Sunday, December 23:
Decorating the tree. R. works and is feeling tolerably well. Unfortunately, the first reactions to Parsifal to reach us are a very silly, sprawling letter and a review in the Börsen-Courier.... But despite these, R. works in the afternoon.
In the evening he reads the children a very pretty and moving story from the Fliegende Blätter, called “The Yellowhammer.” Then, in the middle of a general conversation, he picks up a volume of Goethe and points significantly to the words “But nothing could compare with their contentment...” which have echoed so profoundly throughout our life together. A moment of deep emotion, enjoyed in silence!
We continued with the history of the Arabs. While reading the stories about the martyrs, R. exclaims to me, “That would have been a time for you - you wouldn’t have stayed two days alive!”