Oh! beloved brother soon, only another 8 days and I shall be with you! I am extremely happy in the thought to see you so soon — so unexpectedly. To explain everything by letter would be too long, so shall wait till we meet.
Here everything has become different so therefore I thought it the better plan to pack my things and come over when opportunity offered. Tuesday after Xmas I shall travel by dilligence3 from here to Heusburg,4 and Wednesday I leave there for Husum. Please dear Ferdinand forward the enclosed letter to Albertine5 the contents of which will not remain strange to you. I also wrote to the Mertens and asked them to let me know how I am to get from Husum to Tonning but that I would like to stay several days in Husum, when we can see one another often, and tell all the news, to which I am looking forward very much.
You were worried that I might be ill, and I was worried about you as you had not written for seven weeks. I waited in vain for a letter, now I am happy for a little while but it does not last long, and I fall back again into my condition of sadness. Oh in this world everything is vain — all earthly things are valueless — only the higher and better has any remaining value for us.
Now I am anxious to know what sort of position uncle will find for me in Hamburg. I dislike the housework so would much sooner do needlework. Please the dear Lord that it will be a nice position, so that I have again a little pleasure in my life. After all one is human and young. So good bye dear boy will see you soon.
Your Iwanne.
I only want to remind you not to write here again — your letter might come too late.
Your sister.6
editorial addition.
From the text of the letter the date should read 20 December 1842. The letter was written a week before Iwanne's departure from Nübel which was to be on the Tuesday after Christmas (i.e. 27 December 1842).
A mail coach running to a regular timetable.
Flensburg.
Albertine Warder?
The translator has noted below the valediction ‘The address on above letter was destroyed’
Letter not found. The text given here was 'Translated in Sydney from the German', and placed in Louise Wehl's scrap-book.
Please cite as “FVM-42-12-20,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on