2684
0The Phantom of the Opera by Jennifer Basset
词汇提示
1.torture 折磨
2.ceiling 天花板
原文
Chapter 9: The house on the lake
When the lights cameo n, Raoul ran.
He ran downstairs and along passages, through the Opera House to the back of the stage.
In the passage outside Christine's dressing room, a hand took his arm.
"What's the matter, my young friend? Where are you running to, so quickly?"
Raoul turned and saw the long face of the Persian under his black hat.
"Christine",Raoul said quickly, "Erik's got her. Where is she? Help me! How do I get to his house on the lake?"
"Come with me," said the Persian.
They went quickly into Christine's dressing room.
The Persian closed the door and went to the big mirror on one wall.
"There's only one door into this room." Raoul began.
"Wait,"the Persian said, he put his hands on the big mirror, first here, then there.
For a minute,nothing happened.
Then the mirror began to move and turn, and a big dark hole opened in it.
Raoul stared.
"Quick! Come with me, but be careful," the Persian said. "I know Erik. I understand his secrets. Put your right hand up near your head, like this, and keep it there all the time."
"But why?"Raoul asked.
"Remember Joseph Buquet, and the rope around his neck? Erik is a clever man with ropes in the dark."
They went down,down, down under the Opera House.
They went through secret doors in the floors, then along passages and down dark stairs.
The Persian listened carefully all the time for strange noises.
"When do we get to the lake? " Raoul whispered.
"We're not going by the lake. Erik watches it all the time. No, we go around the lake and get into Erik's house from the back. I know some secret doors."
Soon. They were there.
In the dark. The Persian felt the wall carefully with his hands.
"Ah, here it is," He whispered.
The wall moved under his hands and a small door opened.
Very quietly, they went through, and then the door closed behind them.
They could not get out.
Inside the room it was very dark.
They waited and listened.
The Persian put his hands on the wall.
"Or no,"he whispered. "It was the wrong door! This is Erik's torture room- the room of mirrors! We are dead men, Vicomte de Chagny, dead men!"
At first, Raoul did not understand.
But he soon learned.The lights came on, and they heard a man's laugh.
Eric knew they were there.
The room was all mirrors - walls, floor, ceiling.
There were pictures in the mirrors of trees and flowers and rivers.
The pictures moved and danced in front of their eyes.
And the room was hot.It got hotter and hotter and hotter.
Raoul was thirsty,hot and thirsty, and the rivers in the pictures danced and laughed at him.
He closed his eyes,but the rivers still danced.
Water, he needed water, but the mirrors laughed at him.
Soon, he could not move or speak, or open his eyes.
He was not thirsty now, just tired, so tired.
"Oh, Christine,I'm sorry" He thought. "I wanted to help you, and now I'm dying..."
Through a mirror in the wall, Christine watched her lover in the torture room.
Behind her Erik stood,with his hands on her arms.
"He's dying, Christine,dying. Watch him carefully. No, don't close your eyes. Watch him! "
Christine could not speak.
She wanted to scream,but no words came.
Then she found her voice again.
"How can you do this, Erik? Why don't you kill me?"
"Because I love you, Christine. Marry me, be my wife and love me. Then Raoul and the Persian can live"
Slowly, Christine turned. She looked into Erik's terrible ugly face, and spoke again. Very quietly.
"Yes, Erik.From this minute. I am your wife."
She put her arms around Erik's neck and kissed him - kissed him slowly and lovingly on his ugly mouth.
Then she took her arms away and said slowly, "Poor, unhappy Erik."
Erik stared at her.
"You kissed me." He whispered. "I didn't ask you but you kissed me- freely? Oh Christine, my Angel. That was my first kiss from a woman. Even my mother never kissed me! She gave me my first mask when I was two years old. She turned her face away from me every time I came near her.
Erik put his ugly face in his hands and cried.
Then he went down on the floor at Christine's feet.
"You are free,Christine free! Go away and marry your Raoul and be happy. But remember Erik,sometimes. Go now, quickly. Take Raoul and the Persian and go!"
翻译
第九章:湖上的房子
灯一亮，拉乌尔就跑起来了。
他跑下楼，沿着走廊，穿过歌剧院，来到舞台后面。
在克里斯汀化妆室外面的通道里，一只手抓住了他的胳膊。
“怎么了，我年轻的朋友?”你跑得这么快，要去哪儿?”
拉乌尔转过身来，看到了黑帽子下波斯人的长脸。
“克里斯汀，”拉乌尔赶紧说，“埃里克抓住她了。她在哪里?帮帮我!我怎么去他在湖边的家?”
“跟我来。”波斯人说。
他们迅速走进克里斯汀的化妆室。
波斯人关上门，走到一面墙上的大镜子前。
“这个房间只有一扇门。”拉乌尔的开始。
“等等，”波斯人说，他把手放在大镜子上，先是这里，然后是那里。
有那么一分钟，什么也没发生。
然后镜子开始移动和转动，一个大黑洞在里面打开了。
拉乌尔盯着。
“快!跟我来，但要小心。”波斯人说。“我了解埃里克。我了解他的秘密。把你的右手举到靠近头的地方，像这样，一直保持在那里。”
“但为什么?”拉乌尔问道。
“还记得约瑟夫·比凯和他脖子上的绳子吗?”埃里克是个聪明人，在黑暗中会用绳子。”
他们往下，往下，往下，往下到歌剧院下面。
他们穿过楼层的暗门，然后沿着走廊走下黑暗的楼梯。
波斯人一直仔细地听着奇怪的声音。
“我们什么时候到湖边?”拉乌尔低声说。
“我们不从湖边走。埃里克一直在看。不，我们绕着湖从后面进入埃里克的房子。我知道一些秘密的门。”
很快。他们就在那里。
在黑暗中。波斯人用手仔细地摸着墙。
“啊，在这儿。”他低声说。
墙在他的手下移动，一扇小门打开了。
他们非常安静地走了进去，然后门在他们身后关上了。
他们出不去了。
房间里很黑。
他们等着，听着。
波斯人把手放在墙上。
“或者没有，”他低声说。“走错门了!”这是艾瑞克的刑讯室，满是镜子的房间!我们是死人，沙尼子爵，死人!”
起初，拉乌尔不明白。
但他很快就学会了。灯光亮了，他们听到了一个男人的笑声。
埃里克知道他们在那里。
房间里全是镜子——墙壁、地板、天花板。
镜子里有树、花和河流的图画。
这些图画在他们眼前舞动着。
房间里很热。天气越来越热，越来越热。
拉乌尔渴了，又热又渴，画中的河流在嘲笑他跳舞。
他闭上眼睛，但河水仍在跳舞。
水，他需要水，但镜子嘲笑他。
很快，他不能动弹，不能说话，也不能睁开眼睛。
他现在不渴了，只是累了，太累了。
“哦，克里斯汀，对不起。”他想。“我想帮你，可现在我快死了……”
透过墙上的一面镜子，克里斯汀看着她在刑讯室里的情人。
埃里克站在她身后，双手放在她的胳膊上。
“他快死了，克里斯汀，快死了。仔细观察他。不，不要闭上眼睛。看好他!”
克里斯汀说不出话来。
她想尖叫，但说不出话来。
然后她又能说话了。
“你怎么能这么做，埃里克?你为什么不杀了我?”
“因为我爱你，克里斯汀。嫁给我，做我的妻子，爱我。这样拉乌尔和波斯人就能活下去了。”
克里斯汀慢慢地转过身来。她看着埃里克可怕丑陋的脸，又说话了。非常小声的说。
“是的,埃里克。从现在开始。我是你的妻子。”
她伸出双臂搂住埃里克的脖子，吻了他——慢慢地、充满爱意地吻着他那丑陋的嘴巴。
然后她把胳膊挪开，慢慢地说:“可怜的、不幸的埃里克。”
埃里克盯着她。
“你吻了我。”他小声说。“我没有问你，但是你吻了我——自由地?哦，克里斯汀，我的天使。那是我第一次被女人吻。连我妈都没亲过我!我两岁的时候，她给了我第一个面具。每次我走近她，她都把脸转过去不理睬我。”
埃里克把他丑陋的脸捂在手里哭了起来。
然后他倒在克里斯汀脚边的地板上。
“你自由了，克丽斯廷自由了! 去嫁给你的拉乌尔，过得幸福。但记住埃里克，有时候。快去吧。带上拉乌尔和波斯人走吧!”
