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拿破仑·波拿巴（Napoléon Bonaparte，1769-1821），法兰西第一帝国的缔造者，十九世纪法国伟大的军事家、政治家。
1796年3月2日，年仅26岁的拿破仑被任命为意大利方面军总司令，援助意大利军队摆脱奥地利的统治。3月9日，拿破仑与约瑟芬成婚，第二日便匆匆奔赴前线，约瑟芬则留在了巴黎。所选的便是他于新婚后的第21天，在前线作战间隙写给妻子的信。拿破仑的情书被誉为“美中至美的情书”，而这封战地情书更是他所有情书中的上乘之作，文采斐然，热情奔放，感情真挚。我们可从中一览这位铁血英雄鲜为人知的炙热柔情和悲凉无奈。
March 31, 1796
I have not spent a day without loving you; I have not spent a night without embracing you; I have not so much as drunk a single cup of tea without cursing the pride and ambition which force me to remain separated from the moving spirit of my life. In the midst of my duties, whether I am at the head of my army or inspecting the camps, my beloved Josephine stands alone in my heart, occupies my mind, fills my thoughts.
If I am moving away from you with the speed of the Rhone torrent , it is only that I may see you again more quickly. If I rise to work in the middle of the night, it is because this may hasten by a matter of days the arrival of my sweet love.
Yet in your letter of the 23rd and 26th, Ventose, you call me vous. Vous yourself! Ah! Wretch, how could you have written this letter? How cold it is? And then there are those four days between the 23rd and the 26th; what were you doing that you failed to write to your husband?
Ah, my love, that vous, those four days made me long for my former indifference. Woe to the person responsible! May he as punishment and penalty, experience what my convictions and the evidence would make me experience! Hell has no torments great enough! Nor do the Furies have serpents enough! Vous! Vous! Ah! How will things stand in two weeks? My spirit is heavy; my heart is fettered and I am terrified by my fantasies...
You love me less; but you will get over the loss. One day you will love me no longer; at least tell me; then I shall know how I have come to deserve this misfortune.
Farewell, my wife: the torment, joy, hope and moving which draw me close to Nature, and with violent impulses as tumultuous as thunder. I ask of you neither eternal love, nor fidelity , but simply truth, unlimited honesty. The day when you say “I love you less,” will mark the end of my love and the last day of my life. If my heart were base enough to love without being loved in return I would tear it to pieces.
Josephine! Josephine! Remember what I have sometimes said to you: Nature has endowed me with a virile and decisive character. It has built yours out of lace and gossamer . Have you ceased to love me? Forgive me, love of my life, my soul is racked by conflicting forces. My heart obsessed by you, is full of fears which prostrate me with misery...
Farewell! Ah! If you love me less you can never have loved me. In that case I shall truly be pitiable.
Bonaparte
P.S.: The war this year has changed beyond recognition. I have had meat, bread and fodder distributed; my armed cavalry will soon be on the march. My soldiers are showing inexpressible confidence in me; you alone are a source of chagrin to me; you alone are the joy and torment of my life.
I send a kiss to your children, whom you do not mention. By God! If you did, your letters would be half as long again. Then visitors at ten o’clock in the morning would not have the pleasure of seeing you. Woman!
如果不能爱你，我一天都不能挨过；如果不能拥你入怀，我一夜都不能熬过；如果不去诅咒那些使我与生命中的圣灵剥离的荣誉和野心，我一杯茶都难以下咽。执行军务的时候，无论是率军出征之际，还是巡视军营之时，我深爱的约瑟芬总是占据着我的思想，萦绕在我的脑海。
如果我似罗纳河湍急般匆匆离你远去，那只是为了能早日再与你相见。如果我深夜起身工作，那也只是为了让我的甜蜜爱人早些到来。
可是，你在风月（注：法国共和历月份，指公历2.19-3.20）23日至26日的来信中，竟然称呼我为“您”！如果我用“您”称呼你，你会作何感想啊！啊！你这个小坏蛋，你怎么能写出这样的信？如此冰冷生分！此外，从23日至26日，有整整四天，在这四天时间里你都在忙些什么，以至于你没有时间给你的丈夫写信？
啊，我的挚爱，那个“您”让我这四天怀念自己曾经对爱情淡漠的岁月！那个让我承受相思煎熬的恶人，他有祸了！愿他能体验到我的信念及事实带给我的惩罚和折磨！地狱中也没有如此酷刑！复仇女神也没有如此蛇蝎残忍！您！您！啊！两周以后又会是哪般情形呢？我的士气低落沮丧，我的心灵挣脱不得，我被幻想折磨得恐惧不堪……
你不似之前那般爱我，但你缺失的爱有朝一日会被填补回来。终有一天，你会不再爱我，至少告诉我好吗，这样我才知道如何去承受这种不幸。
永别了，我的爱妻，你曾带给我的苦难、喜悦、希望和感动，激起过我本性中最柔软的情愫，唤醒过我如电闪雷鸣般的狂野冲动。我不祈求你的地久天长和忠贞不二，我只求你实话实说，开诚布公。等你脱口说出“我不再爱你了”的那一天，就是我爱情的末日，生命的终结。如果我的心还是那样卑微地全情付出，不计回报地爱你，我就会把它撕得粉碎。
约瑟芬！约瑟芬！牢记我几次对你说的话：上苍锻造出刚强果决的我，却用花边和薄纱织就出美丽柔情的你。你不再爱我了吗？原谅我如此唐突，我一生的爱人，我的灵魂被甜蜜和痛苦折磨得不得安生。我的内心疯狂迷恋着你，但又充满着恐惧，让我痛苦到一蹶不振……
再见了！啊！如果你不再那么爱我，将来永远也不会再爱我的话，我就真的成了一个可怜人。
波拿巴
附笔：今年的作战面目一新。我已派人给军队分发了肉、面包和草料。我的骑兵队伍正在行进。我的士兵对我的信任无以言表，只有你才会让我懊恼，只有你才是我生命中欢乐和痛苦的根源。
向你的孩子们捎去我的吻，你在信中也没有提及他们。上帝啊！如果你提一下，你的信至少也可以长一半呀。这样一来，你上午十点的访客恐怕就没那么荣幸见到你了。女人呐！
1796年3月31日
“自古英雄配美人”这句诗用在拿破仑和约瑟芬这对眷侣身上似乎恰如其分。拿破仑，赫赫有名的军事奇才，一手缔造了法兰西第一帝国。一路金戈铁马，让整个欧洲大陆俯首称臣的“法兰西雄狮”，自然担得起“英雄”的称号。而约瑟芬也无愧于她“美人”的头衔。法国大革命时，她因美貌绝伦而免于死刑，无数名流拜倒在她的石榴裙下，即使是带有两个孩子的遗孀，她也依然把小自己六岁的拿破仑迷得神魂颠倒。两人认识三个月后就结婚了。
但是这位美人对她的英雄总是平淡如水，面对拿破仑如火般炽热的情书，约瑟芬也极少回应，甚至在拿破仑走后不久就与另一名军官传出风流韵事。但拿破仑一如既往地爱她，1804年在巴黎登基为帝时，还亲自将她加冕为皇后。后来由于种种原因，拿破仑与约瑟芬于1810年离婚。但拿破仑对她的爱并未熄灭。离婚后，拿破仑依然对她关照有加；约瑟芬孤独辞世后，拿破仑悲痛地到她的墓前哭诉情意；拿破仑临死之际，嘴里呼唤的仍是约瑟芬的名字。
纵使是在战场上所向披靡，在政治上翻云覆雨的铮铮铁汉，一旦膜拜在爱神脚下，也可以将满腔的风云气盛化为寸寸绕指柔情。如火般炽烈的感情几乎要从文字中跃出，将信纸燃毁。但是他爱错了人，他泣血一般的声声呼唤没有等来爱人的任何回音。
torrent [ˈtɒrənt]
n. 急流
Fury [ˈfjʊəri]
n. the Furies〔pl.〕（古希腊神话）复仇三女神
serpent [ˈsɜːpənt]
n. 蛇（尤指大蛇或毒蛇）
tumultuous [tjuːˈmʌltʃuəs]
a. 狂暴的；喧闹的
fidelity [fɪˈdeləti]
n. （对丈夫、妻子的）忠贞
base [beɪs]
a. 卑鄙的
virile [ˈvɪraɪl]
a. 刚健的；有男子气概的
gossamer [ˈɡɒsəmə(r)]
n. 薄纱
prostrate [prɒˈstreɪt]
v. 使屈服；使俯伏
fodder [ˈfɒdə(r)]
n. 饲料；草料
cavalry [ˈkævlri]
n. 骑兵
chagrin [ˈʃæɡrɪn]
n. 懊恼；气愤