Where does the marsupial anteater live on what continent? Nambat or marsupial anteater (lat. Myrmecobius fasciatus). How long do anteaters live?
The numbat, also known as the marsupial anteater or banded anteater, is one of Australia's endangered animals. What does this mammal look like, what is it famous for and why is it endangered?
The nambat is a small animal, its length from the head to the beginning of the tail usually does not exceed 25-30 cm. And the tail reaches a length of about 12-20 cm. The nambat weighs on average from 300 to 700 grams.
Interesting! This marsupial is the emblem of Western Australia. One of his interesting features, unusual for the habits of marsupials - it is active only during the day.
The subspecies has a small and slender body, a pointed narrow muzzle and a lush thick tail, which is often in an upright position. It has a short, coarse coat that ranges in color from dark gray and reddish brown on the back to light gray and white on the stomach.
Fact! Despite the fact that the nambat is called an anteater, it feeds on termites. Although sometimes he “snacks” on ants.
One of the distinctive external features- a black stripe with white edges on the animal’s face. This strip extends from ear to ear and passes through the eye area. There are 4-11 white stripes on the back and back of the body. This coloring helps the nambat to remain unnoticed in the forest.
Interesting! The nambat has excellent daytime vision, which is unlikely to be boasted by any other marsupial. But he navigates and hunts mainly by smell.
Habitat
Numbates once densely inhabited Western and South Australia, as well as parts of New South Wales and Victoria. But by the end of the 1970s, due to the appearance of the European fox in those places, numbats practically became extinct in their original range.
Now only two natural populations of numbats have survived: in the reserves of Western Australia. Also in Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, 6 reserves were built in which the population of this individual was restored.
Important! IN wildlife This marsupial can only be found in ordinary and eucalyptus forests. Previously, individuals lived in other semi-arid habitats (meadows, forest areas with a dry climate and sometimes even in sand dunes.
Numbats are able to survive only in warm and dry places where there are sufficient numbers of termites. Also in such areas of nature there are many natural shelters for animals - for example, fallen trees.
What does the animal eat?
Nambat is an insectivorous animal. Despite its name, it most often eats ants “by accident.” The individual's favorite food is termites. An adult animal consumes 15-20 thousand termites daily. By the way, this is approximately 10% of its mass own body.
Another interesting difference between the numbat and the anteater is that it is unable to climb into termite burrows and dig them out. It can only catch insects on the surface. And all because it does not have such long and powerful claws, which would allow him to excavate the mound. Therefore, he often prefers to dig out shallow passages and wait for the insects to crawl to the surface.
Interesting! Numbats are forced to combine their “hunting” time with periods of termite activity. In winter this time is from late morning to midday. And in summer, nambats hide in the hottest time of the day, making forays only in the morning and late afternoon.
For many years, the fauna of Australia has been considered the most unusual on the entire planet. In ancient times, almost all animals were marsupials. Currently there are no a large number of.
Among them we can highlight Nambata- a small marsupial animal, which is the only representative of its kind. To date nambat lives only in the southwestern regions.
Appearance and features of the nambat
Nambat- cute animal, the size of which is not larger domestic cat, is rightfully considered the most beautiful in everything Australian mainland. The top of the animal's head and scruff are covered with reddish-brown fur with a slight gray streak. The back is covered with transverse white and black stripes, and the belly fur is slightly lighter.
The maximum body length reaches twenty-seven centimeters, and the fifteen-centimeter tail is decorated with silver-white hairs. The anteater's head is slightly flattened, the muzzle is slightly elongated and decorated with dark stripes with a white border up to the pointed ears. The animal's front paws have short, splayed toes with sharp nails, and its hind paws are four-toed.
Teeth marsupial numbat slightly underdeveloped, the size of the molars on both sides may differ. The animal differs from mammals in having a long, hard palate.
The peculiarities of the marsupial anteater include the ability to extend its tongue, the length of which reaches almost half of its own body. The animal, unlike other representatives of marsupials, lacks a pouch on its stomach.
Nambat lifestyle and habitat
Many years ago, the animals were distributed throughout the mainland. But due to the large number of wild animals brought to Australia and hunted, the number of anteaters has sharply decreased. To date nambat habitat These are the eucalyptus forests and dry woodlands of Western Australia.
The anteater is considered a predatory animal and feeds mainly on termites, which they hunt only during daylight hours. In the middle of summer, the earth heats up very much, and termites have to hide and go deep underground. During this period, anteaters need to go hunting in the evening, for fear of attack.
The nambat is a very agile animal, so in case of danger it can a short time climb a tree. Small burrows and tree hollows serve as shelter for the animals at night.
Animals prefer to be completely alone. The exception is the breeding season. Anteaters are kind animals: they do not bite or scratch. When threatened, they only whistle and grumble a little.
TO interesting facts O nambatah can be attributed to their sound sleep. There are many known cases when a large number of anteaters died when burning dead wood: they simply did not have time to wake up!
Nutrition
Numbat feeds mainly termites, very rarely they eat ants or invertebrate animals. Before swallowing food, the anteater crushes it using the bony palate.
Short and weak legs do not make it possible to dig up termite mounds, so the animals hunt by adapting to the regime when they leave their burrows.
Anteaters hunt insects and termites thanks to their acute sense of smell. When they detect prey with the help of sharp claws, they dig up the soil, break branches and only then catch them with a sticky long tongue.
To be completely saturated, a nambat needs to eat about twenty thousand termites during the day, which takes about five hours to find. While eating prey, numbats do not perceive the surrounding reality: they are not at all interested in what is happening around them. Therefore, very often tourists have the opportunity to pick them up or stroke them without fear of attack from them.
Reproduction and lifespan
The mating season of nambats begins in December and lasts until mid-April. During this period, anteaters leave their secluded havens and go out in search of a female. With the help of a secretion produced by a special skin gland on the chest, they mark the bark of trees and the ground.
The cubs are born in a two-meter burrow two weeks after mating with the female. They are more like underdeveloped embryos: the body barely reaches ten millimeters and is not covered with hair. At one time, a female can give birth to four kids, which constantly hang on the nipples and are held in place by her fur.
The female carries her cubs for about four months until they reach five centimeters in size. After which she finds a secluded place for them in a small hole or hollow of a tree and appears only at night to feed.
Around September, the cubs slowly begin to lick out of the hole. And in October they try termites for the first time, while mother’s milk is their main food.
Young nambats live next to their mother until December and only after that leave her. Young anteaters begin to mate from the second year of life. The lifespan of an adult nambat is approximately six years.
Marsupial anteaters are very beautiful and harmless animals, the population of which is decreasing every year. The reasons for this are attacks by predatory animals and an increase in agricultural land. Therefore, some time ago they were listed in Krasnaya as an endangered species of animal.
Squad - Marsupials
Family - Marsupial anteaters
Genus/Species - Myrmecobius fasciatus. Marsupial anteater, or nambat, or ant-eater
Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Body length with head: 27.5 cm, males are larger than females.
Tail length: 16-21 cm.
Weight: 280-550 g.
REPRODUCTION
Puberty: from 11 months.
Mating season: usually December-April.
Pregnancy: 14 days.
Number of cubs: 2-4.
Number of litters: for 1 year.
LIFESTYLE
Habits: marsupial anteaters (see photo) stay alone; active during the daytime.
What it eats: mainly termites.
Sounds: sniffling, irritated hissing.
Lifespan: 3-4 years.
RELATED SPECIES
The family of marsupial anteaters, or numbats, is represented by a single species.
Nambat. Video (00:04:23)
Although the marsupial anteater belongs to the order Marsupials, it lacks the brood pouch characteristic of them. Nambat cubs cling to the long curly fur on their mother's belly. Despite the name of the family, the animal very rarely hunts ants - its favorite delicacies are termites.
WHAT DOES IT EAT?
Termites are the numbats' favorite food; less often they feast on ants. Thanks to its sensitive nose, the animal easily finds termite passages even underground and under a layer of branches that lie on its surface. With the help of strong claws, the marsupial anteater only removes upper layer turf to open termite trails, and never rakes the soil deeper. Often this animal, in order to get to the “tidbits”, tears apart termite-infested wood with its powerful claws. The marsupial anteater nambat catches insects with a long sticky tongue, which can protrude 10 cm. The nambat has an extremely mobile and very strong tongue, with which it can move twigs Using its long, pointed nose as a lever, it lifts stones and branches under which insects may be hiding. As for a marsupial, the numbat has a lot of teeth, but it swallows its prey whole. By stirring layers of scorched leaves and examining the soil, the numbat quite often finds large insects. He sweeps them into his mouth with his sticky tongue, bites them several times and then swallows them - along with the earth and stones that accidentally fell on his tongue.
LOCATION
The natural habitat of the marsupial anteater is the forests of south-west Australia, consisting of Eucalyptus reflexum, or vandu, trees. Nambat chooses such forests for the reason that eucalyptus trees They constantly drop termite-infested branches onto the ground - and this is exactly what it needs: the marsupial anteater feeds on termites, and fallen branches provide it with shelter. Most During the day the animal is busy searching for food. It runs along branches lying on the ground or moves in short jumps. Nambat often stops, stands up in a column and looks around carefully, checking if there is any danger nearby. Noticing danger - say, an eagle circling in the sky - he instantly hides in the nest.
Having had a good lunch, the animal loves to bask in the sun, doing this quite often. During such a “sunbath”, he takes a funny pose - he lies on his back, with his paws spread wide, his mouth open and his tongue sticking out. Numbats live alone and are diurnal. When night falls, the marsupial anteater settles down for the night in a hollow tree or in thickets of plants. The nambat nest is lined with dry leaves and grass.
REPRODUCTION
Outside the breeding season, numbats lead a solitary lifestyle. Only during the rutting period, which lasts from December to April, can you see animals that live in pairs.
From January to May, from 2 to 4 cubs are born in a nest or shallow hole dug by the female specifically for this purpose. Baby numbats have a significantly shorter nose than an adult animal. Since the female does not have a brood pouch, newborn marsupial anteaters hold tightly to the long fur on the mother's belly. Feeding the cubs with milk lasts several months. Already in July-August, the mother, going in search of food, leaves the cubs alone in the hole. Lactation stops when the cubs reach six months of age and are able to obtain food on their own. At first, the growing cubs live on the mother’s territory, gradually acquiring the skills of an adult animal, and by December (the beginning of summer in Australia) they already begin independent life. The animals become sexually mature at the age of one year. Soon they begin to reproduce.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
The name "Nambat" was given to the marsupial anteater by the indigenous people of Australia. The animal is small, a little more regular squirrel, leads night look life. The nambat's food consists almost entirely of termites. He can also look for them in trees. With lightning-fast movements, the numbat takes out termites one by one with its thin and flexible tongue. He pounces on food with such greed that you can touch him at this time and he will not interrupt his meal. Unlike true anteaters, the marsupial anteater has small teeth.
Nambat has the habit of sleeping so soundly during the day that you can pick him up without waking him up. Because of this feature, it is in danger of extinction. IN Lately due to human fault in Australia have become more frequent Forest fires. Slow marsupial anteaters die in fires because they cannot wake up in time.
INTERESTING INFORMATION. DID YOU KNOW THAT...
- Nambat is the only one among marsupials of Australia, who leads an exclusively daytime lifestyle.
- If a nambat is surprised or caught, it never resists and confines itself to hissing.
- The tongue of the nambat has a cylindrical shape and reaches 10 cm in length.
- Nambat eats about 20,000 termites every day.
- At night, the animal falls into a deep sleep, similar to suspended animation.
- The marsupial anteater has a record among land mammals the number of teeth is usually from 50 to 52. However, the nambat, accustomed to swallowing food whole, rarely uses them.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF NAMBAT. DESCRIPTION
Wool: gray, reddish in places, with white guard hairs; there are 8 white stripes on the back and rump; The fur is short and thick, longer on the belly - the cubs are hidden in it.
Nose: long and bony, convenient for digging earth and turning over stones.
Mouth opening: in the small oral cavity there is a long sticky tongue, perfectly adapted for catching termites.
Limbs: short and powerful. The forelimbs are five-fingered, the hind limbs are four-fingered. All fingers end in strong claws - a tool for digging hard earth, moss and breaking dead wood.
Tail: long and fluffy. An excited animal has fur on its tail that bristles.
- Habitat of the nambat
WHERE DOES HE LIVE?
The marsupial anteater lives in eucalyptus forests and bushland in southwestern Australia.
PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION
Nambat is a very rare animal. The reason was the appearance of foxes, dogs and cats on the continent. Quite often, animals that slept on dry windfall were burned by farmers or lumberjacks who used the dead wood as firewood. Nowadays stations are organized artificial breeding marsupial anteaters.
Marsupial anteater. Video (00:03:05)
Nambat. Video (00:03:58)
No wonder Australia is famous for its amazing fauna. Previously, almost all animals on this continent were marsupials. And in our time the situation has not changed much. Many Australian mammals belong to this infraclass, including predators, for example, marsupial wolves etc. Even anteaters, and those marsupials! They are also called nambats (very much in tune with).
They became famous for the fact that, despite their small stature, they can extend their tongue to almost half the length of their body. This allows them to get their favorite treat from distant corners - .
This is a very cute animal the size of more cat. The small head is decorated with a neat, elongated and pointed muzzle with a small mouth, from which a 10-centimeter tongue emerges as needed. A long tail the envy of everyone: fluffy and with a slightly curved tip.
Of all the marsupials, numbats probably have the most beautiful and variegated colors. Gray-brown or reddish back and top part the thighs are decorated with 6-12 white or cream stripes. There are 2 black stripes running along the muzzle, and the abdomen and limbs are “dressed” in light “pants.” The number of toes on the front and hind legs is different, 5 and 4, respectively.
Like many other anteaters, the teeth of the marsupial anteater are also underdeveloped. Molars can have different sizes on different sides. In addition, the hard palate is much longer than that of other mammals.
It is clear that numbats are endemic to the Australian continent. But if previously they were widespread in the western and southern parts of the continent, now, due to the outrages of wild dogs and foxes brought by Europeans, their numbers have noticeably decreased, and their habitats have been reduced to the southwest of Western Australia. They live next to, in eucalyptus forests and dry woodlands.
These are quite agile animals, and they climb trees very well. Therefore, the main shelters for numbats are hollows or shallow burrows lined with soft and dry litter of leaves, grass and bark. Sometimes they crawl into large dry piles of grass and leaves, where they fall asleep. Sleep is very deep, so they cannot wake up right away, which makes them very easy prey.
For most of the year, the nambat leads a diurnal lifestyle. This is due to its diet, which consists exclusively of termites. Ants and other invertebrates are found completely by accident. In a day he is able to swallow a couple of tens of thousands of these insects. An excellent sense of smell helps the animal find their paths and gathering places.
True, unlike their American counterparts, they do not have such powerful claws that could easily destroy the strong walls of a termite mound. Therefore, they look for insects in rotten wood or dig up soft soil where their main underground tunnels pass. In the summer, when due to high temperature During the day, termites prefer to hide underground; marsupial anteaters move to twilight image life.
During a meal, they are completely absorbed in food, so they do not pay any attention to what is happening around them. What people often use. At this point, they can pet or even pick up the animal. The anteater practically does not resist and does not escape. Maybe he'll grumble a little.
December – beginning mating season. At this time, males begin to show their activity and go in search of females. At the same time, not missing the opportunity to mark each suitable tree with its oily secretion.
Unlike other marsupials, numbats do not have a brood pouch. Tiny newborn cubs (no more than 1 centimeter long) make their way to the mother's nipples and cling tightly to her fur. In this “suspended state” they live for about 4 months until they grow to 4-5 centimeters. After which the female leaves her offspring in one of the shelters and comes to them only at night.
After some time, the cubs begin to leave their house for a short time, and by October, along with their mother’s milk, they begin to feed on termites. They live with their mother until they are 9 months old, after which they scatter and begin an independent life. Only in the second year of life do young numbats reach sexual maturity.
We have already mentioned that the number of these animals is this moment not numerous, and at one time this species was on the verge of extinction. But as a result of timely security measures, their numbers were nevertheless stabilized. Nambat is included in the International Red List as an “endangered species”.
Myrmecobius Waterhouse, 1836
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International Red Book IUCN 3.1 Endangered: |
Subspecies
The marsupial anteater forms 2 subspecies:
Appearance
The dimensions of this marsupial are small: body length 17-27 cm, tail - 13-17 cm. The weight of an adult animal is 280-550 g; males are larger than females. The head of the marsupial anteater is flattened, the muzzle is elongated and pointed, and the mouth is small. The worm-shaped tongue can protrude almost 10 cm from the mouth. The eyes are large and the ears are pointed. The tail is long, fluffy, like a squirrel's, and not prehensile. Usually the nambat holds it horizontally, with the tip slightly bent upward. The paws are rather short, widely spaced, and armed with strong claws. The forelimbs have 5 fingers, the hind limbs have 4.
The hair of the nambat is thick and hard. The numbat is one of the most beautiful marsupials in Australia: it is colored grayish-brown or reddish. The fur on the back and upper thighs is covered with 6-12 white or cream stripes. The eastern nambats have a more uniform coloration than the western ones. A black longitudinal stripe is visible on the muzzle, running from the nose through the eye to the ear. The belly and limbs are yellow-white, buffy.
The teeth of the marsupial anteater are very small, weak and often asymmetrical: the molars on the right and left may have different lengths and width. In total, the nambat has 50-52 teeth. The hard palate extends much further than in most mammals, which is typical for other “long-tongued” animals (pangolins, armadillos). Females have 4 nipples. The brood pouch is absent; there is only a milky field bordered by curly wool.
Lifestyle and nutrition
Before the start of European colonization, the numbat was distributed in Western and South Australia, from the borders of New South Wales and Victoria to the Indian Ocean coast, in the north reaching the southwestern part of the Northern Territory. The range is now limited to the southwest of Western Australia. It inhabits mainly eucalyptus and acacia forests and dry woodlands.
The numbat feeds almost exclusively on termites, less often on ants. It eats other invertebrates only accidentally. It is the only marsupial that feeds only on social insects; in captivity, the marsupial anteater eats up to 20 thousand termites every day. Nambat searches for food using its extremely acute sense of smell. Using the claws of its front paws, it digs up the soil or breaks apart rotten wood, then catches termites with its sticky tongue. The nambat swallows its prey whole or after slightly chewing its chitinous shells.
It is very noteworthy that this animal does not pay any attention to its surroundings during its meal. At such moments you can pet him or even pick him up.
Since the limbs and claws of the marsupial anteater (unlike other myrmecophages - echidnas, anteaters, aardvarks) are weak and cannot cope with a strong termite mound, it hunts mainly during the day, when insects move through underground galleries or under the bark of trees in search of food. Nambat daily activity is synchronized with termite activity and temperature environment. So in the summer, by the middle of the day, the soil warms up greatly, and insects go deep underground, so numbats switch to a twilight lifestyle; in winter they feed from morning to noon, approximately 4 hours a day.
Nambat is quite agile and can climb trees; at the slightest danger he hides in cover. It spends the night in secluded places (shallow burrows, tree hollows) on a bed of bark, leaves and dry grass. His sleep is very deep, similar to suspended animation. There are many cases where people, along with dead wood, accidentally burned nambats that did not have time to wake up. With the exception of the breeding season, marsupial anteaters remain solitary, occupying an individual territory of up to 150 hectares. When caught, the nambat does not bite or scratch, but only whistles abruptly or grumbles.
Reproduction
The mating season for nambats lasts from December to April. At this time, males leave their hunting areas and go in search of females, marking trees and the ground with an oily secretion produced by a special skin gland on the chest.
Tiny (10 mm long), blind and hairless cubs are born 2 weeks after mating. There are 2-4 cubs in a litter. Since the female does not have a brood pouch, they hang on the nipples, clinging to the mother’s fur. According to some reports, birth occurs in a hole 1-2 m long. The female carries the cubs on her stomach for about 4 months, until their size reaches 4-5 cm. Then she leaves the offspring in a shallow hole or hollow, continuing to come at night to feed. By the beginning of September, young numbats begin to leave the hole for a short time. By October they are on a mixed diet of termites and mother's milk. The young remain with their mother for up to 9 months, finally leaving her in December. Sexual maturity occurs in the second year of life.
Life expectancy (in captivity) is up to 6 years.
Population status and conservation
Due to economic development and land clearing, the number of marsupial anteater has sharply decreased. However, the main reason for the decrease in its numbers is the persecution of predators. Due to their diurnal lifestyle, numbats are more vulnerable than most small marsupials; they are hunted predator birds, dingoes, feral dogs and cats, and especially red foxes, which in the 19th century. brought to Australia. Foxes have completely destroyed the numbat population in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory; they survived only in the form of two small populations near Perth. At the end of the 1970s. There were less than 1000 nambats.
As a result of intensive conservation measures, the destruction of foxes and the reintroduction of numbats, the population was able to increase. A population of numbats is actively bred in Australia's Stirling Range Conservation Park. However, this animal is still included in the lists of the International Red Book with the status of “endangered” ( Endangered).
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Notes
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
An excerpt characterizing the marsupial anteater
When they listened to the order of Napoleon, who presented them with the words of posterity for their injuries and death as a consolation that they too had been in the battle of Moscow, they shouted “Vive l" Empereur!” just as they shouted “Vive l"Empereur!” upon seeing the image of a boy piercing Earth bilboke stick; just as they would shout “Vive l"Empereur!” at any nonsense that would be told to them. They had no choice but to shout “Vive l" Empereur!” and go fight to find food and rest for the victors in Moscow. Therefore, it was not as a result of Napoleon’s orders that they killed their own kind.And it was not Napoleon who controlled the course of the battle, because nothing was carried out from his disposition and during the battle he did not know about what was happening in front of him. Therefore, the way in which these people killed each other did not happen at the will of Napoleon, but happened independently of him, at the will of hundreds of thousands of people who participated in common cause. It only seemed to Napoleon that the whole thing was happening according to his will. And therefore the question of whether or not Napoleon had a runny nose is of no greater interest to history than the question of the runny nose of the last Furshtat soldier.
Moreover, on August 26, Napoleon’s runny nose did not matter, since the testimony of writers that, due to Napoleon’s runny nose, his disposition and orders during the battle were not as good as before are completely unfair.
The disposition written out here was not at all worse, and even better, than all previous dispositions by which battles were won. The imaginary orders during the battle were also no worse than before, but exactly the same as always. But these dispositions and orders seem only worse than the previous ones because battle of Borodino was the first that Napoleon did not win. All the most beautiful and thoughtful dispositions and orders seem very bad, and every military scientist with a significant look criticizes them when the battle is not won, and the very bad dispositions and orders seem very good, and serious people entire volumes have been used to prove the merits of bad orders when the battle has been won by them.
The disposition compiled by Weyrother at the Battle of Austerlitz was an example of perfection in works of this kind, but it was still condemned, condemned for its perfection, for too much detail.
Napoleon in the Battle of Borodino performed his job as a representative of power just as well, and even better, than in other battles. He did nothing harmful to the progress of the battle; he leaned toward more prudent opinions; he did not confuse, did not contradict himself, did not get scared and did not run away from the battlefield, but with his great tact and war experience, he calmly and with dignity fulfilled his role as an apparent commander.
Returning from a second anxious trip along the line, Napoleon said:
– The chess has been set, the game will start tomorrow.
Ordering some punch to be served and calling Bosset, he began a conversation with him about Paris, about some changes that he intended to make in the maison de l'imperatrice [in the court staff of the Empress], surprising the prefect with his memorability for all the small details of court relations.
He was interested in trifles, joked about Bosse's love of travel and chatted casually in the way a famous, confident and knowledgeable operator does, while he rolls up his sleeves and puts on an apron and the patient is tied to a bed: “The matter is all in my hands.” and in my head, clearly and definitely. When it’s time to get down to business, I’ll do it like no one else, and now I can joke, and the more I joke and am calm, the more you should be confident, calm and surprised at my genius.”
Having finished his second glass of punch, Napoleon went to rest before the serious business that, as it seemed to him, lay ahead of him the next day.
He was so interested in this task ahead of him that he could not sleep and, despite the runny nose that had worsened from the evening dampness, at three o’clock in the morning, blowing his nose loudly, he went out into the large compartment of the tent. He asked if the Russians had left? He was told that the enemy fires were still in the same places. He nodded his head approvingly.
The adjutant on duty entered the tent.
“Eh bien, Rapp, croyez vous, que nous ferons do bonnes affaires aujourd"hui? [Well, Rapp, what do you think: will our affairs be good today?] - he turned to him.
“Sans aucun doute, sire, [Without any doubt, sir,” answered Rapp.
Napoleon looked at him.
“Vous rappelez vous, Sire, ce que vous m"avez fait l"honneur de dire a Smolensk,” said Rapp, “le vin est tire, il faut le boire.” [Do you remember, sir, those words that you deigned to say to me in Smolensk, the wine is uncorked, I must drink it.]
Napoleon frowned and sat silently for a long time, his head resting on his hand.
“Cette pauvre armee,” he said suddenly, “elle a bien diminue depuis Smolensk.” La fortune est une franche courtisane, Rapp; je le disais toujours, et je commence a l "eprouver. Mais la garde, Rapp, la garde est intacte? [Poor army! It has greatly diminished since Smolensk. Fortune is a real harlot, Rapp. I have always said this and am beginning to experience it. But the guard, Rapp, are the guards intact?] – he said questioningly.
“Oui, Sire, [Yes, sir.],” answered Rapp.
Napoleon took the lozenge, put it in his mouth and looked at his watch. He didn’t want to sleep; morning was still far away; and in order to kill time, no orders could be made anymore, because everything had been done and was now being carried out.
– A t on distribue les biscuits et le riz aux regiments de la garde? [Did they distribute crackers and rice to the guards?] - Napoleon asked sternly.
– Oui, Sire. [Yes, sir.]
– Mais le riz? [But rice?]
Rapp replied that he had conveyed the sovereign’s orders about rice, but Napoleon shook his head with displeasure, as if he did not believe that his order would be carried out. The servant came in with punch. Napoleon ordered another glass to be brought to Rapp and silently took sips from his own.
“I have neither taste nor smell,” he said, sniffing the glass. “I’m tired of this runny nose.” They talk about medicine. What kind of medicine is there when they cannot cure a runny nose? Corvisar gave me these lozenges, but they don't help. What can they treat? It cannot be treated. Notre corps est une machine a vivre. Il est organise pour cela, c"est sa nature; laissez y la vie a son aise, qu"elle s"y defende elle meme: elle fera plus que si vous la paralysiez en l"encombrant de remedes. Notre corps est comme une montre parfaite qui doit aller un certain temps; l"horloger n"a pas la faculte de l"ouvrir, il ne peut la manier qu"a tatons et les yeux bandes. Notre corps est une machine a vivre, voila tout. [Our body is a machine for life. This is what it is designed for. Leave the life in him alone, let her defend herself, she will do more on her own than when you interfere with her with medications. Our body is like a clock that must run known time; The watchmaker cannot open them and can only operate them by touch and blindfolded. Our body is a machine for life. That's all.] - And as if having embarked on the path of definitions, definitions that Napoleon loved, he suddenly made a new definition. - Do you know, Rapp, what it is? military art? - he asked. – The art of being stronger than the enemy famous moment. Voila tout. [That's all.]
Rapp said nothing.
– Demainnous allons avoir affaire a Koutouzoff! [Tomorrow we will deal with Kutuzov!] - said Napoleon. - Let's see! Remember, at Braunau he commanded the army and not once in three weeks did he mount a horse to inspect the fortifications. Let's see!