Thursday, December 24:
Working uninterruptedly on setting things up, which lasts from morning until 5 o’clock in the evening. The whole household, along with the Nibelung Chancellery, 25 people in all, come through the salon into the hall, and all seem pleased and in good spirits.
On my table lies the Götterdämmerung sketch!
On the previous evening I came upon R. in tears: the 50 francs, which he can no longer send to poor Parson Tschudi, he had just sent to Vreneli, and he was recalling in deep emotion our life together in Tribschen, and thanking me for having borne so much for his sake.
We bring the evening to an end at about 10 o’clock.