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Coyote
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Joseph Beuys Coyote Caroline TIsdall

Caro line Tisdall is a for mer art critic and featur e
This publica tio n was the firs t attempt to capture a w rite r for t he Guardian and the directo r of the fil ms
performance by Joseph Beuys in book form . Since its Joseph Beuys and The Last Post Run for t he BBC
first appearance in 1976, it has become one of t he and Channel 4 respectively.
mos t sought after document s of its kind, not only as
a direct account of one of Beuys's acclaimed and best- Oth er titles of interest
known performance wo rks, or Actions, but also as an
im portant landmark in the w ay his art has been The Art of Part icipation
1950 to Now
received. Notably, t his is the first ti me t hat t he book
has appeared in English. Edited by Rudolf Frieling
W it h 215 colour illustrations
Joseph Beuys w as one of the most original and
influential art ists of his time, and his work continues
to draw immense popular and critical atte ntion. In Performance
the early 1960s, he created a series of Actions that Live Art Since th e 60s
promot ed his efforts to remove the boundar ies RoseLee Goldberg
between art and life . Beuys's most famous Act ion, I Forew ord by Laurie Anderson
Like America and America Likes Me, took place in Illustrated in colour and black and
M ay 1974, w hen he spent seven days and nights in a w hite t hroughout
room w ith a w ild coyote . This w as only his second trip
to America; on arrival at Kennedy Airport. New York, New Art in th e 60s and 70s
the artist was w rapped in fe lt and taken by ambulance Redefining Reality
to the Rene Block Gallery. Beuys later said: ' I wan ted Anne Rorimer
to isolate my self , insulate my self, see nothi ng of W ith 303 illust rations
Am erica other t han t he coyote.'
Beuys's activities during his confi neme nt w it h the Art Sin ce 1900
coyote follow ed a repeate d patte rn. He employed a M odernism, Ant im odernism and
num ber of objec ts : felt, a wa lking stick, gloves, a Postm odern ism
f lashlight, and t he Wall Street Journal- f ift y copies Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss,
we re delivered daily, in two piles . Over the period of Yve-Alain Bois and Benjam in H. D. Buchloh
a week, man and beast developed a mode of With 637 illustrations, 413 in colour
wordless co-existence, a tw o-sided performa nce, that
became rich w ith assumed mean ings: gestu res and A nselm Ki efer / Paul Celan
movements took on an almos t allegor ical level of Myth, Mourning and Memory
signif icance. Finally, Beuys was w rapped in fe lt once Andrea Lauterw ein
more and retu rned to the airport . Wi th 157 illust rations, 140 in colour
Caroline Tisdall, a longstanding fr iend of the art ist,
w ho has writt en extensive ly on Beuys and has
directed film s about him, took most of the If you w ould like to receive details of our
photographs and w rote the accompany ing text. This new and forthcom ing titles, please send
publication marks a significant moment in the study your nam e and address to
of modern art. performance and t he life of one of the
Thames & Hudson
twentieth century 's most enigmatic geniuses.
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W ith 97 ill ustr ations www.t hamesa ndhudson.com

Printed in Slovenia
Jacket phot o by Caroline Tisdall
 A ll pho tog ra p hs are by Caro line Tisda ll, w ith the fo llow ing exceptio ns: pp . 18 , 3 2, 3 6, 38, 52,
5 8 a nd 7 0 are rep rod uced courtesy of lo rra ine Senna , New York; pp 7 2 , I 16 , 11 8 a nd 126 are
by G w en Phillip s, New Yo rk.The text o n page 8 6 is reprodu ced by kind permissio n 01the author,
Joha nnes Stuttgen [on Eng lish tra nslatia n a ppears o n p. 16 1.
The extract from Le Pefit Prince by Anto ine de Soinf-Exuperv on p. 15 9 ap pea rs as pe r Beuys'
or ig inal instruction s a nd is rep rinted by kind perm ission o f Ed itio ns G a llimard , Paris.

Any copy o f ihis book issued by the publisher a s a pa perba ck is sold subject 10 the co nd ition tho l it
sho ll not by w ay o f /ra de or o therwi se be lenl, resold , hired o ul or otherwise ci rculated w ilhout the
pub lisher's prio r co nsent in any form of b inding o r cove r other rho n tha i in w hich II is published a nd
w ithout a similar condition including the se words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser.
f irst published in the Uoued Kingdo m in 2008 by
Tha mes & Hudso n l id , 18 I A H ig h Holba rn, Lo nd o n WC 1V 70X
www.tha mesandhudson .com

O rigi nal edi tion © 19 7 6 / 20 0 8 by Schirmer/ fvlo sel, Munich

This ed ilion © 2 008 Tho mes & H udso n l td, Lo nd on
W orks by Joseph Beuys © VG BM Kunst, Bonn 2008

All Righls Reserved . No par I o f tlus pub lica lion may be rep rod uced or Iran smilled in a ny fo rm or by
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British li brary C a talo g uing-in-Publica tion Data
A ca lo log ue reco rd for Ihis ba ok is ava ilab le fro m Ihe British Library

ISBN 978-(}5005436 8 9

Printed a nd bound in Slove nia by Go renjsk! Tisk, Kran j

IL- _
Preface

It's no exaggeration to claim that Beuys' Coyote became one of the

best-loved art works of the late twentieth century. In the thirty-two
years since the first publication of this book, scarcely a month has
passed without requests for photographs of this extraordinarily
evocative dialogue between human and beast, representatives of
different species. I have often wondered how so many people who
were, of course, not present at the performance of Coyote can yet
identify with the relevance and resonance of this encounter, and
instinctively relate to the warmth and optimism of its meaning.
A generation later these images are still as iconic and challenging
as ever, and I am thrilled that a new readership will have the chance
to identify with nature's powerful languages, the scapegoat and
outsider, with love for other forms of life, and above all, respect for
them. For me Coyote was the most fulfilling work of art, and like all
great works of art it retains its own mysterious complex aura of
apparent simplicity and accessibility.

Caroline Tisdall, 2008

5
Jimmy Boyle :
'A t the moment I hear much talk of taking art to the w ho le of society,
but I also experience tremend o us co nfusio n by art ists on how to d o
this. The onl y worthw hile statement that has had an y effe ct o n me
and others in my environment has been Joseph Beuys' d ial ogue with
the Coyote . The others pass over the hea d of society and lose their
impact, and the gist of the particular sta tement is lo st. If art and the
ar tist wish es to ta ke the statement to the p ublic then he must clar ify
what he is saying, o therwise the sta tement w ill make the public feel
stup id beca use he ca nnot und erstand . This will ca use the publi c to
w ithd raw and further alienate art and soc iety.'
Jimmy Boy le is servi ng a life sentence in the Special Unit of a Scottish
jail . He wrote this after seeing so me of the photographs that follow.
Mayb e his statement in its turn w ill turn o ut to be 'the on ly worthwhile
sta tement' tha t ca n be made about Coyote . And so humbly I
ded ica te these notes a nd p hotog ra phs to Jimmy Boyle a nd a ll 'o thers
of his environment' .
C aro line Tisda ll, 1976
COYOTE: I LIKE AMERICA AND AMERICA LIKES ME
O ne w eek 's perfor mance o n the occasio n of the o pening of the Rene
Block Gallery, New Yo rk, May 19 7 4 .
The Co yote ac tion began o n the journe y from Europe to America .
After the ice fields of La brad or, the uninha bite d no-ma n's lan d of the
mind, the man covered his eyes, and that was the la st he saw of
America .
At Kennedy Airport he was wrapped from head to foot in felt , the
mater ial w hic h for him is both insula tor and w a rmth preserver. He
6
w a s loaded into an ambula nce , mobi le reminder of scientific therapy,
a nd drive n stra ig ht to the plac e whic h he w as to share w ith the
coyote . The action ended a w ee k later w hen, once more insulated
in felt, he was car ried ba ck in the a mbula nce on the first stag e of
his journe y back to Europe . Red Cr o ss for the man , Blue Cr oss for
the animal.
In between there was the da y-in , da y-out public dialogue :
long , ca lm, co ncentra ted , alm ost silent da ys of d ial ogue between
representatives of two species tog ether in the same space for the fi rst
time . It w as a long light spa ce, w ind ows casting the chang ing
light and shad e of passing days. The late spring sun ca st a glow that
w as somehow rural , blond , brown and gre y, certainly nothing to do
wi th the urba n scene beyo nd the windows . A heavy chain link barri er
separated the man and the coyote from the people w ho ca me and
w ent all da y. It came to mark an area of freedom for the
pro tagonists , am biguous ly cag ing the spectators . In the far corner
of this spa ce w as the straw that had been brought w ith the coyote .
The man had brought obj ects and elements from his world to
pla ce in this spac e, silent rep resentati ves o f his idea s and beliefs.
He introdu ced them to the coyote . The coyote respo nded coyote-styl e
by claiming them w ith his gesture of po ssession . O ne by one as they
w ere presented he pissed on them slowly a nd del iberately : felt ,
w a lking stick, gloves, fla shlight an d Wa ll Stree t journal, but a bov e
all the Wall Street journal. The element s w ere ar ranged in the space.
The two long leng ths of felt we re p laced in the mid d le, o ne drawn
into a heap w ith the flashlight shining o ut of it. And at the front of
the spac e w ere two nea t piles of Wall Street journals, fifty a day,
and the edition of eac h c ha ng ing da y.
The man had al so b rought a repe rtoi re of move ments w ith him ,
and a notion of time . These, too , w ere sub ject to the coyote's
respon ses, and were modulated a nd co ndi tio ned by them . The man
n. -ve r too k his eye s off the an imal . The line of sig ht between them
I «xo rne like the hand s of a spir itual clockfac e mea suring the timing
, " movements and setting the pa ce for the dialogue thro ug h time .
II H! ma n car ried o ut his seq uence o f movements, a choreography
. luoc ted towards the co yote , the timing and the mood reg ula ted by
lil t' a nima l. General ly the sequence lasted about an ho ur a nd a
' 1IHHter, somet imes much lo ng er. In all it was repea ted we ll ove r thirty
rime s, but the mood and the tone w ere never the same .
The man w a lked to wards one length of felt w ith a brown w a lking
',Iil k o ver his arm , and pulled o n the brown gl oves. Then he sw a thed
Il imself in the felt , ea sing it up o ver his hat until nothi ng bu t the ra ised
',Iick, its cu rvi ng end stretch ing upwar d , emerged abo ve the g rey
The image w a s an hierarchical o ne, upright and di stant, the
, loor out line of a tall shepherd figu re g limpsed across the d istances
, " Ihe steppes.
A nd the gaunt o utline of fe lt a nd stick wa s a sculptural ima ge
II )0 , and like a sculpture it w as taken thro ug h successi ve forms and
',loges : vertica l, c roo k di rected up ward s; bent at a right angle,
I loo k to the g round ; c rouching upright a s if for the long wai t, then
, louchin g ag a in with the stick incl ined to the floor. A ll the time
,IHe! figure shifted slightly o n its axis , follOWing the d irec tio n a nd
move ment o f the coyote . Then the calm silence and the slow pa ssage
III time w ere abruptly broken . The figure fell sideways to the ground ,
u.m slor med into a prone body wra p ped in felt, a reminder of another
"Vl !nt in the life of the man , a vu lnera ble o b jec t.
The general structure of the movements w as always the same ,
I )i l l those of the coyote var ied w ith ever y seq uence . So metimes
III : beha ved as if this kind o f move me nt w a s run o f the mill to him .
.o metirnes he kept a cert ai n d ista nce , or seemed qui te deta ched
li o m wh a t w as going on , a nd the a tmo sph ere w as dig nified a nd
I . rlrn. At o ther time s he hovered , w a iting and w a tchful, c ircli ng
ca utious ly ro und the fe lt figure, nervous of the slig htest movement.
An d occas io na lly he w ent qu ite mad w ith exc itement, misc hief a nd
mal ice mixed , p lay ful to the po int o f agg ression , lea p ing at the stick,
mauling the felt, tearing it apart until it w a s redu ced to tiny shreds
that resembled the moult ing tufts of his o wn pe lt. He rea cted
particu lar ly stron g ly whe n the felt figu re was lying prone a nd
motionl ess, nosing at it a nxio usly, poking it solicito usly, paw ing
at it like the an xious friend , or avoiding it w ith a war y susp ic io n.
Occasiona lly he lay down w ith the figure , o r tried to creep beneath
the felt.
But the co yo te 's usual d oz ing p la ce was the ot her pile o f felt.
H e wou ld stretch o ut o n it or curl up, eye s hal f-closed , rela xed o r
w ar y, and al ways shining their strange bl ond fire in the sa me
direction as the glowing fla shlight. His back w as never turned to the
peo ple wa tching fro m behind the barr ier. Maybe he sensed tha t more
dang er co uld co rne fro m them than fro m the man in there with him,
or maybe it w a s simpl y because he w a s a splendid show ma n.
His routine and timing w ere never dull. Sometimes he too k over the
show co mp letely, ran g ing up and do w n the space, stopping no w
a nd then to stare ba c k a t the staring visitors , suddenly turning on the
mean loo k his a ud ie nce mig ht ha ve b een expe cting . Now a nd then
he w o uld remember the w indows and the w o rld o utside, and stare
out in amazement at New Yor k and the bustle of the street be low .
Then he would g o to town o n the Wall StreetJournal, claw ing at it,
c hew ing it, d ra g g ing it ac ross the space, pissing o n it a nd shitti ng
on it. And every so often , with uncanny w ol f rhythm , he would ci rcle
back to his mute felt-sw a thed co mpa nio n.
Suddenly the inert figure stretched o ut o n the gr ound would spring
up , casting off the fe lt as he di d so , and strike three cle ar resound ing
no tes on the tria ngl e a t his w a ist. The high shar p sound sha ttered the
silence . Then the silence built up ov er the next ten seco nds to be
7
blotted out again , this time by a twenty-seco nd reverberating blas t
of noi se: the roar of turbine machines projected fro m a tape-re corder
be yond the barrier. The chaotic sound ended as abruptly as it had
beg un, and as it d id so the ma n relaxed , took off his bro wn gl oves,
and threw them to the coyote to toss aro und . Then he w a lked a cross
to rearran g e the ma uled and sca ttered W all StreetJourn als into tw o
nea t p iles aga in, an d cam e up front to chat wi th a friend thro ugh the
bar rier and to down a g lass of shocking-p ink five-fruits Ha wa iia n
Punch.
Then back to the far corner for a quiet smoke in the coyo te's
straw . Oddly enough, or sure enough , this w a s the o nly time the
co yo te too k any noti ce of the straw . Usually he p referred the felt.
But when the man wa s in the corner he join ed him, and that interlude
al ways had the a tmosphere of a farmy ard , lo ng moments of far-aw ay
filtered sunlig ht. By an d by the ma n got up, sorted out the pi les of
felt, drew the long g rey leng th up ove r his head , and the seq uence
started again .
And so the da ys a nd the sequences w ent slowl y by. The damp
sw ea ty heat o f the felt took its toll o n the man 's fami liar hat,
transforming him into a bedraggled clodhopper. Man and animal
gre w closer together : it w as as if they had al ways been there .
A nd then it w as time to go . The ma n took the an imal 's straw a nd
scattered it slowl y over the space. He too k his leave of Li ttle John ,
hug g ing him close wi thout co ncea ling the pa in of separa tio n.
Then o nce more insulated in felt the man w as car ried out to the
a mb ulance, the a irpo rt and the wo rld in w hic h he w a s Josep h Beuys.
He w as not there to see the co yo te's reac tio n. Suddenly findi ng
himself al one without the man 's pre sence , Little John behaved for
the first time like a caged and ca ptive animal , padding up and
d own wi th the true w o lf's swi ng , ba ck and forth , sniffing, sea rc hing,
w hining and scenting the a ir w ith fear.
8
I LIKE AMERICA AND AMERICA LIKES ME
'The whole relation ship between the United States and Euro pe cou ld
be shifted on to a much higher level if the implications of this
d ia log ue w ere car ried through ... '
This w a s Beuys' secon d visit to A merica . The previous w inter he
had prese nted his Ene rgy Plan for the W estern M a n in N ew York,
Ch icag o a nd M innea polis , spea king a ll the time. This w as how he
had described his id ea of Soc ia l Sculpture: first of all the extension of
the defin ition of art beyond the spec ia list a ctivity car ried o ut by art ists
to the ac tive mobilization of every ind ividual 's la te nt c reati vity, and
then, lollow lnq on from tha t, the moulding of the society of the future
based o n the tota l energ y of this ind ivid ua l crea tivity. In other w o rd s;
from the peopl e, by the people , for the people , as in the G ettysburg
Address, but w ith a new emphasis o n from/by/for as a creati ve
process.
THE ENERGY PLAN FOR THE WESTERN MAN
This is an evolut ionary d iagram , a statement of faith in huma nkind 's
abil ity to emerge from the c urrent cr isis bro ught about a s a result of
rati onali st, po sitivist and materiali st thinking in the West, and to
evo lve a sta ge further. H is Energ y Plan for the future ['cnd w hen I say
step by step I mea n as soo n as possib le .. .' ) ta kes its impul se from the
belief tha t the human be ing is ba sically a spiritual be ing , and tha t o ur
visio n of the wo rld must be exte nded to enco mpass a ll the invisible
ene rgi es w ith whic h w e ha ve lost co ntact, o r from w hich w e have
beco me a liena ted . Then new ene rgies ca n be cr ea ted , and for Beuys
these are very real substa nces: dem oc ra tic forces of love, w a rmth
and above all freed om , the substa nces o f C o rnpo nellos Sun Sta te .
There 's a futurol ogica l a spect to this, but al so the real ity of
thinkin g , fee ling and w ill. There's the q uestio n of w hether man ca n
w ill c ha nge, and then whether he ca n link his organi c instincti ve
feel ing power to his thinki ng p rocesses: 'O nly ma n w ith his tho ug ht
ca n bring new ca uses into the w o rld a nd these de termine the future
cou rse of history' . Thinking is evo lutio nary, a nd the human race is
a spec ies in a sta te o f evo lutio n. But con sci o usness o f this must be
rea wakened . And so must the ba lanc e of physica l and sp iritual in a ll
fie ld s of huma n ac tivity. The log ica l outco me of Beuys' Energy Plan
is that a term like 'eco no mics' wo uld never ag ain be reduced to
describe the productio n of simp ly physical g oo d s: a ll forms of
produ ction are eco nom ics, a nd a ll forms o f p roducti on a re crea tive.
KILLING THE KING'S ENGLISH
The expansion of terms and de finition s beyond their restricted
a pp lica tio ns is the key to the Energy Pla n fo r the Western M a n,
a nd to a ll of Beuys' activity. To present it he used his vo ice, extend ing
the de finition of sculpture to the mould ing of tho ught into wo rd s,
w o rd s arran ged into lecture form with acco mpanying d ia grams.
The energi es he described are those he has pursued through years
o f d ra w ings, sculpture, environm ents a nd pe rfo rma nces, rig ht from
the beginni ng .
On his fi rst visit to Ame rica he was trying to dem o nstrate that the
voi ce is a vita l tra nsmitter of energ y an d a direct means to the
sculpture o f thinking form s. Language is the g rea t tran sfo rmer, since
a ll problems are ba sica lly la ng ua ge p roblems, a nd lan g ua ge g ives
fo rm. But language itself must be tra nsformed , an d much of Beuys'
ac tiv ity is directed toward s ra ising the aw areness of its revo lutio nar y
potentia l a s an instrument of freed om : 'It is vita l that man kind sho uld
slowly learn to speak, should co me o ut o f its dumbness, and this
applies a bove a ll to the man in the street. He must learn to see that
fundamentall y he knows an eno rmous a mo unt, and tha t a n official
education just doe s not make it possible fo r him to clari fy his though ts
and feelin gs into wo rd s. This a mounts to saying that it ma kes it
impossible fo r him to w o rk together with other human being s wi thi n
the co nceptua I field .'
6 6
'For me it is the idea of the w o rd that produ ces all imag es. It is the
key sig n for a ll forms of mould ing a nd o rga nizing . W hen I spea k,
using a theoretical langua ge , I try to induce the impulses of this
power, the pow er of the w hole unde rstandi ng of langua ge w hich for
me is the spi ritua l understa nding of evo lution .'
But languag e is not to be understood simply in terms of speec h
a nd words . That is o ur current d rastica lly red uced understa nd ing of
langu age, a para llel to the reduced understand ing of politics and
economi cs. Beyo nd langua ge a s verba liza tio n lies a wo rld o f sound
and impulses, a la ng ua ge of p rimar y sound , w ithout sema ntic co ntent,
b ut laden w ith co mple tely d iffere nt levels of information .
Every for m of life speaks a langu age , untapped and unheard .
The silent d ia logu e of C oyote , so d ifferent from the speech forms of
the Energy Pla n fo r the Western M a n, repre sents a no ther approa ch to
Beuys' ' to ta liza tio n of language' .
ICE AND IRON
SO the first visit w as very muc h the Energy Plan that Beuys had
brought w ith him . But o n the seco nd visit he w a nted to find a mean s
of extendi ng it a nd co mb ining it with the w ho le expe rience of the
Ameri can energ ies he had felt durin g that winter. There were the
physica l energi es: the geog rap hic currents of the co ntinent, its forces
of history and evo lutio n, the different character of the ear th, of plant
grow th, of elec tricity in the wi nd from the north, of steam rising from
the streets, and ice wi th a certai n metall ic c ha rac ter to it.
Then there w a s the sense o f vast spa ce unfold ing [This seems to
me to be a very unde rpopu lated la nd .. .' l, the parad ox that if yo u go
9
for enoug h West it almost beco mes the Ea st, a kind of eq uivale nt
of the energi es running across Eurasia from ea st to w est a nd vice
verso, whi ch Beuys chara cterizes with the Eurasian Stoff , the cur ved
stick that was to appear again in Coyote. Then to the north:
the memor y of the pol ar co p w hic h in time immemorial lin ked the
old w estern wo rld of Europe to w ha t w as to be the new wes tern
worl d of America , a bridge fo r the ancient w an derings of peoples
a nd a nima ls.
THE OLD WEST MAN AND THE NEW WEST MAN
The W est Princ iple is a highl y developed d imension of spi rituality,
a crea tive impulse . That fo r Beuys characterizes the best in the West
M o n. But it is heavi ly mar red by w ha t Cenet in Ame rica ca lled 'the
co mp licity of w hite skin' , a nd w hic h Beuys sums up as 'The White
Man is a swi ne': a de structive intole rance and selfishness that has
marked the w hol e g lo be. The more recent wonder ing of people,
mainly from the West to the new lan d s of A merica , co uld have bee n
the beginning of a new spiritual era : 'The people of the you ng United
Sta tes we re the peop le most suited to de velop the generosity of
the W est Princ iple . Instead a ll the ir genia lity we nt into selfish
ind ividua lism, not the ind ivid ua lism that knows tha t freedom ends
w hen the freedom of another person, or of another form of life, is
dama ge d . The Old West Ma n is best expressed in w hat the Uni ted
States has become. Now at the turning poin t of time the N ew West
Man w ill find the elements that are posi tive in this thro ug h the
revo lutionar y w ideni ng of the West Princ ipl e. '
THE COYOTE APPEARS
The energ ies an d the tra uma s of a co ntinent are de epl y co nnected
a nd move al ong tog ethe r, a ffec ting eac h o ther rec iprocally in the
fabric of histor y. The crossing po int of energ y a nd trauma in Europe
10
o r Eura sia has been a cons tant theme in Beuys' w or k. With Coyote
he co nce ntrated o n o n A merica n eq uiva lent w hic h he feel s ha s
affec ted the co urse of the histor y of the United Sta tes: 'I bel ieve I
found the psychological trauma point of the United States' energ y
co nstellatio n: the w ho le Am erican trauma w ith the Indian , the Red
Man .'
This is w here the figur e of the coyote a ppears , respected and
vene ra ted by the Red M a n, de spi sed and per secuted by the Wh ite
M an: a pol a rity, and a gulf. Somehow the trauma has to be
reversed, an d amen d s mod e : 'Yo u could soy that a reckon ing has
to be mo d e w ith the coyote, and o nly then ca n this trauma be lifte d .'
For the Indians, the co yote w a s o ne of the most mig hty of a
whole ra nge of d e ities. He w a s o n imag e of transfo rmation, and ,
like the hare o r the stag in European mythol o gi es, he co uld cha nge
his sta te fro m the physica l to the spiritual and vice verso at wi ll.
Hi s sexua l prowess was red oubtable , and he co uld even turn inside
o ut throu gh his onu s ... The n co me the W hite M a n, a nd the
tra nsitio n in the co yo te's status. He was redu ced from being on
adm irably subversive power o n a cosm ic scale to what Jung in his
pre fa ce to Puebl o Ind ian leg end s ca lled 'the Arch etype of the
Trickster' . H is ing enuity and a do pta bil ity w ere now interp reted as
low and co mmo n c unning : he becom e the mean coyote . And having
cl a ssed him as o n anti- so ci al menace, wh ite soc iety co uld to ke its
leg al ized revenge on him, and hound him like a Dillin g er.
For Beuys the pe rsec utio n of the coyote is an exam p le of ma n's
tendency to offloa d his own sense of infer iority on to an object
of ha tred o r a minori ty. It is this hat red and sense of inferio rity tha t
co nsta ntly drives him to exterminate the o b ject of his hatred .
The scapegoa t a nd the underdog in every society, as Europ e of the
pogroms a nd extermina tion ca mps well knows , or c hooses to for g et.
A merica has man y minori tie s, b ut the Ind ia ns as o rig ina l inha b ita nts
are a speci a l case in the history o f persecution , a nd the co yo te
co mp lex co ntinues as 'a n unworked -out tra uma tow ar d s the Ind ian s
the mselves.'
Tha t is w hy Beuys insulated himsel f fro m the rest of A merica :
'The manner of the meeting w as impor ta nt. I w a nted to co ncentra te
o nly on the coyote . I w ant ed to isol ate myself, insulate myself, see
no thi ng of A merica other tha n the co yote. '
There w ere other rea sons too for singling o ut the coyote . Beuys
has a theory ('or a t least tha t's w ha t I believe I have seen') that the
coyote w as among the an ima ls that ca me over to Ameri ca w ith the
Ind ia ns: that they we re bo th o rigi na lly na tives of Eura sia an d c rossed
the pola r cap w ith the w a nde rings of prehi story. As such they w o uld
both be on odapted extensio n of the life of Eurasia, the va st expanse
of con tinent c rossed by east- w est, west -east cu rrents which Beuys
rep rese nts w ith the curved ener gy co nduc to r of the Eurasian sta ff,
runnin g through his drawings , sculpture, e nviro nments and ac tio ns
to link up now w ith Coyote : in Ame rica . In this way the coyote
became part of the w hole organic a nima l cycle , jo ini ng the animals
of the Steppes , the hare , the sta g, and his close relat io n the Sibe rian
w o lf, a ll o f them, like the w hite ho rse in Beuys's action Iphigenia,
c reat ures w hic h are mythologi ca lly capa b le of sp iritua l
tra nsformation .
THE POLITICAL PARTY FOR ANIMALS
In Beuys' under standing the anim al s of the w o rld repre sent an
eno rmous source of energy, since beh ind the po wer of ea ch spec ies
sta nds the spi rit o f its gr oup co nsci o usness, o r g roup soul : 'They are
fanta stic entities for the production of spi ritua l good s' . And they have
pre served intac t many o f the abi lities that are lost o r unde rde veloped
in the human species: 'They have high so ul po we rs, feel ing po we rs,
po wers of instinct and orientati on .' In the Ene rgy Plan for the
Western Man these are the po wers that must once more pla ya part
a nd w ith w hic h ma n must once more co me into co ntac t. To do so he
must enter into a dialogue of coope ration for the future, and wi th this
in mind in 1966 Beuys founded the Pol itical Party for An imols wi th
its membe rship of many b ill ions .
Before tha t there had been action s with indivi dual a nima ls, a nd
the cha nge w ith Coyote w as tha t the emphas is w as much more on
a d ia log ue wi th a w ho le speci es. There had been the cry of the stag
in The Chief, ten yea rs before Co yote: soul powers and fee ling
carried in a primary sound . Then Ho w to Explain Pictures to a Dead
Hare , since' even in d eath a har e ha s mo re sensitivity and instinctive
und ersta ndi ng tha n man w ith his stubborn rationa liza tio n' . A nd
throughout runs the self-iden tific ation with the hare : ' I am the hare '
as Beuys is given to say wh en put on the spot ...
But Coyote was o n a ction that took place spec ifica lly in Ameri ca :
'I would never have done it with a coyote in Euro pe. But there are
other ani mal s in A merica which could conjure up co mp letely
di fferent aspects of that worl d. The eag le fo r instance: the pow ers of
the head and the intel lect , the West po wers that the Ind ian w o re on
his hea dd ress.'
THE ELEMENTARY SPIRITS ...
Yo u can spea k wi th an a nima l or a plant a s on individ ua l
rep resenta tive of its speci es, o r through it co me into conta ct with the
group soul of that species. This notion of the g roup so ul of a ll for ms
of life is a n essential part of Beuys' conc ept of rea lity. The so-cal led
lo wer form s o f life : plants, animals , rocks, can gi ve a ccess to the so-
called high er fo rms of life : 'W hy d o I work w ith animal s to express
invisible powers? - Yo u ca n make these energies very clea r if yo u
en ter another kingdom that peop le have fo rg otten, and w here vast
powers survive a s big perso nali ties . And w hen I try to speak w ith
11
the spiritual existences af this tota lity of ani ma ls and p lants,
this p la netar ia n whole, the question arises of w hether one could not
speak w ith these hig her exis tences too, with these de ities and
elementary spirits.. .'
'The spi rit of the coyo te is so mig hty that the human being cannot
unde rstand w hat it is, o r wh a t it ca n do fo r human ki nd in the future.'
THE SCIENCE OF FREEDOM
But there w as another side to the d ialogue , and it had to do w ith
freedom . Animals are dependent on their group souls, and ca nnot
a ct independently of them. They have highl y deve lo ped
specia lizations in cer tain direction s, and, a lthough they ca n adapt,
they cannot like man de velop new spec ial izations, or new patterns
of tho ught. They are depen dent on lead ers in a way that man need
not be . Their point in evo lution is fixed .
The human being , o n the other hand, can exi st as a free
individu a l, and his tho ugh t is his free d o m. 'The human be ing does
not belong to a group soul like an an ima l. The huma n being is to be
unde rstood as a freedom-be ing, as an individual.' As a species w e
have reac hed the poi nt w he re we can cas t of dependence on
leaders, cla ns a nd hierarchical god s. The knowledge of this freed o m
co incides w ith the point of crisi s, o f spiritual po ve rty and the power
to dest roy the w or ld . A nd the paradox of this freed om is tha t man
the free ind ivi du al, faced with the com plexity of the socie ty he ha s
created, o pts to de lega te respo nsib ili ty to a gove rnin g mino rity
w hose co ntro l is g reate r than tha t of the mo st re pressive hig h priest,
and whose de structive potential is unequalled in history.
This is exactly the po int in time w here coo pe ra tio n w ith other
forms of life becomes more tha n ever necessary. The human being
ha s a spec ia l contribution to make : o nly he can gra sp the ove rall
structure . Beca use he is po tentially free as a n indi vidual he can
12
ma ke the interconnec tions between the species : 'The human has the
po wer to c hange, the free possibi lity to act one day in the spiri t of a
wolf or a fox, the next in quite a different w ay.'
THE ASPECT OF FREEDOM IS BEGINNING TO APPEAR
(LOUIS SULLIVAN, CHICAGO)
'O nly now has ma n ac hieved the level of con sci ousness at w hic h it
is possib le for him to bring the sense of freedo m back to a nima ls
too . He can bring the idea of freedom back to the coyo te, fo r
instance, and this is itself a step in evolution. This is evolution no t just
fo r the huma n ra ce, but for nature too , a nd human be ing s are
responsi b le for it. And I think it is sig nifica nt for the wo rld beyond
the c rossing line in my system that the world of the future cou ld be
realized by human kind's act ivity a nd genia lity. Above al l with the
unde rstan d ing of the power of freed o m, grOWing and evol vin g
toward s w ha t you could call the futurol og ical aspects of my theor y :
the Sun State, the Warmth Ferry, and Soc ia l Sculpture. '
'Yes, the highly developed abi lity to create freed o m, and then
ever g rea ter freedom of course . To make freedo m into a princ iple,
so that this concept of freed o m actua lly transfor ms the structure and
the o rgan iza tion of soc iety - and tha t of co urse is the poli tical
aspect. To make it clear that today the means of production are the
means of freedom , a nd that these are the dem ocratic , the social a nd
the economi c means of prod uction .. .'
'And if I unde rsta nd freed o m as the most impo rta nt mean s of
prod uction , then this w oul d be the p lace to ta lk of the totalization of
the idea of econ omics. It incorporates the understanding of think ing
po wer, and is no lo nge r isolated in a separate fie ld or restricted to
physica l goods , public services and so o n. Otherwise no solution
wi ll be found fo r the prob lems that face us today. There w ill be no
transformation a s long as eco nom ists stic k to the classical de fin itions
of Adam Smith and al l these people. The sa me goes fo r la ngua ge :
the wh ol e thing is now more comp lex .. .'
'THE ROLES WERE EXCHANGED IMMED IATElY . . . r
The key to Coyote is the principle of transformation: the tra nsfor ma tion
of the idea of freedom, the transformation of langu age to a wide r
understa nd ing of it as an evolutionary mea ns, the transfor matio n of
verba l dial ogue to energy d ia logue.
'I HAD A CONCEPT OF HOW A COYOTE MIGHT BEHAVE
- IT COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT '
N ow these id eas w ere w oven into Coyote. O rchestra ted is a be tter
w ay of putting it, since the co ncert asp ect of such a performan ce is
a lways uppe rmost in Beuys' mind . The actio n must run like a
symphony, combi ning many instruments and many levels in exposit ion ,
mod ulation , tra nsposition , reca pitulatio n. 'My first duty is to find
a convincing sha pe tha t can reach the co mplexity of huma n kind 's
feel ing. That is the first cha llenge in worki ng w ith form and d imension .'
Shape, form a nd d imension va ry from co ntext to co ntext a s w ell as
fro m p hysica l space to physica l spac e, a nd beca use both co ntext and
specific time are crucia l a w ork is never repeated .
The general elements in the orc hestra tion of Coyote w ere time,
rhythm, movement, colour, light and sound . The speci fic instruments
w ere the tw o large lengths of g rey felt, the w a lking stick, g loves and
flashlig ht a ll painted Beuys brown , the changing piles of Wall Street
Journals , the musica l tria ng le and the record ing of turbine eng ines.
(If I did it here w ith a bear the instruments w o uld be really different. .. )
All these elements had a lrea dy a ppeared a t so me stag e and in
some state in Beuys' activities. They are ingred ients of his la nguage,
some of the words in his voca bular y, so metimes hallmar ks, and they
are used to main tain a conti nuity in muc h the sa me w ay as ideas and
themes recur aga in a nd ag a in in mod ulated for ms a nd di fferent
co ntexts. It's a demonstrat ion of how to stretch your la nguage, how
to apply w hat yo u a lread y have to d iffe rent situatio ns as they present
themselves: 'Use w hat yo u have - don 't think yo u have to w a it until
yo u have found the perfect formulation .'
But these elements are more than w o rds in a vocabulary. They are
there as vehicles of experience , tra nsmitters and comm unica tors. Each
car ries many layers of mea ning , some specific and some universa l.
They are not to be understood as direct symbols - they are from the
representa tives of the ide a , a means of rende ring a n idea visible a nd
recogn iza ble . They are never esoteric o b jects. They a re al l fa miliar
everyda y elements pre sented in a d ifferent w ay and acq uiring a new
fresh co ntext. This is a parallel to Beuys' attempts to gi ve new mean ing
in his use of spo ken la ng uage to basic and essentia l words w hich
have become unconsidered abs tractions: words like dem ocracy,
brotherhood a nd freedo m. The ern phc sis in the rehab ilitat io n of such
w ords lies as much in how they are said as in what is said. ('Sing :
dem ocracy' .)
'First of a ll there w as the felt w hic h I bro ug ht in. Then there w a s the
hay which the coyote b ro ug ht in . These ele ments w ere immedi ately
exchanged between us: he lay in my are a a nd I lay in his. He used
the felt and I used the straw. That's w ha t I expec ted . I had a co nce pt
of how a coyo te might beha ve - it cou ld have been d ifferent. That 's
w hat I hoped for, but I was not sure w hether it w o uld wor k. But it d id
- it worked we ll. Pro ba bly I had the right sp iritua l focus... I reall y
made good co ntact wi th him.'
The tw o felt forms w ere ba sicall y the sa me, but too k o n different
functio ns. O ne w a s the w ra p-round transfo rma ble shape, the o ther
w a s the straw eq uivalent, the hea p fro m w hich the flashlig ht sho ne .
An d the d ual characte r of felt as insulator a nd w ar mth tran smitter w as
al so a ppl ied speci fica lly : insula tor from Ame rica , tra nsmitter to the
13
coyote. 'First there w a s the a im o f holding togeth er the spiritua l po w er
of the West, and then the idea of representing a being belonging to
the g roup soul area or kingdom . I w a nted to show the coyote a
parall el de ity or power. And I w anted to remind him that human
beings are now speak ing with him. A nd therefore I vari ed it:
so metimes it w as more like a hierarchic fig ure, a shephe rd , a nd then
wh en I sprang out of the felt I was quite normal a nd ord inary w ith my
d roo p ing tulip hat, just like in the ci rcus.'
'A nd wh at I tried to d o w as to b ring this out in a really oscillating
rhythm, you co uld say. First of a ll to remind him of w hat you could ca ll
his geniality, the geniality of his species, a nd then to spea k w ith him
as a human, a nd to show him that he too has possibi lities in the
d irection of freedom . O r a t least that he is under stood to be a
co nsid era ble actor in the p rodu ction of freed om, that w e need him
as an important prod ucer a nd helper. '
'This am bi gui ty in using felt both as an insulator a nd as a prod ucer
of energ ies is a lso exp ressed in Eurasian Staff in the co nstella tion of
the words The Moving Insulator.'
Then there w ere the elements pa inted brow n. W hy brown ? W hy
grey? 'The colours are neutral. They are really more hints of co lour,
g rey and brown. The felt for insta nce cou ld never be red . It must be
grey. That surely is a co lour, but a very neutral o ne. And brow n too ,
that is a kind of red , a de nsely cove red red . This shows my interest in
stayi ng more on the side o f sculpture . And the brown co lour is earth
and w ar mness. It car ries an association w ith dr ied blood too , a nd
transfor mation . And then of co urse the neutrality of these colours a lso
throws emphas is by w ay of contrast on the incredi ble richness an d life
of co lour tha t exists in the w or ld. '
The fla shlig ht w as the first of these brown elements. 'The flashligh t
w as a representatio n of ene rgy. First of all there w as the ac cumulat ion
of this energy, and then its g rad ual fad ing away d uring the co urse o f
14
the day until the ba tteries hod to be cha ng ed . A nd here a curious
cross-current d eveloped. The coyote's energy pattern ran in a different
di rectio n: he w as more lively tow ards the evening w hen the torch an d
daylig ht w ere fading , the light g row ing w eak er and the shad ow s
longer.'
The flashlight is the conveyor of the idea of spi ritual powers, wi th
its batteri es of mental powers. (A fla shlig ht is one of the essentia l
ingred ients in the survival kit o f the indi vidual sled ges of the Pack -
fat, felt, flashlight.) Li ght and batteries are intended not as a symbol,
but a s a physica l para llel. There w a s the remar kable way in w hich the
eyes of the coyote matched the glow of the flashl ight, and the fact that
w hen he lay o n the felt he a lways directed his head in the sa me
dire ction a s the flashligh t beam . The fla shlig ht itself w as conc ealed in
the heap of felt: ' I di d not w ant to show it d irectly as a technical
de vice . It was mo re a source of lig ht, a hearth, the glow ing of a
fadin g sun, or the gl eamin g of star energy in that grey hill .'
The stick is certa inly fam iliar by now : the Eurasia n Stoff that had
journeyed from Europe to the coyote, just as the coyote accord ing to
Beuys had w a nd ered over the po lar ca p to America w ith the Ind ian s:
the stick as an extension through time of the wan derings of peo ples.
(We st Man - Ea st Man : at a certa in point the tw o meet.)
The Eurasian Sta ff is used as the co nduc tor of energ y. In Coyote
the way it wa s held indic ated three main di rectiona l flows: held
horizonta lly running along the ground - the flow of energy acr oss the
surface of the ear th; raised high and vertica l - the pa ssage of spirit
from above to below ; held norma lly, croo k to the ground and exposed .
That's the normal position of the ordinary show man [not shaman):
'A normal par t of everyda y life, an d that's impor tant too .'
'The stick beca me an extension of my head , a head bending
befo re the coyote in a form of de voti on. I kept him co nstantly in view,
stayed in line wi th his every movement. And so the id ea of the spiritual
clock emerg ed , and it's very impo rtant to say that. At all times my
ac tions, a ll of them w ere depe ndent o n the act ions of the coyote .
When he came near to my figu ration I bowed in de votion . When he
lay down, I knelt. A nd w hen he fell a sleep, I fell over. Then w hen he
sprang up again, I threw off the felt and [urnped up too . That was how
the cycle went. '
At this point the triangle was struck, a sudden intervent io n 'beca use
the atmosphere had usually become a little restless. It wa s broug ht
back to simple ci rcling rhythm again , and harmo nize d.'
A SMALL SOUND SCULPTURE - THE THEORY OF SCULPTURE
DEMONSTRATED IN SOUND
There were o nly two sounds in Coyote: three sharp blows o n the
triangle, fo llowed by ten seconds of renewed silence, then a twenty-
seco nd blast of machine turbine roar.
The triangl e w as both an inte rrupter and a harmonizer.
The turb ine ma ch ine was the co nveyor of chaotic vita lity.
'The trian gl e w as design ed as a n impu lse of co nsciousne ss
directed towards the co yote : it helped to restore his harmon ized
movements and forms . (It rela tes to the sudden interjectio n of the
sharp clash of the cymbals in Iphigenia, used du ring the acti on
w hen the audience beca me restless.. .)
'The con fused roar of the turbine had more to do w ith the id ea
of undetermined energy. It cou ld be seen as directly relate d to the
use of fat in my sculpture : the point where fat a p pear s in a c ha otic
cond itio n, flowing away in a ll directions . Then there was the
tria ngl e, an d it's no coi ncidence that both the form a nd the sound
of the triangle resemble the Fa t Corner.' (The d ifferent sta tes throug h
wh ich fat passe s: it ca n be co nta ined as a determ ined fo rm in a
corn er, ar flo w freely in unde termine d farmle ssness. Farm and cha os
co ntrasted . The mo uld ing process as the tra nsfo rming passage in the
middle . The Theor y of Sculpture tra nslated into the language of
so und .)
'The turb ine machines are also the ec ho of tech no lo gy : una p plied
ene rgy. Energy that in fac t avo ids discussion of energy in the w ider
sense, and by failing to do so has a c haotic effect. Mod ern
technology does not respect all other fo rms of energy, a nd theref ore
w ar ks de structi vely.'
INSTRUMENTS OF FREEDOM
At the end of the cycle the b rown pain ted gl oves w ere thrown to
the coyote, an d he ca me to hav e a par tic ular affection far them as
playthings . 'The brown gloves in princ iple represent my han ds , a nd
the free ability that human be ings possess w ith their hands . They have
the freed om and the choice to do different things , to take a w hole
var iety of instruments in their turn: to work w ith a ha mmer, or a knife,
to write or to mould things. The hand s are universal tool s and this is
sig nificant for human kind . They are not specia lized and they are
universa l beca use they are emb ryonic . They are not directed towards
o ne speci fic use like the ta lons of an eagle , or the pa w s o f a bear,
or the mole's d iggers . In this free choi ce lies huma n kind's freed om .'
' So the throw inq of the gl oves to Little Jo hn mean t g iving him my
ha nds to pla y w ith: cut off hands. Offering him my human freed o m
and universalit y to play with .' Hu man unive rsality : a total contras t
to the Wall StreetJourn al, most spec ial ized of publ icat ion s and
sympto matic of our mod ern w o rld . 'That too certainly rep rese nts
an aspect of the Uni ted States. But it is more than that: it is the
diminished and des tructive interp retation of econo mics and money,
an inorga nic interpreta tio n based solely on the production of
physical g oods .'
'Tha t w as the end of the seq ue nce . But becau se it w a s a cycl ic
thing you cou ld say it w a s both the end and the beg inning . That is
15
the ope n situat io n out o f w hich the next cycle flows. Here ever yth ing
possible is b roug ht into the o pen , a nd the new cycle is introduced .'
'Those w ere the instruments fo r Coyote, a nd that w as the cycl e .
If I did it wi th a bear they would be q uite differe nt. I could do it. . .
he re . . . wi th a bear .. .'
16
Belo w : Eng lish versi o n of the or ig ina l German text piece tha t appears
o n p . 86 (tran slated by C aroli ne Tisda ll).
In Ameri ca :
KING COYOTE (FLUXUS Zone W est)
Shrouded shepherd , stick wi th bent crook (wa lking stick, shepherd's croo k
- or blind man's stick? Rem inde r of Eurasian staff) coming from the chest
area - over the bent handle turning back in the direction of Beuys
(towar ds the head?) : outward - inward . Instrument of w atchfulness,
instrument of alertness - con sciousness? W ea pon even. Oth erwise the
fig ure is completely protected from the outside through blanket (felt):
w ar mth-piece. C old outside? C oncen trate. The picture o f darkness
provokes light. An inner unease g row s in us: the freedom-secret's
foreca st!! What is happening unde r the blanket? Nothing is visible but
the stick: energy conveyo r in curved position: 'I get right in there - that's
for sure : right in there! But I w ant nothing to do with that: (the lukewarm
men). And if so , then that's right. ' Staff: antenna . KING COYOTE. Coyote
look s like a BEUYS. Coyote 's all there. Beuys: in a human position , ra ther
di fferent from usual . C oyote notices: he do esn't w o nt to co llar me, he's
reduced himself and therefore become really big . Deals wi th me via the
right channel. Conta ct made again (quiet - transmission!) : is busy with my
king . (Coyote: Beuys-instrument a nd vice versa .) Damn, that's scarcely
understanda ble . Can 't be proved a t all . Co yote means: king of the ear th,
I'll put my bets on you ! I'll go along w ith that. At lost, someone w ho ca n
get something ac ross to me. He knows how it go es: FR EEDO M-BEING .
Fine 'kings' they are to me otherw ise! Hardl y percepti ble and : on the
brink of ruin: the earth : energy crisis.
--Wa rmth ----Truth---------F reedom--Love--
Human-- -- -- - - - ---To think is kingly-
Johannes Stuttgen (1974)

- S'il té plaît. .. apprivoise-moi, dit-il!
- Je veux bien, répondit le petit prince, mais je n'ai pas
beaucoup de temps . J'ai des amis à découvrir et beaucoup
de choses à connaître .
- On ne connaît que les choses que l'on apprivoise, dit le
renard. Les hommes n'ont plus le temps de rien connaître. Ils
achètent des choses toutes faites chez les marchands. Mais
comme il n'existe point de marchands d'amis, les hommes
n'ont plus d'amis . Si tu veux un ami, apprivoise-moi!
- Que faut-il faire? dit le petit prince.
- Il faut être très patient, répondit Je renard. Tu t'assoiras
d'abord un peu loin de moi, comme ca, dans l'herbe . Je te
regarderai du coin de lœil et tu ne diras rien. Le langage est
source de malentendus . Mais, chaque jour, tu pourras t' asse-
oir un peu plus près. ..
Le lendemain revint le petit prince.
- Il eût mieux valu revenir à la même heure, dit le renard. Si
tu viens, par exemple , à quatre heures de l'après-midi, dès
trois heures je commencerai d'être heureux. Plus l'heure
avancera, plus je me sentirai heureux. A quatre heures, déjà,
je m'agiterai et m'inquiéterai; je découvrirai le prix du.bon-
heur! Mais si tu viens n'importe quand, je ne saurai jamais à
quelle heure m'hab iller le cœur.. . Il faut des rites.
- Qu'est-ee qu'un rite ? dit le petit prince.
- C'est aussi quelque chose de trop oublié, dit le renard.
C'est ce qui fait qu'un jour est différent des autres jours, une
heure, des autres heures. Il y a un rite, par exemple , chez
mes chasseurs. Ils dansent le jeudi avec les filles du village.
Alors le jeudi est jour merveilleux! Je vais me promener jus-
qu'à la vigne. Si les chasseurs dansaient n' importe quand, les
jours se ressembleraient tous, et je n'aurais point de va-
cances.
Ainsi le petit prince apprivoisa le renard. Et quand l'heure du
départ fut proche :
- Ah! dit le renard.. . Je pleurerai.
- C'est ta faute, dit le petit prince, je ne te souhaitais point
de mal, mais tu as voulu que je t'apprivoise . . .
Bien sûr, dit le renard.
Mais tu vas pleurer ! dit le petit prince.
- Bien sûr, dit le renard.
 Le renard se tut et regarda longtemps le petit prince: - Alors tu n'y gagnes rien!
- J'y gagne, dit le renard, à cause de la couleur du blé.
Puis il ajouta:
- Va revoir les roses. Tu comprendras que la tienne est uni-
que au monde . Tu reviendras me dire adieu, et je te ferai
cadeau d'un secret.
Le petit prince s'en fut revoir les roses:
- Vous n'êtes pas du tout semb lables à ma rose, vous n'êtes
rien encore, leur dit-il. Personne ne vous a apprivoisées et
vous n'avez apprivoisé personne. Vous êtes comme était
mon renard. Ce n'était qu'un renard semblable à cent mille
autres. Mais j' en ai fait mon ami, et il est maintenant unique
au monde .
Et les roses étaient bien gênées.
- Vous êtes belles, mais vous êtes vides, leur dit-il encore .
On ne peut pas mourir pour vous. Bien sûr, ma rose à mo i, un
passant ordinaire croirait qu'elle vous ressemble. Mais à elle
seule elle est plus importante que vous toutes, puisque c'est
elle que j'ai arrosée. Puisque c'est elle que j'ai mise sous
globe. Puisque c'est elle que j'ai abritée par le paravent. Puis-
que c'est elle dont j'ai tué les chenilles (sauf les deux ou trois
pour les papillons). Puisque c'est elle que j'ai écoutée se
plaindre, ou se vanter, ou même quelquefo is se taire. Puis-
que c'est ma rose.
Et il revint vers le renard:
- Adieu, dit-il. ..
- Adieu, dit le renard. Voici mon secret. Il est très simple : on
ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les
yeux.
- L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux, répéta le petit
prince. afin de se souvenir.
- C'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose
si importante.
- C'est le temps que j'ai perdu pour ma rose.. . fit le petit
prince. afin de se souvenir.
- Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité, dit le renard. Mais.tu
ne dois pas l'oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours
de ce que tu as apprivoisé. Tu es responsable de ta rose...
- Je suis responsable de ma rose... répéta le petit prince,
afin de se souvenir .
(IlLe Petit Prince«, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)