Sunday, December 29:
Went to church; it is always the sermon which is hard to bear! At home I write to friend Weitzmann to tell him about R.’s newly projected concert in Berlin. Went for a walk with R.; lovely day and lovely view of Bayreuth, but R. is indisposed and despondent. Lunch with the children. Fidi amuses us with his play with the jumping-jack.
In the afternoon R. goes again to see the mayor, and he tells me that the excellent man had assured him of his complete faith in our venture, which had won him over from the moment R. first put forward his thoughts about it; and were it to take years, he knew it would one day be achieved.
We continue Grimm’s mythology with the greatest interest. We come again to the subject of Fidi, and R. says, “Yes, he or I.” When I ask what this signifies, he says, “Either I shall die soon or he will.” Alarmed by the gloomy tone in which he says this, I ask him what he means, and he says, “The boy is too beautiful and too gifted; I cannot believe I shall be granted the happiness of watching him develop.” I go to bed unspeakably sad.