and to call
her mine in front of the whole world. You'll
soon
be
my
"student"
again,
exactly
as
in Zurich. Are
you
glad?
Today
I
spent
the whole afternoon with Kleiner in Zurich and
explained
my
ideas
on
the
electrodynamics
of
moving
bodies to him
&
otherwise talked
with
him about
all kinds
of
physical problems.
He is
not quite
as
stupid
as
I thought, and,
moreover,
he is
a
good
guy.
He
said I
may
refer to him whenever
I
need
a
recommendation. Isn't that
nice
of him?
He
must
go away
during
the vacation and he hasn't read
the thesis
yet.
I told him to take his time, I
am
in
no
hurry.
He
advised
me
to
publish
my
ideas about the
electromagnetic
theory
of
light of moving bodies together with the
experimental
method.
He
thought that the experimental method
proposed
by
me
is the simplest
and
most
appropriate
one
conceivable. I
was very
pleased
with the
success.
I shall
certainly
write the
paper
in the
coming
weeks. I
am
staying
here
during
the
vacation,
but I'll
spend
the
two
feast
days
of
Christmas with
my
sister in
Paradies,
in intimate winter solitude. If
only
you
too could be there!
But
our
Paradise will follow
soon.
I
am
absolutely
delirious with
delight.
It is not yet certain whether the
Englishman
will
come
with
me
to Bern
--
but under these circumstances
I don't
really
care.
The wretched old
man
will be
surprised
when I
tell him about it! He is
a
miserable scoundrel. I've learned
hair-raising things
about him.
Hugs and kisses from
your
Johonzel
The
parcel
with the books is
already
on
its
way.
131. TO
MILEVA
MARIC
[Schaffhausen]
Saturday
[28 December 1901]
My
dearly
beloved little sweetheart!
I
am
writing
to
you
again,
because I cannot bear not to write to
you.
What
a
precious
sweetheart I have
&
what
a
fine little
parcel
has she sent me! She
even
hid
a
magnificently fine piece of tobacco
in it
& a
most darling little letter.
I
rejoiced
all
day
long. The
goodies
are
incomparably good
&
I kiss
you
in
my
thoughts
each time I
eat
one.
I have eaten almost half of
it,
even
though
it arrived
only
yesterday
at
noon.
I
am
decidedly
not in
a
sad
mood.
All the time I
rejoice
in the fine prospects which
are
in
store
for
us
in the
near
future. Have I already told
you
how rich
we
will be in Bern? 3,500
fr. is the minimum
salary
the
position
pays
according
to
the
advertisement,
but it increases
up
to 4,500. Ehrat thinks, though,
that
one
cannot
live
on
4,000 fr. with
a
wife. But
we
will
prove
by
deeds how
fabulously
that
can
be done!
Isn't it
so,
sweetheart?
After all,
we
managed in Zurich with barely half of that
&
had
a
great
time of it. I find it quite funny how
fussy
people
are.
It is true
that life is supposed
to be
more
expensive
in Bern than in Zurich.
But this is probably
not
so
serious.
Michele
gave
me
a
book
on
the
theory
of
ether,
written in 1885.
One would think it
came
from
antiquity,
its views
are so
obsolete. It
makes
one
see
how fast knowledge develops nowadays.
I
now
want to
buckle down and
study
what Lorentz and Drude have written
on
the
189