[00:02.93]CHAPTER 10 MADAME GIRY VISITS THE PERSIAN
[00:09.70]For weeks,all Paris talked about that night at the opera．
[00:14.81]Everybody asked questions,
[00:17.23]but nobody knew the answers．
[00:19.96]Where was Christine Daaé?
[00:22.55]Where was the Vicomte de Chagny?
[00:25.50]Were they alive,or dead?
[00:30.42]And the Phantom of the Opera…?
[00:35.40]Some weeks after that famous night Madame Giry
[00:39.87]went out one afternoon to a small house near the Rivoli Gardens．
[00:44.77]She went in and up the stairs to some rooms at the top of the house．
[00:50.66]The Persian opened the door．
[00:54.22]Madame Giry looked at him．'My friend,
[00:59.24]you know the an swers．Please tell me．
[01:03.86]Are they alive or dead?'
[01:08.08]'Come in,'the Persian said quietly．
[01:12.58]They sat down on some chairs by the window,
[01:15.83]and looked out across the Rivoli Gardens．
[01:19.38]'Yes,'the Persian said slowly,
[01:23.47]'The Phantom is dead now．
[01:26.56]He did not want to live any longer．
[01:29.88]I saw his body three days ago,
[01:32.79]and because of that,
[01:34.55]I can talk to you about him．
[01:37.14]He can not kill me now．'
[01:40.28]'So the Phantom was really a man?' Madame Giry asked．
[01:47.21]'Yes,his name was Erik．
[01:50.93]That was not his real name,of course．
[01:54.24]He was born in France,
[01:56.11]but I knew him in Persia．
[01:58.85]He was a famous builder and I worked with him there．
[02:03.73]For a time I was his friend,but not for long．
[02:10.14]When he came to Paris,
[02:11.86]I came after him-I wanted to watch him.
[02:16.46]He was a very clever,very dangerous man．
[02:21.02]He could be in two,or three,places at the same time．
[02:25.93]He could be in one place,
[02:27.82]and his voice could come from another place．
[02:31.04]He could do many clever things with ropes,
[02:33.82]and mirrors,and secret doors．
[02:36.78]You see,he helped to build the Opera House．
[02:40.64]He built secret passages underground,
[02:43.60]and his secret house on the lake．
[02:46.64]He could not live in the outside world,
[02:48.78]because of his terrible, ugly face．
[02:51.67]Unhappy Erik! We can feel sorry for him,
[02:55.80]Madame Giry．He was so clever…and so ugly．
[03:02.24]People screamed when they saw his face．
[03:05.50]And so he lived this strange life half-man,
[03:09.22]half-phantom．But he was a man,in the end．
[03:15.41]He wanted a woman's love…'
[03:19.01]He stopped,and Madame Giry asked quietly,
[03:24.25]'And Christine Daaé and Vicomte Raoul?
[03:30.25]What happened to them?'
[03:33.24]The Persian smiled．'Ah yes!
[03:38.53]What happened to young Raoul and the beautiful Christine…?Who knows?'
[03:46.81]Nobody in Paris ever saw Raoul and Christine again.
[03:52.43]Perhaps they took a train to the north,
[03:55.11]and lived a quiet,happy life to gether there．
[03:59.37]Perhaps Christine's wonderful voice is still singing,
[04:04.95]somewhere in the cold and beautiful mountains of Norway．
[04:09.42]Who knows?