Thursday, February 26:
R. had a good night, and we spend the day in good spirits; R. corrects the biography and reads Gleizes, and I sit for Herr Joukowsky in the morning. At breakfast we talk mainly about conditions in Russia, which are certainly worth discussing.
[Added on the next page but referred back to this page: “R. says the world will soon contain nothing but prisoners—‘Louis XVIII, the principle of no principles—’”]
Then R. and I drive with Herr Joukowsky and Herr Stein to secondhand shops to look for old materials. We come to an Israelite dealer on the Strada di Constantinopoli, where we see very fine materials at a price we can afford. From there R. goes to the brewery, and I with Herr J. to even seedier dealers, who let down blankets in baskets from upper stories onto the square, a square which is indescribably Neapolitan and where I buy several rugs for R. I find it great fun when, on the larger square where the carriage has been obliged to wait, I meet Prince Our., show him my booty, spreading it out amid an ever-growing crowd of onlookers, then go to fetch R. from the brewery and tell him all about it. One of the joys of the experience, imparting it to him.
Splendid journey home, and in the evening such curious moonlight and cloud formations that one has the feeling of being part of the ether itself; layers of cloud cover all the mountains, the countryside has suddenly become a completely different one, the sea is like a blue sky, and we, on our balcony, seem to be hovering in the clouds. I invoke all the blessings of Creation on the cherished head my hand is touching.