to woman and money, had to become a merchant, a dice-gambler, a drinker, and a greedy person, until the priest and Samana in him was dead.  Therefore, he had to continue bearing these ugly years, bearing the disgust, the teachings, the pointlessness of a dreary and wasted life up to the end, up to bitter despair, until Siddhartha the lustful, Siddhartha the greedy could also die.  He had died, a new Siddhartha had woken up from the sleep.  He would also grow old, he would also eventually have to die, mortal was Siddhartha, mortal was every physical form.  But today he was young, was a child, the new Siddhartha, and was full of joy.

He thought these thoughts, listened with a smile to his stomach, listened gratefully to a buzzing bee.  Cheerfully, he looked into the rushing river, never before he had like a water so well as this one, never before he had perceived the voice and the parable of the moving water thus strongly and beautifully.  It seemed to him, as if the river had something special to tell him, something he did not know yet, which was still awaiting him.  In this river, Siddhartha had intended to drown himself, in it the old, tired, desperate Siddhartha had drowned today.  But the new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this rushing water, and decided for himself, not to leave it very soon.

THE FERRYMAN

By this river I want to stay, thought Siddhartha, it is the same which I have crossed a long time ago on my way to the childlike people, a friendly ferryman had guided me then, he is the one I want to go to, starting out from his hut, my path had led me at that time into a new life, which had now grown old and is dead—­my present path, my present new life, shall also take its start there!

Tenderly, he looked into the rushing water, into the transparent green, into the crystal lines of its drawing, so rich in secrets.  Bright pearls he saw rising from the deep, quiet bubbles of air floating on the reflecting surface, the blue of the sky being depicted in it.  With a thousand eyes, the river looked at him, with green ones, with white ones, with crystal ones, with sky-blue ones.  How did he love this water, how did it delight him, how grateful was he to it!  In his heart he heard the voice talking, which was newly awaking, and it told him:  Love this water!  Stay near it!  Learn from it!  Oh yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it.  He who would understand this water and its secrets, so it seemed to him, would also understand many other things, many secrets, all secrets.

But out of all secrets of the river, he today only saw one, this one touched his soul.  He saw:  this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always at all times the same and yet new in every moment!  Great be he who would grasp this, understand this!  He understood and grasped it not, only felt some idea of it stirring, a distant memory, divine voices.