'Enough,' cried the Emperor, 'I'll be
ready.'
"So now, sure enough, came all the kings, as the Red Man had said, to
lick Napoleon's hand! Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Poland, Italy,
every one of them were with us, flattering us; ah, it was fine! The
eagles never cawed so loud as at those parades, perched high above the
banners of all Europe. The Poles were bursting with joy, because
Napoleon was going to release them; and that's why France and Poland are
brothers to this day. 'Russia is ours,' cried the army. We plunged into
it well-supplied; we marched and we marched--no Russians. At last we
found the brutes entrenched on the banks of the Moskva. That's where I
won my cross, and I've got the right to say it was a damnable battle.
This was how it came about. The Emperor was anxious. He had seen the Red
Man, who said to him 'My son, you are going too fast for your feet; you
will lack men; friends will betray you.' So the Emperor offered peace.
But before signing, 'Let us drub those Russians!' he said to us. 'Done!'
cried the army. 'Forward, march!' said the sergeants. My clothes were in
rags, my shoes worn out, from trudging along those roads, which are very
uncomfortable ones; but no matter! I said to myself, 'As it's the last
of our earthquakings, I'll go into it, tooth and nail!' We were drawn up
in line before the great ravine--front seats, as 'twere.
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