L E T T E R S

14while wishing to do someone a favor, unwittingly increase his pain? Only aperson who knowingly harms another is deserving of anger and scorn. Thisweek my neighbor is really my cook. I no longer have to bother washing thecoffee-maker. After breakfast I can immediately begin to write. Moreover,when he learned that I was writing to you, he asked me to include his kindregards. And since he is my good friend, I expect that you will accept them. Heis the one who used to write to me from Berlin while I was with you inWarsaw... the one whose traveling companion died in Berlin. You mayremember how much that person’s death depressed me last August. Now atlast I was able to shed a tear at his grave in Berlin; however, without beingable to share again the consolations and sorrows of our sad pilgrimage togetheron this earth 10 .Let me first wish you a ―Good Morning!‖ It feels like a hundred yearshave passed since I began writing, although it is really not more than a hundreddays. What does the future hold? I said ―good night‖ to you twice yesterday,and so let me wish you a second ―good morning‖ today. Night, morning andevening – all rightly share your favor.Today I will surely get around to writing all the things I want to tell youin this letter. The French are irreligious to the point that not only do they notobserve a five-day holiday for Christmas like the Spaniards, but not even atwo-day holiday like the Poles. In all of the institutions here today it is ―workas usual‖. However, since yesterday was a Solemn Feast, it was a day off forthe printers. As a result there are no new periodicals to read., which explainswhy I have more free time. About my health: Even from what I wrote to you,you can guess that it is just "so-so." Now let us get back to the journey. I leftBerlin on November 8. In eight hours I had traveled comfortably by "RapidCoach" through Potsdam and Wittenberg /once famous for its homes, and10 The reference here is to Theodore Olechowski /1805-1828/ who came from Topola nearStobnica. Orphaned early, he studied with Królikowski in Kielce. He also studied in Warsaw, andwas one of Bogdan Jański’s closest friends. In the fall of 1827 he set out for France withKrólikowski on foot, but took sick and died on the way.