Chapter 10. Arrangements

　The Bonapartes were a very traditional Corsican family. This also meant that women were not much in charge in their family. Letizia was a very good wife, a very good mother, and she always suffered in silence, even when times were hard. But she was also a very traditional Corsican woman who didn't speak up when she needed to take a decision.

　　So after Carlo's death, almost all the decisions in this household had to be made by Joseph. When the younger siblings would ask their mother about anything, she always said, "Go ask your brother and see what he has to say." Just as she used to say to the children when Carlo was still alive, "Ask your father."

　　So Joseph was immediately busy, first making arrangements for his father's funeral, then dealing with the estate and debts. Luckily, he had his uncle to help him with these things, and the presence of Bishop Minnie Mae made it much more difficult for those who wanted to take advantage of the absence of a grown man in the house to do so. So these things went very smoothly.

　　By the third day after the funeral, the various things left behind were basically all taken care of. That night, Joseph then called his mother, uncle, and several younger siblings together.

　　"Mother, uncle, and siblings. Father's funeral, as well as the related matters have all basically come to an end as of today." Joseph spoke, "After losing our father, our family's situation has changed greatly. Our old way of life will certainly change considerably as well. We must adapt to such changes and prepare in advance. Now, I will tell you all about the changes that may occur in our family."

　　Everyone then listened quietly to Joseph.

　　"When my father died, his salary naturally went away. As you all know, our family's fields are very small and produce very little, so without this salary from father's time at the Governor's Office, our family's income would have to shrink to one-third of what it was before, just from the output of the little fields we have left. This also means that our income would merely be enough to make ends meet. Brothers and sisters, you'll have problems with your pocket money and even your education.

　　Napoleon, you are studying in a military school, and naturally you will serve in the army when you graduate in the future. You don't need to spend any money to study in a military school. But I'm afraid the pocket money given to you will have to be canceled."

　　"That's no problem." Napoleon said.

　　"I've learned a bit about your accomplishments over the past few years." Joseph continued, "Your math, geography, and history are all very good. But your language scores disappoint me."

　　"Math, geography, and history are useful in war. Languages ...," Napoleon said, somewhat unconvinced.

　　"O my foolish brother, language is also a tool of battle!" Joseph glanced at Napoleon and said, "Don't you know what Octavian relied on to defeat Brutus back then? The ability to use language has been indispensable to a good general since ancient times."

　　Hearing Joseph use the Emperor Octavian as an example, Napoleon stopped refuting.

　　However, Joseph was not willing to let Napoleon off the hook as he continued to stare at Napoleon, "Let's say, for example, that nowadays our family is experiencing temporary difficulties. In order to earn more money to support our other brothers in their studies, we have to have someone who can step up and take over for father.

　　As you know, I have one more year to graduate. But now, we are in trouble. If I drop out of school now, I can find something to do, but of course, the income will be much lower than my father's. If we can keep going for another year and find a job after I graduate, that would roughly double the income, which, of course, still isn't as good as when father was still around. But it's a figure that can barely support the family.

　　Obviously, in the long run, dropping out of school now is not the best choice for me or for the family. But we can't disregard the life in front of us. So I have a workaround plan. I have a classmate named Amand, who is Mr. Lavoisier's nephew. Napoleon, I mentioned this fellow in my letter to you. He has quite a few translations of plays and poems on hand that he could pass on to me. This would give me some income while I continue my studies, and with my classmate Lucien lending me some money as well, the family should have little trouble supporting themselves for a year if they are frugal.

　　Of course, if Napoleon's language grades were better, perhaps you could join in and do what you can, which would be considered helping the family, and I would be able to relax a little. However with your grades as they are now, I wouldn't dare to leave something like that to you."

　　"I know, I'll work on that in the future." Napoleon bowed his head.

　　Then Joseph turned to his other brothers.

　　"Lucien, although you are still young. But you also need to know that you are also the man of the house and need to study hard. Although our family has the title of nobility, we are not the French nobles who can do nothing and lie down and eat. A man in our family must be able to do something. Lucien, do you know where the best men get their skills? From learning, from overcoming obstacles. You're at an age now where you should get some education. I'll try to make sure that your education isn't affected by financial difficulties, but you must work hard yourself.

　　Louis, the same goes for you. Wait until next year, when I graduate and find a good job. If possible, I'll bring both you and Lucien to Paris to get an education. In terms of educational environment, Paris is much better than Corsica after all."

　　"Joseph, I'm graduating at the end of the year. But nowadays I have an opportunity to be selected to go to the Paris officer school, and after graduating from there, I can get a higher position and better development. I don't know ..." Napoleon spoke up.

　　"O my foolish brother. What is there to hesitate about such things? Are you doubting your brother's ability to provide for his family on the basis of your meager intelligence? Just go to the Paris officer's school and leave the present matters to me." Joseph replied.

　　"Joseph, where have I been foolish? I'm just ..." Napoleon protested, in a rare moment, at the "stupid" characterization Joseph had given himself.

　　"Oh?" Joseph immediately said, "Napoleon, your geometry is the most outstanding of all the subjects. Do you need me to give you a subject you can correctly recognize yourself?"

　　Napoleon was stunned and after a moment said resentfully, "Joseph, you're not a nice person."

　　...

　　After spending a few days getting things basically in order at home, he set out once again to return to Paris. During these days, as well as along the way, as long as there was a spare moment, even if it was only about ten minutes of spare time, Joseph seized the time to translate those things in his hand, and when he waited until early in the morning of the second day in Paris, Joseph first went to the school to cancel his vacation, and then he found Amand and handed him a volume of manuscripts.

　　"This is the translation of The Thaumaturgy of Athens, see if there are any changes that need to be made and I'll change them." Joseph said to Amand.

　　"Joseph, you actually got this out so quickly?" Amang was taken aback and said, "This is simply impossible without more than half a year in my case."

　　"You're slow because it's finely made. And I do it fast, but it's a lot shoddier." Joseph said.

　　"Joseph, I love it when you say that. However, I know for myself that I am slow not because of finesse, but because I am too lazy to do things, like the lazy kings of history (a series of Frankish kings who ignored the affairs of state in the seventh century). You, on the other hand, are a hard worker. And it's actually best to translate literature in one sitting. That way the emotion and momentum stays coherent. Well, I'll take a look at it when I have time. As for the fee, I'll give it to you in a few days."

　　Ah Mang had always delayed things, and when he said that the fee would be given in a few days, Joseph was prepared to wait for half a month. Unexpectedly, however, it was really only three days later that Armand handed Joseph the commission for translating the work-a total of fifty francs.

　　"Joseph, the quality of the manuscript is good. If you can keep up this quality and speed, you'll be earning six hundred francs a year. Plus your scholarship, and by the way, how many brothers do you have?"

　　"Four, three of whom are of educated age. But the oldest is in military school, and like me needs no money." Joseph replied.

　　"Ah, so there are only two younger brothers that you need to spend money on ...," Amand said after doing some mental math, "Oops, this amount of money is completely insufficient ah. With this amount of money, Joseph, you can no longer drink beer in the future, as for foie gras, you even have to say goodbye to them. You can't even put butter on the bread you eat, and you can only eat one lamb chop a month, which you have to eat for three days: on the first day you eat the meat, on the second day you eat the fat of the lamb chop, and on the third day you gnaw on the bones. You can't smoke to refresh yourself while you're at work, and you can't refresh yourself with black tea, you can only use the lowest grade of coffee, and the portion size has to be limited ... Geez, couldn't you do with one less brother?"

　　Joseph replied, "In our Corsica, we have a saying that goes, 'When it comes time to deal with foxes, you don't realize that there are too few hounds; when it comes time to deal with enemies, you don't realize that there are too few brothers.' That's why we Corsicans never complain of too many brothers and never complain of too many friends."

　　"That's an interesting saying." Armand said, "It's just that it's so wordy, when in fact it could be entirely more concise. Ah, perhaps the flavor changed when you translated it from Corsican dialect to French. That's what I think your translation is like, it's precise but a bit wordy in a lot of places. If it were me, this sentence, I would translate it like this. We have a saying in Corsica that goes, 'A dog is a dog when it's time to use it.'"