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The Phantom of the Opera Chapter V - The Enchanted Violin · The Gaston Leroux Library

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Speaker 1: Chapter five of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroue,
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Speaker 1: translated by Alexander Tizera Dematos. This LibriVox recording is in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter five, the enchanted violin. Christine Day,
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Speaker 1: owing to intrigues to which I will return later, did
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Speaker 1: not immediately continue her triumph at the opera. After the
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Speaker 1: famous Galenaide. She sang once at the Duchess Dessurix, but
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Speaker 1: this was the last occasion on which she was heard
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Speaker 1: in private. She refused, without plausible excuse, to appear at
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Speaker 1: a charity concert to which she had promised her assistance.
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Speaker 1: She acted throughout as though she were no longer the
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Speaker 1: mistress of her own destiny, and as though she feared
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Speaker 1: a fresh triumph. She knew that the Comte de de Chignie,
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Speaker 1: to please his brother, had done his best on her
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Speaker 1: behalf with Monsieur Richard, and she wrote to thank him,
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Speaker 1: and also to ask him to cease speaking in her favor.
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Speaker 1: Her reason for this curious attitude was never known. Some
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Speaker 1: pretended that it was due to overweening pride. Others spoke
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Speaker 1: of her heavenly modesty. But people on the stage are
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Speaker 1: not so modest as all that, and I think that
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Speaker 1: I shall not be far from the truth if I
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Speaker 1: ascribe her action simply to fear. Yes, I believe that
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Speaker 1: Christine Day was frightened by what had happened to her.
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Speaker 1: I have a letter of Christine's. It formed part of
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Speaker 1: the Persian's collection relating to this period, which suggests a
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Speaker 1: feeling of absolute dismay. I don't know myself when I sing,
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Speaker 1: writes the poor child. She showed herself nowhere, and the
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Speaker 1: Vicomte de Chenni tried in vain to meet her. He
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Speaker 1: wrote to her, asking to call upon her, but despaired
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Speaker 1: of receiving a reply when one morning she sent him
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Speaker 1: the following note, Monsieur, I have not forgotten a little
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Speaker 1: boy who went into the sea to rescue my scarf.
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Speaker 1: I feel that I must write to you to day,
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Speaker 1: when I am going to Piroufs in fulfillment of a
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Speaker 1: sacred de do. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the death
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Speaker 1: of my poor father, whom you knew, and who was
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Speaker 1: very fond of you. He is buried there with his violin,
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Speaker 1: in the graveyard of the little church at the bottom
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Speaker 1: of the slope where we used to play as children,
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Speaker 1: beside the road. Where when we were a little bigger,
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Speaker 1: we said good bye for the last time. The Vicomte
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Speaker 1: de Chenie hurriedly consulted a railway guide, dressed as quickly
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Speaker 1: as he could, wrote a few lines for his valet
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Speaker 1: to take to his brother, and jumped into a cab,
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Speaker 1: which brought him to the gerapanass just in time to
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Speaker 1: miss the morning train. He spent a dismal day in
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Speaker 1: town and did not recover his spirits until the evening,
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Speaker 1: when he was seated in his compartment in the Brittany Express.
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Speaker 1: He read Christine's note over and over again, smelling its perfume,
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Speaker 1: recalling the sweet pictures of his childhood, and spent the
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Speaker 1: rest of that tedious night journey in feverish dreams that
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Speaker 1: began and ended with Christine Day day was breaking when
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Speaker 1: he alighted at Lanyon. He hurried to the Diligence for
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Speaker 1: perofs Guerrecht. He was the only passenger. He questioned the
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Speaker 1: driver and learned that on the evening of the previous day,
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Speaker 1: a young lady who looked like a Parisian had gone
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Speaker 1: to perils and put up at the unknown. As the
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Speaker 1: setting sun the nearer, he drew to her the more
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Speaker 1: fondly he remembered the story of the little Swedish singer.
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Speaker 1: Most of the details are still unknown to the public.
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Speaker 1: There was once in a little market town not far
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Speaker 1: from Ubsala, a peasant who lived there with his family,
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Speaker 1: digging earth during the week and singing in the choir
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Speaker 1: on Sundays. This peasant had a little daughter, to whom
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Speaker 1: he taught the musical alphabet before she knew how to read.
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Speaker 1: Day's father was a great musician, perhaps without knowing it,
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Speaker 1: not a fiddler throughout the length and breadth of Scandinavia,
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Speaker 1: played as he did, his reputation was widespread, and he
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Speaker 1: was always invited to set the couples dancing at weddings
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Speaker 1: and other festivals. His wife died when Christine was entering
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Speaker 1: upon her six year. Then the father, who cared only
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Speaker 1: for his daughter and his music, sold his patch of
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Speaker 1: ground and went to Uppsala in search of fame and fortune.
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Speaker 1: He found nothing but poverty. He returned to the country,
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Speaker 1: wandering from fair to fair, strumming his Scandinavian melodies, while
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Speaker 1: his child, who never left his side, listened to him
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Speaker 1: in ecstasy or sang to his playing. One day at
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Speaker 1: Yimbie Fair. Professor Valerius heard them and took them to Gothenburg.
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Speaker 1: He maintained that the father was the first violinist in
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Speaker 1: the world, and that the daughter had the making of
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Speaker 1: a great artist. Her education and instruction were provided for.
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Speaker 1: She made rapid progress and charmed everybody with her prettiness,
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Speaker 1: her grace of manner, and her genuine eagerness to please.
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Speaker 1: When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France,
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Speaker 1: they took Day and Christine with them. Mamma Valerius treated
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Speaker 1: Christine as her daughter as for Day he began to
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Speaker 1: pine away with home sickness. He never went out of
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Speaker 1: doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream
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Speaker 1: which he kept up with his violin For hours at
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Speaker 1: a time. He remained locked up in his bedroom with
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Speaker 1: his daughter, fiddling and singing, very very softly. Sometimes Mamma
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Speaker 1: Valarius would come and listen behind the door, wipe away
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Speaker 1: a tear, and go downstairs again on tip toe, sighing
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Speaker 1: for her Scandinavian skies. Day seemed not to recover his
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Speaker 1: strength until the summer, when the whole family went to
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Speaker 1: stay at Pirosgyrich in a far away corner of Brittany
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Speaker 1: where the sea was of the same color as in
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Speaker 1: his own country. Often he would play his saddest tunes
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Speaker 1: on the beach and pretend that the sea stopped its
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Speaker 1: roaring to listen to them, And then he induced Mamma
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Speaker 1: Valarius to indulge a queer whim of his. At the
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Speaker 1: time of the Pardons or Breton pilgrimages, the village festival
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Speaker 1: and dances, he went off with his fiddle as in
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Speaker 1: the old days, and was allowed to take his daughter
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Speaker 1: with him for a week. They gave the smallest hamlet's
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Speaker 1: music to last them for a year, and slept at
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Speaker 1: night in a barn, refusing a bed at the end,
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Speaker 1: lying close together on the straw, as when they were
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Speaker 1: so poor in Sweden. At the same time, they were
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Speaker 1: very neatly dressed, made no collection, refused the halfpence offered them,
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Speaker 1: and the people around could not understand the conduct of
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Speaker 1: this rustic fiddler who tramped the roads with that pretty
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Speaker 1: child who sang like an angel from heaven. They followed
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Speaker 1: them from village to village. One day a little boy
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Speaker 1: who was out with his governess, made her take a
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Speaker 1: longer walk than he intended, for he could not tear
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Speaker 1: himself from the little girl, whose pure, sweet boy seemed
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Speaker 1: to bind him to her. They came to the shore
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Speaker 1: of an inlet which is still called Tristrawel, but which
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Speaker 1: now I believe harbors a casino or something of the sort.
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Speaker 1: At that time there was nothing but sky and sea
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Speaker 1: and a stretch of golden beach. Only there was also
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Speaker 1: a high wind which blew Christine's scarf out to sea.
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Speaker 1: Dene gave a cry and put out her arms, but
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Speaker 1: the scarf was already far on the waves. Then she
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Speaker 1: heard a voice say, it's all right, I'll go fetch
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Speaker 1: your scarf out of the sea, and she saw a
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Speaker 1: little boy running fast. In spite of the outcries and
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Speaker 1: the indignant protests of a worthy lady in black, the
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Speaker 1: little boy ran into the sea, dressed as he was,
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Speaker 1: and brought her back her scarf. Boy and scarf were
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Speaker 1: both soaked through. The lady in black made a great fuss,
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Speaker 1: but Christine laughed merrily and kissed the little boy, who
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Speaker 1: was none other than the Vicomte Raoul de Changni, staying
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Speaker 1: at Lenyon with his aunt during the season. They saw
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Speaker 1: each other and played together almost every day at the
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Speaker 1: Ant's request, seconded by Professor Valerius, Day consented to give
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Speaker 1: the young viscount some violin lessons. In this way, Raoul
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Speaker 1: learned the love the same airs that had charmed Christine's childhood.
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Speaker 1: They also both had the same calm and dreamy little
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Speaker 1: cast of mind. They'd delighted in stories in old Breton legends,
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Speaker 1: and their favorite sport was to go and ask for
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Speaker 1: them at the cottage doors, like beggars, ma'am, or kind gentlemen,
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Speaker 1: have you a little story to tell us? Please? And
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Speaker 1: it seldom happened that they did not have one given them,
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Speaker 1: for nearly every old Breton grand dame has at least
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Speaker 1: once in her life seen the Corrigans dance by moonlight
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Speaker 1: on the heather. But their great treat was in the twilight,
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Speaker 1: in the great silence of the evening, after the sun
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Speaker 1: had set in the sea, when Day came and sat
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Speaker 1: down by them on the roadside, and, in a low voice,
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Speaker 1: as though fearing lest he should frighten the ghosts whom
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Speaker 1: he evoked, told them the legends of the land of
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Speaker 1: the North, and the moment he stopped, the children would
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Speaker 1: ask for more. There was one story that began a
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Speaker 1: king sat in a little boat on one of those
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Speaker 1: deep still lakes that open like a bright eye in
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Speaker 1: the midst of the Norwegian mountains. And another little Lotteth
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Speaker 1: thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as
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Speaker 1: the sun's rays, and her soul as clear and blue
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Speaker 1: as her eyes. She wheeled, Her mother was kind to her,
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Speaker 1: dull took great care of her frock, and her little
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Speaker 1: red shoes and her fiddle, but most of all loved
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Speaker 1: when she went to sleep to hear the Angel of music.
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Speaker 1: While the old man told this story, Raoul looked at
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Speaker 1: Christine's blue eyes and golden hair, and Christine thought that
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Speaker 1: Lotta was very lucky to hear the Angel of music
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Speaker 1: when she went to sleep. The Angel of Music played
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Speaker 1: a part in all Daddy Day's tales, and he maintained
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Speaker 1: that every great musician, every great artist, received a visit
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Speaker 1: from the Angel at least once in his life. Sometimes
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Speaker 1: the Angel leans over their cradle, as happened to Lota,
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Speaker 1: and that is how there are little prodigies who play
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Speaker 1: the fiddle at six better than men at fifty, which
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Speaker 1: you must admit is very wonderful. Sometimes the Angel comes
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Speaker 1: much later, because the children are naughty and won't learn
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Speaker 1: their lessons or practice their scales. And sometimes he does
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Speaker 1: not come at all because the children have a bad
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Speaker 1: heart or a bad conscience. No one ever sees the Angel,
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Speaker 1: but he is heard by those who are meant to
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Speaker 1: hear him. He often comes when they least expect him,
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Speaker 1: when they are sad and disheartened. Then their ears suddenly
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Speaker 1: perceive celestial harmonies, a divine voice which they remember all
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Speaker 1: their lives. Persons who are visited by the Angel quiver
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Speaker 1: with a thrill unknown to the rest of mankind, and
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Speaker 1: they cannot touch an instrument or open their mouths to
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Speaker 1: sing without producing sounds that put all other human sounds
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Speaker 1: to shame. Then people who do not know that the
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Speaker 1: Angel has visited those persons say that they have genius.
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Speaker 1: Little Christine asked her father if he had heard the
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Speaker 1: Angel of music. But Daddy day shook his head sadly,
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Speaker 1: and then his eyes lit up as he said, you
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Speaker 1: will hear him one day, my child, when I am
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Speaker 1: in heaven, I will send him to you. Daddy was
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Speaker 1: beginning to cough at that time. Three years later, Raoul
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Speaker 1: and Christine met again at Piros. Professor Valerius was dead,
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Speaker 1: but his widow remained in France with Daddy Day and
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Speaker 1: his daughter, who continued to play the violin and sing,
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Speaker 1: rapping in their dream of harmony, their kind patroness, who
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Speaker 1: seemed henceforth to live on music alone. The young man,
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Speaker 1: as he now was, had come to Piros on the
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Speaker 1: chance of finding them, and went straight to the house
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Speaker 1: in which they used to stay. He first saw the
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Speaker 1: old man, and then Christine entered carrying the tea tray.
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Speaker 1: She flushed at the sight of Raoul, who went up
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Speaker 1: to her and kissed her. She asked him a few questions,
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Speaker 1: performed her duties as hostess, prettily, took up the tray
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Speaker 1: again and left the room. Then she ran into the
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Speaker 1: garden and took refuge on a bench, a prey to
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Speaker 1: feelings that stirred her young heart for the first time.
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Speaker 1: Raoul followed her, and they talked till the evening, very shyly.
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Speaker 1: They were quite chained cautious as two diplomatists, and told
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Speaker 1: each other the things that had nothing to do with
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Speaker 1: their budding sentiments. When they took leave of each other
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Speaker 1: by the roadside, Raoul pressing a kiss on Christine's trembling hands, said, ma'amoiselle,
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Speaker 1: I shall never forget you, and he went away, regretting
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Speaker 1: his words, for he knew that Christine could not be
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Speaker 1: the wife of the Vicomte de Chonnyi. As for Christine,
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Speaker 1: she tried not to think of him and devoted herself
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Speaker 1: wholly to her art. She made wonderful progress, and those
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Speaker 1: who heard her prophesied that she would be the greatest
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Speaker 1: singer in the world. Meanwhile, the father died, and suddenly
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Speaker 1: she seemed to have lost with him her voice, her soul,
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Speaker 1: and her genius. She retained just but only just enough
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Speaker 1: of this to enter the conservatoire, where she did not
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Speaker 1: distinguish herself at all, attending the classes without enthusiasm and
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Speaker 1: taking a prize only to please old Mamma Valarius, with
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Speaker 1: whom she continued to live. The first time that Raoul
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Speaker 1: saw Christine at the opera, he was charmed by the
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Speaker 1: girl's beauty and by the sweet images of the past
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Speaker 1: which it evoked, but was rather surprised at the negative
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Speaker 1: side of her art. He returned to listen to her.
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Speaker 1: He followed her in the wings. He waited for her
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Speaker 1: behind a Jacob's ladder. He tried to attract her attention.
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Speaker 1: More than once. He walked after her to the door
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Speaker 1: of her box, But she did not see him. She seemed,
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Speaker 1: for that matter, to see nobody. She was all indifference.
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Speaker 1: Raoul suffered, for she was very beautiful, and he was
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Speaker 1: shy and dared not confess his love even to himself.
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Speaker 1: And then came the lightning flash of the gallic performance,
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Speaker 1: the heavens tore asunder, and an angel's voice heard upon
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Speaker 1: earth for the delight of mankind and the utter capture
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Speaker 1: of his And then there was that man's voice behind
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Speaker 1: the door. You must love me, and no one in
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Speaker 1: the room. Why did she laugh when he reminded her
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Speaker 1: of the incident of the scarf? Why did she not
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Speaker 1: recognize him? And why had she written to him? Pebros
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Speaker 1: was reached. At last, Raoul walked into the smoky sitting
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Speaker 1: room of the setting sun, and at once saw Christine
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Speaker 1: standing before him, smiling and showing no astonishment. So you
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Speaker 1: have come, she said, I felt that I should find
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Speaker 1: you here when I came back from mass. Some one
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Speaker 1: told me so at the church. Who asked Raoul, taking
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Speaker 1: her little hand in his, why my poor father, who
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Speaker 1: is dead? There was a silence, and then Raoul asked,
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Speaker 1: did your father tell you that I love you, Christine,
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Speaker 1: and that I cannot live without you. Christine blushed to
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Speaker 1: the eyes and turned away her head. In a trembling voice,
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Speaker 1: she said me, you are dreaming, my friend, and she
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Speaker 1: burst out laughing to put herself countenance. Don't laugh, Christine,
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Speaker 1: I am quite serious, Raoul answered, and she replied gravely.
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Speaker 1: I did not make you come to tell me such
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Speaker 1: things as that you made me come. Christine, you knew
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Speaker 1: that your letter would not leave me indignant, and that
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Speaker 1: I should hasten to Hero's. How can you have thought
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Speaker 1: that if you did not think I loved you, I
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Speaker 1: thought you would remember our games here as children, in
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Speaker 1: which my father so often joined. I really don't know
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Speaker 1: what I thought. Perhaps I was wrong to write to
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Speaker 1: you this anniversary, and your sudden appearance in my room
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Speaker 1: at the opera the other evening reminded me of the
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Speaker 1: time long past and made me write to you as
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Speaker 1: the little girl that I then was. There was something
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Speaker 1: in Christine's attitude that seemed to Raoul not natural. He
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Speaker 1: did not feel any hostility in her, far from it.
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Speaker 1: The distressed affection shining in her eyes told him that,
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Speaker 1: But why was this affection distressed? That was what he
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Speaker 1: wished to know. And what was irritating him when you
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Speaker 1: saw me in your dressing room? Was that the first
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Speaker 1: time you noticed me? Christine, she was incapable of lying. No,
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Speaker 1: She said, I had seen you several times in your
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Speaker 1: brother's box, and also on the stage. I thought, so,
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Speaker 1: said Raoul, compressing his lips. But then, why when you
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Speaker 1: saw me in your room, at your feet, reminding you
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Speaker 1: that I had rescued your scarf from the sea, why
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Speaker 1: did you answer as though you did not know me?
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Speaker 1: And also why did you laugh? The tone of these
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Speaker 1: questions was so rough that Christine stared at Raoul without replying.
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Speaker 1: The young man himself was aghast at the sudden quarrel
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Speaker 1: which he had dared to raise at the very moment
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Speaker 1: when he had resolved to speak words of gentleness, love
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Speaker 1: and submission to Christine. A husband, a lover with all rights,
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Speaker 1: would talk no differently to a wife, a mistress who
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Speaker 1: had offended him. But he had gone too far and
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Speaker 1: saw no other way out of the ridiculous position than
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Speaker 1: to behave odiously. You don't answer, he said, I, and
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Speaker 1: unhappily well, I will answer for you. It was because
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Speaker 1: there was some one in the room who was in
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Speaker 1: your way, Christine, some one that you did not wish
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Speaker 1: to know that you could be interested in any one else.
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Speaker 1: If any one was in my way, my friend, Christine,
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Speaker 1: broke in coldly. If any one was in my way
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Speaker 1: that evening, it was yourself. Since I told you to
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Speaker 1: leave the room, yes, so that you might remain with
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Speaker 1: the other. What are you saying, monsieur, asked the girl excitedly.
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Speaker 1: And to what other do you refer to the man
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Speaker 1: to whom you said, I sing only for you to night.
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Speaker 1: I gave you my soul, and I am dead. Christine
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Speaker 1: seized Raoul's arm and clutched it with a strength which
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Speaker 1: no one would have suspected in so frail a creature.
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Speaker 1: Then you were listening behind the door, Yes, because I
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Speaker 1: love you everything, and I heard everything. You heard what?
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Speaker 1: And the young girl, becoming strangely calm, released Raoul's arm.
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Speaker 1: He said to you, Christine, you must loved me. At
18:01
Speaker 1: these words, a deathly pallor spread over Christine's face. Dark
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Speaker 1: rings formed round her eyes. She staggered and seemed on
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Speaker 1: the point of swooning. Raoul darted forward with arms outstretched,
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Speaker 1: but Christine had overcome her passing faintness and said, in
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Speaker 1: a low voice, go on, go on, tell me all
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Speaker 1: you heard. At an utter lass to understand, Raoul answered,
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Speaker 1: I heard him reply when you said you had given
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Speaker 1: him your soul. Your soul is a beautiful thing, child,
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Speaker 1: and I thank you. No emperor ever receives so fair
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Speaker 1: a gift. The angels wept to night. Christine carried her
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Speaker 1: hand to her heart, a prey to indescribable emotion. Her
18:42
Speaker 1: eyes stared before her like a madwoman's. Raoul was terror stricken.
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Speaker 1: But suddenly Christine's eyes moistened, and two great tears trickled
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Speaker 1: like two pearls down her ivory cheek. Christine, Raoul the
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Speaker 1: young man tried to take her in his arms, but
18:58
Speaker 1: she escaped and led in great disorder. While Christine remained
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Speaker 1: locked in her room, Raoul was at his wits end
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Speaker 1: what to do. He refused to breakfast. He was terribly
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Speaker 1: concerned and bitterly grieved to see the hours which he
19:13
Speaker 1: had hoped to find so sweet, slip past without the
19:16
Speaker 1: presence of the young Swedish girl. Why did she not
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Speaker 1: come to Rome? With him through the country, where they
19:22
Speaker 1: had so many memories in common. He heard that she
19:25
Speaker 1: had had a mass ev that morning for the repose
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Speaker 1: of her father's soul, and spent a long time praying
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Speaker 1: in the little church and on the fiddler's tomb. Then,
19:33
Speaker 1: as she seemed to have nothing more to do at Piros,
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Speaker 1: and in fact was doing nothing there, why did she
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Speaker 1: not go back to Paris? At once? Raoul walked away
19:43
Speaker 1: dejectedly to the graveyard in which the church stood, and
19:46
Speaker 1: was indeed alone among the tombs, reading the inscriptions. But
19:50
Speaker 1: when he turned behind the apse, he was suddenly struck
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Speaker 1: by the dazzling note of the flowers that straggled over
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Speaker 1: the white ground. They were marvelous red roses that had
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Speaker 1: blost in the morning in the snow, giving a glimpse
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Speaker 1: of life among the dead, For death was all around him.
20:07
Speaker 1: It also, like the flowers, issued from the ground, which
20:10
Speaker 1: had flung back. A number of its corpses, skeletons, and skulls,
20:14
Speaker 1: by the hundred, were heaped against the wall of the church,
20:17
Speaker 1: held in position by a wire that left the whole
20:20
Speaker 1: gruesome stack visible. Dead men's bones arranged in rows like
20:25
Speaker 1: bricks to form the first course upon which the walls
20:28
Speaker 1: of the sacristy had been built. The door of the
20:31
Speaker 1: sacristy opened in the middle of that bony structure, as
20:34
Speaker 1: is often seen in old Breton churches. Raoul said a
20:38
Speaker 1: prayer for day, and then, painfully, impressed by all those
20:41
Speaker 1: eternal smiles on the mouths of skulls, he climbed the
20:44
Speaker 1: slope and sat down on the edge of the heath,
20:47
Speaker 1: overlooking the sea. The wind fell with evening. Raoul was
20:51
Speaker 1: surrounded by icy darkness, but he did not feel the cold.
20:56
Speaker 1: It was here he remembered that he used to come
20:58
Speaker 1: with little Christine to see the Corrigan's dance at the
21:01
Speaker 1: rising of the moon. He had never seen any, though
21:04
Speaker 1: his eyes were good, whereas Christine, who was a little
21:08
Speaker 1: short sighted, pretended that she had seen many. He smiled
21:12
Speaker 1: at the thought, and then suddenly gave a start. A
21:15
Speaker 1: voice behind him said, do you think the Corrigans will
21:18
Speaker 1: come this evening? It was Christine. He tried to speak.
21:22
Speaker 1: She put her gloved hand on his mouth. Listen, Raoul,
21:25
Speaker 1: I have decided to tell you something serious, very serious.
21:30
Speaker 1: Do you remember the legend of the Angel of Music?
21:33
Speaker 1: I do, Indeed, he said, I believe it was here
21:36
Speaker 1: that your father first told it to us, and it
21:39
Speaker 1: was here that he said, when I am in heaven,
21:41
Speaker 1: my child, I will send him to you. Well, Raoul,
21:45
Speaker 1: my father is in heaven, and I have been visited
21:48
Speaker 1: by the Angel of Music. I have no doubt of it,
21:52
Speaker 1: replied the young man gravely, for it seemed to him
21:55
Speaker 1: that his friend, in obedience to a pious thought, was
21:58
Speaker 1: connecting the memory of her father with the brilliancy of
22:01
Speaker 1: her last triumph. Christine appeared astonished at the Vicomte de
22:05
Speaker 1: Chagni's coolness. How do you understand it, she asked, bringing
22:09
Speaker 1: her pale face so close to his that he might
22:12
Speaker 1: have thought that Christine was going to give him a kiss,
22:15
Speaker 1: but she only wanted to read his eyes in spite
22:17
Speaker 1: of the dark. I understand, he said that no human
22:21
Speaker 1: being can sing as you sang the other evening without
22:24
Speaker 1: the intervention of some miracle. No professor on earth can
22:28
Speaker 1: teach you such accents as those you have heard the
22:31
Speaker 1: Angel of Music. Christine, Yes, she said, solemnly, in my
22:35
Speaker 1: dressing room. That is where he comes to give me
22:38
Speaker 1: my lessons daily. In your dressing room, he echoed stupidly. Yes,
22:43
Speaker 1: that is where I have heard him, and I have
22:45
Speaker 1: not been the only one to hear him. Who else
22:49
Speaker 1: heard him? Christine? You, my friend, I I heard the
22:53
Speaker 1: Angel of music. Yes, the other evening. It was he
22:57
Speaker 1: who was talking when you were listening behind the door.
23:00
Speaker 1: It was he who said you must love me. But
23:03
Speaker 1: I then thought that I was the only one to
23:05
Speaker 1: hear his voice. Imagine my astonishment when you told me
23:09
Speaker 1: this morning that you could hear him too. Raoul burst
23:13
Speaker 1: out laughing. The first rays of the moon came and
23:16
Speaker 1: shrouded the two young people in their light. Christine turned
23:19
Speaker 1: on Raoul with a hostile air, Her eyes, usually so gentle,
23:23
Speaker 1: flashed fire. What are you laughing at? You think you
23:26
Speaker 1: heard a man's voice? I suppose, well, replied the young man,
23:30
Speaker 1: whose ideas began to grow confused in the face of
23:33
Speaker 1: Christine's determined attitude. It's you, Raoul, who say that you
23:38
Speaker 1: an old playfellow of my own, a friend of my father's.
23:42
Speaker 1: But you have changed since those days? What are you
23:45
Speaker 1: thinking of? I am an honest girl, monsieur la bey
23:48
Speaker 1: CONTI shout me, and I don't lock myself up in
23:51
Speaker 1: my dressing room with men's voices. If you had opened
23:54
Speaker 1: the door, you would have seen that there was nobody
23:57
Speaker 1: in the room. That's true. I did opened the door
24:00
Speaker 1: when you were gone, and I found no one in
24:03
Speaker 1: the room. So you see. Well, the Viscount summoned up
24:07
Speaker 1: all his courage. Well, Christine, I think that somebody is
24:11
Speaker 1: making game of you. She gave a cry and ran away.
24:16
Speaker 1: He ran after her, but in a tone of fierce anger,
24:18
Speaker 1: she called out, leave me, leave me, and she disappeared.
24:22
Speaker 1: Raoul returned to the inn feeling very weary, very low spirited,
24:27
Speaker 1: and very sad. He was told that Christine had gone
24:30
Speaker 1: to her bedroom, saying that she would not be down
24:33
Speaker 1: to dinner. Raoul dined alone in a very gloomy mood.
24:38
Speaker 1: Then he went to his room and tried to read,
24:40
Speaker 1: went to bed and tried to sleep. There was no
24:43
Speaker 1: sound in the next room. The hours passed slowly. It
24:48
Speaker 1: was about half past eleven when he distinctly heard some
24:51
Speaker 1: one moving with a light, stealthy step in the room
24:54
Speaker 1: next to his. Then Christine had not gone to bed
24:58
Speaker 1: without troubling for a reason. Raoul dressed, taking care not
25:02
Speaker 1: to make a sound, and waited waited for what. How
25:06
Speaker 1: could he tell? But his heart thumped in his chest
25:09
Speaker 1: when he heard Christine's door turn slowly on its hinges.
25:12
Speaker 1: Where could she be going at this hour when everyone
25:15
Speaker 1: was fast asleep? At Piro's softly opening the door, he
25:19
Speaker 1: saw Christine's white form in the moonlight, slipping along the passage.
25:23
Speaker 1: She went down the stairs, and he leaned over the
25:26
Speaker 1: baluster above her. Suddenly he heard two voices in rapid conversation.
25:30
Speaker 1: He caught one sentence, don't lose the key. It was
25:34
Speaker 1: the Landlady's voice. The door facing the sea was opened
25:38
Speaker 1: and locked again. Then all was still. Raoul ran back
25:42
Speaker 1: to his room and threw back the window. Christine's white
25:45
Speaker 1: form stood on the deserted quay. The first floor of
25:48
Speaker 1: the setting sun was at no great height, and a
25:51
Speaker 1: tree growing against the wall held out its branches to
25:54
Speaker 1: Raoul's impatient arms and enabled him to climb down. Unknown
25:58
Speaker 1: to the landlady. Her amazement, therefore was all the greater
26:01
Speaker 1: when the next morning the young man was brought back
26:04
Speaker 1: to her half frozen, more dead than alive. And when
26:07
Speaker 1: she learned that he had been found stretched at full
26:09
Speaker 1: length on the steps of the high altar of the
26:12
Speaker 1: little church, she ran at once to tell Christine, who
26:15
Speaker 1: hurried down and, with the help of the landlady, did
26:18
Speaker 1: her best to revive him. He soon opened his eyes
26:21
Speaker 1: and was not long in recovering when he saw his
26:24
Speaker 1: friend's charming face leaning over him. A few weeks later,
26:28
Speaker 1: when the tragedy at the opera compelled the intervention of
26:31
Speaker 1: the Public Prosecutor, Monsieur Mifrois, the Commissary of Police examined
26:35
Speaker 1: the Vicomte de Chagny, touching the events of the night
26:38
Speaker 1: at Piros. I quote the questions and answers as given
26:42
Speaker 1: in the official report, pages one fifty and following question.
26:47
Speaker 1: Did Mademoiselle Day not see you come down from your
26:49
Speaker 1: room by the curious road which you selected Raoul No,
26:54
Speaker 1: Monsieur no. Although in walking behind her, I took no
26:58
Speaker 1: pains to deaden the sound of my footsteps. In fact,
27:01
Speaker 1: I was anxious that she should turn round and see me.
27:04
Speaker 1: I realized that I had no excuse for following her,
27:07
Speaker 1: and that this way of spying on her was unworthy
27:10
Speaker 1: of me. But she seemed not to hear me, and
27:12
Speaker 1: acted exactly as though I were not there. She quietly
27:16
Speaker 1: left the quay, and then suddenly walked quickly up the road.
27:19
Speaker 1: The church clock had struck a quarter to twelve, and
27:22
Speaker 1: I thought that this must have been her hurry, for
27:24
Speaker 1: she began almost to run, and continued hastening until she
27:28
Speaker 1: came to the church. Question was the gate open? Raoul, yes, monsieur,
27:34
Speaker 1: And this surprised me, but did not seem to surprise
27:37
Speaker 1: ma'amoiselle Day. Question was there no one in the churchyard? Raoul.
27:43
Speaker 1: I did not see any one, and if there had been,
27:45
Speaker 1: I must have seen him. The moon was shining on
27:48
Speaker 1: the snow and made the night quite light. Question was
27:52
Speaker 1: it possible for any one to hide behind the tombstones? Raoul, no, monsieur.
27:59
Speaker 1: They were quite small, poor tombstones, partly hidden under the snow,
28:03
Speaker 1: with their crosses just above the level of the ground.
28:06
Speaker 1: The only shadows were those of the crosses and ourselves.
28:10
Speaker 1: The church stood out quite brightly. I never saw so
28:13
Speaker 1: clear a night. It was very fine and very cold,
28:17
Speaker 1: and one could see everything. Question are you at all superstitious? Raoul, no, monsieur.
28:25
Speaker 1: I am a practicing Catholic. Question in what condition of
28:29
Speaker 1: mind were you? Raoul? Very healthy and peaceful, I assure you, ma'amselle.
28:35
Speaker 1: Day's curious action in going out at that hour had
28:38
Speaker 1: worried me at first, But as soon as I saw
28:41
Speaker 1: her go to the churchyard, I thought that she meant
28:43
Speaker 1: to fulfill some pious duty on her father's grave, and
28:47
Speaker 1: I considered this so natural that I recovered all my calmness.
28:51
Speaker 1: I was only surprised that she had not heard me
28:53
Speaker 1: walking behind her, for my footsteps were quite audible on
28:56
Speaker 1: the hard snow, But she must have taken up with
28:59
Speaker 1: her in, and I resolved not to disturb her. She
29:03
Speaker 1: knelt down by her father's grave, made the sign of
29:06
Speaker 1: the cross, and began to pray. At that moment it
29:09
Speaker 1: struck midnight. At the last stroke, I saw Mademoiselle Day
29:13
Speaker 1: lift her eyes to the sky and stretch out her arms,
29:16
Speaker 1: as though in ecstasy. I was wondering what the reason
29:20
Speaker 1: could be, when I myself raised my head, and everything
29:23
Speaker 1: within me seemed drawn toward the invisible which was playing
29:26
Speaker 1: the most perfect music. Christine and I knew that music.
29:30
Speaker 1: We had heard it as children, but it had never
29:33
Speaker 1: been executed with such divine art, even by Monsieur Day.
29:38
Speaker 1: I remembered all that Christine had told me of the
29:40
Speaker 1: Angel of music. The air was the Resurrection of Lazarus,
29:44
Speaker 1: which old Monsieur day used to play to us in
29:47
Speaker 1: his hours of melancholy and of faith. If Christine's Angel
29:51
Speaker 1: had existed, he could not have played better that night
29:54
Speaker 1: on the late musician's violin. When the music stopped, I
29:58
Speaker 1: seemed to hear a noise from the sk kulls in
30:00
Speaker 1: the heap of bones. It was as though they were chuckling,
30:04
Speaker 1: and I could not help shuddering. Question, did it not
30:08
Speaker 1: occur to you that the musician might be hiding behind
30:11
Speaker 1: that very heap of bones? Raoul? It was the one
30:16
Speaker 1: thought that did occur to me, Monsieur, so much so
30:18
Speaker 1: that I omitted to follow Mimse all day. When she
30:21
Speaker 1: stood up and walked slowly to the gate, she was
30:24
Speaker 1: so much absorbed just then that I am not surprised
30:27
Speaker 1: that she did not see me. Question, then, what happened
30:32
Speaker 1: that you were found in the morning, lying half dead
30:34
Speaker 1: on the steps of the high altar, Raoul. First the
30:38
Speaker 1: skull rolled to my feet, then another, then another. It
30:42
Speaker 1: was as if I were the mark of that ghastly
30:44
Speaker 1: game of bowls, and I had an idea that false
30:47
Speaker 1: step must have destroyed the balance of the structure. Behind
30:51
Speaker 1: which our musician was concealed. This surmise seemed to be
30:54
Speaker 1: confirmed when I saw a shadow suddenly glide along the
30:57
Speaker 1: sacristy wall. I ran up the shatadow had already pushed
31:01
Speaker 1: open the door and entered the church. But I was
31:03
Speaker 1: quicker than the shadow and caught hold of a corner
31:05
Speaker 1: of its cloak. At that moment, we were just in
31:08
Speaker 1: front of the high altar, and the moonbeams fell straight
31:11
Speaker 1: upon us through the stained glass windows of the apse.
31:14
Speaker 1: As I did not let go of the cloak, the
31:16
Speaker 1: shadow turned round, and I saw a terrible death's head,
31:19
Speaker 1: which darted a look at me from a pair of
31:21
Speaker 1: scorching eyes. I felt as if I were face to
31:24
Speaker 1: face with Satan, and in the presence of this unearthly apparition,
31:28
Speaker 1: my heart gave way, my courage failed me, and I
31:32
Speaker 1: remember nothing more until I recovered consciousness at the setting
31:35
Speaker 1: sun end of chapter five.