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Vienna, July 17, 18991
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear Wilhelm,
I am indeed quite open to the argument of carpe diem, but I think I shall not immediately follow the course you desired. Everything is different once you do not need me — and that, looked at from another viewpoint, really pleases me. I have to take into consideration that I am tired and ill-humored; that I am hardly in condition to open my eyes and ears as wide as your new findings surely deserve; that the longing for my “worms” [children] already bothers me greatly; and that between Sunday evening (the time of my departure) and Martha's birthday (for which I need to do some errands in Salzburg) there is not sufficient leisure to spend more than a day with you. If the need has been eliminated, I can easily postpone the trip until September, a time when, more alert than now, I shall need to complain less to you — at least, let us hope so.