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01 - Story of Napoleon by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · Story of Napoleon

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of the Story of Napoleon. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings on the public domain. For
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  Speaker 1: more information or a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Patrick Seville. The Story of Napoleon by Henrietta
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  Speaker 1: Elizabeth Marshall, Chapter one, Napoleon at School. To the south
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  Speaker 1: of Europe, there is a sunny blue sea called the Mediterranean.
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  Speaker 1: In this sunny blue sea, about fifty miles from the
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  Speaker 1: coast of Italy, lies the island of Corsica, a rugged
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  Speaker 1: and beautiful little island full of mountains. Its people are
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  Speaker 1: hardy and brave, and like all mountain peoples, they love liberty.
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  Speaker 1: But for hundreds of years the island belonged to the
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  Speaker 1: Republic of Genoa. The people hated to be ruled by Genoa,
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  Speaker 1: and at last, under a leader called Paoli, they rebelled
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  Speaker 1: and fought for freedom, fought, indeed so well that they
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  Speaker 1: nearly drove the Genoese out. Then the Genoese asked the
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  Speaker 1: French to help them, and at last, tired of the struggle,
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  Speaker 1: they sold the island to France. At that the Corsicans
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  Speaker 1: were very angry. What right had the Genoese to sell
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  Speaker 1: them like cattle to a new master, they asked. So
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  Speaker 1: they went on fighting the French as they had fought
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  Speaker 1: the Genoese. Among those who fought were Charles Marie Buonaparte
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  Speaker 1: and his brave wife, Latitzia. Buonaparte was an Italian, but
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  Speaker 1: for many years his family had lived in Corsica. He
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  Speaker 1: was a noble, but in Corsica there was little difference
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  Speaker 1: between nobles and shepherds. They were all poor and proud alike.
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  Speaker 1: Latzia was young and beautiful, yet she bore all the
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  Speaker 1: hardships of war bravely. She followed her husband, even to
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  Speaker 1: the battlefield. She was often in danger from flying bullets,
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  Speaker 1: yet she feared nothing and thought only of the safety
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  Speaker 1: of her husband and the freedom of her country. By
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  Speaker 1: mountain paths steep and narrow, through trackless forests called in
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  Speaker 1: Corsica Mackay, over streams where there were no bridges, Letitia
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  Speaker 1: followed her husband. She was only a girl, but she
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  Speaker 1: had the heart of a hero, and not until the
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  Speaker 1: struggle proved hopeless did she give in. For France was great,
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  Speaker 1: and Corsica little, and brave though the people were, they
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  Speaker 1: were at last forced to yield. Their island became part
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  Speaker 1: of the French dominion, and their leader Paoli, fled over
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  Speaker 1: the seas, and here in this little isle, almost before
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  Speaker 1: the roar of battle had ceased, among a people full
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  Speaker 1: of sullen anger and bitterness against their conquerors. One blazing
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  Speaker 1: August day in seventeen sixty nine, a little son was
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  Speaker 1: born to Charles and the Titzia Bonaparte. They gave him
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  Speaker 1: the name of Napoleon, a name which he was to
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  Speaker 1: make famous all the world over and for all time
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  Speaker 1: to come. Napoleon brothers and sisters, and their mother, having
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  Speaker 1: only one servant, had little time to look after the children,
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  Speaker 1: so she gave them a big, empty room in which
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  Speaker 1: to play. The walls and the floor of this room
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  Speaker 1: were bare, and there was nothing in it except the
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  Speaker 1: children's toys. Here they were allowed to do as they liked.
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  Speaker 1: They scribbled and drew pictures on the walls, and played
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  Speaker 1: at all sorts of games. Napoleon always drew soldiers marching
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  Speaker 1: to battle, and he played with nothing but a drum
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  Speaker 1: and a wooden sword. He used to get up battles
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  Speaker 1: amongst the boys of the neighborhood. The wars would last
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  Speaker 1: for months at a time, during which there would be
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  Speaker 1: many fierce fights, surprises, and assaults. Napoleon was always leader
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  Speaker 1: and made the others obey him. He was afraid of
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  Speaker 1: no one, and he bit, scratched and slapped anyone big
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  Speaker 1: or little as he chose. He was often nosy and quarrelsome,
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  Speaker 1: and bullied his brothers and sisters, especially Joseph, who was
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  Speaker 1: older than he. But at times, even when he was
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  Speaker 1: a very small boy, he would be moody and thoughtful,
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  Speaker 1: and would walk about by himself, refusing to speak or
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  Speaker 1: play with the others. He was an untidy little boy,
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  Speaker 1: not caring in the least how he was dressed. Straight,
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  Speaker 1: dark hair straggled over his brown face, his stockings hung
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  Speaker 1: down over his shoe tops, and altogether he must have
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  Speaker 1: looked a wild little harm scrum. When Napoleon was about
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  Speaker 1: five years old, he was sent to a school for
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  Speaker 1: little girls kept by nuns, but he did not stay
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  Speaker 1: long there and was soon sent to a boy's school
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  Speaker 1: with his brother Joseph. Here, the boys in class were
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  Speaker 1: set opposite each other in two rows, each under a
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  Speaker 1: large flag. One was the flag of Carthage, the other
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  Speaker 1: the flag of Rome. With s p q R upon it,
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  Speaker 1: which means Synetus populisk Romanus. It is Latin for the
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  Speaker 1: senate and people of Rome. The boys were arranged like
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  Speaker 1: this so that each side might try to learn better
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  Speaker 1: than the other and fight and conquer in lessons as
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  Speaker 1: a Romans and the Carthaginians fought in war. As Napoleon
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  Speaker 1: was the younger of the two brothers, he was put
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  Speaker 1: on the side of Carthage, but he did not like
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  Speaker 1: that at all, for in history he knew the Romans
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  Speaker 1: had always been the conquerors, and he liked to be
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  Speaker 1: on the winning side. So Joseph, who did not mind
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  Speaker 1: so much, changed with Napoleon and allowed him to be
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  Speaker 1: a Roman. Napoleon loved soldiers better than anything else, and
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  Speaker 1: he longed to be one. Every morning, before he went
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  Speaker 1: to school, he was given a piece of white bread.
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  Speaker 1: This he used to give to a soldier in exchange
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  Speaker 1: for a piece of coarse brown bread. His mother was
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  Speaker 1: not very pleased at this. Why do you give away
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  Speaker 1: your good white bread for a piece of brown, she
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  Speaker 1: asked him one day, Because replied Napoleon, if I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to be a soldier, I must get used to eating
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  Speaker 1: soldier's bread. Besides, I like it. As he loved soldiers
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  Speaker 1: so much, his father and mother decided that he should
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  Speaker 1: be one. In one December day, a little ship sailed
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  Speaker 1: away from Corsica, carrying Charles Bonaparte and his two sons,
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  Speaker 1: Joseph and Napoleon, over the sea to France. Napoleon was
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  Speaker 1: not yet ten and Joseph scarcely a year older. He
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  Speaker 1: was going to learn to be a priest, and Napoleon
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  Speaker 1: to be a soldier. The boys were sent to school
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  Speaker 1: at a town called Otton. With his fellows. Joseph soon
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  Speaker 1: became a favorite. He was a little shy at first,
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  Speaker 1: but he was lively and gay and joined in games
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  Speaker 1: with other boys. Napoleon, on the other hand, was silent
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  Speaker 1: and sad. His dark face looked sulky, and instead of
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  Speaker 1: joining in the games, he liked best to go about
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  Speaker 1: by himself. So the boys teased him. They called him
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  Speaker 1: cowardly Corsican and reminded him that his island had been
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  Speaker 1: conquered by the French. At first, Napoleon paid no attention.
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  Speaker 1: Then suddenly, one day, flashing round on his tormentors, he cried,
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  Speaker 1: if the French had been four against one only they
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  Speaker 1: would never have had Corsica. But they were ten to one.
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  Speaker 1: But if Joseph was the greater favorite, Napoleon was far
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  Speaker 1: the more clever. He soon learned to read and speak
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  Speaker 1: in French. For to the boys, French was a foreign language.
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  Speaker 1: At home in Corsica, a spoke Italian. But although Napoleon
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  Speaker 1: learned to speak French very well all his life long,
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  Speaker 1: he made mistakes in it, especially in writing. He wrote
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  Speaker 1: very badly too, to hide his bed spelling. Some people
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  Speaker 1: say the little sulky, lonely boy did not stay long
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  Speaker 1: at Oton. In about three months, his father came to
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  Speaker 1: take him away to the military school at Brienne, but
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  Speaker 1: Joseph was to be left at Oton. The two brothers
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  Speaker 1: had never been before parted, and although Napoleon bully Joseph,
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  Speaker 1: they were very fond of each other. Now that they
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  Speaker 1: were in a strange land, far from their home, among
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  Speaker 1: people speaking a strange language, they seemed to love each
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  Speaker 1: other more. When they knew that they must part, Joseph
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  Speaker 1: burst into tears, but Napoleon tried hard to pretend that
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  Speaker 1: he did not care. His dark face only turned more
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  Speaker 1: sulky than before. But although he tried hard. He could
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  Speaker 1: not quite keep back the tears, and one slowly trickled
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  Speaker 1: down his cheek. At first, Napoleon was not happy at
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  Speaker 1: his new school. Even though he was dressed in a
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  Speaker 1: uniform and he was going to be a soldier, he
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  Speaker 1: was dreadfully homesick. He was told that he would have
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  Speaker 1: to stay at school for six years, and to a
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  Speaker 1: little boy of nine, it seemed as if six years
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  Speaker 1: would never end. As Napoleon was shy, moody, and silent,
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  Speaker 1: His schoolfellows teased him here too. They nicknamed him straw
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  Speaker 1: on nose because they thought that he held his nose
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  Speaker 1: in the air, and that Napoleon sounded like the French
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  Speaker 1: words for straw on nose, the paya o ni. They
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  Speaker 1: teased him also about his country. You are a conquered nation,
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  Speaker 1: a people of slaves, they said. But one winter, when
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon had been about four years at school, the boys
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  Speaker 1: had lessons about the building of ramparts and fortifications. They
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  Speaker 1: were taught the names of the different kinds of forts,
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  Speaker 1: their uses, and how best to attack and defend them.
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  Speaker 1: While these lessons were going on, there came a heavy
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  Speaker 1: fall of snow. This gave Napoleon a grand idea. He
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  Speaker 1: proposed that they should build the fortress of snow and
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  Speaker 1: attack and defend it like soldiers. All the boys were
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  Speaker 1: delighted with the idea. Napoleon drew out the lines of
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  Speaker 1: the fort, and soon every one was hard at work
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  Speaker 1: with spade and wilberrol, eagerly building under Napoleon's directions. When
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  Speaker 1: the fort was finished, the boys took sides and fought
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  Speaker 1: with snowballs. Napoleon was general, and he commanded both sides,
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  Speaker 1: giving orders sometimes to the besiegers, sometimes to the defenders.
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  Speaker 1: The masters were quite pleased and looked on, cheering those
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  Speaker 1: boys who showed the most courage and cleverness. Soon the
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  Speaker 1: fame of the fort spread far, and people came from
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  Speaker 1: all around about to see it and watch the fights.
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  Speaker 1: These went on as long as the snow lay upon
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  Speaker 1: the ground. But at last March came and the sun
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  Speaker 1: began to grow warm, the snow melted, and the storming
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  Speaker 1: and the snowballing came to an end. The masters were
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  Speaker 1: not sorry when this happened, as many of the boys
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  Speaker 1: had caught bad colds from playing so much in the snow.
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  Speaker 1: As for Napoleon, he was more sure than ever, that
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  Speaker 1: the life of a soldier was the grandest possible, and
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  Speaker 1: he felt that he was born to make others obey him.
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  Speaker 1: As to his lessons, the Poleon learned no Greek, and
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  Speaker 1: never did his Latin well. He loved the tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Greek and Roman heroes, but he read them in translations.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed to him a waste of time to try
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  Speaker 1: to read them in a dead or foreign language. At
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  Speaker 1: arithmetic and geometry, he was good. He liked his geography
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  Speaker 1: lessons too, But above all he loved history. Whenever he
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  Speaker 1: had a spare moment, he might be found reading, and
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  Speaker 1: it was history in the lives of the great men
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  Speaker 1: that he read. Indeed, he often read when he ought
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  Speaker 1: to have been playing games. So he never grew tall,
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  Speaker 1: and although his shoulders were broad, he was thin and
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  Speaker 1: delicate looking. End of Chapter one