Letter 063 — LXIII
Original French
Berlin, le 16 novembre 1806.
Je vois avec satisfaction que mes sentiments te font plaisir. Tu as tort de penser qu’ils puissent être flattés, je t’ai parlé de toi comme je te vois. Je suis affligé de penser que tu t’ennuies à Mayence. Si le voyage n’était pas si long, tu pourrais venir jusqu’ici car il n’y a plus d’ennemi, ou il est au delà de la Vistule, c’est-à-dire à plus de cent vingt lieues d’ici. J’attendrai ce que tu en penses. Je serai bien aise aussi de voir M. Napoléon. Adieu, ma bonne amie. Tout à toi.
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.
Berlin, November 16, 1806.
I see with pleasure that my feelings give you pleasure. You are wrong to think they could be flattering; I spoke of you as I see you. I am saddened to think you are bored in Mainz. If the journey were not so long, you could come here, for there is no longer an enemy, or else he is beyond the Vistula, that is, more than a hundred and twenty leagues from here. I shall wait to hear what you think. I should also be very glad to see M. Napoléon. Goodbye, my good friend. All yours.
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.
Berlin, November 16, 1806.
I am glad to see that my feelings please you. You are wrong to think that my expressions of feeling might be flattering; I described you as I see you. It troubles me to think you are bored in Mainz. You could come here if the journey were shorter: the enemy has gone, or is across the Vistula, over 120 leagues from here. I will await your thoughts on this. It would also give me great pleasure to see M. Napoléon. Goodbye, my dear friend. Yours entirely.
About this section
Letter 063 — LXIII 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 63 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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