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17 September

Dear Baroness Schey!

Here’s a riddle for you. You know the reputation that German bureaucrats enjoy. So how is it possible, what would you have to do, be or appear to be, to get a letter from the tax office that made you tremble, not with vexation but with joy? I’ve just received such a letter. The answer is too complicated to convey in writing. I hope your curiosity will soon bring you to Schwaz to hear this remarkable tale from the tax office. While we’re on the subject of riddles, I’m very keen to hear the solution to the [musical notation] riddle. It would of course be hopeless to search through all the newspapers. If you happen to hear anything about it, I’d be very grateful if you would share it with me.

While I was in town yesterday evening, taking a letter to the post office counter and buying mutton chops for myself, I came across six buskers – two violins, four guitars and six stirring voices. Their rhythm was so compelling that the coins virtually danced out of my pocket and into the passing hat. It reminded me of the dream Hans, Eugenie and I have of travelling around the world as gypsies, with an accordion, a violin, a guitar and a piano. The dream came to nothing because we didn’t have a pianist – and that, the others said, was my fault. I’d almost forgotten about it completely until yesterday, when it came racing back to me! You laugh? About us?

– – – – – Edl – – – – –

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