The Adder's Bite and Cold Justice — Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Zarathustra tells how an adder bit him while he slept under a fig tree. The snake tried to flee, but he thanked it for waking him in time. When his disciples ask the moral, he says the good and just call him a destroyer of morality.

Do not return good for evil to an enemy; that shames him. Be angry rather than fake blessing after a curse. Share injustice rather than bear a great wrong alone. Small revenge can be more human than none. He dislikes cold justice where the judge's eye hides an executioner.

True justice would love with seeing eyes. He cannot give everyone his own, so he gives his own to each. Guard the anchorite too. Injury sinks deep like a stone in a well. Zarathustra's story is meant to wake people, not soothe them. Nobler to admit you are wrong when rich enough to do so. Justice from the heart may even turn a lie into philanthropy. If you harm an anchorite, finish the deed cleanly. Punishment should honour the transgressor or he rejects your cold blade. Dragons do not die from serpent poison, he jokes to the adder. Immoral tales can wake sleepers better than polite lies.