Well, now I shall have to further ponder the words of the hen...
You've given us a koan to work, Ivy.
A couple of years ago, I was in a bookstore, and passed by a new edition of "Siddhartha" which boasted a bold new translation. (Hesse wrote the original in German.) Though it was a form of prejudice`-- I should give this bold new translation a chance -- I thought, we don't need a bold new translation, when Hilda Rossner did such a lovely job.
So, yes, Hesse's Siddhartha is a young man who has the courage to make his own
path and his own way in the world. For me, it was a book I didn't want to end.