May 24 Friday – Sam, Livy and Clara Spaulding went to the opera (King Lear) at nearby Mannheim, some 30 minutes by rail [MTNJ 2: 46, 85n82]. Rodney concludes that Sam “reluctantly” accompanied the ladies, bearing a dislike for opera that stemmed “from his earliest exposure in America” [99]. From Sam’s notebook:

May 24—Theatre, Mannheim —Lear—performance began at 6

Sharp. Never understood a word—Gr grumbling—by & by terrific

& perfectly natural peal of thunder & vivid lightning. Gr—

“Thank heaven it thunders in English, anyway.”

At home—Sat 3 hours & never understood a word but the

Thunder & lightning.” [MTNJ 2: 85]