Orakel Classics
The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 28 chapter-aware companion links.
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Prologue
Prologue from The Phantom of the Opera. IN WHICH THE AUTHOR OF THIS SINGULAR WORK INFORMS THE READER HOW HE ACQUIRED THE CERTAINTY THAT THE OPERA GHOST REALLY
Open2Chapter I Is it the Ghost?
Chapter I Is it the Ghost? from The Phantom of the Opera. It was the evening on which MM. Debienne and Poligny, the managers of the Opera, were giving a last gala performance to mark their retirement. Suddenly the dressing-room of La Sorelli, one of the principal dancers, was invaded by half-a-dozen young ladies of the ballet, who had come up from the stage after "dancing" Polyeucte. They rushed in amid great confusion, some giving vent to forced and unnatural laughter,
Open3Chapter II The New Margarita
Chapter II The New Margarita from The Phantom of the Opera. On the first landing, Sorelli ran against the Comte de Chagny, who was coming up-stairs. The count, who was generally so calm, seemed greatly
Open4Chapter III The Mysterious Reason
Chapter III The Mysterious Reason from The Phantom of the Opera. During this time, the farewell ceremony was taking place. I have already said that this magnificent function was being given on the occasion of the retirement of M. Debienne and M. Poligny, who had determined to "die game," as we say nowadays. They had been assisted in the realization of their ideal, though melancholy, program by all that counted in the social and artistic world of Paris. All these people met, after
Open5Chapter IV Box Five
Chapter IV Box Five from The Phantom of the Opera. Armand Moncharmin wrote such voluminous Memoirs during the fairly long period of his co-management that we may well ask if he ever found time to attend to the affairs of the Opera otherwise than by telling what went on there. M. Moncharmin did not know a note of music, but he called the minister of education and fine arts by his Christian name, had dabbled a little in society journalism and enjoyed a considerable
Open6Chapter V The Enchanted Violin
Chapter V The Enchanted Violin from The Phantom of the Opera. Christine Daae, owing to intrigues to which I will return later, did not immediately continue her triumph at the Opera. After the famous gala night, she sang once at the Duchess de Zurich's; but this was the last occasion on which she was heard in private. She refused, without plausible excuse, to appear at a charity concert to which she had promised her assistance. She acted throughout as though she were no longer
Open7Chapter VI A Visit to Box Five
Chapter VI A Visit to Box Five from The Phantom of the Opera. We left M. Firmin Richard and M. Armand Moncharmin at the moment when they were deciding "to look into that little matter of Box
Open8Chapter VII Faust and What Followed
Chapter VII Faust and What Followed from The Phantom of the Opera. On the Saturday morning, on reaching their office, the joint managers found a letter from O. G. worded in these
Open9Chapter VIII The Mysterious Brougham
Chapter VIII The Mysterious Brougham from The Phantom of the Opera. That tragic evening was bad for everybody. Carlotta fell ill. As for Christine Daae, she disappeared after the performance. A fortnight elapsed during which she was seen neither at the Opera nor
Open10Chapter IX At the Masked Ball
Chapter IX At the Masked Ball from The Phantom of the Opera. The envelope was covered with mud and unstamped. It bore the words "To be handed to M. le Vicomte Raoul de Chagny," with the address in pencil. It must have been flung out in the hope that a passer-by would pick up the note and deliver it, which was what happened. The note had been picked up on the pavement of the Place de
Open11Chapter X Forget the Name of the Man's Voice
Chapter X Forget the Name of the Man's Voice from The Phantom of the Opera. The day after Christine had vanished before his eyes in a sort of dazzlement that still made him doubt the evidence of his senses, M. le Vicomte de Chagny called to inquire at Mamma Valerius'. He came upon a charming picture. Christine herself was seated by the bedside of the old lady, who was sitting up against the pillows, knitting. The pink and white had returned to the young girl's cheeks. The dark rings round
Open12Chapter XI Above the Trap-Doors
Chapter XI Above the Trap-Doors from The Phantom of the Opera. The next day, he saw her at the Opera. She was still wearing the plain gold ring. She was gentle and kind to him. She talked to him of the plans which he was forming, of his future, of his
Open13Chapter XII Apollo's Lyre
Chapter XII Apollo's Lyre from The Phantom of the Opera. On this way, they reached the roof. Christine tripped over it as lightly as a swallow. Their eyes swept the empty space between the three domes and the triangular pediment. She breathed freely over Paris, the whole valley of which was seen at work below. She called Raoul to come quite close to her and they walked side by side along the zinc streets, in the leaden avenues; they looked at their twin shapes in the huge
Open14Chapter XIII A Master-Stroke of the Trap-Door Lover
Chapter XIII A Master-Stroke of the Trap-Door Lover from The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul and Christine ran, eager to escape from the roof and the blazing eyes that showed only in the dark; and they did not stop before they came to the eighth floor on the way
Open15Chapter XIV The Singular Attitude of a Safety-Pin
Chapter XIV The Singular Attitude of a Safety-Pin from The Phantom of the Opera. Behind the curtain, there was an indescribable crowd. Artists, scene-shifters, dancers, supers, choristers, subscribers were all asking questions, shouting and hustling one
Open16Chapter XV Christine! Christine!
Chapter XV Christine! Christine! from The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul's first thought, after Christine Daae's fantastic disappearance, was to accuse Erik. He no longer doubted the almost supernatural powers of the Angel of Music, in this domain of the Opera in which he had set up his empire. And Raoul rushed on the stage, in a mad fit of love and
Open17Chapter XVI Mme. Giry's Astounding Revelations as to Her Personal
Chapter XVI Mme. Giry's Astounding Revelations as to Her Personal from The Phantom of the Opera. Before following the commissary into the manager's office I must describe certain extraordinary occurrences that took place in that office which Remy and Mercier had vainly tried to enter and into which MM. Richard and Moncharmin had locked themselves with an object which the reader does not yet know, but which it is my duty, as an historian, to reveal without further
Open18Chapter XVII The Safety-Pin Again
Chapter XVII The Safety-Pin Again from The Phantom of the Opera. Moncharmin's last phrase so dearly expressed the suspicion in which he now held his partner that it was bound to cause a stormy explanation, at the end of which it was agreed that Richard should yield to all Moncharmin's wishes, with the object of helping him to discover the miscreant who was victimizing
Open19Chapter XVIII The Commissary, The Viscount and the Persian
Chapter XVIII The Commissary, The Viscount and the Persian from The Phantom of the Opera. The first words of the commissary of police, on entering the managers' office, were to ask after the missing prima
Open20Chapter XIX The Viscount and the Persian
Chapter XIX The Viscount and the Persian from The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul now remembered that his brother had once shown him that mysterious person, of whom nothing was known except that he was a Persian and that he lived in a little old-fashioned flat in the Rue de
Open21Chapter XX In the Cellars of the Opera
Chapter XX In the Cellars of the Opera from The Phantom of the Opera. The wall, behind them, having completed the circle which it described upon itself, closed again; and the two men stood motionless for a moment, holding their
Open22Chapter XXI Interesting and Instructive Vicissitudes of a Persian in
Chapter XXI Interesting and Instructive Vicissitudes of a Persian in from The Phantom of the Opera. It was the first time that I entered the house on the lake. I had often begged the "trap-door lover," as we used to call Erik in my country, to open its mysterious doors to me. He always refused. I made very many attempts, but in vain, to obtain admittance. Watch him as I might, after I first learned that he had taken up his permanent abode at the Opera, the darkness was always too thick to enable me to see how he
Open23Chapter XXII In the Torture Chamber
Chapter XXII In the Torture Chamber from The Phantom of the Opera. We were in the middle of a little six-cornered room, the sides of which were covered with mirrors from top to bottom. In the corners, we could clearly see the "joins" in the glasses, the segments intended to turn on their gear; yes, I recognized them and I recognized the iron tree in the corner, at the bottom of one of those segments ... the iron tree, with its iron branch, for the hanged
Open24Chapter XXIII The Tortures Begin
Chapter XXIII The Tortures Begin from The Phantom of the Opera. The voice repeated angrily: "What have you done with my bag? So it was to take my bag that you asked me to release
Open25Chapter XXIV "Barrels! ... Barrels! ... Any Barrels to Sell?"
Chapter XXIV "Barrels! ... Barrels! ... Any Barrels to Sell?" from The Phantom of the Opera. I have said that the room in which M. le Vicomte de Chagny and I were imprisoned was a regular hexagon, lined entirely with mirrors. Plenty of these rooms have been seen since, mainly at exhibitions: they are called "palaces of illusion," or some such name. But the invention belongs entirely to Erik, who built the first room of this kind under my eyes, at the time of the rosy hours of Mazenderan. A decorative
Open26Chapter XXV The Scorpion or the Grasshopper: Which?
Chapter XXV The Scorpion or the Grasshopper: Which? from The Phantom of the Opera. The discovery flung us into a state of alarm that made us forget all our past and present sufferings. We now knew all that the monster meant to convey when he said to Christine
Open27Chapter XXVI The End of the Ghost's Love Story
Chapter XXVI The End of the Ghost's Love Story from The Phantom of the Opera. The previous chapter marks the conclusion of the written narrative which the Persian left behind
Open28The Paris Opera House
The Paris Opera House from The Phantom of the Opera. 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
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