Napoleon, being on the point of commencing one of his great battles in Italy, was disposing his troops in the order of attack when a light dragoon, issuing forth from the ranks, requested of him a five minutes' private conversation.
"General," said the soldier, "if you proceed to adopt such and such measures, the enemy must be defeated."
"Hold your tongue," exclaimed Napoleon. "You will not, sure, betray my secret."
The battle terminating in favour of Napoleon, he issued orders that the soldier, who was clearly possessed of as great an inherent military capacity as Napoleon himself, should be conducted to his presence. But all search after him proved fruitless; he was no where to be found: a bullet had, no doubt, terminated his military career.
From this anecdote it is apparent that the most transcendent merit will frequently bud in obscurity.
拿破崙在義大利正準備展開一場輝煌戰役，部署軍隊進攻，一名輕裝龍騎兵突然越眾而前，要求和他私談五分鐘。
那騎兵說：「將軍，只須如此這般，敵軍必敗。」
拿破崙連忙說：「住口。千萬不要洩漏軍機。」
拿破崙一戰奏凱之後，下令把那騎兵帶到跟前：那騎兵尚待發揮的軍事才能，顯然不在拿破崙之下，但是，大家怎樣都找不到他。這位騎兵已無覓處：一顆子彈無疑結束了他的戎馬生涯。
出類拔萃的才華，往往不為人知，這一點，從上述故事可以得見。