Disciples Who Awaited Zarathustra

The Disciples Who Awaited Zarathustra are the companions who accompany him on the road and stand watch when grief leaves him unable to speak or care for himself. Their part is clearest during his three-day affliction: they wait anxiously through the night, interpret the dream he recounts, and urge him back toward company and ordinary life.

Companions on the Road

One evening Zarathustra walks through the forest with his disciples while looking for a well. They are with him when he comes upon girls dancing in a meadow. The girls stop upon recognizing Zarathustra, but he approaches them in a friendly manner and defends their dancing against the Spirit of Gravity. The scene places the disciples beside him as witnesses to an encounter in which he chooses welcome over interruption; the text does not assign them any words or action in the exchange.

The Vigil and the Dream

Later, Zarathustra grieves over the approaching long twilight and fears that his light may be smothered in sadness. For three days he takes no food or drink, rests not at all, and forgets speech. When he finally falls into a deep sleep, his disciples sit around him through the long watches of the night, waiting anxiously for him to awaken, speak again, and recover from his affliction. Their role is practical and watchful: they remain present while he is inaccessible to them.

When Zarathustra wakes and tells them of his dream, his voice seems to come from far away. He narrates the dream and falls silent, unable to interpret it. The disciple he loves most quickly rises, takes Zarathustra’s hand, and offers an interpretation: Zarathustra’s own life explains the dream. He compares him to a wind that tears open the doors of the fortress of death, and suggests that the enemies in the dream will awaken and come to him. The disciple responds not with a detached explanation but with confidence in Zarathustra’s life and future.

Bringing Him Back to Company

After the beloved disciple speaks, the others crowd around Zarathustra, take his hands, and try to persuade him to leave his bed and sadness and return to them. At first, he sits upright with an absent expression and looks at their faces without recognizing them, like someone returned home after a long time in a strange land. When they lift him to his feet, his eye changes; he understands what has happened, strokes his beard, and speaks firmly. Their care helps mark the passage from dream-bound isolation to renewed contact, though the text presents his recognition as a sudden change rather than a recovery they can command.

His first response is to ask for a good meal, saying he will do penance for the bad dreams. He also insists that The Prophet eat and drink beside him, adding that he will show him a sea in which he can drown. The disciples’ vigil thus ends not with an account of their own relief but with Zarathustra speaking and making plans again: his return to them takes the form of appetite, resolve, and renewed engagement with another troubled figure.