DOCS.
477,
478
OCTOBER
1913 357
At the
suggestion
of
my
colleague
Prof.
Maurer,[3]
I
am
therefore
turning
to
you
with
the
request
to
tell
me,
on
the basis
of
your
rich
experience
in
these
matters,
what
you
think could
be attained
with
currently
available
means.[4]
With
the
greatest respect,
yours very truly,
A.
Einstein
Federal
Polytechnical
Institute,
Zurich
[...][5]
478. To
Elsa Löwenthal
[Zurich] Thursday
[16
October
1913][1]
My
dear
Elsa,
It
is
almost
disgraceful
that
I
am
sitting
down
again
to
write to
you, seeing
that
I
received
your
letter
only today.
But the
hours
I
spent
so
comfortably
with
you[2]
left
me
with such
a longing
for
pleasant
conversation and
cozy
togetherness
that
I
cannot
resist
reaching
for the miserable
paper surrogate
of
reality.
Add
to this
that the situation
in
my
house
is ghastlier
than
ever:
icy
silence.
If
Nikolai
is
so
decent,
then
just
go
ahead
and
keep
seeing him.[3]
I do
not
mean
to make
any
attempt
to
pinch
off
anything
that
makes
you happy.
I
am
satisfied if
you
preserve
forever the
warm
affection
you
showed
me
in Berlin. I
am happy
that
1-12
of
our
separation
has
already
passed.[4]
It
will
pass
quickly.
If
only you were
as
busy
as
I
am.
You have
no
idea what
a
blessing
this
is,
even
if
one
labors
in
vain,
which
is
usually
the
case
with
me.
Is
there
no
useful
work for
you,
say
for
charitable
causes,
that
would
keep
you busy
4-5 hours
a
day?
You
would
soon
learn
to
appreciate it,
even
more so
than the
reading
rehearsals.[5]
I
did not
hear
anything regarding
the
institute;
I
don't
think
about
it
any longer.
It
will
surely
fall
through,
as
it well
deserves.[6]
I already
received the
booklet
from Mr.
Kraft,[7] along
with
a
friendly
note.
I
am
already
familiar
with
Mendel's
works from
reviews,
but
I
will
enjoy
reading
the booklet
as
well. Give
my
kind
regards
to Mr.
L. K., and,
in the meantime,
thank
him
on my
behalf. I have not
yet
written
the article
for
Planck,[8]
but
I
want to do it in
the
next
few
days.
What
delights me
most in
your
letter
is
the admission
that
you
relished
cooking
the
mushrooms for
me
and
that
you
still
remember
it
with
pleasure.
How
gladly
and how
gratefully
I
accept
things
like
that
from
you!
How nice it would be if
one
of these
days
we
could
share
in
managing
a
small
bohemian household.
You have
no
idea
how