The Phantom of the OperaThe Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade. When I began to ransack the archives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the "ghost" and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the Paris upper classes; and I soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question. The events do not date more than thirty years back; and it would not be difficult to find at the present day, in the foyer of the ballet, old men of the highest respectability, men upon whose word one could absolutely rely, who would remember as though they happened yesterday the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnapping of Christine Daae, the disappearance of the Vicomte de Chagny and the death of his elder brother, Count Philippe, whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the Opera on the Rue-Scribe side. But none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary figure of the Opera ghost with that terrible story. |
Contents
PROLOGUE | 9 |
IS IT A GHOST? | 17 |
THE NEW MARGARITA | 31 |
THE MYSTERIOUS REASON | 43 |
BOX FIVE | 53 |
THE ENCHANTED VIOLIN | 71 |
A VISIT TO BOX FIVE | 92 |
FAUST AND WHAT FOLLOWED | 96 |
CHRISTINE CHRISTINE | 209 |
MME GIRYS REVELATIONS | 215 |
THE SAFETYPIN AGAIN | 231 |
THE COMMISSARY THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN | 240 |
THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN | 249 |
IN THE CELLARS OF THE OPERA | 259 |
INTERESTING VICISSITUDES | 281 |
IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER | 298 |
THE MYSTERIOUS BROUGHAM | 116 |
AT THE MASKED BALL | 127 |
FORGET THE NAME OF THE MANS VOICE | 140 |
ABOVE THE TRAPDOORS | 148 |
APOLLOS LYRE | 159 |
A MASTERSTROKE OF THE TRAPDOOR LOVER | 183 |
THE SINGULAR ATTITUDE OF A SAFETYPIN | 199 |
THE TORTURES BEGIN | 308 |
BARRELS BARRELS | 317 |
WHICH | 331 |
THE END OF THE GHOSTS LOVE STORY | 342 |
EPILOGUE | 354 |
THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE | 365 |
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Common terms and phrases
acting-manager Angel of Music arms astrakhan ballet began believe Box Five Carlotta Christine Daae Christine's commissary cried Daae's dark daroga dear death death's head Debienne and Poligny disappeared Don Juan Triumphant door dressing-room envelope Erik Erik's eyes face felt Firmin Richard floor foyer Gabriel gave girl Giry hand happened hear heard Joseph Buquet knew Lachenel LAHORE lake laugh listened little Meg looked mademoiselle Mamma Valerius managers mask Mazenderan Meg Giry Mercier Mifroid mirror monster mysterious never night once opened Opera ghost passage Perros Perros-Guirec Persian poor Punjab lasso Remy replied Richard and Moncharmin safety-pin sang scene scorpion seemed seen silence singing Sorelli stage staircase suddenly tell terrible thing third cellar thought told took torture-chamber trap-door turned twenty-thousand francs Vicomte de Chagny viscount voice waiting wall word young