Letter 082 — LXXXII
Original French
Varsovie, janvier 1807.
Je reçois ta lettre du 15 janvier. Il est impossible que je permette à des femmes un voyage comme celui-ci: mauvais chemins, chemins peu sûrs et fangeux. Retourne à Paris, sois-y gaie, contente; peut-être y serai-je aussi bientôt. J’ai ri de ce que tu me dis, que tu as pris un mari pour être avec lui. Je pensais, dans mon ignorance, que la femme était faite pour le mari, le mari pour la patrie, la famille et la gloire. Pardon de mon ignorance. On apprend toujours avec nos belles dames. Adieu, mon amie; crois qu’il m’en coûte de ne pas te faire venir. Dis-toi: c’est une preuve combien je lui suis précieuse.
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 1807.
I have received your letter of January 15. It is impossible for me to permit women to make a journey like this: bad roads, unsafe and muddy roads. Return to Paris, be cheerful and content there; perhaps I too shall soon be there. I laughed at what you tell me, that you took a husband to be with him. In my ignorance I thought that a wife was made for her husband, a husband for his country, his family, and glory. Forgive my ignorance. One is always learning from our beautiful ladies. Goodbye, my friend; believe me, it costs me not to send for you. Say to yourself: it is a proof of how precious I am to him.
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 1807.
I have received your letter of January 15. I cannot possibly allow women to undertake such a journey: the roads are bad, unsafe and muddy. Return to Paris and be cheerful and content there; perhaps I too shall be there soon. I laughed when you told me you married a husband in order to be with him. In my ignorance I thought a wife was made for her husband, and a husband for his country, his family and glory. Forgive my ignorance. We are always learning from our beautiful ladies. Farewell, my friend; believe me, it pains me not to summon you here. Tell yourself, “That shows how precious I am to him.”
About this section
Letter 082 — LXXXII 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 82 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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