When Zarathustra descends from the mountain, the townspeople are gathered in the square to watch the tight-rope walker’s performance. During the performance, a buffoon chases him, causing him to lose his balance, fall, and suffer fatal injuries. Before the tight-rope walker dies, Zarathustra comforts him. He then carries the tight-rope walker’s corpse with him and buries him, to honor him for pursuing (and dying for) a dangerous calling.