Sunday, December 5:
Again my night was entirely sleepless and R.’s restless.
In the morning he receives a telegram from Herr v. Hülsen [enclosed in Diaries; see notes] which, as R. surmised, requests Die Walküre as a result of the “joint performances” with Herr Neumann. R. decides not to reply at all. Wolz. has sent his plan for the enlarged Blätter, I read it with some misgivings; I find it hard to envisage the possibility of R.’s far-reaching ideas being propounded by his pupils. I show R. the MS. over coffee, R. makes a few deletions, we experience the same feelings of embarrassment, without, however, going more deeply into the matter.
He takes a walk, returns to me after a while, and says, “I believe I shall be complying with a growing thought in you if I decide to leave the whole thing as it is.” I am very much in favor, our spirits revive, and the word is spoken between us: “subscription for the decline of the human race” (Wolz. had appealed for subscriptions); I do not remember who said it first, but it turns a mood of depression into one of tremendous gaiety.
But his eyes are troubling him, he cannot read; in the evening I read Preciosa to him and the children. He then shows me a page of his score.