Sunday, February 5:
Worry! I send to Dr. Berlin to ask whether it is advisable to stay on here. The sun is shining, and we wait for Count Tasca, an outing having been arranged; he does not arrive, R. and I drive to his house, it was a misunderstanding. Above all R. wants the bodyguard removed! After lunch the children go with the Count to the flower throwing, R. rests but feels oppressed. Dr. Berlin advises stoves. The children return home with the Count and Rub.
R. asks the latter to play Chopin's “Polonaise” to warm us up and is delighted with it, calling it a masterpiece. He is again delighted by the “flashing of countless spurs,” and explains this to Tasca. In the evening we read “Correa” again in honor of Lusch, with renewed enjoyment. In addition R. is reading Le Piccinino, which he finds pleasing. R. praises my cheerfulness under such conditions, thinks it must be the South; “I know otherwise!” I must add that R.'s first dream in this house concerned Fidi: R. was with somebody like Math. Maier, and through a kind of embarrassment tried on his hat; whereupon Fidi presented him with a small one: “Here, Papa.”