Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · Bilingual Edition
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French Page · Branch 73 of 94
René · p. 188
French
p. 188Comme René achevoit de raconter son histoire, il tira un papier de son sein, et le donna au père Souël ; puis, se jetant dans les bras de Chactas, et étouffant ses sanglots, il laissa le temps au missionnaire de parcourir la lettre qu’il venoit de lui remettre.
Elle étoit de la supérieure de…. Elle contenoit le récit des derniers moments de la sœur Amélie de la Miséricorde, morte victime de son zèle et de sa charité, en soignant ses compagnes attaquées d’une maladie contagieuse. Toute la communauté étoit inconsolable, et l’on y regardoit Amélie comme une sainte. La supérieure ajoutoit que depuis trente ans qu’elle étoit à la tête de la maison, elle n’avoit jamais vu de religieuse d’une humeur aussi douce et aussi égale, ni qui fût plus contente d’avoir quitté les tribulations du monde.
Chactas pressoit René dans ses bras ; le vieillard pleuroit. « Mon enfant, dit-il à son fils, je voudrois que le père Aubry fût ici ; il tiroit du fond de son cœur je ne sais quelle paix qui, en les calmant, ne sembloit cependant point étrangère aux tempêtes ; c’étoit la lune dans une nuit orageuse : les nuages errants ne peuvent l’emporter dans leur course ; pure et inaltéra-
René
Source p. 188As René finished telling his story, he drew a paper from his breast and gave it to Father Souël; then, throwing himself into Chactas’s arms and stifling his sobs, he gave the missionary time to run through the letter he had just handed him.
It was from the superior of…. It contained the account of the last moments of Sister Amélie de la Miséricorde, who had died a victim of her zeal and her charity while nursing her companions, stricken by a contagious disease. The whole community was inconsolable, and Amélie was regarded there as a saint. The superior added that in the thirty years she had been at the head of the house, she had never seen a nun of so gentle and even a temper, nor one more content to have left the tribulations of the world.
Chactas held René in his arms; the old man was weeping. “My child,” he said to his son, “I wish that Father Aubry were here; he drew from the depths of his heart I know not what peace, which, while it calmed them, seemed nevertheless no stranger to tempests; it was the moon on a stormy night: the wandering clouds cannot carry it away in their course; pure and unalterable,
Socrates
Reading René · René · René · p. 188
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.