Letter 072 — LXXII
Original French
Posen, le 12 décembre 1806.
Ma santé est bonne, le temps très doux; la mauvaise saison n’est pas commencée, mais les chemins sont mauvais dans un pays où il n’y a pas de chaussées. Hortense viendra donc avec Napoléon; j’en suis enchanté. Il me tarde bien de voir les choses pouvoir me mettre à même de te faire venir. J’ai fait ma paix avec la Saxe. L’électeur est roi, et de la Confédération. Adieu, ma bien-aimée Joséphine. Tout à toi. Un baiser à Hortense, Napoléon et à Stéphanie. Paër, le fameux musicien, sa femme, virtuose que tu as vue à Milan, il y a douze ans, et Brizzi sont ici; ils me donnent un peu de musique tous les soirs.
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.
Posen, December 12, 1806.
My health is good, the weather very mild; the bad season has not begun, but the roads are bad in a country where there are no paved roads. Hortense will come with Napoléon, then; I am delighted. I long for circumstances to put me in a position to send for you. I have made my peace with Saxony. The Elector is king and a member of the Confederation. Goodbye, my beloved Joséphine. All yours. A kiss to Hortense, Napoléon, and Stéphanie. Paër, the famous musician, his wife, the virtuoso you saw at Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi are here; they give me a little music every evening.
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.
Posen, December 12, 1806.
My health is good and the weather very mild. The bad season has not yet begun, but the roads are poor in a country without paved roads. So Hortense is coming with Napoléon; I am delighted. I can hardly wait for circumstances to allow me to send for you. I have made peace with Saxony. The Elector is now a king and belongs to the Confederation. Goodbye, my beloved Joséphine. Yours entirely. A kiss for Hortense, Napoléon and Stéphanie. Paër, the famous musician, is here, along with his wife, the virtuoso you saw in Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi. They give me a little music every evening.
About this section
Letter 072 — LXXII 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 72 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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