Letter 053 — LIII
Original French
Schœnbrunn, le 29 frimaire an XIV (20 décembre 1805.)
Je reçois ta lettre du 25 (frimaire). J’apprends avec peine que tu es souffrante; ce n’est pas là une bonne disposition pour faire cent lieues dans cette saison. Je ne sais ce que je ferai: je dépends des événements; je n’ai pas de volonté: j’attends tout de leur issue. Reste à Munich, amuse-toi; cela n’est pas difficile lorsqu’on a tant de personnes aimables, et dans un si beau pays. Je suis, moi, assez occupé. Dans quelques jours, je serai décidé. Adieu, mon amie, mille choses aimables et tendres.
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.
Schönbrunn, 29 Frimaire, Year XIV (December 20, 1805).
I have received your letter of the 25th (Frimaire). I am sorry to learn that you are unwell; that is hardly a good condition in which to travel a hundred leagues at this season. I do not know what I shall do: I depend on events; I have no will of my own; I await everything from their outcome. Stay in Munich and enjoy yourself; that is not difficult when one has so many pleasant people about one, and is in such a beautiful country. I am rather busy myself. In a few days I shall have made up my mind. Goodbye, my friend, a thousand kind and tender thoughts.
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.
Schönbrunn, 29 Frimaire, Year XIV (December 20, 1805).
Your letter of the 25th (Frimaire) has reached me. I am distressed to learn that you are ill; you are hardly fit to undertake a hundred leagues in this season. What shall I do? I cannot tell: events govern me, I have no will of my own and await their outcome for everything. Remain in Munich and divert yourself; with so many pleasant people and such a beautiful country, that should not be hard. As for me, I am rather busy. I shall have decided in a few days. Farewell, my friend, a thousand kind and tender things.
About this section
Letter 053 — LIII 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 53 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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