Today I found out that Napoleon Bonaparte was not in fact especially short.
今天我有一個(gè)重大發(fā)現，拿破侖其實(shí)沒(méi)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.
人們都認為拿破侖是個(gè)矮子，這一看法來(lái)源于他臨終時(shí)測得的身高為5尺2寸（1米57）。但是，這里的單位是法國的英尺，所以用現在的單位換算，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.
你可能會(huì )說(shuō)“但這還是很矮啊”。沒(méi)錯，5尺7寸的個(gè)頭的確還是偏矮小，但這僅限于某些地區，比如美國。在當時(shí)的法國，成年男子的平均身高差不多也只有5尺5寸（1米66）。所以，拿破侖甚至算是高大的。
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”.
盡管如此，一提起拿破侖，人們便會(huì )說(shuō)兩點(diǎn)：戰場(chǎng)上的高手，生活中的孩子。“拿破侖情結”就是以他命名的，特指那些有“弱勢情結”的人，或者講得更具體一些，就是“矮子綜合癥”。
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，雖然拿破侖比當時(shí)一般的法國人高，他死前還是被認為很矮。原因是，他的保鏢都是威猛大漢，挑選的時(shí)候有嚴格的身高要求。
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，無(wú)論拿破侖走到哪里，和他的保鏢相比，就相形見(jiàn)絀了。因此他的外號叫“Le Petit Caporel”，意思是“小士兵”，不過(guò)當時(shí)這可是對他的愛(ài)稱(chēng)，而非取笑。
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