Letter 097 — XCVII
Original French
Finkestein, 26 mai 1807.
Je reçois ta lettre du 16. J’ai vu avec plaisir qu’Hortense était arrivée à Laeken. Je suis fâché de ce que tu me mandes de l’espèce de stupeur où elle est encore. Il faut qu’elle ait plus de courage, et qu’elle prenne sur elle. Je ne conçois pas pourquoi on veut qu’elle aille aux eaux; elle serait bien plus dissipée à Paris. Prends sur toi, sois gaie, et porte-toi bien. Ma santé est fort bonne. Adieu, mon amie; je souffre bien de toutes tes peines; je suis contrarié de ne pas être auprès de toi.
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 26, 1807.
I have received your letter of the 16th. I was glad to see that Hortense had arrived at Laeken. I am sorry to hear what you tell me of the kind of stupor in which she still remains. She must have more courage and master herself. I cannot understand why people want her to go to the waters; she would be far more distracted in Paris. Master yourself, be cheerful, and keep well. My health is very good. Farewell, my dear friend; I suffer greatly from all your sorrows; I am distressed not to be beside you.
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 26, 1807.
I have just received your letter of the 16th and was pleased to learn that Hortense had reached Laeken. What you tell me of the stupor she is still in upsets me. She needs more courage; she must make an effort to master herself. Why anyone wants her to take the waters I cannot imagine: Paris would distract her much more. Master yourself too, be cheerful and keep well. My own health is excellent. Farewell, my friend. All your sorrows hurt me deeply, and it troubles me not to be beside you.
About this section
Letter 097 — XCVII 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 97 of 172 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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