Letter 080 — LXXX
Original French
Varsovie, le 16 janvier 1807.
Ma bonne amie, j’ai reçu ta lettre du 5 janvier; tout ce que tu me dis de ta douleur me peine. Pourquoi des larmes, du chagrin? N’as-tu donc plus de courage? Je te verrai bientôt: ne doute jamais de mes sentiments; et, si tu veux m’être plus chère encore, montre du caractère et de la force d’âme. Je suis humilié de penser que ma femme puisse se méfier de mes destinées. Adieu, mon amie; Je t’aime, je désire te voir, et veux te savoir contente et heureuse.
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.
Warsaw, January 16, 1807.
My good friend, I have received your letter of January 5; everything you tell me of your sorrow pains me. Why tears, why grief? Have you no courage left? I shall see you soon: never doubt my feelings; and, if you wish to be still dearer to me, show character and strength of soul. I am humiliated to think that my wife could distrust my destiny. Goodbye, my friend; I love you, I long to see you, and I want to know you are content and happy.
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.
Warsaw, January 16, 1807.
My dear friend, your letter of January 5 has arrived; all you tell me of your sorrow pains me. Why weep and grieve? Have you lost your courage? We shall soon see one another. Never doubt my feelings; and if you wish to be dearer to me still, show character and strength of spirit. I am humiliated to think my wife could distrust my destiny. Farewell, my friend; I love you, long to see you, and want to know you are content and happy.
About this section
Letter 080 — LXXX 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 80 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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