The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition1 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 concierge2. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom3; that is to say, of a spectral4 shade.
When I began to ransack5 the archives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena6 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 disappearance7 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 Rue8-Scribe side. But none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary9 figure of the Opera ghost with that terrible story.
The truth was slow to enter my mind, puzzled by an inquiry10 that at every moment was complicated by events which, at first sight, might be looked upon as superhuman; and more than once I was within an ace11 of abandoning a task in which I was exhausting myself in the hopeless pursuit of a vain image. At last, I received the proof that my presentiments12 had not deceived me, and I was rewarded for all my efforts on the day when I acquired the certainty that the Opera ghost was more than a mere13 shade.
On that day, I had spent long hours over THE MEMOIRS14 OF A MANAGER, the light and frivolous15 work of the too-skeptical Moncharmin, who, during his term at the Opera, understood nothing of the mysterious behavior of the ghost and who was making all the fun of it that he could at the very moment when he became the first victim of the curious financial operation that went on inside the “magic envelope.”
I had just left the library in despair, when I met the delightful16 acting-manager of our National Academy, who stood chatting on a landing with a lively and well-groomed little old man, to whom he introduced me gaily17. The acting-manager knew all about my investigations18 and how eagerly and unsuccessfully I had been trying to discover the whereabouts of the examining magistrate19 in the famous Chagny case, M. Faure. Nobody knew what had become of him, alive or dead; and here he was back from Canada, where he had spent fifteen years, and the first thing he had done, on his return to Paris, was to come to the secretarial offices at the Opera and ask for a free seat. The little old man was M. Faure himself.
We spent a good part of the evening together and he told me the whole Chagny case as he had understood it at the time. He was bound to conclude in favor of the madness of the viscount and the accidental death of the elder brother, for lack of evidence to the contrary; but he was nevertheless persuaded that a terrible tragedy had taken place between the two brothers in connection with Christine Daae. He could not tell me what became of Christine or the viscount. When I mentioned the ghost, he only laughed. He, too, had been told of the curious manifestations20 that seemed to point to the existence of an abnormal being, residing in one of the most mysterious corners of the Opera, and he knew the story of the envelope; but he had never seen anything in it worthy21 of his attention as magistrate in charge of the Chagny case, and it was as much as he had done to listen to the evidence of a witness who appeared of his own accord and declared that he had often met the ghost. This witness was none other than the man whom all Paris called the “Persian” and who was well-known to every subscriber22 to the Opera. The magistrate took him for a visionary.
I was immensely interested by this story of the Persian. I wanted, if there were still time, to find this valuable and eccentric witness. My luck began to improve and I discovered him in his little flat in the Rue de Rivoli, where he had lived ever since and where he died five months after my visit. I was at first inclined to be suspicious; but when the Persian had told me, with child-like candor23, all that he knew about the ghost and had handed me the proofs of the ghost’s existence — including the strange correspondence of Christine Daae — to do as I pleased with, I was no longer able to doubt. No, the ghost was not a myth!
I have, I know, been told that this correspondence may have been forged from first to last by a man whose imagination had certainly been fed on the most seductive tales; but fortunately I discovered some of Christine’s writing outside the famous bundle of letters and, on a comparison between the two, all my doubts were removed. I also went into the past history of the Persian and found that he was an upright man, incapable24 of inventing a story that might have defeated the ends of justice.
This, moreover, was the opinion of the more serious people who, at one time or other, were mixed up in the Chagny case, who were friends of the Chagny family, to whom I showed all my documents and set forth25 all my inferences. In this connection, I should like to print a few lines which I received from General D——:
SIR:
I can not urge you too strongly to publish the results of your inquiry. I remember perfectly26 that, a few weeks before the disappearance of that great singer, Christine Daae, and the tragedy which threw the whole of the Faubourg Saint-Germain into mourning, there was a great deal of talk, in the foyer of the ballet, on the subject of the “ghost;" and I believe that it only ceased to be discussed in consequence of the later affair that excited us all so greatly. But, if it be possible — as, after hearing you, I believe — to explain the tragedy through the ghost, then I beg you sir, to talk to us about the ghost again.
Mysterious though the ghost may at first appear, he will always be more easily explained than the dismal27 story in which malevolent28 people have tried to picture two brothers killing29 each other who had worshiped each other all their lives.
Believe me, etc.
Lastly, with my bundle of papers in hand, I once more went over the ghost’s vast domain30, the huge building which he had made his kingdom. All that my eyes saw, all that my mind perceived, corroborated31 the Persian’s documents precisely32; and a wonderful discovery crowned my labors33 in a very definite fashion. It will be remembered that, later, when digging in the substructure of the Opera, before burying the phonographic records of the artist’s voice, the workmen laid bare a corpse34. Well, I was at once able to prove that this corpse was that of the Opera ghost. I made the acting-manager put this proof to the test with his own hand; and it is now a matter of supreme36 indifference37 to me if the papers pretend that the body was that of a victim of the Commune.
The wretches38 who were massacred, under the Commune, in the cellars of the Opera, were not buried on this side; I will tell where their skeletons can be found in a spot not very far from that immense crypt which was stocked during the siege with all sorts of provisions. I came upon this track just when I was looking for the remains39 of the Opera ghost, which I should never have discovered but for the unheard-of chance described above.
But we will return to the corpse and what ought to be done with it. For the present, I must conclude this very necessary introduction by thanking M. Mifroid (who was the commissary of police called in for the first investigations after the disappearance of Christine Daae), M. Remy, the late secretary, M. Mercier, the late acting-manager, M. Gabriel, the late chorus-master, and more particularly Mme. la Baronne de Castelot-Barbezac, who was once the “little Meg” of the story (and who is not ashamed of it), the most charming star of our admirable corps35 de ballet, the eldest40 daughter of the worthy Mme. Giry, now deceased, who had charge of the ghost’s private box. All these were of the greatest assistance to me; and, thanks to them, I shall be able to reproduce those hours of sheer love and terror, in their smallest details, before the reader’s eyes.
And I should be ungrateful indeed if I omitted, while standing41 on the threshold of this dreadful and veracious42 story, to thank the present management the Opera, which has so kindly43 assisted me in all my inquiries44, and M. Messager in particular, together with M. Gabion, the acting-manager, and that most amiable45 of men, the architect intrusted with the preservation46 of the building, who did not hesitate to lend me the works of Charles Garnier, although he was almost sure that I would never return them to him. Lastly, I must pay a public tribute to the generosity47 of my friend and former collaborator48, M. J. Le Croze, who allowed me to dip into his splendid theatrical49 library and to borrow the rarest editions of books by which he set great store.
GASTON LEROUX.
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1
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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concierge
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| n.管理员；门房 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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5
ransack
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| v.彻底搜索，洗劫 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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7
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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8
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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9
legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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10
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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11
ace
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| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
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12
presentiments
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| n.（对不祥事物的）预感( presentiment的名词复数 ) | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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15
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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16
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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18
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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19
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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20
manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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21
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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22
subscriber
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| n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者 | |
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23
candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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24
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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25
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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28
malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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29
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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30
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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31
corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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32
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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33
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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34
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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35
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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36
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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38
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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39
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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40
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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41
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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42
veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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43
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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44
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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45
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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46
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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47
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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48
collaborator
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| n.合作者，协作者 | |
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49
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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