Friday, December 15:
During the night R. laughs aloud, thinking of Stiefel, then he dreams about my having to break out of a tower. These images provide us with conversation; he visualizes Lessing’s and Tauentzien’s reactions to Stiefel when the poor, fleeing boy is caught, Tauentzien upholding the position of “civilization,” law and order, Lessing describing the terrible situation which led to this incident. The recruit is hanged, his comrades sing a song to him; I feel that Fr. the Gr. should intervene to rescue him, but R. says no. And he goes on to say that his opinion of such rulers is sinking lower and lower, there is not much to choose between them (e.g., Fr. the Gr.) and Napol., Tamburlaine, the kings of the Huns, and there is after all a great difference between acknowledging that life is suffering and using this knowledge for cruel and selfish ends.
R. goes for a short outing with Fidi before lunch. We eat early, since he is going to the rehearsal; the open secret of the “surprise” provides table conversation of the merriest kind. My mood remains subdued throughout, since the doctor is not satisfied with Eva’s condition, but he does not say precisely what it is! Around 4 o’clock R. goes to the rehearsal (yesterday Frontali, the first violinist, told Lusch that the players were all enraptured with R.). He returns home very content, saying it all went well! He told the players that it was an old piece, written 50 years ago, and they would find nothing new in it - if they wanted something new they had better choose a symphony by Beethoven or Haydn.
The French opera edition mentioned by my father leads R. to talk about the prolificness of the 18th century and the foolishness of publishing it all. Then he grows heated about laurel wreaths and the custom of presenting them to artists; I strive in vain to defend this symbol, and I quote to him “das Reis” and the muse of Parnassus! We play whist, which does not put R. into the best of moods! Talking to me about his symphony, R. says contentedly that it is not at all sentimental, striving throughout toward nobility.