Letter 024 — XXIV
Original French
Vérone, le 19 novembre 1796.
Enfin, mon adorable Joséphine, je renais; la mort n’est plus devant mes yeux, et la gloire et l’honneur sont encore dans mon cœur, l’ennemi est battu à Arcole. Demain nous réparons la sottise de Vaubois qui a abandonné Rivoli. Mantoue dans huit jours sera à nous, et je pourrai bientôt dans tes bras te donner mille preuves de l’ardent amour de ton mari. Dès l’instant que je le pourrai, je me rendrai à Milan; je suis un peu fatigué.
J’ai reçu une lettre d’Eugène et d’Hortense; ces enfants sont charmants.
Comme toute ma maison est un peu dispersée, du moment que tout m’aura rejoint, je te les enverrai.
Nous avons fait cinq mille prisonniers et tué au moins six mille hommes aux ennemis; adieu, mon adorable Joséphine; pense à moi souvent. Si tu cessais d’aimer ton Achille, ou si ton cœur se refroidissait pour lui, tu serais bien affreuse, bien injuste; mais je suis sûr que tu seras toujours mon amante comme je serai toujours ton tendre ami
La mort, elle seule, pourra rompre l’union que la sympathie, l’amour et le sentiment ont formée.
Donne-moi des nouvelles du petit ventre. Mille et mille baisers tendres et amoureux.
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.
Verona, November 19, 1796.
At last, my adorable Joséphine, I am born again; death is no longer before my eyes, and glory and honor are still in my heart. The enemy is beaten at Arcole. Tomorrow we shall repair Vaubois's blunder in abandoning Rivoli. In eight days Mantua will be ours, and soon, in your arms, I shall be able to give you a thousand proofs of your husband's ardent love. As soon as I can, I shall come to Milan; I am a little tired.
I have received a letter from Eugène and Hortense; those children are charming.
As my whole household is somewhat scattered, as soon as they have all rejoined me, I shall send them to you.
We have taken five thousand prisoners and killed at least six thousand enemy men; farewell, my adorable Joséphine; think of me often. If you ceased to love your Achille, or if your heart grew cold toward him, you would be very cruel, very unjust; but I am sure you will always be my lover, as I shall always be your tender friend.
Death alone can break the union that sympathy, love, and feeling have formed.
Send me news of the little belly. A thousand and a thousand tender, loving kisses.
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.
Verona, November 19, 1796.
At last I am alive again, my beloved Joséphine. Death is no longer before my eyes; glory and honor still live in my heart, and the enemy has been defeated at Arcole. Tomorrow we shall put right Vaubois's blunder in abandoning Rivoli. Mantua will be ours in eight days, and before long I shall hold you in my arms and give you countless proofs of your husband’s ardent love. I will come to Milan as soon as I can. I am a little tired.
A letter has reached me from Eugène and Hortense; they are charming children.
Since my whole household is somewhat scattered, I will send them to you as soon as everything has rejoined me.
We have captured five thousand enemy soldiers and killed at least six thousand. Goodbye, my beloved Joséphine; think of me often. If you stopped loving your Achilles, or your heart grew cold toward him, you would be dreadfully cruel and unjust; but I know you will remain my lover, just as I shall remain your devoted friend
Death alone can break the bond that sympathy, love and feeling have formed.
Tell me how the little belly is. A thousand and a thousand kisses, tender and loving.
About this section
Letter 024 — XXIV 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 24 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the European tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.