Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 27 of 94
René · p. 142
French
p. 142gazon, au pied de l’arbre ; René prit sa place au milieu d’eux, et après un moment de silence, il parla de la sorte à ses vieux amis :
« Je ne puis, en commençant mon récit, me défendre d’un mouvement de honte. La paix de vos cœurs, respectables vieillards, et le calme de la nature autour de moi, me font rougir du trouble et de l’agitation de mon âme.
» Combien vous aurez pitié de moi ! Que mes éternelles inquiétudes vous paroîtront misérables ! Vous qui avez épuisé tous les chagrins de la vie, que penserez-vous d’un jeune homme sans force et sans vertu, qui trouve en lui-même son tourment, et ne peut guère se plaindre que des maux qu’il se fait à lui-même ? Hélas, ne le condamnez pas ; il a été trop puni !
» J’ai coûté la vie à ma mère en venant au monde ; j’ai été tiré de son sein avec le fer. J’avois un frère que mon père bénit, parce qu’il voyoit en lui son fils aîné. Pour moi, livré de bonne heure à des mains étrangères, je fus élevé loin du toit paternel.
» Mon humeur étoit impétueuse, mon caractère inégal. Tour à tour bruyant et joyeux,
René
Source p. 142grass, at the foot of the tree; René took his place between them, and after a moment of silence spoke thus to his old friends:
“I cannot, in beginning my story, keep back a movement of shame. The peace of your hearts, venerable old men, and the calm of nature around me make me blush for the trouble and agitation of my soul.
“How you will pity me! How wretched my endless disquiet will seem to you! You who have exhausted all the sorrows of life, what will you think of a young man without strength and without virtue, who finds his torment in himself and can hardly complain of any ills but those he brings upon himself? Alas, do not condemn him; he has been too much punished!
“I cost my mother her life in coming into the world; I was taken from her womb with the knife. I had a brother whom my father blessed, because he saw in him his eldest son. As for me, given over early to strangers’ hands, I was brought up far from my father’s roof.
“My temper was impetuous, my character uneven. By turns boisterous and merry,
Socrates
Reading René · René · René · p. 142
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Chateaubriand’s tale of René and Amélie, with the Preface of 1805, two contemporary reviews, and the longer readings of 1802. This French–English edition preserves the 1826 printed pages, with a new English translation, author’s notes, variant readings, introduction and glossary.
Historical Text and Translation
François-René de Chateaubriand, Œuvres complètes, tome XVI (Paris: Ladvocat, 1826), pp. 1–16, 137–192 and 351–358, University of Toronto Library copy. Earlier witness: Génie du Christianisme, tome II (Paris: Migneret, 1802), pp. 158–216, Bibliothèque nationale de France copy.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical French source is in the public domain in the United States. New English translation and editorial matter © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Chateaubriand’s author notes and historical variants remain separately attributed.