Letter 083 — LXXXIII
Original French
Sans date (janvier 1807.)
Mon amie, ta lettre du 20 janvier m’a fait de la peine; elle est trop triste. Voilà le mal de n’être pas un peu dévote! Tu me dis que ton bonheur fait ta gloire. Cela n’est pas généreux; il faut dire: le bonheur des autres fait ma gloire. Cela n’est pas conjugal; il faut dire: le bonheur de mon mari fait ma gloire. Cela n’est pas maternel; il faudrait dire: le bonheur de mes enfants fait ma gloire. Or, comme les peuples, ton mari, tes enfants ne peuvent être heureux qu’avec un peu de gloire, il ne faut pas tant en faire fi. Joséphine, votre cœur est excellent, et votre raison faible; vous sentez à merveille, mais vous raisonnez moins bien. Voilà assez de querelle; je veux que tu sois gaie, contente de ton sort et que tu obéisses, non en grondant et en pleurant, mais de gaieté de cœur et avec un peu de bonheur. Adieu, mon amie, je pars cette nuit pour parcourir mes avant-postes.
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.
Undated (January 1807).
My friend, your letter of January 20 pained me; it is too sad. That is the trouble with not being a little devout! You tell me that your happiness makes your glory. That is not generous; you must say: the happiness of others makes my glory. That is not marital; you must say: my husband's happiness makes my glory. That is not maternal; you should say: my children's happiness makes my glory. Now, since the people, your husband, your children cannot be happy without a little glory, you must not hold it in such contempt. Joséphine, your heart is excellent, and your reason weak; your feelings are wonderful, but you reason less well. Enough quarreling; I want you to be cheerful, content with your lot, and obedient, not grumbling and weeping, but gladly and with a little happiness. Goodbye, my friend, I leave tonight to make a tour of my outposts.
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.
Undated (January 1807).
My friend, your letter of January 20 saddened me; it is much too gloomy. That is what comes of not being a little devout! You say your happiness is your glory. That is not generous: you should say, “The happiness of others is my glory.” It is not the sentiment of a wife: you should say, “My husband's happiness is my glory.” Nor is it a mother's sentiment: you should say, “My children's happiness is my glory.” Now, the peoples, your husband and your children cannot be happy without some measure of glory, so you must not make so light of it. Joséphine, your heart is excellent, but your judgment is weak. You feel beautifully, but your reasoning is not as good. Enough quarreling. I want you to be cheerful and content with your lot, and to obey not with complaints and tears, but gladly and with some happiness. Goodbye, my friend. I leave tonight to go round my outposts.
About this section
Letter 083 — LXXXIII 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 83 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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