1872.01.23 English

copenhagen the twentythird of january seventytwo   dearest all we have had health problems here for quite some time   this is the main reason why i have made you wait for such an unseemly long time for a letter from me   my darling kathrine has not been well at all   however during the last few weeks there has been steady progress and the doctor says that there is not the slightest danger but that she is not likely to recover completely until sometime next summer   then our two daughters emma and engelke also went down with a severe cold but luckily they are also recovering well   i myself have for three weeks been bothered with headaches i suppose similar to yours dear brother iørgen   it had a feverish character but fortunately it has now been chasen away by quinine  in addition miss kasse has been ill and to complete the picture now also the maid    so as you can see dear we have gone through a hard time    and when we add to illness and weakness also the great pressure of work at the institution as well as with the writing ball and new ideas in this area you will appreciate that your mouse[1] has been terribly busy    i think i forgot in my previous letter to thank you dear brother for your letter to juliane   it has on her request been read to her so many times that by now she knows it by heart   and heartfelt thanks to both of you dear brothers for your lovely letters   i do wish we could talk to each other more often   but hopefully at least next summer when we have the exhibition[2] to entice the two of you to come   i don’t suppose the exhibition will attract you dear mother but then again we have by the grace of god the four sweet little girls  and hopefully they will be able to entice dear grandmother to travel here   yes i pray to god that you may all be able to come here and that all of us may enjoy good health   dear brother in law iohan heiberg has sat for his theological final university exam and was given the mark of haud primi[3]    this was very unfortunate    he was graded as number three out of twentytwo students in the written part and hence there were firm reasons to assume that he would be given a laude   but he was oddly unlucky   he did get three laudes and only two haudes   consequently this would have been enough to get the highest mark if only one of the laude had been in a major   however on that same day quickly after his exam he did achieve excellently in another respect because he was betrothed to a daughter of a local bill broker by the name of lorentsen   a nice girl it seems and splendid parents    they say the father is a very rich man   iohan will repeat his studies and i think he will get his laude next year  i have fondest greetings from him and from all the other brothers and sisters in law   i am hoping you will write soon   warmest greetings from all of us to all of you dear people   your deeply devoted mouse

signed by hand                                  R. Malling Hansen