Top 10 Famous Love Letters 歷史上的十大著名情書（1）

亨利八世寫給安妮·博林

King Henry VIII originally courted Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary, but it was Anne who caught the English royal’s wandering eye — though she refused to be his mistress. She wanted to be Queen. Unfortunately for Anne, the temperamental King had another change of heart and ordered her execution in 1536. Henry VIII wrote Anne this letter in 1527:

國王亨利八世最初追求的是安妮·博林的姐姐瑪麗·博林，不過皇室看中的卻是安妮——雖然她拒絕做亨利八世的情婦。她想要做的是皇后，不過不幸的是，喜新厭舊的亨利八世之后卻又變了心，1536年時下令處決安妮。1527年，亨利八世給安妮寫下了這樣的情書：

“I beg to know expressly your intention touching the love between us. Necessity compels me to obtain this answer, having been more than a year wounded by the dart of love, and not yet sure whether I shall fail or find a place in your affection.”

“我乞求你，清楚明白地告訴我你的心意，是否愿意與我相愛。我必須要得到這個答案，愛神之箭射中了我，傷口已一年有余，能否在你的心中占有一席之地，我卻依然無從確定。”

The ruthless French leader had a sweet side for his wife Josephine. Although he divorced her when she could not have children, he continued to write to her. A few days after they were married, Napoleon left to command the French army near Italy. In the following months, he frequently wrote, expressing how much he missed her. He wrote the following on July 17, 1796:

拿破侖這位法國革命領袖殘酷無情，然而對妻子約瑟芬卻有柔情的一面。雖然因為約瑟芬無法懷孕而和她離婚，但他依舊保持著對她的通信。在他們婚后沒幾天，拿破侖就離開家，前往離意大利不遠處的前線指揮部隊。在接下去的幾個月中，他頻繁地給妻子寫信，表達相思之情。1796年7月17日，他在信中寫道：

“Since I left you, I have been constantly depressed. My happiness is to be near you. Incessantly I live over in my memory your caresses, your tears, your affectionate solicitude. The charms of the incomparable Josephine kindle continually a burning and a glowing flame in my heart. When, free from all solicitude, all harassing care, shall I be able to pass all my time with you, having only to love you, and to think only of the happiness of so saying, and of proving it to you?”

“自從與你分別，我時常郁郁寡歡。我的幸福就是能與你相依。我不斷在記憶里重溫你的愛撫、你的淚水、你深情的掛念。世上沒有人能同你相比，你的魅力總會在我心中燃起熊熊烈火。我何時才能擺脫所有掛慮、所有惱人的擔憂，和你共度生命中的每分每秒，向你證明，我只需要愛你，只需要想著向你訴說愛意時的幸福之感。”