Letter 075 — LXXV
Original French
Pultusk, le 31 décembre 1806.
J’ai bien ri en recevant tes dernières lettres. Tu le fais des belles de la grande Pologne une idée qu’elles ne méritent pas. J’ai eu deux ou trois jours le plaisir d’entendre Paër et deux chanteuses qui m’ont fait de la très bonne musique. J’ai reçu ta lettre dans une mauvaise grange, ayant de la boue, du vent et de la paille pour tout lit.
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.
Pultusk, December 31, 1806.
I laughed heartily on receiving your last letters. You have an idea of the beauties of Greater Poland that they do not deserve. For two or three days I had the pleasure of hearing Paër and two singers, who made very fine music for me. I received your letter in a wretched barn, with mud, wind, and straw for my whole bed.
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.
Pultusk, December 31, 1806.
Your last letters made me laugh a great deal. Your idea of the beauties of Greater Poland is more flattering than they deserve. I had the pleasure for two or three days of listening to Paër and two women singers, who performed some excellent music for me. Your letter reached me in a wretched barn, where mud, wind and straw were all I had for a bed.
About this section
Letter 075 — LXXV 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 75 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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