He made Beethoven’s heart soar, then broke it. As much as the Civil Code or the Banque de France, what survives of Napoleon two centuries on is the art he provoked. (“Inspired” doesn’t do it.) There is the old tale of the Third Symphony, the Eroica, being named after him until he went and crowned himself Emperor. England’s Romantics, whether pro (Byron) or anti (Wordsworth), were no less obsessed. Even Stanley Kubrick attempted a biopic before settling down to easier subjects: the Vietnam war, the nature of free will.
他曾讓貝多芬(Beethoven)心潮澎湃，然后又心灰意冷。在拿破侖(Napoleon)逝世200年后，除了《民法典》(Civil Code)和法國央行(Banque de France)之外，他留給世人的還有受他刺激（而非啟發）而創作出來的藝術。有一個古老的故事是，貝多芬原本打算用拿破侖的名字命名第三號交響曲《英雄》(Eroica)，但在拿破侖稱帝后改變了主意。拿破侖也強烈地影響了英國的浪漫主義者，無論是支持他的拜倫(Byron)，還是反對他的華茲華斯(Wordsworth)。就連斯坦利?庫布里克(Stanley Kubrick)也曾嘗試要拍攝一部拿破侖傳記片，不過他最終決定拍攝一些更容易的題材：越戰，以及自由意志的性質。