Friday, December 8:
R. had a wretched night, and our breakfast time is not as amicable as usual — complaints about life gain the upper hand, and even the thought of the children does not cheer R. up, their merriness seems to him like triviality. The weather is unfavorable, R. does not go out, he discusses the performances, etc., with friend Gross. Friend Jouk. arrives around 8 o’clock, received by R. with a mixture of gaiety and gruffness; he tells him his greeting must take this form if he is to avoid looking like the biggest of hypocrites.
His humor keeps on breaking through his vexation, he shows his rabbit and sings, “Stiefel must perish, though still so young!”