"You might have some music."
"Wagner would not feel like it, I know him: under such circumstances he does not know at all how to dominate, but he grows listless and loses his good humour."
"That mustn't be!" I exclaimed. "It is absolutely necessary to think of something!"
"Ah yes! Do help us out of it if possible, but do not count upon me, I feel utterly incapable of an idea that would be in the least amusing."
I saw Servais in the distance with Richter, they were by the edge of the lake, under the little landing shed, and were throwing bits of wood into the water, to induce Russ and Cos to take their bath.
"I believe a light is dawning in my mind," said I to Cosima. "Wait for me where you are." And I ran down to join the two young men at the edge of the lake.
"My friends," I said to them, "in the face of a delicate situation do you feel the moral force to do something unusual, grand, heroic?"
"Not at all, not at all," replied Servais. "I don't feel equal to anything of the kind."
"Not in the service of the Master?"
"One can always try," said Richter.