你相信有鬼嗎？當(dāng)然不會(huì)相信。我們喜歡談?wù)摴?，喜歡講述關(guān)于鬼的故事，但我們并非真的相信有鬼……是不是？

1880年，在巴黎歌劇院發(fā)生了一件不可思議的事情：一個(gè)舞蹈演員在黑暗的走廊里遇見(jiàn)了鬼。它穿越墻壁來(lái)到她的面前，它的臉上沒(méi)有眼睛；一個(gè)舞臺(tái)工人看見(jiàn)一個(gè)穿黑色晚禮服的男人，但他卻有一個(gè)死人般的頭顱，黃色的面孔，并且沒(méi)有鼻子；人們聽(tīng)到另一個(gè)房間里有聲音，而那個(gè)房間卻是空的。

這就是歌劇院的幽靈……

一個(gè)名叫蓋斯頓·勒羅克斯的法國(guó)人最早創(chuàng)作了這個(gè)關(guān)于歌劇院的幽靈的故事。他的書(shū)很受歡迎，1925年它被拍成一部美國(guó)無(wú)聲電影，由著名演員朗·錢尼扮演幽靈。從那以后，已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了許多其它的電影和戲劇，以及由安德魯·勞埃德·韋伯創(chuàng)作的著名的英國(guó)音樂(lè)片。

本書(shū)作者詹妮弗·巴塞特是一位經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的教師和作家。她生活和工作在英國(guó)西南部的德文郡。

請(qǐng)大家欣賞這部名著的第一章。

The dancers

“Quick！Quick！Close the door！Its 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？Whats the matter？” they cried.

“Its 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 isnt 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. Dont 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.“Dont talk about him.He doesnt 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 doesnt 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 dont 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 ghosts 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 mothers telling you stories！How can the ghost have a box？”

“Its true， its 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.

“Theres no man in a black evening coat， with a yellow face.Thats 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 doesnt 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 dressing-room.Suddenly，they heard somebody in the passage，and Madame Giry， Megs 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！”

“Its the ghost！” cried Meg Giry.“The ghost killed him！”

舞蹈演員們

“快！快！關(guān)門！是他！”安妮·索雷麗跑進(jìn)化妝室，臉色蒼白。

一個(gè)姑娘跑過(guò)去把門關(guān)上，然后她們都轉(zhuǎn)向安妮·索雷麗。

“誰(shuí)？在哪里？發(fā)生了什么事？”她們叫道。

“有鬼！”安妮說(shuō)，“在走廊上，我看到了他。他穿過(guò)墻壁來(lái)到我的面前。我還……還看到了他的臉！”

絕大多數(shù)姑娘都很害怕，但她們中的一個(gè)高個(gè)子的黑發(fā)姑娘卻大笑起來(lái)。

“呸！”她說(shuō)，“每個(gè)人都說(shuō)他們看到了這個(gè)歌劇院的幽靈，但是這里其實(shí)并沒(méi)有鬼。你看見(jiàn)的只是墻上的影子。”但是她沒(méi)有去把門打開(kāi)，也沒(méi)有到走廊上去看個(gè)究竟。

“許多人都看到過(guò)他，”又一個(gè)姑娘說(shuō)，“約瑟夫·比凱兩天前也看到過(guò)他，你們難道不記得了？”

隨后所有的姑娘們立即開(kāi)始談?wù)摯耸隆?/p>

“約瑟夫說(shuō)這幽靈是個(gè)高個(gè)子，他穿著黑色晚禮服?！?/p>

“他有一個(gè)死人的頭顱，黃色面孔，沒(méi)有鼻子……”

“……而且沒(méi)有眼睛——只是黑洞！”

接著嬌小的梅格·吉麗第一次開(kāi)口說(shuō)話了：“不要談?wù)撍Ｋ幌矚g。我媽媽告訴我的?！?/p>

“你媽媽？”黑頭發(fā)姑娘問(wèn)，“關(guān)于這幽靈的事兒，你媽媽都知道些什么？”

“她說(shuō)約瑟夫·比凱是個(gè)傻瓜。這幽靈不喜歡人們談?wù)撍?，總有一天約瑟夫·比凱會(huì)后悔的，會(huì)非常后悔的?！?/p>

“但是你媽媽都知道些什么？告訴我們，告訴我們！”所有的姑娘都叫道。

“哦，親愛(ài)的！”梅格說(shuō)，“但是請(qǐng)不要跟任何人說(shuō)一個(gè)字。你們知道我媽媽是歌劇院一些包廂的看門人。瞧！5號(hào)包廂就是這幽靈專用的！他用那個(gè)包廂看歌劇，并且有時(shí)候會(huì)留下一些鮮花給我媽媽！”

“這幽靈還有包廂！而且在包廂里留下鮮花！”

“哦，梅格，你媽媽在給你講故事吧！幽靈怎么會(huì)有包廂呢？”

“這是真的，這是真的，我告訴你們！”梅格說(shuō)，“沒(méi)有人買5號(hào)包廂的票，但是這個(gè)幽靈卻經(jīng)常在演晚場(chǎng)歌劇時(shí)到包廂里來(lái)?！?/p>

“一些人也會(huì)來(lái)那里吧？”

“為什么，不！……只有幽靈來(lái)，但是那里一個(gè)人也沒(méi)有?！?/p>

舞蹈演員們看著梅格?！暗悄銒寢屖窃趺粗赖模俊逼渲幸粋€(gè)問(wèn)道。

“這里根本沒(méi)有穿黑色晚禮服、黃色面孔的男人。那都是瞎扯。我媽媽從來(lái)沒(méi)有在5號(hào)包廂里看到過(guò)這個(gè)幽靈，但是她聽(tīng)到過(guò)！他跟她說(shuō)話，然而里面卻沒(méi)有人！而且他不喜歡人們談?wù)撍?！?/p>

但是那個(gè)晚上舞蹈演員們卻不能停止談?wù)撽P(guān)于歌劇院的幽靈的話題。她們?cè)诟鑴￠_(kāi)演前談?wù)撝?，在歌劇的整個(gè)演出過(guò)程中談?wù)撝?，在歌劇演出結(jié)束后還談?wù)撝?。但是她們談話的聲音很小，而且她們?cè)谡f(shuō)話前總要先看看她們身后的動(dòng)靜。

當(dāng)歌劇演出結(jié)束的時(shí)候，姑娘們回到了她們的化妝室。突然，她們聽(tīng)到走廊上有人，原來(lái)是吉麗夫人，梅格的母親，跑進(jìn)了房間。她是一個(gè)胖胖的、慈母般的婦人，有一張微紅膚色的、快樂(lè)的臉。但是今晚她的臉色卻是蒼白的。

“哦，姑娘們，”她叫道，“約瑟夫·比凱死了！要知道他是從高處掉下來(lái)，掉在舞臺(tái)底下的第4層。其他的舞臺(tái)雜工一個(gè)小時(shí)以前在那里發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的尸體——有一根繩子繞在他的脖子上！”

“是幽靈！”梅格·古麗叫道，“是那個(gè)幽靈殺死了他！”

（秦 明 供稿）