Saturday, September 16:
Much noise during the night, and in the morning the din of a market; R. exclaims, “Les doux accents de l’Italie!” [“The soft accents of Italy!”] — But we soon learn that Verona is flooded, and to reach the station we have to make detours and drive through water. But the town looks magnificent. When we again enter our saloon carriage, R. cries, “Dich, teure Halle, grüß ich wieder!” [“To thee, dearest hall, once more my greeting!”] There is a real threat of danger, and the noise during the night was made by soldiers leaving their barracks. I express my surprise at these soldiers, and R. says they look like Slovaks. I amused him yesterday when, in connection with a very effusive newspaper article, I told him that we now accompanied our great deeds with Turkish music. In this same newspaper I read that the naturalist Wallace has become a spiritualist. “That is what is now happening to everybody who lacks patience, who cannot set his sights wide enough,” says R. “Those of us, however, who can afford to be patient, since it is only from the downfall of this world of property that we expect anything, we live in a mood of hopeful resignation.” — The countryside is lovely in spite of the rain. Since, recalling the forsaken people at home, I write at the various stations to Marie Scholer, R., very much against it, says to me jokingly, “With all your devotion you will make sure that when we die, only your coffin will be followed!” At half past two we are in Venice; the town pleases us in spite of the gray weather, and the Palazzo Vendramin, which we inspect immediately, greatly appeals to us. Our lunch around 4 o’clock is very cheerful, and over coffee he reflects on Nature’s production of great individualities at a time when it is worried over the collapse of a generic idea. He compares this to the birth of twins following periods of war. — The children look at pictures in Über Land und Meer. And, commenting on the modern world, R. tells us of the silliness of student songs and sings to us “Vif la Vif la la.”