Friday, July 25:
A good night. R. is greeted by six little chicks, born during the night, which give him great delight (Georg brought them to him in a basket).
Conversation on all kinds of things in the morning: Dante’s and Milton’s Satan; Doré’s illustrations (which R. much admires); and finally, on having thought as he got up of “the high-minded Tithonus,” Schiller’s “Die Götter Griechenlands,” and the fine feelings it aroused. R. works; in the afternoon, since all the children are away on an outing, we stroll in the garden, inspect the poultry yard, and then have the horses harnessed in order to drive to the Bodenmühle. A very lovely walk; a true idyll, so close to the town! . . . Siegfried meanwhile at the funeral of our poor municipal gardener.
In the evening a wide-ranging conversation: R. explains to Herr Rub. Schopenhauer’s theory on the origin of the human race and the emigration and return home of the first Indians. We go on talking till late into the night.