Letter 051 — LI
Original French
Brunn, le 10 décembre 1805.
Il y a fort longtemps que je n’ai reçu de tes nouvelles. Les belles fêtes de Bade, de Stuttgard et de Munich, font-elles oublier les pauvres soldats qui vivent couverts de boue, de pluie et de sang? Je vais partir sous peu pour Vienne. On travaille à conclure la paix. Les Russes sont partis, et fuient loin d’ici; ils s’en retournent en Russie bien battus et fort humiliés. Je désire bien me retrouver près de toi. Adieu, mon amie; mon mal d’yeux est guéri.
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.
Brunn, December 10, 1805.
It has been a very long time since I heard from you. Do the splendid festivities at Baden, Stuttgard, and Munich make you forget the poor soldiers who live covered in mud, rain, and blood? I shall leave shortly for Vienna. They are working to conclude peace. The Russians have left and are fleeing far from here; they are returning to Russia badly beaten and deeply humiliated. I long to be near you again. Goodbye, my friend; my eye complaint is cured.
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.
Brunn, December 10, 1805.
I have had no news of you for such a long time. Have the fine celebrations in Baden, Stuttgart and Munich made you forget the poor soldiers, living in mud and rain and covered in blood? I shall leave for Vienna shortly. Work is under way to conclude peace. The Russians have gone, fleeing far from here; they are returning to Russia thoroughly beaten and humiliated. How I long to be with you again. Goodbye, my friend; my eye trouble has cleared up.
About this section
Letter 051 — LI 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 51 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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