Bethlehemitische Kindermord, in rhymed Alexandrines, was often
performed; it was published and received the warmest praise from
Goethe.

This excellent man, under whose care our family moved to Dresden
when I was two years old, and by whom my mother had another
daughter, Cecilia, now also took my education in hand with the
greatest care and affection. He wished to adopt me altogether,
and accordingly, when I was sent to my first school, he gave me
his own name, so that till the age of fourteen I was known to my
Dresden schoolfellows as Richard Geyer; and it was not until some
years after my stepfather's death, and on my family's return to
Leipzig, the home of my own kith and kin, that I resumed the name
of Wagner.

The earliest recollections of my childhood are associated with my
stepfather, and passed from him to the theatre. I well remember
that he would have liked to see me develop a talent for painting;
and his studio, with the easel and the pictures upon it, did not
fail to impress me. I remember in particular that I tried, with a
childish love of imitation, to copy a portrait of King Frederick
Augustus of Saxony; but when this simple daubing had to give
place to a serious study of drawing, I could not stand it,
possibly because I was discouraged by the pedantic technique of
my teacher, a cousin of mine, who was rather a bore. At one time
during my early boyhood I became so weak after some childish
ailment that my mother told me later she used almost to wish me
dead, for it seemed as though I should never get well. However,
my subsequent good health apparently astonished my parents. I
afterwards learnt the noble part played by my excellent