Letter 007 — VII
Original French
Cherasco, 29 avril 1796.
Je ne sais pourquoi depuis ce matin, je suis plus content. J’ai un pressentiment que tu es partie pour ici. Cette idée me comble de joie.
Ne vas pas surtout être malade. Non, ma bonne amie, tu viendras ici; tu te porteras très bien; tu feras un petit enfant, joli comme sa mère, qui t’aimera comme son père, et quand tu seras bien vieille, bien vieille, que tu auras cent ans, il fera ta consolation et ton bonheur.
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.
Cherasco, April 29, 1796.
I do not know why I have been happier since this morning. I have a feeling that you have set out for here. The thought fills me with joy.
Above all, do not fall ill. No, my dear friend, you will come here; you will be in excellent health; you will have a little child, pretty as its mother, who will love you as its father does, and when you are very old, very old, a hundred years old, it will be your comfort and happiness.
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.
Cherasco, April 29, 1796.
Since this morning I have felt happier, though I cannot say why. I have a presentiment that you have left to join me here, and the thought fills me with joy.
Above all, do not fall ill. No, my dear, you will come here and be perfectly well. You will have a child, a little one as lovely as its mother, loving you as its father does; and when you are very, very old, a hundred years old, the child will comfort you and make you happy.
About this section
Letter 007 — VII 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 7 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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