Monday, October 15:
R. works. Yesterday evening he showed me a card in his waistcoat pocket on which he had written down a theme. A walk in the afternoon, but R. complains greatly about his foot, particularly the big toe. In the evening a visit from Prof. Bernays. R. received a letter from Prof. Hey with a detailed list of his expenses; R. showed us the wonderful way in which this is set out, and says he thought at first the writer had composed a poem to him! Much laughter, since the list is no trivial one; the question now is whether one will be able to let him have it.
Spoke a lot about Parsifal with Prof. B.; R. observes, with regard to Wolfram [von Eschenbach] and Gottfried [von Strassburg], that the introductions to both lays, Blancheflur and Riwalin, Gahmuret (die Herzeleide), bear the same relationship to the poems as the great Leonore Overture to Fidelio.