That Mr. Leroux has used, for the scene of his story, the Paris Opera House as it really is and has not created a building out of his imagination, is shown by this interesting description of it taken from an article which appeared in Scribner’s Magazine in 1879, a short time after the building was completed:
“The new Opera House, commenced under the Empire and finished under the Republic, is the most complete building of the kind in the world and in many respects the most beautiful. No European capital possesses an opera house so comprehensive in plan and execution, and none can boast an edifice2 equally vast and splendid.
“The site of the Opera House was chosen in 1861. It was determined3 to lay the foundation exceptionally deep and strong. It was well known that water would be met with, but it was impossible to foresee at what depth or in what quantity it would be found. Exceptional depth also was necessary, as the stage arrangements were to be such as to admit a scene fifty feet high to be lowered on its frame. It was therefore necessary to lay a foundation in a soil soaked with water which should be sufficiently4 solid to sustain a weight of 22,000,000 pounds, and at the same time to be perfectly5 dry, as the cellars were intended for the storage of scenery and properties. While the work was in progress, the excavation6 was kept free from water by means of eight pumps, worked by steam power, and in operation, without interruption, day and night, from March second to October thirteenth. The floor of the cellar was covered with a layer of concrete, then with two coats of cement, another layer of concrete and a coat of bitumen7. The wall includes an outer wall built as a coffer-dam, a brick wall, a coat of cement, and a wall proper, a little over a yard thick. After all this was done the whole was filled with water, in order that the fluid, by penetrating8 into the most minute interstices, might deposit a sediment9 which would close them more surely and perfectly than it would be possible to do by hand. Twelve years elapsed before the completion of the building, and during that time it was demonstrated that the precautions taken secured absolute impermeability10 and solidity.
“The events of 1870 interrupted work just as it was about to be prosecuted11 most vigorously, and the new Opera House was put to new and unexpected uses. During the siege, it was converted into a vast military storehouse and filled with a heterogeneous12 mass of goods. After the siege the building fell into the hands of the Commune and the roof was turned into a balloon station. The damage done, however, was slight.
“The fine stone employed in the construction was brought from quarries13 in Sweden, Scotland, Italy, Algeria, Finland, Spain, Belgium and France. While work on the exterior14 was in progress, the building was covered in by a wooden shell, rendered transparent15 by thousands of small panes16 of glass. In 1867 a swarm17 of men, supplied with hammers and axes, stripped the house of its habit, and showed in all its splendor18 the great structure. No picture can do justice to the rich colors of the edifice or to the harmonious19 tone resulting from the skilful20 use of many diverse materials. The effect of the frontage is completed by the cupola of the auditorium21, topped with a cap of bronze sparingly adorned22 with gilding24. Farther on, on a level with the towers of Notre-Dame, is the gable end of the roof of the stage, a ‘Pegasus’, by M. Lequesne, rising at either end of the roof, and a bronze group by M. Millet25, representing ‘Apollo lifting his golden lyre’, commanding the apex26. Apollo, it may here be mentioned, is useful as well as ornamental27, for his lyre is tipped with a metal point which does duty as a lightning-rod, and conducts the fluid to the body and down the nether28 limbs of the god.
“The spectator, having climbed ten steps and left behind him a gateway29, reaches a vestibule in which are statues of Lully, Rameau, Gluck, and Handel. Ten steps of green Swedish marble lead to a second vestibule for ticket-sellers. Visitors who enter by the pavilion reserved for carriages pass through a hallway where ticket offices are situated30. The larger number of the audience, before entering the auditorium, traverse a large circular vestibule located exactly beneath it. The ceiling of this portion of the building is upheld by sixteen fluted31 columns of Jura stone, with white marble capitals, forming a portico32. Here servants are to await their masters, and spectators may remain until their carriages are summoned. The third entrance, which is quite distinct from the others, is reserved for the Executive. The section of the building set aside for the use of the Emperor Napoleon was to have included an antechamber for the bodyguards33; a salon34 for the aides-de-camp; a large salon and a smaller one for the Empress; hat and cloak rooms, etc. Moreover, there were to be in close proximity35 to the entrance, stables for three coaches, for the outriders’ horses, and for the twenty-one horsemen acting36 as an escort; a station for a squad37 of infantry38 of thirty-one men and ten cent-gardes, and a stable for the horses of the latter; and, besides, a salon for fifteen or twenty domestics. Thus arrangements had to be made to accommodate in this part of the building about one hundred persons, fifty horses, and half-a-dozen carriages. The fall of the Empire suggested some changes, but ample provision still exists for emergencies.
“Its novel conception, perfect fitness, and rare splendor of material, make the grand stairway unquestionably one of the most remarkable39 features of the building. It presents to the spectator, who has just passed through the subscribers’ pavilion, a gorgeous picture. From this point he beholds40 the ceiling formed by the central landing; this and the columns sustaining it, built of Echaillon stone, are honeycombed with arabesques42 and heavy with ornaments43; the steps are of white marble, and antique red marble balusters rest on green marble sockets44 and support a balustrade of onyx. To the right and to the left of this landing are stairways to the floor, on a plane with the first row of boxes. On this floor stand thirty monolith columns of Sarrancolin marble, with white marble bases and capitals. Pilasters of peach-blossom and violet stone are against the corresponding walls. More than fifty blocks had to be extracted from the quarry45 to find thirty perfect monoliths.
“The foyer de la danse has particular interest for the habitues of the Opera. It is a place of reunion to which subscribers to three performances a week are admitted between the acts in accordance with a usage established in 1870. Three immense looking-glasses cover the back wall of the FOYER, and a chandelier with one hundred and seven burners supplies it with light. The paintings include twenty oval medallions, in which are portrayed46 the twenty danseuses of most celebrity47 since the opera has existed in France, and four panels by M. Boulanger, typifying ‘The War Dance’, ‘The Rustic48 Dance’, ‘The Dance of Love’ and ‘The Bacchic Dance.’ While the ladies of the ballet receive their admirers in this foyer, they can practise their steps. Velvet49-cushioned bars have to this end been secured at convenient points, and the floor has been given the same slope as that of the stage, so that the labor50 expended51 may be thoroughly52 profitable to the performance. The singers’ foyer, on the same floor, is a much less lively resort than the foyer de la danse, as vocalists rarely leave their dressing-rooms before they are summoned to the stage. Thirty panels with portraits of the artists of repute in the annals of the Opera adorn23 this foyer.
“Some estimate . . . may be arrived at by sitting before the concierge53 an hour or so before the representation commences. First appear the stage carpenters, who are always seventy, and sometimes, when L’Africaine, for example, with its ship scene, is the opera, one hundred and ten strong. Then come stage upholsterers, whose sole duty is to lay carpets, hang curtains, etc.; gas-men, and a squad of firemen. Claqueurs, call-boys, property-men, dressers, coiffeurs, supernumeraries, and artists, follow. The supernumeraries number about one hundred; some are hired by the year, but the ‘masses’ are generally recruited at the last minute and are generally working-men who seek to add to their meagre earnings54. There are about a hundred choristers, and about eighty musicians.
“Next we behold41 equeries, whose horses are hoisted55 on the stage by means of an elevator; electricians who manage the light-producing batteries; hydrauliciens to take charge of the water-works in ballets like La Source; artificers who prepare the conflagration56 in Le Profeta; florists57 who make ready Margarita’s garden, and a host of minor58 employees. This personnel is provided for as follows: Eighty dressing-rooms are reserved for the artists, each including a small antechamber, the dressing-room proper, and a little closet. Besides these apartments, the Opera has a dressing-room for sixty male, and another for fifty female choristers; a third for thirty-four male dancers; four dressing-rooms for twenty female dancers of different grades; a dressing-room for one hundred and ninety supernumeraries, etc.”
A few figures taken from the article will suggest the enormous capacity and the perfect convenience of the house. “There are 2,531 doors and 7,593 keys; 14 furnaces and grates heat the house; the gaspipes if connected would form a pipe almost 16 miles long; 9 reservoirs, and two tanks hold 22,222 gallons of water and distribute their contents through 22,829 2-5 feet of piping; 538 persons have places assigned wherein to change their attire59. The musicians have a foyer with 100 closets for their instruments.”
The author remarks of his visit to the Opera House that it “was almost as bewildering as it was agreeable. Giant stairways and colossal60 halls, huge frescoes61 and enormous mirrors, gold and marble, satin and velvet, met the eye at every turn.”
In a recent letter Mr. Andre Castaigne, whose remarkable pictures illustrate62 the text, speaks of a river or lake under the Opera House and mentions the fact that there are now also three metropolitan63 railway tunnels, one on top of the other.
The end
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
edifice
|
|
| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
excavation
|
|
| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
bitumen
|
|
| n.沥青 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
penetrating
|
|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sediment
|
|
| n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
impermeability
|
|
| n.不能渗透的性质或状态,不渗透性,不透过性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
prosecuted
|
|
| a.被起诉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
heterogeneous
|
|
| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
quarries
|
|
| n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
exterior
|
|
| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
panes
|
|
| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
swarm
|
|
| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
harmonious
|
|
| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
skilful
|
|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
auditorium
|
|
| n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
adorn
|
|
| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
gilding
|
|
| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
millet
|
|
| n.小米，谷子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
apex
|
|
| n.顶点，最高点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
ornamental
|
|
| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
nether
|
|
| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
fluted
|
|
| a.有凹槽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
portico
|
|
| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bodyguards
|
|
| n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
salon
|
|
| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
proximity
|
|
| n.接近，邻近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
squad
|
|
| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
infantry
|
|
| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
beholds
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
arabesques
|
|
| n.阿拉伯式花饰( arabesque的名词复数 )；错综图饰；阿拉伯图案；阿拉贝斯克芭蕾舞姿（独脚站立，手前伸，另一脚一手向后伸） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
43
ornaments
|
|
| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
sockets
|
|
| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
quarry
|
|
| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
portrayed
|
|
| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
celebrity
|
|
| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
rustic
|
|
| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
labor
|
|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
expended
|
|
| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
concierge
|
|
| n.管理员；门房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
earnings
|
|
| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
hoisted
|
|
| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
conflagration
|
|
| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
florists
|
|
| n.花商，花农，花卉研究者( florist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
colossal
|
|
| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
frescoes
|
|
| n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
illustrate
|
|
| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
metropolitan
|
|
| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |