Dear and revered master,
And so your house has been firmly established in the midst of the storm. Although far from home, I have often thought of this and never without calling down heart-felt blessings upon you both. I was overjoyed to learn from your dear wife, for whom I cherish the deepest affection, that the possibility of celebrating this event came quite suddenly, at least, much earlier than you had any reason to expect when I saw you last.
You know what a powerful and irresistible current tore me away from you and prevented me from being an eye-witness of this solemn and long-hoped-for consummation of your wishes. For the time being, my activity has unfortunately been interrupted by illness. My manifold duties and commissions took me as far as Metz, where Mosengel, my highly esteemed friend, and I were able to discharge our task successfully. In Ars-sur-Moselle we were placed in charge of an ambulance of wounded men who were being sent back to Germany. This close contact with severely wounded men for three days and nights marked the climax of my activities. Only wretched cattle cars were available for the transport, and in one of these were six sufferers of whom I had sole charge. All of them had pulverized bones, some had as many as four wounds, and my diagnosis established two cases of diphtheria. In looking back upon this experience, it seems nothing short of a miracle that I was able to eat and sleep in this pestilential atmosphere. But I had scarcely delivered my transport in Karlsruhe than alarming symptoms of a complete breakdown made themselves noticeable, and it was only by a supreme effort that I was able to get as far as Erlangen and make a report to my organization. That accomplished, I went to bed and am still not able to be up. A very competent physician pronounced my trouble to be dysentery and diphtheria, and as vigorous measures were taken for getting these two contagious diseases under control, I am already on the way to recovery. So you can see that I am making the simultaneous acquaintance of two of the most dread hospital diseases, the effect of which has been so weakening that I shall be obliged to give up all thought of resuming my relief work for the time being. After a brief four weeks' period of activity for the general good, I am again thrown back upon myself—in a wretched plight to boot!
I do not like to say a word about the German victories; these are like the handwriting on the wall, which should be intelligible to all nations.
I am forbidden to write more today; my next letter will be to your wife, at whose feet I lay my most heartfelt good wishes. Good luck, also, to the newly christened son! Good luck to the entire Tribschen household!
Source: The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence, ed. Elizabeth Foerster-Nietzsche, trans. Caroline V. Kerr (Boni and Liveright, 1921), No. 14