About a hundred years ago there lived a great general whose name was Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the leader of the French army, and France was at war with nearly all the countries around. He wanted very much to take his soldiers into Italy; but between France and Italy there are high mountains called the Alps, the tops of which are covered with snow.
“Is it possible to cross the Alps?” asked Napoleon.
The men who had been sent to look at the passes over the mountains shook their heads. Then one of them said, “It may be possible, but...”
“Let me hear no more,” said Napoleon. “Forward to Italy!”
People laughed at the thought of an army of forty thousand men crossing the Alps where there was no road. But Napoleon waited to see that everything was in good order, and then he gave the order to march.
The long line of soldiers and horses and cannons stretched for twenty miles. When they came to a steep place where there seemed to be no way to go farther the trumpets sounded “Charge!” Then every man did his best, and the whole army moved right onward.
Soon they were safe over the Alps. In four days they were marching on the plains of Italy.
“The man who has made up his mind to win,” said Napoleon, “will never say ‘impossible’.”
大约一百年以前，有个大将军名叫拿破仑·波拿巴。他是法军的领袖，法国当时和周边所有国家都是交战状态。他很想带领士兵入境意大利，可是法国和意大利之间有一系列很高的山脉叫阿尔卑斯山脉，山顶终年积雪。
“想要翻过阿尔卑斯山有可能吗？”拿破仑问。
被派去山上探路的士兵摇了摇头。其中一个士兵说：“也不是没有可能，但是……”
“都别说了，”拿破仑说，“向意大利进军！”
人们觉得一支四万人的部队在压根儿没有路的情况下想要翻越阿尔卑斯山简直是无稽之谈。但是拿破仑等一切就绪时，下达了开拔的命令。
士兵、战马、大炮浩浩荡荡排成了二十英里的长龙。每当队伍行至陡峭处，貌似无路可走的时候，号兵就会吹响“前进！”的号角。这时，每个士兵都会竭尽全力，整个队伍就能再向前行进。
很快队伍平安翻越了阿尔卑斯山。四天之后，他们已经行进在意大利平原上了。
“决意要赢的人，”拿破仑说，“字典里没有‘不可能'三个字！”
-cannon [ˈkænən] n. 大炮
-trumpet [ˈtrʌmpɪt] n. 喇叭
欧洲新古典主义绘画的先驱和代表性画家雅克·路易·大卫(Jacques-Louis David，1748—1825)在1800到1801年间创作的新古典主义油画《跨越阿尔卑斯山圣伯纳隘道的拿破仑》就完美再现了1799年到1802年第二次反法同盟战争期间，拿破仑率领四万大军，登上险峻的阿尔卑斯山，为争取时间抄近道越过圣伯纳隘道，进入意大利的情景。拿破仑军队入境意大利后，出其不意地打击了奥地利干涉军队，最终获取马伦哥战役的胜利。这场战役的胜利，为拿破仑后来登上权力的顶峰打开了通道。