8 Where is Christine Daaé？

　　On Saturday morning Comte Philippe looked across the breakfast table at his brother．

　　'Don't do it，Raoul，please．All this talk about ghosts and phantoms．I think the girl is mad．'

　　'She's not mad，and I'm going to marry her，'Raoul said．

　　'She's only a little opera singer，'Philippe said unhappily．

　　'And she's very young．Are you still going to love her in ten，or twenty，years' time？'

　　Raoul drank his coffee and did not answer．

　　There were two more unhappy faces in the Opera House，too．The directors now understood about O．G．They didn't want any more accidents．

　　'Box 5 is free tonight for O．G． Daaé is singing Margarita．And here is 20，000 francs．Madame Giry can leave the money in Box 5 for him．Is that everything？'Monsieur Armand asked Monsieur Firmin.

　　'It's a lot of money，'Monsieur Firmin said unhappily．He thought for a minute．'What about some flowers in Box 5？Madame Giry says that O．G．likes flowers．'

　　'O．G．can bring his own flowers！' shouted Monsieur Ar mand．

　　The evening began well．The chandelier was now back in place， with new ropes．All Paris was in the Opera House．Ev erybody wanted to hear Christine Daaé's voice again．People also knew about the love story between Christine Daaé and the Vicomte de Chagny．There are no love secrets in Paris！People watched the Comte and the Vicomte in Box 14 with interest．Young men from families like de Chagny do not marry opera Singers.

　　When Christine came onto the stage，her face was white and she looked afraid．But she sang like an angel．Ah， what a voice！All Paris was in love with Christine Daaé．

　　She began to sing the famous love song．Suddenly，every light in the Opera House went out．For a second nobody moved or spoke．Then a woman screamed，and all the lights came on again.

　　But Christine Daaé was no longer on the stage！She was not behind the stage， she was not under the stage．Nobody could find her．

　　The Opera House went mad．Everybody ran here and there，shouted and called． In the directors office， people ran in and out．The police came，and asked questions. But nobody could answer the questions．Monsieur Armand got angry and shouted，and Monsieur Firmin told him to be quiet．Then Madame Giry arrived in the office with her daughter Meg．

　　'Go away，woman！'Monsieur Armand shouted．

　　'Monsieur，there are three people missing now!'Madame Giry said．'Meg，tell the directors your story．'

　　This was Meg's story．

　　'When the lights went out，we were just behind the stage．We heard a scream-I thlnk it was Christine Daaé's voice．Then the lights came back on，but Christine wasn't there！we were very afraid，and we began to run back to our dressing room．There were people running everywhere！ Then we saw the Vicomte de Chagny．His face was red and he was very an gry．“Where's Christine？ Where's Christine？he shouted．Suddenly the Persian came up behind him and took his arm．He said something to the Vicomte and they went into Christine Daaé's dressing－room…'

　　'Yes？ And then？' Monsieur Firmin said quickly．'What happened next？'

　　'Nobody knows！' Meg's face was white．'We looked into Christine Daaé's dressing－room，but…but there was nobody there!'

　　8．克丽斯廷·达埃哪去了？

　　星期六早上菲利普伯爵走到早餐桌那头他弟弟的面前。

　　“请不要做这样的事，拉乌尔。这里所有人都在谈论鬼啊幽灵啊。我想那个姑娘疯了。”

　　“她没有疯，而且我要和她结婚。”拉乌尔说。

　　“她只是一个毫不起眼的歌剧演员，”菲利普不高兴地说，“而且她太年轻。 10年20年以后你还会仍然爱她吗？”

　　拉乌尔喝着咖啡没有回答。

　　在歌剧院里也有两张很不高兴的面孔。经理们现在终于知道了O．G．的厉害。他们不想再出现任何事故。

　　“5号包厢今晚空着留给O．G．由达埃来演唱玛格丽塔。另外这里是两万法郎。吉丽夫人可以把这些钱留在5号包厢里给他。所有的就那些事吧？”阿尔芒先生问菲尔曼先生。

　　“这是很多钱啊，”菲尔曼先生不高兴地说。他想了一会儿，“在5号包厢里放些鲜花怎么样？吉丽夫人说那个O．G．喜欢鲜花。”

　　“O．G．可以带上他自己的鲜花！”阿尔芒先生喊道。

　　这个夜晚到来时，一切还是令人满意的。那枝形吊灯换了新的绳索又回到了它原来的位置。巴黎所有的人都到了歌剧院。每个人都想再次欣赏克丽斯廷·达埃的演唱。人们也都知道了克丽斯廷·达埃和沙尼家族的子爵之间的爱情故事。在巴黎没有什么爱情秘密！人们饶有兴趣地朝14号包厢里的伯爵和子爵张望着。出身于象沙尼那样家族的年轻人一般是不会与歌剧演员结婚的。

　　当克丽斯廷出现在舞台上的时候，她的脸色苍白而且看上去有些害怕。但是她唱得像一位天使。啊，多么美妙的声音！整个巴黎都爱上了克丽斯廷·达埃。

　　她开始演唱那首著名的爱情歌曲。突然，歌剧院里所有的灯都熄灭了。这片刻之间没有人走动，也没有人说话。随后一个女人尖叫起来，与此同时所有的灯又都亮了。

　　但是克丽斯廷却不再在舞台上了！她不在舞台的后面，她也不在舞台底下。没有人能够找到她。

　　歌剧院里乱得一团糟。每个人都跑来跑去，又喊又叫。在经理办公室里，人们跑进跑出。警察来了，问了一些问题。但是没有人能够回答这些问题。阿尔芒先生发着脾气，喊叫着，菲尔曼先生要他冷静一些。接着，吉丽夫人领着她的女儿梅格走进了办公室。

　　“出去，你这个小娘们！”阿尔曼先生喊道。

　　“先生，现在有三个人失踪了！”吉丽夫人说，“梅格，把你看到的事告诉经理们。”

　　这是梅格的故事。

　　“当灯熄灭的时候，我们正在舞台的后面。我们听到一声尖叫——我觉得是克丽斯廷·达埃的声音。随后灯又亮了，但是克丽斯廷不见了！我们非常害怕，我们都往自己的化妆室跑。人们到处乱跑！接着我们看见了沙尼家族的子爵。他满脸通红而且显得非常愤怒。'克丽斯廷你在哪里？克丽斯廷你在哪里？'他喊着。突然那个波斯人从他后面走上来抓住他的手臂。他对子爵说了些什么，然后他们就进了克丽斯廷·达埃的化妆室……”

　　“是吗？那么后来呢？”菲尔曼先生着急地问，“接下来发生了什么事？”