'Quick！Quick！Close the door！It's him！'Annie Sorelli ran into the dressing－room， her face white．

　　One of the girls ran and closed the door， and then they all turned to Annie Sorelli．

　　'Who？Where？What's the matter？' they cried．

　　'It's the ghost！'Annie said．'In the passage．I saw him．He came through the wall in front of me! And…and I saw his face！'

　　Most of the girls were afraid， but one of them， a tall girl with black hair，laughed．

　　'Pooh!'she said．'Everybody says they see the Opera ghost， but there isn't really a ghost．You saw a shadow on the wall．'But she did not open the door，or look into the passage.

　　'Lots of people see him，' a second girl said．'Joseph Buquet saw him two days ago. Don't you remember？'

　　Then all the girls began to talk at once．

　　'Joseph says the ghost is tall and he wears a black evening coat．'

　　'He has the head of a dead man， with a yellow face and no nose…'

　　'…And no eyes-only black holes！'

　　Then little Meg Giry spoke for the first time．'Don't talk about him．He doesn't like it．My mother told me．'

　　'Your mother？' the girl with black hair said．'What does your mother know about the ghost？'

　　'She says that Joseph Buquet is a fool． The ghost doesn't like people talking about him，and one day Joseph Buquet is go ing to be sorry， very sorry．'

　　'But what does your mother know？ Tell us，tell us！' all the girls cried．

　　'Oh dear！'said Meg．'But please don't say a word to any one．You know my mother is the doorkeeper for some of the boxes in the Opera House．Well，Box 5 is the ghost's box！He watches the operas from that box，and sometimes he leaves flowers for my mother！

　　'The ghost has a box！ And leaves flowers in it！'

　　'Oh， Meg，your mother's telling you stories！How can the ghost have a box？'

　　'It's true， it's true，I tell you！'Meg said．'Nobody buys tickets for Box 5， but the ghost always comes to it on opera nights．'

　　'So somebody does come there？'

　　'Why，no！… The ghost comes， but there is nobody there．'

　　The dancers looked at Meg．'But how does your mother know？' one of them asked．

　　'There's no man in a black evening coat， with a yellow face．That's all wrong．My mother never sees the ghost in Box 5，but she hears him！ He talks to her，but there is nobody there！And he doesn't like people talking about him！'

　　But that evening the dancers could not stop talking about the Opera ghost．They talked before the opera， all through the opera, and after the opera． But they talked very quietly， and they looked behind them before they spoke．

　　When the opera finished，the girls went back to their dress ing-room．Suddenly，they heard somebody in the passage，and Madame Giry， Meg's mother， ran into the room． She was a fat，motherly woman，with a red，happy face．But tonight her face was white．

　　'Oh girls，'she cried'．'Joseph Buquet is dead！ You know he walks a long way down，on the fourth floor under the stage．The other stage workers found his dead body there an hour ago -with a rope around his neck！'

　　'It's the ghost!'cried Meg Giry．'The ghost killed him！'

　　1．舞蹈演员们

　　“快！快！关门！是他！”安妮·索雷丽跑进化妆室，脸色苍白。

　　一个姑娘跑过去把门关上，然后她们都转向安妮·索雷丽。

　　“谁？在哪里？发生了什么事？”她们叫道。

　　“有鬼！”安妮说，“在走廊上，我看到了他。他穿过墙壁来到我的面前。我还……还看到了他的脸！”

　　绝大多数姑娘都很害怕，但她们中的一个高个子的黑发姑娘却大笑起来。

　　“呸！”她说，“每个人都说他们看到了这个歌剧院的幽灵，但是这里其实并没有鬼。你看见的只是墙上的影子。”但是她没有去把门打开，也没有到走廊上去看个究竟。

　　“许多人都看到过他，”又一个姑娘说，“约瑟夫·比凯两天前也看到过他，你们难道不记得了？”

　　随后所有的姑娘们立即开始谈论此事。

　　“约瑟夫说这幽灵是个高个子，他穿着黑色晚礼服。”

　　“他有一个死人般的头颅，黄色面孔，没有鼻子……”

　　“……而且没有眼睛——只是黑洞！”

　　接着娇小的梅格·吉丽第一次开口说话了：“不要谈论他。他不喜欢。我妈妈告诉我的。”

　　“你妈妈？”黑头发姑娘问，“关于这幽灵的事儿，你妈妈都知道些什么？”

　　“她说约瑟夫·比凯是个傻瓜。这幽灵不喜欢人们谈论他，总有一天约瑟夫·比凯会后悔的，会非常后悔的。”

　　“但是你妈妈都知道些什么？告诉我们，告诉我们！”所有的姑娘都叫道。

　　“哦，亲爱的！”梅格说，“但是请不要跟任何人说一个字。你们知道我妈妈是歌剧院一些包厢的看门人。瞧！5号包厢就是这幽灵专用的！他用那个包厢看歌剧，并且有时候会留下一些鲜花给我妈妈！”

　　“这幽灵还有包厢！而且在包厢里留下鲜花！”

　　“哦，梅格，你妈妈在给你讲故事吧！幽灵怎么会有包厢呢？”

　　“这是真的，这是真的，我告诉你们！”梅格说，“没有人买5号包厢的票，但是这个幽灵却经常在演晚场歌剧时到包厢里来。”

　　“一些人也会来那里吧？”

　　“为什么，不！……只有幽灵来，但是那里一个人也没有。”

　　舞蹈演员们看着梅格。“但是你妈妈是怎么知道的？”其中一个问道。

　　“这里根本没有穿黑色晚礼服、黄色面孔的男人。那都是瞎扯。我妈妈从来没有在5号包厢里看到过这个幽灵，但是她听到过！他跟她说话，然而里面却没有人！而且他不喜欢人们谈论他！”

　　但是那个晚上舞蹈演员们却不能停止谈论关于歌剧院的幽灵的话题。她们在歌剧开演前谈论着，在歌剧整个演出过程中谈论着，在歌剧演出结束后还谈论着。但是她们谈话的声音很小，而且她们在说话前总要先看看她们的身后的动静。

　　当歌剧演出结束的时候，姑娘们回到了她们的化妆室。突然，她们听到走廊上有人，原来是吉丽夫人，梅格的母亲，跑进了房间。她是一个肥胖的、慈母般的妇人，有一张微红肤色的、快乐的脸。但是今晚她的脸色却是苍白的。

　　“哦，姑娘们，”她叫道，“约瑟夫·比凯死了！要知道他是从高处掉下来，掉在舞台底下的第4层。其他的舞台杂工一个小时以前在那里发现了他的尸体——有一根绳子绕在他的脖子上！”

　　“是幽灵！”梅格·古丽叫道，“是那个幽灵杀死了他！”