November 30 through December 6 Summary

November 30 - Werther is finding the outdoors unappealing, dank and cold. On a walk, Werther encounters a man who seems to be in search of something in the damp rocks. Werther asks the man, who appears to be a peasant, what he might be looking for. The man responds that he is looking for flowers. Impossible—there are no flowers in this weather. An older woman approaches who is the man's mother. She explains that her son is insane. He had been chained up in a madhouse for six months but was released and is better. Werther presses a coin in the old woman's hand.

Werther almost envies the man. Tomorrow he will repeat his same quest and will not be aware of his dismal existence. Werther, on the other hand, is all too sadly aware of his...