Chapter 2: chapter 2 traveling to france
Just as Joseph had thought, he did find Napoleon inside that cave without incident. When he found Napoleon, the troublemaker was sitting on a rock, staring out over the rain-shrouded sea.
"O my foolish brother, what are you staring at?" Joseph shouted.
"Nothing." Napoleon lazily stood up, "I was thinking that I should probably put a book inside this hole. That way there's something to do later on when I run here. Well, Joseph, I guess that shouldn't be a big deal. I should be able to go home now."
Napoleon's last sentence wasn't in a questioning tone, but a declarative one.
"Basically." Joseph said, "But how can you be so sure?"
"If it's not over and I can't go back yet, you should have come with food, not empty-handed like this." Napoleon replied, then he asked, "Joseph, how did it end then?"
"You had just been running for no more than a few minutes when Paul woke up." Joseph said, "Of course Carlo was still angry, and he told Giovanni that when he caught you, he'd be sure to give you a good whipping with a whip. But when Giovanni had gone, Polina said to him that you had struck Paul because you had seen him pulling her pigtails. After Polina said this, I saw that our father, though he did not say so explicitly, was seemingly less angry with you. He even said to me: 'Joseph', you are my oldest son, why is it that when something happens, you are not in the forefront? Alas, if only you could neutralize Napoleon."
Joseph said this while imitating his father, causing Napoleon to stifle his laughter. He said, "So, I should be fine?"
"Basically all right." Joseph said, "A couple of scoldings at most. If it wasn't for Polina this time, you would have been in for it. My stupid brother, that practice of yours, the effect is there, but there has always been a problem, that is, it is not easy to control the proportion, it is easy to overdo it."
"It's better to overdo it than to end up getting beaten up by others because of shrinking." Napoleon said without a care in the world.
"Alright, come back with me. Everyone's hungry, but Mom and Pollyanna are insisting that we wait until you get back before we eat." Joseph said, "Go back and father will scold you twice, you'll admit your mistake, and then we can all eat. Hurry up, I'm hungry already!"
The two men returned home, and just as Joseph had said, Carlo just scowled and scolded Napoleon twice, and didn't pull out his riding crop. And Napoleon, who had long ago gotten through to Joseph, very meekly reflected on his mistake to his father, and promised that, in the future, if such a thing ever happened again, he'd keep his emotions in check, and never hit so hard.
"As the man of the house, take the initiative to protect the woman. But it's also important to be measured." After Napoleon had finished, Carlo said with satisfaction, "But it must be done quickly, Joseph you're not as good at this as Napoleon. I know that you have been influenced in many ways by Bishop Mignonette, who is a good man and a holy man, but neither your mother nor I want to see you become a cleric."
"Well, Carlo." Letizia frowned slightly, "It's time for your speech to end, the children are hungry."
"Okay." Kano smiled. Bringing both hands together. Everyone then joined in bringing both hands together and began the prayer before dinner, "Bless us, O God, and the food and all the favors we enjoy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
And so the meal was eaten, and Carlo again led the group through the after-dinner prayer. This was a common rule in almost all homes in this era. Joseph, however, would always think, "If I were the Lord of Heaven, I would feel like I was going crazy being harassed by so many people's messages every day."
There wasn't much entertainment in this era, and now that it was winter, it got dark very early, and usually, after dinner, Carlo would read a passage from the Bible or something to everyone, and then it would get dark, and everyone would be able to say good night to each other.
This time, however, instead of taking out the Bible, Carlo said to everyone, "Everyone take a seat here for a moment, I have something I want to talk to you about."
Everyone then proceeded to sit in their chairs and listen.
"Joseph, Napoleon, you two are not too young to learn something. I have made a friend, Mr. Armand de Foix, who came to our house once last time. He's going back to France now, and he can take you all with him to France, to go to school there and learn French. And then, depending on how well you do in high school, you can decide what you're going to do next."
Monsieur Armand de Foix, as soon as he heard the name, an image popped into Joseph's head of a large man with a freckled red face, probably about his own height but almost twice as wide. Especially with that beer belly, Joseph suspected that if he lowered his head, there was more than likely no way he could see his toes.
He was a relative of the Governor of Corsica, worked in Corsica's legal department, and was Carlo's superior. Like all guys with a "de" in their name, this guy's job was to get paid for doing nothing. His day is pretty much spent wandering around with a fishing rod. Carlo was the adjutant of Pauli, the leader of the Corsican Resistance, and it would have been difficult for him to gain the trust of the French authorities. But because of his good relationship with Mr. Fuwa, not only was his status as an "Italian nobleman" recognized, (of course, this recognition was only on paper, but when it came to France, especially in Paris, his status as a count, not many people would take it seriously), but he also became a member of the French government in Corsica. He also became a member of the French government in Corsica.
Now that Monsieur Fois was leaving Corsica, Carlo entrusted him with the task of introducing these two sons of his to a French school of nobility. Carlo knew that there wasn't much of a future for Corsicans in Corsica, and that France was where the real opportunities were to be found.
"Learn French for what? The French ...," Napoleon said halfway through, looked Carlo in the eye, and shut up.
"Remember, the future of the family depends on you." Carlo concluded, "Napoleon, when you get to France, don't talk nonsense."
Napoleon didn't say anything, but the reluctant look on his face was obvious to any fool.
"Joseph, in a few moments you and Napoleon will talk about not getting into trouble when you get to France." Carlo added.
What exactly Joseph said to Napoleon that night was anyone's guess, but after dawn, Napoleon showed an entirely different interest in going to France to learn French.
"I want to go into the heart of the enemy, to observe them at the closest possible distance, to understand them. This will help Corsica to be free." Privately, Napoleon said this to his sister Polina.
It would be more than a month before Monsieur Foix returned to France, and Carlo took advantage of the time to hire a young man named Valentin to tutor his two sons so that they could master more or less French before they left for France.
Valentin, a young man not yet twenty years of age, was said to have studied at the University of Paris, but he did not graduate from there without success. Then, in order to make a living, he came to Corsica. He was a typical southerner with white skin, black hair and blue eyes. He always smiled when he spoke and was generally a very pleasant young man.
But he had his own job, and teaching the Bonaparte brothers French could only be done after hours. In order for the brothers to master as much French as possible, Carlo, who had always been frugal, allowed them to study at night by lighting an oil lamp.
Italian and French are actually very similar, and the Corsican dialect is even a language in between, of course, the Corsican dialect is closer to Italian. Thus, for Joseph and Napoleon, who had mastered the Corsican dialect, it really wasn't particularly difficult to basically master general French in a month or so.
The month or so passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was time to leave Corsica.
Early that morning, after breakfast, Carlo took his family and went outside Monsieur Foix's lodgings to join him. People in those days went to bed early, and so generally got up early too. Mr. Fuwa's house was also busy, a butler was directing a group of servants to throw all kinds of things onto the carriage.
Mr. Fuwa, on the other hand, stood by himself, with neither a lingering feeling of leaving the place where he had lived for several years, nor the slightest hint of joy at the prospect of returning to his hometown. It was as if this matter had nothing to do with him at all. It was only when he saw Carlo's family that he revealed a smiling face, striding over to greet them, "Hi, Carlo, and Joseph and Napoleon, good morning to you all."
"Good morning Mr. Fuwa." Joseph hurriedly replied in French. But Napoleon said nothing.
"Ah, Joseph, your pronunciation of French still has a bit of an Italian accent, but it doesn't matter too much, there are quite a few people with that accent over in Toulon. Ah, Napoleon is still shy. It's better to be generous and gracious. Hahahahaha ..."
Apparently, Fuwa took Napoleon's hostility to the French for his shyness. Little did he know that the dwarf was willing to study in France in order to learn about France so that he could one day defeat it and win independence for Corsica. At least at this time, Napoleon was a staunch Corsican independent.
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