My dear good Minna:
I congratulate you most heartily on your birthday. I have already quietly celebrated it in advance in Geneva by choosing some local goods here for you. In doing so, I thought above all of your bare arms, which you should cover with gold and silk; and, of course, the hands should be considered too. For the head they had those pretty little Geneva bonnets here, which are good for hard wear; I thought I should send you a few of these too. So that everything would smell nicely also, some perfume had to be provided, and I add my felicitations to the whole, so that it will make a pleasant impression.
Be healthy, be quiet and without worries—then you will also be happy: Surely!
On Minna's birthday
Your
Richard
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 191