148d. Friedrich Schlegel to Wilhelm Schlegel in Amsterdam: Dresden, 20 January 1795 [*]
Dresden, 20 January [1795]
. . . I am now quite satisfied with Karoline, my dear good man. So you need not chastise her, since doing so would likely come back on your own head. I can certainly tolerate her taking a cut at me occasionally, since she can, after all, no longer do so with you, where it would also be too serious. Should it become too crazy, I will certainly know how to defend myself. All the ill qualities in her soul tend toward the outside, just as in people with the healthiest constitution the various elements of illness invariably end up in their extremities. — Good night.
Notes
[*] Sources: Walzel, 212; KFSA 23:226. — Although the incident about which Friedrich here writes is unknown, his relationship with Caroline proves to be similarly uneven and tense in the future. Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott