[ti:]
[ar:]
[al:]
[00:02.10]CHAPTER 7 MY ANGEL OF MUSIC
[00:07.45]For a week Raoul saw Christine every day．
[00:11.87]Some days Christine was quiet and unhappy,
[00:15.89]some days she laughed and sang.
[00:19.47]She never wanted to talk about the Opera House,
[00:22.67]or her singing, or Raoul's love for her．
[00:28.24]Raoul was very afraid for her．
[00:31.91]Who, or what,was this strange teacher,
[00:36.69]this man's voice,her'angel of music'?
[00:45.84]Then one day there was no Christine．
[00:51.30]She was not at her home, not at the Opera House,
[00:55.75]not at their meeting places
[00:59.09]Raoul looked everywhere and asked everybody．
[01:03.53]Where was Christine Daaé?But nobody knew．
[01:09.55]Two days before the Opera House opened again,
[01:12.71]a letter ar rived for Raoul．
[01:15.40]It was from Christine．
[01:18.32]Meet me in an hour at the top of the Opera House,
[01:22.80]on the tenth floor．
[01:26.22]The tenth floor of the Opera House was a dangerous place.
[01:30.58]There were hundreds of ropes going down
[01:32.85]to the stage below it was a long, long way down.
[01:39.80]Raoul and Christine sat in a dark corner,
[01:43.70]and Raoul took Christine's hands.
[01:47.12]Her face was white and tired．
[01:52.08]'Listen,Raoul,'she said quiety.
[01:56.50]'I'm going to tell you everything．
[01:59.58]But this is our last meeting.
[02:02.65]I can never see you again.'
[02:05.65]'No,Christine!'Raoul cried．
[02:08.93]' I love you, and we-'
[02:11.73]'Shh! Quietly! Perhaps he can hear us．
[02:17.44]He's everywhere in the Opera House, Raoul!'
[02:20.86]'Who?What are you talking about, Christine?'
[02:27.04]'My angel of music．
[02:30.16]I couldn't meet you last Saturday
[02:32.84]because he came for me, and took me away．
[02:37.96]I was in my dressing room in the Opera House and suddenly,
[02:42.39]he was there in front of me!
[02:45.56]I saw the voice for the first time!
[02:50.13]He wore black evening clothes and a mask over his face.
[02:55.51]He took me through many secret doors and passages,
[02:59.22]down,down under the Opera House．
[03:03.61]There is a lake down there,a big lake；
[03:08.72]the waters are black and cold．
[03:13.15]He took me across the lake in a boat to his house．
[03:17.01]He lives there,Raoul, in a house on the lake,
[03:21.49]under the Opera House!'
[03:24.81]Raoul stared at her．
[03:27.46]Was his beautiful Christine mad?
[03:31.24]Christine saw his face,and said quickly：
[03:35.02]'It's true,Raoul,It's true! And he…,
[03:41.13]he is the Phantom of the Opera!
[03:44.94]But he's not a ghost,he's not an angel of music,
[03:49.80]he's a man!His name is Erik,and he loves me,
[03:56.38]he wants me to be his wife!
[03:58.99]No,Raoul,listen, there is more．
[04:03.34]He told me all this in his house, in a beautiful room．
[04:09.13]He said that no woman could ever love him,
[04:12.70]because of his face．
[04:14.93]He was so unhappy!
[04:18.35]Then he took off his mask,
[04:21.90]and I saw his face．'
[04:25.71]She began to cry,
[04:28.08]and Raoul put his arms around her．
[04:31.61]'Oh Raoul,he has the most terrible face!
[04:37.09]It is so ugly! I wanted to scream and run away.
[04:43.26]But where could I run to? He has the face of a dead man,
[04:48.99]Raoul,but he is not dead!He has no nose,
[04:55.19]just two black holes in his yellow face．
[04:59.30]And his eyes! Sometimes they are black holes,
[05:05.78]sometimes they have a terrible red light…'
[05:10.92]She put her face in her hands for a second．
[05:14.68]Then she said,
[05:17.47]'I stayed in his house for five days．
[05:21.82]He was very good to me,
[05:24.34]and I felt sorry for him, Raoul．
[05:27.86]He wants me to love him, and I told him…I told him…'
[05:34.83]'No,Christine,no!
[05:37.56]You're going to be my wife!
[05:40.09]Come away with me at once,today!
[05:43.42]You can't go back to him．'
[05:47.35]'But I must,' Christine said quietly．
[05:52.08]'He knows about you,Raoul．
[05:55.02]He knows about us．
[05:57.67]He says he's going to kill you．
[06:00.83]I must go back to him．'
[06:04.07]'Never!' said Raoul．
[06:06.61]'I love you,Christine,
[06:08.84]and I'm going to kill this Erik!'
[06:11.72]Erik…Erik…Erik…Erik…
[06:18.88]The word whispered round the Opera House．
[06:22.68]Raoul and Christine stared．
[06:26.57]'What was that?' Raoul said, afraid．
[06:31.18]'Was that… his voice?Where did it come from?'
[06:38.10]'I'm afraid,Raoul,'Christine whispered．
[06:42.05]I'm singing Margarita again on Saturday．
[06:45.43]What's going to happen?'
[06:48.27]'This,'Raoul said．
[06:51.53]'After the opera on Saturday night,
[06:54.01]you and I are going away together．
[06:57.37]Come on,let's go down now．
[07:01.08]I don't like it up here．'
[07:04.68]They went carefully along a dark passage to some stairs,
[07:08.75]then suddenly stopped．
[07:11.98]There was a man in front of them,
[07:15.14]a tall man in a long dark coat and a black hat．
[07:20.30]He turned and looked at them．
[07:23.11]'No,not these stairs,'he said．
[07:29.68]'Go to the stairs at the front．
[07:32.38]And go quickly!'
[07:35.67]Christine turned and ran．
[07:38.36]Raoul ran after her．
[07:41.30]'Who was that man?' he asked．
[07:44.45]'It's the Persian,' Christine answered．
[07:48.42]'But who is he? What's his name?
[07:51.77]Why did he tell us to go to the front stairs?'
[07:56.23]'Nobody knows his name．He's just the Persian.
[08:00.94]He's always in the Opera House．
[08:03.58]I think he knows about Erik,
[08:06.27]but he never talks about him．
[08:08.94]Perhaps he saw Erik on those stairs,
[08:12.51]and wanted to help us．'
[08:15.61]Hand in hand,they ran quickly down the stairs,
[08:19.50]through passages,then more stairs and more passages．
[08:24.80]At one of the little back doors to the Opera House,
[08:27.99]they stopped．
[08:31.00]'On Saturday night,then．
[08:33.13]After the opera,'Raoul said．
[08:36.48]'I'm going to take you away, and marry you．'
[08:41.05]Christine looked up into his face．
[08:44.81]'Yes,Raoul．'
[08:47.60]Then they kissed, there by the door of the Opera House．
[08:52.97]Their first kiss．