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[00:01.97]CHAPTER 6 LA CARLOTTA SINGS MARGARITA
[00:08.94]On Friday morning La Carlotta had her breakfast in bed．
[00:14.13]She drank her coffee and opened her morning letters．
[00:18.88]One letter had no name on it. It was very short．
[00:23.95]You are ill．
[00:26.18]You cannot sing Margarita tonight．
[00:29.24]Stay at home and don't go to the Opera House.
[00:33.32]Accidents can happen．
[00:36.28]Do you want to lose your voice-forever?
[00:41.82]La Carlotta was very, very angry.
[00:45.23]She got out of bed at once and did not finish her breakfast．
[00:49.65]'This is from Christine Daaé' s friends,'
[00:52.70]she thought．'They want her to sing again tonight．
[00:57.13]That Daaé girl is going to be sorry for this!
[01:00.27]I,La Carlotta, I am the best opera singer in Paris．
[01:06.56]And nothing is going to stop me singing Margarita tonight!'
[01:13.35]At six o'clock that evening the dancers were in their dressing-room．
[01:18.48]They talked and laughed
[01:20.71]and put on their red and black dresses for Faust．
[01:24.48]But Meg Giry was very quiet．
[01:28.04]'What's the matter,Meg?'Annie Sorelli asked．
[01:33.18]'It's the Opera ghost,Meg said．
[01:37.19]'My mother says he's angry．
[01:40.13]She's afraid that something's going to happen tonight．'
[01:43.89]'Oh,pooh!'the girl with black hair said．
[01:48.20]'Who's afraid of an old ghost?'
[01:53.08]An hour later Monsieur Armand
[01:57.51]and Monsieur Firmin went into Box 5 and sat down．
[02:01.42]They were not afraid of ghosts.Of course not．
[02:05.18]There were no ghosts in the Opera House．
[02:09.24]Then Monsieur Armand saw some flowers
[02:12.35]on the floor by the door of the box．
[02:15.79]'Firmin,'he whispered,
[02:19.15]'did you put those flowers there?'
[02:23.06]Monsieur Firmin looked．
[02:25.37]'No,I didn't,'he whispered back'Did you?'
[02:32.12]'Of course not, you fool!Shh,the music's beginning．'
[02:39.40]La Carlotta did not sing for the first hour．
[02:43.16]There were no strange voices in Box 5,
[02:46.30]and the two directors began to feel happier.
[02:49.92]Then La Carlotta came out onto the stage,
[02:53.81]and Monsieur Firmin looked at Monsieur Armand．
[02:57.77]'Did you hear a voice just then?' he asked quietly．
[03:02.69]'No!'Monsieur Armand said,
[03:06.85]but he looked behind him twice,
[03:09.60]then three times, and suddenly felt cold．
[03:16.02]La Carlotta sang and sang, and nothing happened.
[03:21.15]Then she began a beautiful love song．
[03:25.77]'My love begins to-Co－ack!'
[03:32.02]Everybody stared．
[03:34.35]What was the matter with Carlotta's voice
[03:37.50]What was that strange noise-Co－ack
[03:42.48]Carlotta stopped and began the song again．
[03:47.10]'My love begins to-Co－ack!
[03:53.53]I cannot forget my-Co-ack!'
[03:59.64]It was the noise of a toad!
[04:02.96]People began to talk and laugh.
[04:05.75]Monsieur Firmin put his head in his bands．
[04:09.42]Then he felt Monsieur Armand's hand on his arm．
[04:14.08]There was a voice in the box with them!
[04:17.20]A man's voice, laughing
[04:20.51]Poor Carlotta tried again, and again．
[04:25.49]'I cannot forget my-Co－ack!'
[04:32.10]Then the two directors heard the voice again,
[04:36.05]behind them,in front of them, everywhere．
[04:41.80]'Her singing tonight is going to bring down the chandelier!'
[04:50.42]The two directors looked up at the top of the Opera House．
[04:55.22]Their faces were white．
[04:57.78]The famous chandelier, with its thousand lights,
[05:02.71]broke away from its ropes and crashed down on to the people below．
[05:08.34]That was a terrible night for the Paris Opera House．
[05:12.60]One woman was killed by the chandelier,
[05:15.42]and many people were hurt．
[05:18.41]The Opera House closed for two weeks．
[05:21.72]And La Carlotta never sang again.