Monday, December 21:
R. does not reach home until half past three; he did not find a Sieglinde and altogether had the feeling of having seen nothing but ghosts; he says, “One walks around one’s own country as if in a foreign land; the old people are all shriveled up, the young ones completely lifeless.”
At first much moved by Jessonda, but then the absurdities proved too great (Brahmans with mustaches, Indian dancing girls with chignons!).
In the evening we did not get to discussing the main point, which is that the payment to the royal treasury of the patrons’ money as it comes in, as stipulated in the contract, would prove a complete obstacle to our undertaking.