拿破仑不矮

拿破仑不矮

Today I found out that Napoleon Bonaparte was not in fact especially short.

今天我有一个重大发现，拿破仑其实没有那么矮。

The myth that he was short stems primarily from the fact that he is listed as 5 feet 2 inches tall at the time of his death. However, this is 5 feet 2 inches in French units. In modern international units, he was just shy of 5 feet 7 inches.

人们都认为拿破仑是个矮子，这一看法来源于他临终时测得的身高为5尺2寸（1米57）。但是，这里的单位是法国的英尺，所以用现在的单位换算，的身高接近5尺7寸（1米70）。

Now I know you are saying “well that is still pretty short”. That is true by modern day standards in certain places in the world, such as the United States. However, at the time in France, the average height for an adult male was about 5 feet 5 inches in modern international units. So in fact, he was quite tall for his day.

你可能会说“但这还是很矮啊”。没错，5尺7寸的个头的确还是偏矮小，但这仅限于某些地区，比如美国。在当时的法国，成年男子的平均身高差不多也只有5尺5寸（1米66）。所以，拿破仑甚至算是高大的。

Despite this fact, Napoleon is primarily remembered for two things; being a master tactician and being short. The so called “Napoleon Complex” named after him, describes men who have an inferiority complex or more aptly “Short Man Syndrome”.

尽管如此，一提起拿破仑，人们便会说两点：战场上的高手，生活中的孩子。“拿破仑情结”就是以他命名的，特指那些有“弱势情结”的人，或者讲得更具体一些，就是“矮子综合症”。

Interestingly, there is evidence that Napoleon was already considered short at the time of his death, despite being above average height among his fellow Frenchman. This likely stems from the fact that his personal bodyguards were all very tall and broad; there being height requirements for his guard.

有趣的是，虽然拿破仑比当时一般的法国人高，他死前还是被认为很矮。原因是，他的保镖都是威猛大汉，挑选的时候有严格的身高要求。

So wherever he went, people saw him with his guards who were all much bigger than him and thus he looked small in comparison, earning him the nickname “Le Petit Caporel” or in English “The Little Corporal”, though in his day this was typically used as a term of affection for him and not as an insult.

所以，无论拿破仑走到哪里，和他的保镖相比，就相形见绌了。因此他的外号叫“Le Petit Caporel”，意思是“小士兵”，不过当时这可是对他的爱称，而非取笑。