Raoul read it over again with fevered eyes. No more was needed to revive his hope. The somber1 picture which he had for a moment imagined of a Christine forgetting her duty to herself made way for his original conception of an unfortunate, innocent child, the victim of imprudence and exaggerated sensibility. To what extent, at this time, was she really a victim? Whose prisoner was she? Into what whirlpool had she been dragged? He asked himself these questions with a cruel anguish2; but even this pain seemed endurable beside the frenzy3 into which he was thrown at the thought of a lying and deceitful Christine. What had happened? What influence had she undergone? What monster had carried her off and by what means? . . .
By what means indeed but that of music? He knew Christine’s story. After her father’s death, she acquired a distaste of everything in life, including her art. She went through the CONSERVATOIRE like a poor soulless singing-machine. And, suddenly, she awoke as though through the intervention5 of a god. The Angel of Music appeared upon the scene! She sang Margarita in FAUST and triumphed! . . .
The Angel of Music! . . . For three months the Angel of Music had been giving Christine lessons . . . Ah, he was a punctual singing-master! . . . And now he was taking her for drives in the Bois! . . .
Raoul’s fingers clutched at his flesh, above his jealous heart. In his inexperience, he now asked himself with terror what game the girl was playing? Up to what point could an opera-singer make a fool of a good-natured young man, quite new to love? O misery6! . . .
Thus did Raoul’s thoughts fly from one extreme to the other. He no longer knew whether to pity Christine or to curse her; and he pitied and cursed her turn and turn about. At all events, he bought a white domino.
The hour of the appointment came at last. With his face in a mask trimmed with long, thick lace, looking like a pierrot in his white wrap, the viscount thought himself very ridiculous. Men of the world do not go to the Opera ball in fancy-dress! It was absurd. One thought, however, consoled the viscount: he would certainly never be recognized!
This ball was an exceptional affair, given some time before Shrovetide, in honor of the anniversary of the birth of a famous draftsman; and it was expected to be much gayer, noisier, more Bohemian than the ordinary masked ball. Numbers of artists had arranged to go, accompanied by a whole cohort of models and pupils, who, by midnight, began to create a tremendous din4. Raoul climbed the grand staircase at five minutes to twelve, did not linger to look at the motley dresses displayed all the way up the marble steps, one of the richest settings in the world, allowed no facetious7 mask to draw him into a war of wits, replied to no jests and shook off the bold familiarity of a number of couples who had already become a trifle too gay. Crossing the big crush-room and escaping from a mad whirl of dancers in which he was caught for a moment, he at last entered the room mentioned in Christine’s letter. He found it crammed8; for this small space was the point where all those who were going to supper in the Rotunda9 crossed those who were returning from taking a glass of champagne10. The fun, here, waxed fast and furious.
Raoul leaned against a door-post and waited. He did not wait long. A black domino passed and gave a quick squeeze to the tips of his fingers. He understood that it was she and followed her:
“Is that you, Christine?” he asked, between his teeth.
The black domino turned round promptly11 and raised her finger to her lips, no doubt to warn him not to mention her name again. Raoul continued to follow her in silence.
He was afraid of losing her, after meeting her again in such strange circumstances. His grudge12 against her was gone. He no longer doubted that she had “nothing to reproach herself with,” however peculiar13 and inexplicable14 her conduct might seem. He was ready to make any display of clemency15, forgiveness or cowardice16. He was in love. And, no doubt, he would soon receive a very natural explanation of her curious absence.
The black domino turned back from time to time to see if the white domino was still following.
As Raoul once more passed through the great crush-room, this time in the wake of his guide, he could not help noticing a group crowding round a person whose disguise, eccentric air and gruesome appearance were causing a sensation. It was a man dressed all in scarlet17, with a huge hat and feathers on the top of a wonderful death’s head. From his shoulders hung an immense red-velvet18 cloak, which trailed along the floor like a king’s train; and on this cloak was embroidered19, in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, “Don’t touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!”
Then one, greatly daring, did try to touch him . . . but a skeleton hand shot out of a crimson20 sleeve and violently seized the rash one’s wrist; and he, feeling the clutch of the knucklebones, the furious grasp of Death, uttered a cry of pain and terror. When Red Death released him at last, he ran away like a very madman, pursued by the jeers21 of the bystanders.
It was at this moment that Raoul passed in front of the funereal22 masquerader, who had just happened to turn in his direction. And he nearly exclaimed:
“The death’s head of Perros-Guirec!”
He had recognized him! . . . He wanted to dart23 forward, forgetting Christine; but the black domino, who also seemed a prey24 to some strange excitement, caught him by the arm and dragged him from the crush-room, far from the mad crowd through which Red Death was stalking . . .
The black domino kept on turning back and, apparently25, on two occasions saw something that startled her, for she hurried her pace and Raoul’s as though they were being pursued.
They went up two floors. Here, the stairs and corridors were almost deserted26. The black domino opened the door of a private box and beckoned27 to the white domino to follow her. Then Christine, whom he recognized by the sound of her voice, closed the door behind them and warned him, in a whisper, to remain at the back of the box and on no account to show himself. Raoul took off his mask. Christine kept hers on. And, when Raoul was about to ask her to remove it, he was surprised to see her put her ear to the partition and listen eagerly for a sound outside. Then she opened the door ajar, looked out into the corridor and, in a low voice, said:
“He must have gone up higher.” Suddenly she exclaimed: “He is coming down again!”
She tried to close the door, but Raoul prevented her; for he had seen, on the top step of the staircase that led to the floor above, A RED FOOT, followed by another . . . and slowly, majestically28, the whole scarlet dress of Red Death met his eyes. And he once more saw the death’s head of Perros-Guirec.
“It’s he!” he exclaimed. “This time, he shall not escape me! . . . ”
But Christian{sic} had slammed the door at the moment when Raoul was on the point of rushing out. He tried to push her aside.
“Whom do you mean by ‘he’?” she asked, in a changed voice. “Who shall not escape you?”
Raoul tried to overcome the girl’s resistance by force, but she repelled29 him with a strength which he would not have suspected in her. He understood, or thought he understood, and at once lost his temper.
“Who?” he repeated angrily. “Why, he, the man who hides behind that hideous30 mask of death! . . . The evil genius of the churchyard at Perros! . . . Red Death! . . . In a word, madam, your friend . . . your Angel of Music! . . . But I shall snatch off his mask, as I shall snatch off my own; and, this time, we shall look each other in the face, he and I, with no veil and no lies between us; and I shall know whom you love and who loves you!”
He burst into a mad laugh, while Christine gave a disconsolate31 moan behind her velvet mask. With a tragic32 gesture, she flung out her two arms, which fixed33 a barrier of white flesh against the door.
“In the name of our love, Raoul, you shall not pass! . . . ”
He stopped. What had she said? . . . In the name of their love? . . . Never before had she confessed that she loved him. And yet she had had opportunities enough . . . Pooh, her only object was to gain a few seconds! . . . She wished to give the Red Death time to escape . . . And, in accents of childish hatred34, he said:
“You lie, madam, for you do not love me and you have never loved me! What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout35 me as you have done! Why did you give me every reason for hope, at Perros . . . for honest hope, madam, for I am an honest man and I believed you to be an honest woman, when your only intention was to deceive me! Alas36, you have deceived us all! You have taken a shameful37 advantage of the candid38 affection of your benefactress herself, who continues to believe in your sincerity39 while you go about the Opera ball with Red Death! . . . I despise you! . . . ”
And he burst into tears. She allowed him to insult her. She thought of but one thing, to keep him from leaving the box.
“You will beg my pardon, one day, for all those ugly words, Raoul, and when you do I shall forgive you!”
He shook his head. “No, no, you have driven me mad! When I think that I had only one object in life: to give my name to an opera wench!”
“Raoul! . . . How can you?”
“I shall die of shame!”
“No, dear, live!” said Christine’s grave and changed voice. “And . . . good-by. Good-by, Raoul . . . ”
The boy stepped forward, staggering as he went. He risked one more sarcasm40:
“Oh, you must let me come and applaud you from time to time!”
“I shall never sing again, Raoul! . . . ”
“Really?” he replied, still more satirically. “So he is taking you off the stage: I congratulate you! . . . But we shall meet in the Bois, one of these evenings!”
“Not in the Bois nor anywhere, Raoul: you shall not see me again . . . ”
“May one ask at least to what darkness you are returning? . . . For what hell are you leaving, mysterious lady . . . or for what paradise?”
“I came to tell you, dear, but I can’t tell you now . . . you would not believe me! You have lost faith in me, Raoul; it is finished!”
She spoke41 in such a despairing voice that the lad began to feel remorse42 for his cruelty.
“But look here!” he cried. “Can’t you tell me what all this means! . . . You are free, there is no one to interfere43 with you . . . You go about Paris . . . You put on a domino to come to the ball . . . Why do you not go home? . . . What have you been doing this past fortnight? . . . What is this tale about the Angel of Music, which you have been telling Mamma Valerius? Some one may have taken you in, played upon your innocence44. I was a witness of it myself, at Perros . . . but you know what to believe now! You seem to me quite sensible, Christine. You know what you are doing . . . And meanwhile Mamma Valerius lies waiting for you at home and appealing to your ‘good genius!’ . . . Explain yourself, Christine, I beg of you! Any one might have been deceived as I was. What is this farce45?”
Christine simply took off her mask and said: “Dear, it is a tragedy!”
Raoul now saw her face and could not restrain an exclamation46 of surprise and terror. The fresh complexion47 of former days was gone. A mortal pallor covered those features, which he had known so charming and so gentle, and sorrow had furrowed48 them with pitiless lines and traced dark and unspeakably sad shadows under her eyes.
“My dearest! My dearest!” he moaned, holding out his arms. “You promised to forgive me . . . ”
“Perhaps! . . . Some day, perhaps!” she said, resuming her mask; and she went away, forbidding him, with a gesture, to follow her.
He tried to disobey her; but she turned round and repeated her gesture of farewell with such authority that he dared not move a step.
He watched her till she was out of sight. Then he also went down among the crowd, hardly knowing what he was doing, with throbbing49 temples and an aching heart; and, as he crossed the dancing-floor, he asked if anybody had seen Red Death. Yes, every one had seen Red Death; but Raoul could not find him; and, at two o’clock in the morning, he turned down the passage, behind the scenes, that led to Christine Daae’s dressing-room.
His footsteps took him to that room where he had first known suffering. He tapped at the door. There was no answer. He entered, as he had entered when he looked everywhere for “the man’s voice.” The room was empty. A gas-jet was burning, turned down low. He saw some writing-paper on a little desk. He thought of writing to Christine, but he heard steps in the passage. He had only time to hide in the inner room, which was separated from the dressing-room by a curtain.
Christine entered, took off her mask with a weary movement and flung it on the table. She sighed and let her pretty head fall into her two hands. What was she thinking of? Of Raoul? No, for Raoul heard her murmur50: “Poor Erik!”
At first, he thought he must be mistaken. To begin with, he was persuaded that, if any one was to be pitied, it was he, Raoul. It would have been quite natural if she had said, “Poor Raoul,” after what had happened between them. But, shaking her head, she repeated: “Poor Erik!”
What had this Erik to do with Christine’s sighs and why was she pitying Erik when Raoul was so unhappy?
Christine began to write, deliberately51, calmly and so placidly52 that Raoul, who was still trembling from the effects of the tragedy that separated them, was painfully impressed.
“What coolness!” he said to himself.
She wrote on, filling two, three, four sheets. Suddenly, she raised her head and hid the sheets in her bodice . . . She seemed to be listening . . . Raoul also listened . . . Whence came that strange sound, that distant rhythm? . . . A faint singing seemed to issue from the walls . . . yes, it was as though the walls themselves were singing! . . . The song became plainer . . . the words were now distinguishable . . . he heard a voice, a very beautiful, very soft, very captivating voice . . . but, for all its softness, it remained a male voice . . . The voice came nearer and nearer . . . it came through the wall . . . it approached . . . and now the voice was IN THE ROOM, in front of Christine. Christine rose and addressed the voice, as though speaking to some one:
“Here I am, Erik,” she said. “I am ready. But you are late.”
Raoul, peeping from behind the curtain, could not believe his eyes, which showed him nothing. Christine’s face lit up. A smile of happiness appeared upon her bloodless lips, a smile like that of sick people when they receive the first hope of recovery.
The voice without a body went on singing; and certainly Raoul had never in his life heard anything more absolutely and heroically sweet, more gloriously insidious53, more delicate, more powerful, in short, more irresistibly54 triumphant55. He listened to it in a fever and he now began to understand how Christine Daae was able to appear one evening, before the stupefied audience, with accents of a beauty hitherto unknown, of a superhuman exaltation, while doubtless still under the influence of the mysterious and invisible master.
The voice was singing the Wedding-night Song from Romeo and Juliet. Raoul saw Christine stretch out her arms to the voice as she had done, in Perros churchyard, to the invisible violin playing The Resurrection of Lazarus. And nothing could describe the passion with which the voice sang:
“Fate links thee to me for ever and a day!”
The strains went through Raoul’s heart. Struggling against the charm that seemed to deprive him of all his will and all his energy and of almost all his lucidity56 at the moment when he needed them most, he succeeded in drawing back the curtain that hid him and he walked to where Christine stood. She herself was moving to the back of the room, the whole wall of which was occupied by a great mirror that reflected her image, but not his, for he was just behind her and entirely57 covered by her.
“Fate links thee to me for ever and a day!”
Christine walked toward her image in the glass and the image came toward her. The two Christines — the real one and the reflection — ended by touching58; and Raoul put out his arms to clasp the two in one embrace. But, by a sort of dazzling miracle that sent him staggering, Raoul was suddenly flung back, while an icy blast swept over his face; he saw, not two, but four, eight, twenty Christines spinning round him, laughing at him and fleeing so swiftly that he could not touch one of them. At last, everything stood still again; and he saw himself in the glass. But Christine had disappeared.
He rushed up to the glass. He struck at the walls. Nobody! And meanwhile the room still echoed with a distant passionate59 singing:
“Fate links thee to me for ever and a day!”
Which way, which way had Christine gone? . . . Which way would she return? . . .
Would she return? Alas, had she not declared to him that everything was finished? And was the voice not repeating:
“Fate links thee to me for ever and a day!”
To me? To whom?
Then, worn out, beaten, empty-brained, he sat down on the chair which Christine had just left. Like her, he let his head fall into his hands. When he raised it, the tears were streaming down his young cheeks, real, heavy tears like those which jealous children shed, tears that wept for a sorrow which was in no way fanciful, but which is common to all the lovers on earth and which he expressed aloud:
“Who is this Erik?” he said.
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收听单词发音
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1
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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rotunda
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| n.圆形建筑物；圆厅 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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15
clemency
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| n.温和，仁慈，宽厚 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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17
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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22
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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30
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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flout
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| v./n.嘲弄，愚弄，轻视 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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40
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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41
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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42
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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43
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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44
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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45
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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46
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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47
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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48
furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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50
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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51
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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52
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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53
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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54
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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55
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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56
lucidity
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| n.明朗，清晰，透明 | |
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57
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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58
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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59
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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