Chronicle of Nietzsche 's Life 357to GersdorfE "If it fails, let us hope that we both have the honor of
falling on the battlefield, struck by a French bullet."
Reads Emerson and Friedrich Albert Lange.1867
Works on "De fondbus Diognis Laertii." Writes to Deussen: "You can-
not imagine how personally beholden I am to Ritsehl; I cannot and may
not tear myself away" (April 4). His will to style awakens: "The scales
have fallen from my eyes. I have been living in stylistic innocence for far
too long. The categorical imperative Thou shalt and must write' has
roused me" (April 6). Works on a study of Democritus. October 31: His
study of Diogenes Laertius is awarded a prize by Leipzig University.
October 9, 1867, to October 15, 1868: One-year military service in the
Naumburg artillery. N. learns to ride and to fire cannons.1868
March: Serious riding accident. Injury to his sternum. Intense pain.
Takes morphium. Drug-induced dreams: ''What I fear is not the dread-
ful figure behind my chair, but its voice: not so much its words as the ter-
rifyingly unarticulated and inhuman tone of that figure. Yes, if it only
spoke the way people speak!"June through August: Convalescence in Wittekind, near Halle. N. makes
plans; he would like to loosen his ties to philology: "But I have an unfor-
tunate weakness for Parisian culture... and would rather eat ragout than
roast beef.... But perhaps I will find philological material that can be
treated musically" (July 2). October: Continues his studies in Leipzig.
November 8: Makes the personal acquaintance of Richard Wagner at the
Brockhaus residence. N. is invited to Tribschen. Feelings of euphoria.
1869
February 12: Although N. has not finished his dissertation or postgrad-
uate thesis, he is appointed to the University of Basel at the urging of