Thursday, October 19:
Splendid weather, R. arranges the outing to Torcello, we leave at 10:30 and are back at 4:30; not greatly rewarded for the expenditure of time and energy, even if much of it proved very stimulating and the stop at the Church of S. Michele pleased R., too. But he is still not feeling well; he had a spasm in Torcello, and everything is a strain on him.
In the evening the arrival (for Lusch) of the 6-volume history of Venice leads to our looking through it and discussing this history in detail. Then Buddhism is also discussed, and indeed the character of animals, the instincts of the species, which help preserve animals on a stable level, whereas human beings degenerate; from this one might assume that the origin of man was a fleeting parenthesis which would lead to a return to animality “until man reveals some new quality.” “Not why, nor whence nor whither” - this wise saying of Buddha’s he quotes frequently.
Before this we were with Bonichen, who pleases R. greatly with her good and modest character, which, combined with her genuine beauty, makes a remarkable impression.