I am sorry. I am afraid I
was rather occupied at the moment.
GIUSEPPE (with eager admiration). They say you jumped off your
horse and worked the big guns with your own hands, General.
LIEUTENANT. That was a mistake: an officer should never let
himself down to the level of his men. (Napoleon looks at him
dangerously, and begins to walk tigerishly to and fro.) But you
might have been firing away at the Austrians still, if we cavalry
fellows hadn't found the ford and got across and turned old
Beaulieu's flank for you. You know you daren't have given the
order to charge the bridge if you hadn't seen us on the other
side. Consequently, I say that whoever found that ford won the
battle of Lodi. Well, who found it? I was the first man to cross:
and I know. It was my horse that found it. (With conviction, as
be rises from the couch.) That horse is the true conqueror of the
Austrians.
NAPOLEON (passionately). You idiot: I'll have you shot for losing
those despatches: I'll have you blown from the mouth of a cannon:
nothing less could make any impression on you. (Baying at him.)
Do you hear? Do you understand?
A French officer enters unobserved, carrying his sheathed sabre
in his hand.
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