The Napoleon of the People
THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE BY HONORE DE BALZAC PREPARER'S NOTE The Napoleon of the People was originally published in Le Medicin de Campagne (The Country Doctor). It is a story told to a group of peasants by the character of Goguelat, an ex-soldier who served under Napoleon in an infantry regiment. It was later included in Folk-tales of Napoleon: Napoleonder from the Russian, a collection of stories by various authors. This translation is by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell. Napoleon, you see, my friends, was born in Corsica, which is a French
father's thumb.
[Illustration]
The Queen of the Fairies promised that their wish should be granted.
And so it happened one day that the ploughman's wife had a son
exactly of the size of his father's thumb. While the mother was
sitting up in bed, admiring the child, the Queen of the Fairies
appeared, and kissed the infant, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, and
summoned several fairies to clothe her little favorite.
Tom never grew any bigger; but, as he grew older, he became very
cunning and sly, which his mother did not sufficiently correct him
for; so that, when he was old enough to play with the boys for
cherry-stones, and had lost all his own, he used to creep into the
other boys' bags, fill his pockets, and come out again to play. But
one day, as he was getting out of a bag of cherry-stones, the boy to
whom it belonged chanced to see him.
[Illustration]
"Ah, ah! my little Tom Thumb," said the boy, "have I caught you at
your bad tricks at last? Now I will pay you off well for thieving."
Then drawing the string tight round his neck, and shaking the bag
THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE BY HONORE DE BALZAC PREPARER'S NOTE The Napoleon of the People was originally published in Le Medicin de Campagne (The Country Doctor). It is a story told to a group of peasants by the character of Goguelat, an ex-soldier who served under Napoleon in an infantry regiment. It was later included in Folk-tales of Napoleon: Napoleonder from the Russian, a collection of stories by various authors. This translation is by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell. Napoleon, you see, my friends, was born in Corsica, which is a French