Just past Naumburg, there appeared a party of upper form boys from Pforta, who must perforce look at me with envy; then we drove by President G., mounted in a trap which only just carried him, and his daughters, or his wives—the two ladies, at all events, who were with him, envied me likewise. We trotted up the Kösener Hills, for the horses scarcely needed to pull, and then we overhauled a procession of overloaded waggoners, and they envied me, too, for, indeed, I was worthy of envy. The country-side looked so full of the spring and its brilliancy, all bright and glad; and then the sun went down solemnly behind the hills. Then there came the Russian ambassador, proceeding along with two great four-horse chaises in a sombre, business-like style, and I flew past him in my drosky like a hare, and in the evening I got government horses again, so that a slight vexation should not be wanting (it is essential to pleasure by my theory), and all day I composed nothing, but merely enjoyed myself. It was a noble day, that is the truth, and one not to be forgotten. I close this description with the remark that the children of Eckartsberge play “Ringe, Rosenkranz,” just as they do with us, and did not let the strange gentleman’s presence disturb them, though he looked very imposing. I should have liked nothing better than to play with them myself.
May 24th.
This I wrote before I went to Goethe after walking in the park early in the morning; now I am still here,
