The Phantom of the Opera by Jennifer Basset

原文

Chapter 10: Madame Gigy visits the Persian

For weeks, all Paris talked about that night at the Opera.

Everybody asked questions, but nobody knew the answers.

Where was Christine Daae? Where was the Vicome de Chagny?

Were they alive, or dead? And the Phantom of the Opera …?

Some weeks after that famous night, Madame Giry went out one afternoon to a small house near the Rivoli gardens.

She went in and up the stairs to some rooms at the top of the house.

The Persian open the door.

Madam, God looked at him.

"My friend, you know the answers. Please tell me. Are they alive or dead?"

"Come in,"the Persian said quietly.

They sat down on some chairs by the window, and looked out across the Rivoli gardens.

"Yes," the Persian said slowly, "The Phantom is dead now. He did not want to live any longer. I saw his body three days ago, and because of that, I can talk to you about him. He cannot kill me now."

"So the Phantom was really a man? " Madame Giry asked.

"Yes, his name was Erik. That was not his real name, of course. He was born in France, but I knew him in Persia. He was a famous builder and I worked with him there. For a time I was his friend, but not for long. When he came to Paris, I came after him – I wanted to watch him. He was a very clever, very dangerous man. He could be in two, or three, places at the same time. He could be in one place, and his voice could come from another place. He could do many clever things with ropes and mirrors, and secret doors. You see, he helped to build the Opera House. He built secret passages underground, and his secret house on the lake. He could not live in the outside world, because of his terrible, ugly face. Unhappy Erik! We can feel sorry for him,Madame Giry. He was so clever... and so ugly.People screamed when they saw his face.  And so he lived this strange life - Half man – Half phantom. But he was a man, in the end.  He wanted a woman's love. He stopped.

And Madame Giry asked quietly, "And Christine Daae and VicomteRaoul? What happened to them?"

The Persian smiled."Ah yes! What happened to young Raoul and the beautiful Christine...? Who knows."

Nobody in Paris ever saw Raoul and Christine again.

Perhaps they took a train to the north, and lived a quiet happy life together there.

Perhaps Christine's wonderful voice is still singing, somewhere in the cold and beautiful mountains of Norway.

Who knows.

翻译

第十章:吉丽夫人拜访波斯人

几个星期以来，整个巴黎都在谈论歌剧院的那个晚上。
每个人都问问题，但没有人知道答案。
克丽斯廷·达埃在哪儿?夏尼伯爵在哪里?
他们是活着还是死了?那歌剧魅影呢?
那个著名的夜晚过后几个星期，一天下午，吉丽夫人到里沃利花园附近的一所小房子里去。
她走了进去，上了楼梯，来到房子顶层的几个房间。
波斯人打开了门。
夫人，上帝看着他。
“我的朋友，你知道答案。请告诉我。他们是死是活?”
“请进。”波斯人平静地说。
他们在窗边的几张椅子上坐了下来，望着窗外的里沃利花园。
“是的，”波斯人慢慢地说，“幽灵现在已经死了。他不想再活了。三天前我看到了他的尸体，正因为如此，我才可以跟你谈谈他。他现在杀不了我了。”
“这么说幻影真的是个人?”吉丽夫人问。
“是的，他的名字叫埃里克。当然，这不是他的真名。他出生在法国，但我在波斯认识他。他是一位著名的建筑师，我在那里和他一起工作。有一段时间我是他的朋友，但并不长久。他来巴黎时，我跟着他——我想监视他。他是一个非常聪明，非常危险的人。他可能同时出现在两个或三个地方。他可能在一个地方，而他的声音可能来自另一个地方。他可以用绳子、镜子和暗门做很多聪明的事情。你知道，他帮助建造了歌剧院。他在地下建造了秘密通道，在湖上建造了他的秘密房子。他不能生活在外面的世界，因为他可怕的，丑陋的脸。不幸的埃里克!我们为他感到难过，吉丽夫人。他太聪明了……而且很丑。人们一看到他的脸就尖叫起来。于是他过着这种奇怪的生活——半人半鬼。但他终究是个男人。他想要女人的爱。他停止了。”
吉丽夫人平静地问道:“克丽斯廷·达埃和拉乌尔子爵呢?他们后来怎么样了?”
波斯人笑了。“哦,是的!年轻的拉乌尔和美丽的克里斯汀发生了什么事?谁知道。”
巴黎再也没有人见过拉乌尔和克里斯汀。
也许他们乘火车去了北方，在那里过着平静幸福的生活。
也许克里斯汀美妙的声音还在歌唱，在挪威寒冷而美丽的山区的某个地方。
谁知道呢。