everything
to ourselves and had I put off the old folks. But
no
harm
has been done,
my
dear sweetheart,
Papa
and Mama
are
very
phlegmatic
people and have less stubbornness in their whole
body
than
I have in
my
little finger.
Just
as
my
old Zurich makes
me
feel at
home,
so
do I miss
you, my
dear little
"right
hand." I
can
go
wherever
I
want
-
but
I
do not
belong anywhere an[d] I miss the two little
arms
and the
glowing
little
girl
full of tenderness
and kisses. How
sorry
I
felt for the
Catholic
clergymen
who
were
in Melchthall! The measurements
of
my
tender little feet I'll send
you
another
time,
now
don't
you
start
wriggling again.
In return, however,
you'll
get
a
big
kiss for
your
hen-like
eagerness!
-
But
now,
as
to the
excuse.
On the
evening
of
the
day
before
yesterday
I received
a
postcard
from
Ehrat, in which he
writes that he
proposed
me
for
a
temporary
position
with the insurance
office
in which he is
working
at present. One gets
8
fr
per
day
&
has
8
hours of idiotic drudgery. But I declined, believing that I could
use
the vacation better. One must shun such
stultifying
affairs. I
am
remaining
here to
see
how the matter will develop and finally
to
straighten
out
my
"business and political" affairs.
It
seems
that
Ehrat's competition also includes Matter, whose election
would
yield
me
the
position
with Hurwitz. So,
courage,
little witch! I can't
wait for the
moment
when I'll
be
able to
hug
you
and
press you
and
live with
you
again.
And
cheerfully
we
will
go
at it and work and
have
heaps
of
money.
And if the next
spring
is beautiful,
we
will
get
flowers in
Melchthal.
Tender
kisses from
your
Albert
72.
TO
MILEVA MARIC
Zurich Tuesday [14? August 1900]
Dearest little sweetheart!
Once
again
a
few
lazy and dull days flitted past
my
sleepy
eyes,
you
know, such
days
on
which
one
gets
up
late
because
one
cannot think
of
anything
proper
to
do,
then
goes out
until the
room
has been made
up,
then studies for
a
few hours until
one
gets too tired. Then
one
hangs
around
and looks
halfheartedly
forward to the
meal, languidly
meditating
about
highly important
philosophical
questions
&
whistling
a
little
while
doing
so......
How
was
I able
to
live alone before,
my
little
everything.
Without
you
I lack self-confidence,
pleasure
in
work, pleasure in living
-
in
short,
without
you
my
life is
no
life.
I
was even
making visits in order to distract
myself.
For
example,
I
called
on
Mrs.
Markwalder,
who
still
shows the
same
apathetic-languid
amiability
& sees
everything in
an
undefinable daze;
how
lucky that I do not
lodge
any
longer with her. I have also
visited
Jungferli
[the
little virgin],
who is still
one
of the nicest
and liveliest
persons
we
know here. She is
now
leaving for good; she
is
moving
to
a
small town
in the Thurgau. I also visited
your
landlady. She said that
your
suitcase had
gone
a
long time
ago.
She
asked whether
you
perhaps
want to
keep
the
room,
she would then
make
a
special
arrangement. But I turned this
down (the
tyrant!
you'll
probably think).
But I will
not
grant
you
leave beyond the first
days
of October;
145