Friday, January 4:
R. dreamed that I was in tears and embraced him, because he was ill! It makes us laugh that this was the best dream he could think up for himself! He works, is feeling well again, tells us at lunch how as a child he once swindled the parson out of half of his confession money, having spent it on cream puffs! When he fell out with his mother, he pretended he wanted to go to confession, and was then given the money!
A walk with him in the palace gardens. Then he goes to work again; when I come down to see him, he says, “You come right on a middle voice, a difficult middle voice!” In the evening the Divina commedia again; despite his admiration for the poet, he feels great repugnance for the subject of the poet’s imagination. As we go off to bed, he says he is having difficulty in baking life’s daily bread. Yesterday a very nice letter (reply) from the King’s new secretary. Yesterday, too, Herr von Wolzogen read us his circular, written in R.’s name to the local Societies.