Letter 095 — XCV
Original French
Finkestein, le 14 mai 1807.
Je conçois tout le chagrin que doit te causer la mort de ce pauvre Napoléon. Tu peux comprendre la peine que j’éprouve. Je voudrais être près de toi, pour que tu fusses modérée et sage dans ta douleur. Tu as eu le bonheur de ne jamais perdre d’enfants; mais c’est une des conditions et des peines attachées à notre misère humaine. Que j’apprenne que tu as été raisonnable, et que tu te portes bien! Voudrais-tu accroître ma peine? Adieu, mon amie.
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.
Finkestein, May 14, 1807.
I understand all the grief the death of poor Napoléon must cause you. You can understand the sorrow I feel. I wish I were beside you, so that you might be measured and sensible in your grief. You have had the happiness never to lose children; but that is one of the conditions and sorrows bound up with our human misery. Let me hear that you have been reasonable and are well! Would you add to my sorrow? Farewell, my dear friend.
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.
Finkestein, May 14, 1807.
I understand all the grief that poor Napoléon's death must cause you. You can understand the pain I feel. I wish I were near you, so that you could be moderate and sensible in your grief. You've had the good fortune never to lose children; but this is one of the conditions and sorrows that come with our human misery. Let me hear that you've been sensible and are well! Would you want to add to my pain? Goodbye, my dear.
About this section
Letter 095 — XCV 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 95 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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