You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Vienna, August 20, 1899
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear Wilhelm,
I have been here for four weeks now and lament that this lovely time is passing so quickly. In another four weeks my vacation will be over, and it is not enough for me. I work wonderfully well here, in peace, without additional worries, in a state of almost total wellbeing;
in between I run out for walks and enjoy the mountains and woods. You must indulge me because I am completely immersed in my work; cannot write about anything else. I am far along in the chapter on “dream work” and have replaced — I think to advantage — the whole dream you deleted with a small collection of dream fragments. Next month I shall start the last, philosophical chapter, which I dread and for which I shall again have to do more reading.
The typesetting is progressing slowly. Whatever came in I sent you yesterday. Please send back only the proofs to which you take exception and write your comments in the margin. Also, later on, when it is possible for you, correct any quotations or references; I have no literary sources available here, of course.
After five hours of work today I have something like a writer's cramp in my hand. The rascals are making an unholy row in the meadow — except that Ernst is laid up with a bad insect bite, like the one Ida had when we were in Reichenau. Ever since the boy lost a front tooth, he has been continually hurting himself; he is full of wounds, like Lazarus, yet at the same time totally reckless and as though anesthetic. I ascribe it to a slight hysteria. He is the only one whom the former nurse treated badly.
Martha and Minna, both very well (at least alternately), are just now in the village. Alexander was here for four days; he will lecture on tariff rates at the Export Academy and will be given the title and rank of professor extraordinarius after one year — much earlier in fact than I. The soap bubble that prematurely burst for you would have been the most beautiful of all. Just imagine the joy of