AT last the Revlutin was stpped.
It was stpped by a yung sldiernly abut twenty yearsld and sixty inches tall.
The Gvernment was hlding a meeting in the palace while an angry mb in the streetsutside were trying t attack the palace. A yung sldier had been given a few men and tld t keep the mb away. The yung sldier pinted cannns dwn each street that led t the palace， and nne dared t shw himself. The yung sldier was named Naplen Bnaparte. He made such a fine recrd that peple wanted t knw wh he was and where he came frm.
Naplen had been brnn a little island called Crsica in the Mediterranean Sea. He was brn just in time t be a Frenchman， fr the islandf Crsica had belnged t Italy and hadnly just been given t France a few weeks befre he was brn. As sn as he wasld enugh， he was sentff t a military schl in France. There， his French schlmates lked upn him as a freigner and didn"t have much t d with him. But Naplen made high marks in arithmetic， and he lved hard prblems.nce he shut himself up in his rm t wrkver a hard prblem， and there he stayed fr three days and nights until he had fund the answer.
Naplen shwed early in his career that he was ging t be a fine sldier，and when he wasnly twenty-six yearsld he was made a general.
Nw， at this time all thether cuntriesf Eurpe had kings. France had caught the feverf revlutin frm the Americans all the way acrss thecean and had gt ridf her kings. The kingsf thesether cuntries were afraid their peple might catch the feverf revlutin， t. Allf thesether cuntries became enemiesf France because France had put an end t her kings. Besides that， the French army was invading France"s neighbrs t help them get ridf their kings. S，nce again， war wasn.
Naplen was sentff t fight Italy. He had t crss the Alps， which Hannibal in the Punic Wars had crssed lng befre. But Hannibal had n heavy cannns when he crssed； it seemed impssible fr Naplen"s army t crss with cannns. Naplen asked his engineers， the men wh were suppsed t knwabut such things， if it culd be dne. They said they thught it was impssible. "Impssible，" Naplen angrily replied， "is a wrd fundnly in thedictinaryf fls." Then he shuted：
"There shall be n Alps！" and went ahead and crssed them. His army wn in Italy， and when he returned t France he was greeted by the peple as a cnquering her. But the men wh were then gverning France were afraidf him. They feared he might try t make himself king because he was s ppular with the peple. Naplen， hwever， asked t be sent t cnquer Egypt because he had an idea he culd get the betterf the English there. He thught he might then cut Englandff frm India， the clny that they had wn in the reignf James I. England had lst America and didn"t want t lse India， t.
The French Gvernment was very glad t get ridf Naplen， and s they sent himff t Egypt as he asked. He quickly cnquered Egypt as Julius Caesar had dne， but there was n Clepatra t upset his plans. While he was cnquering Egypt， his fleet， which was waiting fr him at the muthf the Nile， was caught and destryed by the English fleet under a great admiral， if nt the greatest that ever lived. His name was Lrd Nelsn.
Naplen had n way t take his army back t France. He left his army in Egypt under cmmandf anther. He himself， hwever， managed t find a ship t take him back hme. When he reached France， he fund that the men whEurpe in 1815（1815 年的欧洲）were suppsed t be gverning were quarreling amng themselves， and， seeing his chance， he had himself madenef three men chsen t rule France. He was called first cnsul； and there were suppsed t be tw assistant cnsuls but the assistants were little mre than clerks t d Naplen"s bidding. It wasnly a very shrt time befre he was next made first cnsul fr life. Then， nt lng after that， he became emperrf France and als kingf Italy.
Thether cuntriesf Eurpe began t fear that Naplen wuld cnquer them， t， and make them als a partf France. All thether cuntries jined tgether t beat him. Naplen planned t cnquer England first， and he gt ready a fleet t crssver t England. But his fleet was caughtff Spain near a pint called Trafalgar by the same English admiral， Lrd Nelsn， wh had beaten him in Egypt. Befre this battle， Nelsn said t his sailrs， "England expects every man t d his duty，" and they did it. Naplen"s fleet was utterly destryed， thugh Nelsn himself was killed.
Naplen then gave up the ideaf cnquering England， and he turned his attentin in theppsite directin. He had beaten Spain and Prussia and Austria. Almst all Eurpe either belnged t himr had t d what he said. He then attacked Russia. It was a great mistake he made， fr Russia was farff and very large， and it was wintertime and very cld. Still， he managed t reach Mscw wayff in the centerf Russia with his army. But the Russians burned the city and destryed all the fd， s that Naplen had nthing with which t feed his army. It was terribly cld； there were deep snws； and， in retreating， his army suffered enrmus lsses. Naplen himself sn made a beeline t Paris， leaving his sldiers t get back the best way they culd. Men and hrses diedf cld and hunger by the thusands. Naplen reached Paris， but his frtune had turned. Allf Eurpe was getting ready t put an end t the tyrant， and it was nt lng after this that he was hemmed in and beaten by his enemies.
When Naplen saw that he was beaten， he signed a paper saying that he wuld give up and leave France. This he did， sailing away t a little island called Elba， justff the castf Italy， nt far frm the island where he was brn.
But Naplen，n the islandf Elba， gt an idea that all was nt lst and that he might return t France and get back his pwer again. Allf a sudden， t the surprisef France and the restf the wrld， he landedn the castf France. The French gvernment at Paris sent an armyf hisld sldiers against him withrders t meet him and bring him t Paris in an irn cage. But when hisld sldiers met theirld general， they wentver t his side， and s with them he marchedn t Paris. The English and German armies were nrthf France and preparing t fight. Naplen quickly gt tgether an army and went frth tmeet them. At a little twn called Waterl， Naplen fught his last battle， fr there he was utterly beaten by an English general named Wellingtn. This was the year 1815. We still speak and prbably always will speakf any great defeat as a Waterl.
There is a peculiar sentence which reads backward the same as frward. It is what Naplen might have said after all wasver. It isABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBANaplen at St. Helena（拿破仑在圣赫勒拿岛）After Naplen was beaten at Waterl， the English tk him away and put himn a little island farff in thecean where he culd nt pssibly escape. It was a lnely spt named St. Helena after the mtherf Cnstantine. Here he lived fr six years befre he died.
Naplen was prbably the greatest general that ever lived， but that des nt mean that he was the greatest man. Sme say he was the wrst， fr just t make himself great， he killed hundredsf thusandsf peple and brught destructin and ruin t the whlef Eurpe wherever he fught his battles.
This brings us up int the nineteenth century， fr Naplen died in 1821. Hw lng ag is that？
【中文阅读】
法国大革命终于结束了。
一个年轻的士兵使它结束了，他大约 20 岁，身高只有 60 英寸。 政府正在王宫里开会，而此时外面街道上愤怒的暴徒正企图攻打王宫。一个年轻的士兵受命带了几个人，去赶走暴徒。这个年轻士兵将大炮对准通往王宫的每一 条街道，这下子没人敢露面了。这个年轻士兵名叫拿破仑 波拿巴。由于这一次表现 非同寻常，人们想知道他是谁，是从哪儿来的。
拿破仑出生在地中海一个叫科西嘉的小岛上。他出生很及时，正好成为法国人， 因为科西嘉岛以前属于意大利，就在他出生前几周才划归法国。他刚够年龄，就被 送到法国的一所军事学校学习。学校里的法国同学瞧不起他，把他当作外国人，不 愿和他交往。但是拿破仑算术成绩得分很高，他还喜爱解难题。有一次为了钻研一 道难题，他把自己关在屋里，待了三天三夜，直到解出答案。
在职业生涯早期，拿破仑就表现出优秀的军事潜质，在年仅 26 岁时，就擢升为 将军。
当时欧洲其他国家都有国王。而法国却染上了从大洋彼岸美国传来的革命热， 除掉了自己的国王。其他国家的国王们担心他们的人民也会染上革命热。所有这些 国家都变成了法国的敌人，就因为法国终止了国王的统治。此外，法国军队不断侵 入邻国要帮助它们除掉自己的国王。所以，战火又一次燃起来。
拿破仑被派去攻打意大利。他必须越过阿尔卑斯山，这座山很久以前汉尼拔在 布匿战争中翻越过。但是汉尼拔翻越大山时没有沉重的大炮；拿破仑的军队要带着 大炮翻山越岭似乎是不可能的。拿破仑问他的工兵是否能做到，这些工兵按说对这 类事是比较了解的。他们回答说他们认为不可能。
"不可能，"拿破仑气冲冲地回应，"这个词只有在蠢人的字典里才能找到。"接 着他喊道：
"让阿尔卑斯山见鬼去吧！"拿破仑冲向前，带领军队越过了阿尔卑斯山脉。他 的军队在意大利打了胜仗，当他回到法国时，人们把他看做凯旋的英雄，热烈欢迎 他。但是当时统治法国的那些人害怕他。担心他会自立为王，因为他现在深得人心。 然而拿破仑要求被派去征服埃及因为他觉得他能在那里战胜英国人。他认为到时候 他就可以切断英国与印度的联系，印度是詹姆斯一世统治时期英国人赢得的殖民地。 英国已经失去了美国，当然不愿再失去印度。
法国政府巴不得让拿破仑离开法国，于是他们应他的要求把他派到了埃及。像 恺撒大帝当年那样，他很快征服了埃及，但是这一次没有克娄巴特拉那样的女人来 搅乱他的计划。他在征服埃及时，一支在尼罗河河口正等候要跟他会合的舰队，却 遭到英国舰队的袭击并被摧毁，指挥英国舰队的是一位了不起的海军将领，几乎可 以算得上当时世界上最伟大的海军将领。他的名字叫纳尔逊勋爵。
拿破仑没有办法把军队带回法国。他把留在埃及的军队交给另一个人统领。但 是他自己设法找到了一艘可以搭乘回国的船。当他到达法国时，他发现那些执政者 正在争吵，他瞅准了自己的机会，让自己被选为统治法国的三人之一。他被称为第 一执政官；照理说在位的还有两位副执政官，但是这两位副执政官只不过是听命于 拿破仑的小职员。只过了很短的时间，他就被任命为终身第一执政官。再不久，他 就成了法国皇帝，同时还是意大利国王。
欧洲其他国家开始担心拿破仑也会征服它们，使它们成为法国的一部分。为了 挫败他，所有这些国家都联合起来。拿破仑计划先征服英国，他准备好一支舰队， 要横渡海峡去英国。但是他的舰队在西班牙沿海靠近特拉法尔加角的地方被英国海 军司令纳尔逊勋爵拦截了。纳尔逊勋爵就是在埃及曾打败拿破仑的那位将领。这场战役打响前，纳尔逊对水兵们说，"英国期望每个国民为国尽责"，他们做到了。拿 破仑的舰队被彻底摧毁了，不过纳尔逊本人在这次战役中阵亡了。
这时拿破仑放弃了征服英国的念头，把注意力转向相反的方向。他已经打败了 西班牙、普鲁士和奥地利。几乎整个欧洲要不就是属于他，要不就是不得不听命于 他。接着他进攻俄国。这是他犯的一个大错误，因为俄国离欧洲很远，幅员广大， 又时值冬季，天寒地冻。尽管如此，他还是率领军队克服困难，到了俄国中心的莫 斯科。但是俄国人一把大火烧了这座城市，把所有的粮食都毁了，这样拿破仑没有 任何食物给士兵们吃。天极冷，处处积雪很深，在撤退的途中军队损失惨重。拿破 仑自己很快就沿一条捷径直奔巴黎了，而让士兵们自己寻路而归。成千上万的人和 马死于严寒和饥饿。拿破仑抵达巴黎，但是他的时运开始下跌。全欧洲正做好准备 除掉这个暴君，不久以后他就在敌人的包围之下被打败了。
拿破仑看到大势已去，于是签署了一份文件宣布他将退位并离开法国。他说到 做到，乘船离开法国去了一个叫厄尔巴的小岛，就在意大利海岸边，离他出生的那 座岛不远。
但是在厄尔巴岛上拿破仑产生了一个想象，他觉得自己并未全盘皆失，还有可 能返回法国，重掌大权。突然，他在法国海岸登陆了，让法国和全世界大吃一惊。 巴黎的法国政府派出一支由他的旧部下组成的军队去抗击他，还授命他们去迎战他， 把他装在铁笼子里押回巴黎。但是当这些旧老部下遇到他们旧日的将军，他们反而 站到他那一边，跟随他向巴黎进发。在法国之北，英德两军正准备开战。拿破仑很 快集结起一支军队，向北前去迎战他们。在一个叫滑铁卢的小镇，拿破仑打了最后 一次战役，因为在那里他被一位名叫威灵顿的英国将军彻底打垮了。这场战役的时 间是 1815 年。我们现在还把任何一次惨痛的失败比喻成"滑铁卢"，今后这个比喻 可能会一直用下去。
有一个古怪的句子，倒着念和顺着念是一样的。拿破仑也许在一切都结束以后， 说过这句话。这句话是"在我看见厄尔巴岛之前，我能力非凡。"拿破仑在滑铁卢被打败以后，英国人带走了拿破仑，把他流放到海上一个遥远 的小岛上，他是不可能从那里逃走的。这个人迹罕至的岛名叫圣赫勒拿岛，是以君 士坦丁大帝母亲的名字命名的。他在那里生活了六年后死去了。
拿破仑可能是历史上最伟大的将军，但这并不意味着他是最伟大的人。有些人 说他是最恶之人，因为仅仅为了个人的成就，他不惜让千万人失去生命，无论他在 哪里发动战役，都给整个欧洲带来了破坏和毁灭。
说到这里，我们进入了 19 世纪，因为拿破仑死于 1821 年。那是多久以前的事情了？
