274 Nietzschementary on Zarathustra's sermon, as though he were listening to old tru-
isms: "Everything that is straight lies.... All truth is crooked; time itself
is a circle. Zarathustra responds somewhat helplessly: "You spirit of
gravity!... do not make it easy on yourself!" (4,200; Ζ Third Part, "On
the Vision and the Riddle" § 2). Zarathustra is baffled and disappointed
by his obvious inability to communicate the colossal dimensions of his
doctrine. He begins to speak in more muted tones "because I was afraid
of my own thoughts and ulterior motives" (4,200£; Ζ Third Part, "On
the Vision and the Riddle" § 2). This is the same whispered tone
Nietzsche had adopted when describing his doctrine of eternal recur-
rence to Salomé. Her reaction mirrored that of other friends to whom
he outlined this doctrine: she was moved by his method of presentation,
but disappointed by the message itself He sensed this reaction during
their summer in Tautenburg. It prompted him to record this underlined
entry in his notes for the doctrine of the eternal recurrence: "Oh, I am
so sick of tragic gestures and words!" (10,33). This phase did not last long,
however. The four books of Zarathustra he wrote between 1883 and
1885 are laden with the very "tragic gestures and words" he was so "sick
of" in the summer of 1882.
When Nietzsche had completed the third book, he wrote to Peter
Gast on February 1, 1884: "My Zarathustra was finished fourteen days
ago, altogether finished" {B 6,473). He considered the work complete.
Recurrence had been proclaimed, the song of the "Seven Seals," with its
refrain because I love you, Ο eternity!" (4,287£; Ζ Third Part), had
been sung, and he could have turned to other matters. But in the winter
of 1884-85, Nietzsche decided to publish a fourth volume of
Zarathustra. He appears to have modeled it on Goethe's Faust, Part II. ]ust
as Faust awakens to a second life after restorative sleep, we reencounter
Zarathustra at the commencement of the fourth book as a very cheer-
ful old man.
Nietzsche's hints to his friends while writing this fourth volume indi-
cate that he intended to tone down its tragic and lofty pathos. He
described the book in terms of "Dionysian dances, books for fools,"