Monday 6th (September 6th, 1875)

Preparations for Vienna—hotel or furnished lodgings?—The Americans torment R. for the promised letter; I oppose with all decision the writing of a single word. R. takes a long walk, comes upon a labourer who is sifting sand for lime; R. reflects further—lime, houses, fittings, luxury—how must all this branch out, pile up, until it becomes the work of art, and how then can one speak of a national work of art, what does such a stonemason have to say about the Ring of the Nibelung? … Only the individual, the chosen, can enjoy art. —The motto of this day is “dans le siècle puant et horrible” [1] from Guiot de Provins, in the evening we read, with much interest, San Marte’s introduction to the “Bible”. R. laughs that people imagine that, because of the railways, men now see more of the world and travel farther—what did such a man as Guiot not see and experience!