Monday, July 24:
R. in despondent spirits: the King, the King! Also, in order to deter people of note in Bayreuth, word is being spread that the King does not approve of our venture.
R. finishes the second scene of his act, but feels not at all well. We go out; he feels like a long walk but returns home very wretched. He complains that the diet is wrong, he cannot eat strawberries, etc. He goes to lie down, and I read Carlyle to him, which distracts him.
Our Americans have gone, after R. had decided that music is the new religion. “We could not get through to one another, so we made music together, and at once we understand one another.” “Our life could be heavenly, but nothing must disturb it from outside.”