Tuesday, February 21:
Foehn and a letter from the King, in his usual style; I remind R. that the clairvoyante Katharina Dangl of Munich had told him that the waxing moon was favorable in his relations with the King, and sure enough we now have a crescent moon.
R. says that within such relationships it is impossible to be too mystical, and reasonableness would be the most mystical thing of all. The King asks R. to tell him his plans and complains about the political situation; we have to smile at the realization that, while everybody is applauding his German outlook, he is probably serving the German cause only very reluctantly, because he is obliged to.
I send the 2,000 francs to the savings bank; now have 7,000 francs laid aside for the children.
Yesterday R. was looking for the origin of the word Gam, and when he found in the dictionary "of doubtful origin," he thought about it and came to the conclusion that it is the same as Gaea and both come from Sanskrit.
Long walk with R., and only then realized it is Shrove Tuesday. The Illustrirte Zeitung prints pictures from the war, and these lead us to talk of the fate of the horses. R. says the wickedness of human beings is shown at its clearest in this: one has only to think of such a life, starting proudly in a gentleman's stable and ending up old and tired pulling a cart, to shudder at the cruelty of the lords of creation!
In the evening, Carlyle, whose style makes us suffer greatly.