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March 13, 1895
Dearest Wilhelm,
It is a shame that both of us suffer from so much illness when we have so much ahead of us. I am pleased to see something of yours again. I already am accustomed to attributing scantiness and gaps in your report to something bad. I hope that next time you will write more to me and then there will also be something better in it.
Things are finally going well with Eckstein, as they could have without the detour three weeks ago. It does speak well for her that she did not change her attitude toward either of us; she honors your memory beyond the undesired accident.1
It has been a dreadful period for me, in almost every respect. The extensive restriction of my professional activities due to the epidemic also was bad for me. The only thing I remember of last week is that I have written fifty-two printed pages on the psychotherapy of hysteria; I shall give you the galley proofs to read. Otherwise, I rarely have felt so low and down, almost melancholic; all my interests have lost their meaning. The letdown following the increasing loneliness after our long time together also must have contributed.
March 15. Today your letter finally arrived, indicating that you are again feeling well. But listen, the two letters from Chrobak are precisely what we know here as an addition to Chrobakian bonhomie: pettiness and unreliability. This confirms the reports that are making the rounds. Gersuny says Chrobak always adopts the opinions of those around him. I am indeed convinced that your reply is dignified and that this matter will be settled in a few weeks. What kind of hair-splitting entitles him to say the labor pains have not been eliminated by your experiment?
Breuer is like King David; when someone is dead, he becomes cheerful. Previously he had been affected very strongly. Recently, after a polite note from me he indicated that he did not want me to treat him with such exquisite politeness, not him. In his reply he said2 that it was always easier for me