human
Now that I know your writing, said I to Cosima,
gpt
I realise that the letter was by your own hand.
human
That is true, Wagner wrote it first in German. I translated it into French, then we re-read it and corrected it together, and finally I copied it again.
gpt
How wrong of us to have given you all that trouble! Pasdeloup was over-confident. If I had known about this retreat of Tribschen, how sacrilegious would have seemed to me the idea of asking the Master to leave it in order to please a Theatre Director!
human
You have seen by the affair of the _Rheingold_, that it is much better for Wagner not to mingle with the theatrical world. His first duty is to keep his creative faculty intact, but he is a 'fighter,' and is always tempted to throw himself into the fray.
gpt
Now that I have the joy of knowing him, he will never again be called to battle by me!
human
He will return of himself, only too soon, for repose is not for him,
gpt
I am curious to read again that letter that you wrote, you two, when you believed me to be a very serious old lady.... Do you remember your surprise, the first time you saw me to find me so different from what you had imagined? You would not be able to write in the same tone now.
human
Certainly, the style of your articles does not at all resemble you, and we did not in the least foresee the _gamin_ that you are ... sometimes!
gpt
Neither could I have known that Wagner climbed trees....
human
But in any case the letter had nothing private in it; it was written to be published.