Letter 001 — I
Original French
Paris, 28 octobre 1795.
Je ne conçois pas ce qui a pu donner lieu à votre lettre. Je vous prie de me faire le plaisir de croire que personne ne désire autant votre amitié que moi et n’est plus prêt que moi à faire quelque chose qui puisse le prouver. Si mes occupations me l’avaient permis, je serais venu moi-même porter ma lettre.
Buonaparte.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean English translated from the French of the 172 Napoleon letters selected from Tancrède Martel, ed., Œuvres littéraires de Napoléon Bonaparte, tome 1 (Albert Savine, Paris, 1888). French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The transcription is CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/; this adapted text and translations are shared under the same license. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes; selected transcription repairs were checked against print images.
Paris, October 28, 1795.
I cannot imagine what could have prompted your letter. Please do me the kindness of believing that no one desires your friendship more than I do, or is more ready to do something to prove it. Had my duties allowed, I would have come to deliver my letter myself.
Buonaparte.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation from the 1888 Martel French edition, not a historical English translation. French Wikisource contributors supplied the scan-backed transcription: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Livre:Bonaparte_-_Œuvres_littéraires,_tome_1,_1888.djvu (page histories credit contributors). The adapted transcription and translation are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Extraction removes markup and editorial notes and makes documented transcription repairs. French-source model review is not human specialist certification or a complete scan collation.
Paris, October 28, 1795.
I cannot understand what led you to write to me. Please believe that nobody wants your friendship more than I do, or is more willing to give you some proof of it. Had my work permitted, I would have delivered my letter in person.
Buonaparte.
About this section
Letter 001 — I is part of Letters to Josephine by Napoléon Bonaparte. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 1 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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