The working documents of an international movement can pose complicated problems for translators. Here, for example, is the text of a speech, apparently written in French, first reported in English, then translated back to French for the Collected Works from a Russian translation, though it is not immediately clear from which source the Russian translation was made. Now I have translated the second French version into English. In this case, given the simplicity of the sentiments expressed, all of this translation probably obscures very little in the text, but we can easily imagine cases where the vagueries of document preservation left us with much more enigmatic documents. Hopefully, at some point the earlier English text can be found for comparison purposes.
Speech at Malmö, Sweden, March 30, 1863
I thank you, my friends, and appreciate your welcome and the expression of your sympathy. We count on your because we know that free Sweden is not indifferent to the fate of Poland, because these two peoples have always sustained the love of liberty and a great sympathy for one another. Now especially, in this moment of need and of danger, we count on you and you have not disappointed our hopes. But do not content yourself with fine words of compassion and of past memories. You will aid us by all possible means. We will thank you with all our heart! The Poles fight not only for their own liberty, but for the liberty of all the peoples who suffer under the yoke of the czar of Moscow. These peoples should form an alliance in order to eliminate their moral enemy. You are our first allies, our natural allies, and we count on your, the Swedes, because we know that at the sight of the sufferings, the misfortunes and the extreme stresses on all the Polish forces, nothing will silence the voice of your heart; we know as well that your acts will in no way fail to match your words. Long live Sweden!
