stars.
If I were not a round rolling barrel,Turning around myself without a pause,How could I stand it, without burning up,To run after the hot sun?
30 The Neighbor.
I do not like having my neighbor near:Away with him, up high and far off!How else would he become my star?—
31 The Saint in Disguise.
So that your happiness does not weigh on us,You wrap yourself in devil’s tricks,Devil’s wit and devil’s clothes.But in vain! From your glanceHoliness looks out!
32 The Unfree Man.
A. He stands and listens: what could have disturbed him?What does he hear buzzing in front of his ears?What was it that knocked him down?B. Like everyone who once wore chains,He hears everywhere—chains clanking.
33 The Solitary.
I hate following and I hate leading.Obey? No! And no again—rule!Whoever is not terrible to themselves frightens no one:And only someone who frightens can lead others.I already hate leading even myself!I like, as the animals of forest and sea do,To lose myself for a good while,To squat brooding in a sweet confusion,And at last to lure myself home from far away,To seduce myself—to myself.
34 Seneca and All His Kind.
That one writes and writes his unbearably wise twaddle,As if the rule were: to write first,And then to philosophize.
35 Ice.
Yes! Now and then I make ice:Ice is useful for digestion!If you had a lot to digest,Oh, how you would love my ice!
36 Writings of My Youth.
The A and O of my wisdomSounded to me here: what I heard!Now it no longer sounds that way to me;I hear only the everlasting Ah! and Oh!Of my youth, even now.
37 Caution.
In that region one does not travel well now;And if you have intelligence, be doubly on your guard!They lure you and love you until they tear you apart:They are fanatics—and fanatics always lack intelligence!
38 The Pious Man Speaks.
God loves us, because he created us!—“Man created God!” you refined people say in reply.And should he not love what he created?Should he even deny it, because he created it?That is lame, that shows the devil’s hoof.
39 In Summer.
In the sweat of our facesMust we eat our bread?In the sweat one prefers to eat nothing,By the judgment of wise doctors.The Dog Star beckons: what are we missing?What does its fiery beckoning want?In the sweat of our facesWe should drink our wine!
40 Without Envy.
Yes, he looks without envy: and you honor him for it?He does not look around for your honors;He has the eagle’s eye for the distance,He does not see you! He sees only stars, stars.
41 Heraclitism.
All happiness on earth,Friends, comes from struggle!Yes, to become friendsTakes gunpowder smoke!Friends are one in three:Brothers in need,Equals before the enemy,Free—before death!
42 Principle of the Overly Refined.
Better still on tiptoeThan on all fours!Better through a keyholeThan through open doors!
43 Advice.
Have you set your heart on fame?Then heed this lesson:In good time freely give upHonor!
44 The Thorough One.
A researcher, me? Oh, spare this word!—I am only heavy—so many pounds!I fall, fall without endAnd finally to the bottom!
45 Forever.
“Today I come, because today suits me”—Thinks everyone who comes forever.What does he care about the talk of the world:“You come too early! You come too late!”
46 Judgments of the Tired.
All the weary curse the sun;The worth of trees to them is—shade!
47 Descent.
“He is sinking, he is falling now”—you mock, again and again;The truth is: he is coming down to you!
His too great happiness became a hardship for him,His too great light goes after your darkness.
48 Against the Laws.
From today on, on a cord of hairAround my neck hangs the hour clock:From today on the course of the stars,The sun, the rooster’s crow and shadows stop,
And whatever ever told me the timeIs now mute and deaf and blind:—All of nature falls silent for meAt the tick-tock of law and clock.
49 The Wise Man Speaks.
Foreign to the people and yet useful to the people,I go on my way, now sun, now cloud—And always above these people!
50 Losing One’s Head.
She has wit now—how did she come to find it?A man recently lost his mind because of her,His head was rich before this pastime:His head went to the devil—no! no! to the woman!
51 Pious Wishes.
“May all the keysGet lost right away,And in every keyholeMay the picklock turn!”So thinks at every momentEveryone who is—a picklock.
52 Writing With the Foot.
I do not write with my hand alone:The foot always wants to be a writer too.Firm, free and brave, it runs for meNow across the field, now across the paper.
53 “Human, All Too Human.” A Book.
Sadly shy as long as you look backward,Trusting the future where you trust yourself:Oh bird, shall I count you among the eagles?Are you Minerva’s favorite, Hoo-hoo-hoo?
54 To My Reader.
A good set of teeth and a good stomach—That is what I wish for you!And once you have stomached my book,You will surely get along with me!
55 The Realistic Painter.
“Nature, true and whole!” How does he go about it:When was nature ever finished in a picture?The smallest piece of the world is infinite!—In the end he paints of it whatever pleases him.And what pleases him? What he can paint!
56 Poets’ Vanity.
Just give me glue: for the woodTo go with the glue I will find myself!To put sense into four senseless rhymesIs no small thing to be proud of!
57 Choosy Taste.
If they let me choose freely,I would gladly pick a little spotRight in the middle of Paradise:Even more gladly—in front of its door!
58 The Crooked Nose.
The nose looks out defiantlyInto the land, the nostril flares—So you fall, rhinoceros without a horn,My proud little man, always forward!And these two are always found together:Straight pride, crooked nose.
59 The Pen Scratches.
The pen scratches: this is hell!Am I damned to have to scratch?—So I boldly reach for the inkwellAnd write with thick streams of ink.How it flows along, so full, so broad!How everything succeeds, the way I go at it!True, the writing lacks clarity—What of it? Who reads what I write anyway?
60 Higher People.
One climbs up—him we should praise!But that one always comes from above!He lives lifted beyond praise itself,He is from on high!
61 The Skeptic Speaks.
Half your life is over,The clock hand moves, your soul shudders!Long has it wandered aboutAnd searched and not found—and it hesitates here?
Half your life is over:It was pain and error, hour after hour here!What are you still searching for? Why?——This is just what I am searching for—reason after reason for it!
62 Here Is the Man.
Yes! I know where I come from!Insatiable like the flameI glow and consume myself.Light becomes everything I grasp,Coal everything I leave:Flame I surely am.
63 Morality of the Stars.
Destined in advance for the path of the stars,What does the darkness matter to you, star?
Roll blissfully on through this age!Let its misery be foreign and far from you!
Your light belongs to the farthest world:Pity shall be a sin for you!
Only one commandment applies to you: be pure!
About this section
Jest, Cunning and Revenge is part of The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is book 3 of 9 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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