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THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE[1]
[Footnote 1: A story told to a group of French peasants one evening, in
a barn, by Goguelat, the village postman, who had served under Napoleon
in a regiment of infantry.]
Napoleon, my friends, was born, you know, in Corsica. That's a French
island, but it's warmed by the sun of Italy, and everything's as hot
there as if it were a furnace. It's a place, too, where the people kill
one another, from father to son, generation after generation, for
nothing at all; that is, for no reason in particular except that it's
their way.
Well, to begin with the most wonderful part of the story, it so
happened that on the very day when Napoleon was born, his mother dreamed
that the world was on fire. She was a shrewd, clever woman, as well as
the prettiest woman of her time; and when she had this dream, she
thought she'd save her son from the dangers of life by dedicating him to
God. And, indeed, that was a prophetic dream of hers! So she asked God
to protect the boy, and promised that when he grew up he should
reestablish God's holy religion, which had then been overthrown.
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