René

Name: René
Author: François-René de Chateaubriand

With the Preface of 1805 and two reviews reprinted by the author

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Facing Pages · Branch 40 of 94

René · p. 155

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p. 155

Alors le vieux sauvage : « Mon jeune ami, les mouvements d’un cœur comme le tien ne sauroient être égaux ; modère seulement ce caractère qui t’a déjà fait tant de mal. Si tu souffres plus qu’un autre des choses de la vie, il ne faut pas t’en étonner ; une grande âme doit contenir plus de douleurs qu’une petite. Continue ton récit. Tu nous a fait parcourir une partie de l’Europe, fais-nous connoître ta patrie. Tu sais que j’ai vu la France, et quels liens m’y ont attaché ; j’aimerai à entendre parler de ce grand Chef, qui n’est plus, et dont j’ai visité la superbe cabane. Mon enfant, je ne vis plus que par la mémoire. Un vieillard avec ses souvenirs ressemble au chêne décrépit de nos bois : ce chêne ne se décore plus de son propre feuillage, mais il couvre quelquefois sa nudité des plantes étrangères qui ont végété sur ses antiques rameaux. »

Le frère d’Amélie, calmé par ces paroles, reprit ainsi l’histoire de son cœur.

« Hélas ! mon père, je ne pourrai t’entretenir de ce grand siècle dont je n’ai vu que la fin dans mon enfance, et qui n’étoit plus lorsque je rentrai dans ma patrie. Jamais un changement

a.Source editor’s annotation1802. Le vieux sauvage, avec une douceur parfaite, lui répondit, ‘The old savage answered him with perfect gentleness’.

b.Source editor’s annotation1802. tâche seulement de modérer cette ardeur de caractère, ‘only try to moderate that ardour of character’.

c.Source editor’s annotation1802. Tu nous as fait parcourir l’Europe, hâte-toi de nous faire connoître ta patrie, ‘You have taken us through Europe; make haste to make us know your homeland.’

1.Source editor’s annotationChateaubriand · Louis XIV.

d.Source editor’s annotation1802. Mon cher enfant, ‘My dear child’.

e.Source editor’s annotation1802. …de nos bois, qui ne se pare plus de son propre feuillage, mais qui couvre quelquefois sa nudité…, ‘…of our woods, which no longer decks itself in its own foliage, but which sometimes covers its nakedness…’.

f.Source editor’s annotation1802. calmé par ces paroles paisibles, reprit ainsi l’histoire secrète de son cœur, ‘calmed by these peaceable words, thus took up the secret story of his heart again’.

g.Source editor’s annotation1802. Jamais une métamorphose plus étonnante et plus soudaine, ‘Never was a metamorphosis more astonishing and more sudden…’.

René

Source p. 155

Then the old savage: “My young friend, the movements of a heart like yours cannot be even; only moderate that character which has already done you so much harm. If you suffer more than another from the things of life, you must not wonder at it; a great soul must contain more sorrows than a small one. Go on with your story. You have taken us through a part of Europe; make us know your homeland. You know that I have seen France, and what ties bound me to it; I shall be glad to hear of that great Chief who is no more, and whose superb cabin I visited. My child, I live now only by memory. An old man with his memories is like the decrepit oak of our woods: this oak no longer adorns itself with its own foliage, but it sometimes covers its nakedness with the foreign plants that have grown upon its ancient boughs.”

Amélie’s brother, calmed by these words, thus took up the story of his heart again.

“Alas, my father, I cannot speak to you of that great age of which I saw only the end, in my childhood, and which was no more when I returned to my homeland. Never was a change

a.Source editor’s annotation1802. Le vieux sauvage, avec une douceur parfaite, lui répondit, ‘The old savage answered him with perfect gentleness’.

b.Source editor’s annotation1802. tâche seulement de modérer cette ardeur de caractère, ‘only try to moderate that ardour of character’.

*.Source editor’s annotationChateaubriand’s note: ‘Louis XIV.’

1.Versailles. The prologue to Atala tells how Chactas, held in the galleys at Marseille by an injustice, was set free and presented to Louis XIV, and saw the festivities of Versailles (p. 24 of this volume).

d.Source editor’s annotation1802. Mon cher enfant, ‘My dear child’.

g.Source editor’s annotation1802. Jamais une métamorphose plus étonnante et plus soudaine, ‘Never was a metamorphosis more astonishing and more sudden…’.

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.