October 18, 2024 • 38 mins
Content Warning: Themes of haunting, mentions death & suicide.
What if a ghost could truly haunt the opera house, lurking in the shadows and leaving a trail of mystery and fear behind? This Halloween episode invites you to explore the spine-tingling narratives surrounding the legendary opera ghost of "The Phantom of the Opera".
The music in this episode is Faith in You by DEX 1200.
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Dreamful is produced and hosted by Jordan Blair. Edited by Katie Sokolovska. Theme song by Joshua Snodgrass. Cover art by Jordan Blair. ©️ Dreamful LLC
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jordan (00:20):
Welcome to Dreamful Podcast bedtime stories for
slumber.
Welcome to Dreamful Podcastbedtime stories for slumber.
This month we don't have anynew supporters.
A spooky episode, indeed.
Your support goes towardsthings that keep this podcast
running, like paying my amazingeditor, katie, music licensing
and website hosting.
When you support the show, yougain access to subscriber-only
(00:44):
episodes and receive a shout out.
You can visitdreamfulstoriescom and on the
support page you can find a linkto become a Buzzsprout
supporter or subscribe viaSupercast.
If you listen on Spotify, youcan also support the show on
Apple Podcasts, but you won'treceive a shout out because they
keep your informationcompletely private.
And thank you to everyone foryour support.
(01:04):
It really means so much to me.
Okay, let's get into tonight'sepisode.
We are nearing All Hallows' Eve, so it's time for our Halloween
episode.
This year, I'll be reading thePhantom of the Opera, so snuggle
up your blankets and have sweetdreams.
(02:08):
It was the evening on whichMadame de Beene and Poligny, the
managers of the opera, weregiving a last gala performance
to mark their retirement.
Suddenly, the dressing room ofLa Sorelle, one of the principal
dancers, was invaded by half adozen young ladies of the ballet
(02:32):
who had come up from the stageafter dancing polyuked, they
rushed in amid great confusion,some giving vent to forced and
unnatural laughter, others tocries of terror.
Sorelli, who wished to be alonefor a moment to run through the
(02:52):
speech what she was to make tothe resigning managers, looked
around angrily at the mad andtumultuous crowd.
It was little Joms, the girlwith the tip-tilted nose, the
forget-me-not eyes, the rose-redcheeks and the lily-white neck
(03:13):
and shoulders, who gave theexplanation in a trembling voice
it's the ghost, and she lockedthe door.
It's the ghost and she lockedthe door.
Sorelli's dressing room wasfitted up with official,
(03:33):
commonplace elegance A pierglass, a sofa, a dressing table
and a cupboard or two providedthe necessary furniture.
On the walls hung a fewengravings, relics of the mother
who had known the glories ofthe old opera in the Rue de
(03:54):
Pelletier, portraits of VestrisGardel, dupont, bigotini.
But the room seemed a palace tothe brats of the Corpse de
Bel-et, who were lodged incommon dressing rooms where they
spent their time singing,quarreling, smacking the
dressers and hairdressers andbuying one another glasses of
(04:19):
Cassie's beer or even rum, untilthe callboy's bell rang.
Sorelli was very superstitious.
She shuddered when she heardLil' Jean speak of ghost, called
her a silly little fool.
And then, as she was the firstto believe in ghosts in general
(04:42):
and the opera ghost inparticular, at once asked for
details.
Have you seen him as plainly asI see you now, said little Jams
, whose legs were giving waybeneath her, and she dropped
with a moan into a chair.
Dropped with a moan into achair, thereupon little Geary,
(05:06):
the girl with eyes black assloughs, hair black as ink, a
swarthy complexion and a poorlittle skin stretched over poor
little bones.
Little Geary added If that's aghost, he's very ugly.
Oh yes, cried the chorus ofballet girls, and they all began
(05:31):
to talk together.
The ghost had appeared to themin the shape of a gentleman in
dress clothes who had suddenlystood before them in the passage
without their knowing where hecame from.
He seemed to have come straightthrough the wall, pooh, said
(05:52):
one of them, who had more orless kept her head.
You see the ghost everywhere,and it was true.
For several months there hadbeen nothing discussed at the
opera but this ghost in dressclothes who stalked about the
building from top to bottom likea shadow, who spoke to nobody,
(06:18):
to whom nobody dared speak andwho vanished as soon as he was
seen, no one knowing how orwhere, as became a real ghost.
He made no noise in walking.
People began by laughing andmaking fun of this specter,
(06:39):
dressed like a man of fashion oran undertaker, but the ghost
legend soon swelled to enormousproportions.
Among the corps de ballet, allthe girls pretended to have met
this supernatural being more orless often, and those who
laughed the loudest were not themost at ease.
(07:02):
When he did not show himself,he betrayed his presence or his
passing by accident, comic orserious, for which the general
superstition held himresponsible.
Had anyone met with a fall orsuffered a practical joke at the
(07:22):
hands of one of the other girlsor lost a powder puff, it was
at once the fault of the ghostof the opera ghost, after all.
Who has seen him?
You meet so many men in dressclothes at the opera who are not
(07:43):
ghosts.
But this dress suit had apeculiarity of its own.
It covered a skeleton, at leastso the ballet girl said and of
course it had a death's head.
Was this all serious?
(08:05):
The truth is that the idea ofthe skeleton came from the
description of the ghost givenby Joseph Bouquet, the chief
scene shifter, who had reallyseen the ghost.
He had run up against the ghostOn the little staircase by the
footlights which leads to thecellars.
(08:28):
He had seen him for a second,For the ghost had fled, and to
anyone who cared to listen tohim he said he is
extraordinarily thin and hisdress coat hangs on a skeleton
frame.
His eyes are so deep.
He is extraordinarily thin andhis dress coat hangs on a
skeleton frame.
(08:48):
His eyes are so deep that youcan hardly see the fixed pupils.
You just see two big blackholes, as in a dead man's skull.
His skin, which is stretchedacross his bones like a drumhead
(09:10):
, is not white but a nastyyellow.
His nose is so little worthtalking about that you can't see
it side face and the absence ofthat nose is a horrible thing
to look at.
All the hair he has is three orfour long dark locks on the
forehead and behind his ears.
This chief scene shifter was aserious, sober, steady man, very
(09:40):
slow at imagining things.
His words were received withinterest and amazement and soon
there were other people to saythat they too had met a man in
dress clothes with a death'shead on his shoulders Sensible
men who had windowed.
(10:01):
The story began by saying thatJoseph Bouquet had been the
victim of a joke played by oneof his assistants.
And then, one after the other,there came a series of incidents
so curious and so inexplicablethat the very shrewdest people
(10:27):
began to feel uneasy.
For instance, a fireman is abrave fellow.
He fears nothing, least of allfire.
Well, the fireman in questionwould go on to make a round of
inspection in the cellars andwho, it seems, had ventured a
(10:52):
little farther than usual,suddenly reappeared on the stage
, pale, scared, trembling, withhis eyes starting out of his
head, impractically fainted, inthe arms of the proud mother of
little Jeans.
And why?
(11:14):
Because he had seen comingtoward him, at the level of his
head, but without a bodyattached to it, a head of fire.
And, as I said, a fireman isnot afraid of fire.
The fireman's name was Pumpin.
(11:38):
The corpse de ballet was flunginto consternation.
At first sight, this fiery headin no way corresponded with
Joseph Bouquet's description ofthe ghost, but the young ladies
soon persuaded themselves thatthe ghost had several heads,
which he changed about as hepleased, and of course they at
(12:02):
once imagined that they were inthe greatest danger.
Once the firemen did nothesitate to faint, leaders in
front row and back row, girlsalike had plenty of excuses for
the fright that made them quickin their pace when passing some
dark corner or ill-lightedcorridor.
(12:23):
Sorelle herself, so reallyherself, on the day after the
adventure of the firemen, placeda horseshoe on the table in
front of the stage doorkeeper'sbox, which everyone who entered
(12:48):
the opera otherwise than aspectator must touch before
setting foot on the first treadof the staircase.
This horseshoe was not inventedby me, any more than any other
part of this story.
Alas, it may still be seen onthe table in the passage outside
the stage doorkeeper's box whenyou enter the opera through the
court known as the court ofmenstruation.
(13:16):
To return to the evening inquestion, is the ghost Little
Jamsa cried.
An agonizing silence nowreigned in the dressing room.
Nothing was heard but the hardbreathing of the girls.
At last, jams flinging herselfupon the farthest corner of the
(13:43):
wall with every mark of realterror on her face.
Whispered, listen.
With every mark of real tear onher face.
Whispered, listen.
Everybody seemed to hear arustling outside the door.
There was no sound of footsteps.
(14:03):
It was like light silk slidingover the panel.
Then it stopped.
Sorelle tried to show more pluckthan the other girls.
She went out to the door and,in a quavering voice, asked
(14:24):
who's there?
But nobody answered.
Then, feeling all eyes upon herwatching her last movement, she
made an effort to show courageand said very loudly is there
anyone behind the door?
Oh, yes, yes, of course thereis, cried.
(14:47):
That little dried plum of a madgiri, heroically holding
Sorelle back by her gauze skirt.
Whatever you do, don't open thedoor.
Oh Lord, don't open the door.
But Sorelle, armed with adagger that never left her,
turned the key and drew back thedoor.
(15:12):
While the ballet girls retreatedto the inner dressing room and
Meg Geary sighed.
Sorelli looked into the passagebravely it was empty.
It was empty.
A gas flame in his glass prisoncast a red and suspicious light
(15:34):
into the surrounding darkness,without succeeding in dispelling
it, and the dancer slammed thedoor again with a deep sigh.
No, she said there is no onethere.
With a deep sigh.
No, she said there is no onethere.
(15:59):
Still, we saw him.
Jams declared, returning withtimid little steps to her place
beside Sorelli.
He must be somewhere prowlingabout.
I shan't go back to dress.
We'd better all go down to thefoyer together at once for the
speech and we will come up againtogether.
(16:22):
And the child reverently touchedthe little coral finger ring
which she wore as a charmagainst bad luck, while Sorelle,
stealthily, with the tip of herpink right thumbnail, made a
Saint Andrew's cross on thewooden ring which adorned the
(16:42):
fourth finger of her left hand.
She said to the little balletgirls she said to the little
ballet girls Come, children,pull yourselves together.
I dare say no one has ever seenthe ghost.
Yes, yes, we saw him.
We saw him just now, cried thegirls.
(17:05):
He had his death's head in hisdress coat, just as when he
appeared to Joseph Bouquet.
And Gabriel saw him too, saidJams, only yesterday, yesterday
afternoon, in broad daylight.
Gabriel, the chorus master, why, yes, didn't you know?
(17:33):
And he was wearing his dressclothes in broad daylight.
Who Gabriel?
Why Noah the ghost?
Certainly Gabriel told me sohimself.
That's what he knew him by.
Gabriel was in the stagemanager's office.
Suddenly the door opened andthe Persian entered.
(17:55):
You know, the Persian has theevil eye.
Oh, yes, answered the littleballet girls in chorus, warding
off ill luck by pointing theirforefinger and little finger at
the absent Persian, while theirsecond and third fingers were
bent on the palm and held downby the thumb.
(18:16):
And you know how superstitiousGabriel is continued Joms.
However, he is always polite.
When he meets the Persian, hejust puts his hand in his pocket
and touches his keys.
Well, the moment the Persianappeared in the doorway, gabriel
(18:39):
gave one jump from his chair tothe lock of the cupboard so as
to touch iron.
In doing so, he tore a wholeskirt of his overcoat on a nail.
Praying to get out of the room,he banged his forehead against
a hat peg and gave himself ahuge bump.
Then, suddenly, stepping back,he skinned his arm on the screen
(19:03):
near the piano.
He tried to lean on the pianobut the lid fell on his hands
and crushed his fingers.
He rushed out of the officelike a madman, slipped on the
staircase and came down the holeof the first flight on his back
.
I was just passing with mother.
We picked him up.
(19:24):
He was covered with bruises andhis face was all over blood.
We were frightened out of ourlives, but all at once he began
to think providence that he hadgot off so cheaply.
Then he told us what hadfrightened him.
He had seen the ghost behindthe Persian, the ghost with the
(19:47):
death's head.
Just like Joseph Bouquet'sdescription, Joms had told her
story ever so quickly, as thoughthe ghost were at her heels and
was quite out of breath at thefinish.
The silence followed whileSorelli polished her nails in
(20:10):
great excitement.
It was broken by Lil' Geary whosaid Joseph Bouquet would do
better to hold his tongue.
Why should he hold his tongue,asked somebody.
That's mother's opinion,replied Meg.
That's mother's opinion,replied Meg, lowering her voice
(20:35):
and looking all about her asthough fearing lest others hear
than those present mightoverhear.
And why is it your mother'sopinion?
Hush mother says the ghostdoesn't like being talked about.
And why does your mother say so?
Because, because nothing.
(20:57):
This reticence exasperated thecuriosity of the young ladies
who crowded round little Giribegging her to explain herself.
They were there side by side,leaning forward simultaneously,
in one movement of entreaty andfear, communicating their terror
(21:20):
to one another, taking a keenpleasure in feeling their blood
freeze in their veins.
I swore not to tell, gasped Meg, but they left her no peace and
promised to keep the secretuntil Meg, burning to say all
(21:41):
she knew, began with her eyesfixed on the door.
Well, it's because of theprivate box.
What private box?
The ghost box.
Has the ghost a box?
Oh, do tell us, do tell us, notso loud, said Meg, it's box
(22:06):
five.
You know the box on the grandtier next to the stage box on
the left?
Oh, nonsense, I tell you it is.
Mother has charge of it.
I swear you won't say a word,of course, of course.
Well, that's the ghost box.
(22:28):
No one has had it for over amonth except the ghost, and
orders have been given at thebox office that it must never be
sold.
And does the ghost really comethere?
Yes, and somebody does come,why?
No, the ghost comes, but thereis nobody there.
(22:51):
The little ballet girlsexchanged glasses.
If the ghost came to the box, hemust be seen because he wore a
dress, coat and death's head.
This is what they tried to makeMeg understand, but she replied
that's just it.
(23:12):
The ghost is not seen and hehas no dress, coat and no head.
All that talk about his death'shead and his head of fire is
nonsense.
There's nothing in it.
You only hear him when he is inthe box.
There's nothing in it.
You only hear him when he is inthe box.
(23:34):
Mother has never seen him, butshe has heard him.
Mother knows, because she giveshim his program.
Sorelli interfered Geary child,you're getting at us.
Thereupon, little Geary beganto cry.
(23:54):
I ought to have held my tongueif mother ever came to know.
But I was quite right.
Joseph Bouquet had no businessto talk of things that don't
concern him.
It will bring him bad luck.
Mother was saying so last night.
There was a sound of hurried andheavy footsteps in the passage
and a breathless voice criedCecil, cecil, are you there?
(24:18):
It's Mother's voice, said Joms,what's the matter?
She opened the door.
A respectable lady, built onthe lines of a Pomeranian
grenadier, burst into thedressing room and dropped
groaning into a vacant armchair.
Her eyes rolled madly in herbrick, dust-colored face.
(24:42):
How awful, she said.
How awful.
What, what?
Joseph Bouquet?
What about him?
Joseph Bouquet is dead.
The room became filled withexclamations, with astonished
(25:05):
outcries, with scared requestsfor explanations.
Yes, he was found hanging inthe third floor cellar.
It's the ghost.
Little Geary blurted as thoughin spite of herself.
But at once she crooked herselfwith her hands pressed against
(25:30):
her mouth.
No, no, I didn't say it.
I didn't say it.
All around her, herpanic-stricken companions
repeated under their breaths yes, it must be the ghost.
Sorelli was very pale.
I shall never be able to recitemy speech.
(25:56):
She said.
Majans gave her opinion whileshe emptied a glass of liqueur
that happened to be standing ona table.
While she emptied a glass ofliqueur that happened to be
standing on a table, the ghostmust have something to do with
(26:16):
it.
The truth is that no one everknew how Joseph became at his
death.
The verdict at the inquest wasnatural suicide.
In his memoirs of manager,monsieur Monchemin, one of the
joint managers who succeededMadame de Bien in Poligny,
(26:37):
describes the incident asfollows A grievous accident
spoiled the little party whichMadame Debienne and Pligny gave
to celebrate their retirement.
I was in the manager's officeand Mercier, the acting manager,
(26:57):
suddenly came darting in.
He seemed half-mad and told methat the body of a scene-shifter
had been found hanging in thethird cellar, under the stage
between a farmhouse and a scenefrom the King of L'Eau.
I shouted Come and cut him down.
(27:21):
By the time I had rushed downthe staircase and the Jacob's
Ladder, the man was no longerhanging from his rope.
So this is an event whichMonsieur Mon Charmin thinks is
natural.
The man hangs at the end of arope, the goad cut him down.
(27:43):
The rope has disappeared.
Oh, monsieur Marchand-Mine founda very simple explanation.
Listen to him.
It was just after the balletand leaders and dancing girls
lost no time in taking theirprecautions against the evil eye
(28:05):
.
There you are.
Picture the corpse de balletscuttling down the Jacob's
Ladder and dividing thesuicide's rope amongst
themselves in less time than ittakes to write.
When, on the other hand, Ithink of the exact spot where
(28:26):
the body was discovered, thethird cellar underneath the
stage, imagine that somebodymust have been interested in
seeing that the rope disappearedafter it had affected its
purpose.
I wonder if that's true, andtime will show if I'm wrong.
The horrid news soon spread allover the opera, where Joseph
(28:55):
Bouquet was very popular.
The dressing rooms emptied andthe ballet girls crowding around
Sorelli like timid sheep aroundthe shepherdess made for the
foyer through the ill-litpassages and staircases,
(29:16):
trotting as fast as their littlepink legs could carry
no-transcript.
(33:33):
No-transcript ¶¶.
(38:22):
© transcript Emily Beynon.
Thank you.
Welcome to Dreamful Podcast bedtime stories for
slumber.
Welcome to Dreamful Podcastbedtime stories for slumber.
This month we don't have anynew supporters.
A spooky episode, indeed.
Your support goes towardsthings that keep this podcast
running, like paying my amazingeditor, katie, music licensing
and website hosting.
When you support the show, yougain access to subscriber-only
(00:44):
episodes and receive a shout out.
You can visitdreamfulstoriescom and on the
support page you can find a linkto become a Buzzsprout
supporter or subscribe viaSupercast.
If you listen on Spotify, youcan also support the show on
Apple Podcasts, but you won'treceive a shout out because they
keep your informationcompletely private.
And thank you to everyone foryour support.
(01:04):
It really means so much to me.
Okay, let's get into tonight'sepisode.
We are nearing All Hallows' Eve, so it's time for our Halloween
episode.
This year, I'll be reading thePhantom of the Opera, so snuggle
up your blankets and have sweetdreams.
(02:08):
It was the evening on whichMadame de Beene and Poligny, the
managers of the opera, weregiving a last gala performance
to mark their retirement.
Suddenly, the dressing room ofLa Sorelle, one of the principal
dancers, was invaded by half adozen young ladies of the ballet
(02:32):
who had come up from the stageafter dancing polyuked, they
rushed in amid great confusion,some giving vent to forced and
unnatural laughter, others tocries of terror.
Sorelli, who wished to be alonefor a moment to run through the
(02:52):
speech what she was to make tothe resigning managers, looked
around angrily at the mad andtumultuous crowd.
It was little Joms, the girlwith the tip-tilted nose, the
forget-me-not eyes, the rose-redcheeks and the lily-white neck
(03:13):
and shoulders, who gave theexplanation in a trembling voice
it's the ghost, and she lockedthe door.
It's the ghost and she lockedthe door.
Sorelli's dressing room wasfitted up with official,
(03:33):
commonplace elegance A pierglass, a sofa, a dressing table
and a cupboard or two providedthe necessary furniture.
On the walls hung a fewengravings, relics of the mother
who had known the glories ofthe old opera in the Rue de
(03:54):
Pelletier, portraits of VestrisGardel, dupont, bigotini.
But the room seemed a palace tothe brats of the Corpse de
Bel-et, who were lodged incommon dressing rooms where they
spent their time singing,quarreling, smacking the
dressers and hairdressers andbuying one another glasses of
(04:19):
Cassie's beer or even rum, untilthe callboy's bell rang.
Sorelli was very superstitious.
She shuddered when she heardLil' Jean speak of ghost, called
her a silly little fool.
And then, as she was the firstto believe in ghosts in general
(04:42):
and the opera ghost inparticular, at once asked for
details.
Have you seen him as plainly asI see you now, said little Jams
, whose legs were giving waybeneath her, and she dropped
with a moan into a chair.
Dropped with a moan into achair, thereupon little Geary,
(05:06):
the girl with eyes black assloughs, hair black as ink, a
swarthy complexion and a poorlittle skin stretched over poor
little bones.
Little Geary added If that's aghost, he's very ugly.
Oh yes, cried the chorus ofballet girls, and they all began
(05:31):
to talk together.
The ghost had appeared to themin the shape of a gentleman in
dress clothes who had suddenlystood before them in the passage
without their knowing where hecame from.
He seemed to have come straightthrough the wall, pooh, said
(05:52):
one of them, who had more orless kept her head.
You see the ghost everywhere,and it was true.
For several months there hadbeen nothing discussed at the
opera but this ghost in dressclothes who stalked about the
building from top to bottom likea shadow, who spoke to nobody,
(06:18):
to whom nobody dared speak andwho vanished as soon as he was
seen, no one knowing how orwhere, as became a real ghost.
He made no noise in walking.
People began by laughing andmaking fun of this specter,
(06:39):
dressed like a man of fashion oran undertaker, but the ghost
legend soon swelled to enormousproportions.
Among the corps de ballet, allthe girls pretended to have met
this supernatural being more orless often, and those who
laughed the loudest were not themost at ease.
(07:02):
When he did not show himself,he betrayed his presence or his
passing by accident, comic orserious, for which the general
superstition held himresponsible.
Had anyone met with a fall orsuffered a practical joke at the
(07:22):
hands of one of the other girlsor lost a powder puff, it was
at once the fault of the ghostof the opera ghost, after all.
Who has seen him?
You meet so many men in dressclothes at the opera who are not
(07:43):
ghosts.
But this dress suit had apeculiarity of its own.
It covered a skeleton, at leastso the ballet girl said and of
course it had a death's head.
Was this all serious?
(08:05):
The truth is that the idea ofthe skeleton came from the
description of the ghost givenby Joseph Bouquet, the chief
scene shifter, who had reallyseen the ghost.
He had run up against the ghostOn the little staircase by the
footlights which leads to thecellars.
(08:28):
He had seen him for a second,For the ghost had fled, and to
anyone who cared to listen tohim he said he is
extraordinarily thin and hisdress coat hangs on a skeleton
frame.
His eyes are so deep.
He is extraordinarily thin andhis dress coat hangs on a
skeleton frame.
(08:48):
His eyes are so deep that youcan hardly see the fixed pupils.
You just see two big blackholes, as in a dead man's skull.
His skin, which is stretchedacross his bones like a drumhead
(09:10):
, is not white but a nastyyellow.
His nose is so little worthtalking about that you can't see
it side face and the absence ofthat nose is a horrible thing
to look at.
All the hair he has is three orfour long dark locks on the
forehead and behind his ears.
This chief scene shifter was aserious, sober, steady man, very
(09:40):
slow at imagining things.
His words were received withinterest and amazement and soon
there were other people to saythat they too had met a man in
dress clothes with a death'shead on his shoulders Sensible
men who had windowed.
(10:01):
The story began by saying thatJoseph Bouquet had been the
victim of a joke played by oneof his assistants.
And then, one after the other,there came a series of incidents
so curious and so inexplicablethat the very shrewdest people
(10:27):
began to feel uneasy.
For instance, a fireman is abrave fellow.
He fears nothing, least of allfire.
Well, the fireman in questionwould go on to make a round of
inspection in the cellars andwho, it seems, had ventured a
(10:52):
little farther than usual,suddenly reappeared on the stage
, pale, scared, trembling, withhis eyes starting out of his
head, impractically fainted, inthe arms of the proud mother of
little Jeans.
And why?
(11:14):
Because he had seen comingtoward him, at the level of his
head, but without a bodyattached to it, a head of fire.
And, as I said, a fireman isnot afraid of fire.
The fireman's name was Pumpin.
(11:38):
The corpse de ballet was flunginto consternation.
At first sight, this fiery headin no way corresponded with
Joseph Bouquet's description ofthe ghost, but the young ladies
soon persuaded themselves thatthe ghost had several heads,
which he changed about as hepleased, and of course they at
(12:02):
once imagined that they were inthe greatest danger.
Once the firemen did nothesitate to faint, leaders in
front row and back row, girlsalike had plenty of excuses for
the fright that made them quickin their pace when passing some
dark corner or ill-lightedcorridor.
(12:23):
Sorelle herself, so reallyherself, on the day after the
adventure of the firemen, placeda horseshoe on the table in
front of the stage doorkeeper'sbox, which everyone who entered
(12:48):
the opera otherwise than aspectator must touch before
setting foot on the first treadof the staircase.
This horseshoe was not inventedby me, any more than any other
part of this story.
Alas, it may still be seen onthe table in the passage outside
the stage doorkeeper's box whenyou enter the opera through the
court known as the court ofmenstruation.
(13:16):
To return to the evening inquestion, is the ghost Little
Jamsa cried.
An agonizing silence nowreigned in the dressing room.
Nothing was heard but the hardbreathing of the girls.
At last, jams flinging herselfupon the farthest corner of the
(13:43):
wall with every mark of realterror on her face.
Whispered, listen.
With every mark of real tear onher face.
Whispered, listen.
Everybody seemed to hear arustling outside the door.
There was no sound of footsteps.
(14:03):
It was like light silk slidingover the panel.
Then it stopped.
Sorelle tried to show more pluckthan the other girls.
She went out to the door and,in a quavering voice, asked
(14:24):
who's there?
But nobody answered.
Then, feeling all eyes upon herwatching her last movement, she
made an effort to show courageand said very loudly is there
anyone behind the door?
Oh, yes, yes, of course thereis, cried.
(14:47):
That little dried plum of a madgiri, heroically holding
Sorelle back by her gauze skirt.
Whatever you do, don't open thedoor.
Oh Lord, don't open the door.
But Sorelle, armed with adagger that never left her,
turned the key and drew back thedoor.
(15:12):
While the ballet girls retreatedto the inner dressing room and
Meg Geary sighed.
Sorelli looked into the passagebravely it was empty.
It was empty.
A gas flame in his glass prisoncast a red and suspicious light
(15:34):
into the surrounding darkness,without succeeding in dispelling
it, and the dancer slammed thedoor again with a deep sigh.
No, she said there is no onethere.
With a deep sigh.
No, she said there is no onethere.
(15:59):
Still, we saw him.
Jams declared, returning withtimid little steps to her place
beside Sorelli.
He must be somewhere prowlingabout.
I shan't go back to dress.
We'd better all go down to thefoyer together at once for the
speech and we will come up againtogether.
(16:22):
And the child reverently touchedthe little coral finger ring
which she wore as a charmagainst bad luck, while Sorelle,
stealthily, with the tip of herpink right thumbnail, made a
Saint Andrew's cross on thewooden ring which adorned the
(16:42):
fourth finger of her left hand.
She said to the little balletgirls she said to the little
ballet girls Come, children,pull yourselves together.
I dare say no one has ever seenthe ghost.
Yes, yes, we saw him.
We saw him just now, cried thegirls.
(17:05):
He had his death's head in hisdress coat, just as when he
appeared to Joseph Bouquet.
And Gabriel saw him too, saidJams, only yesterday, yesterday
afternoon, in broad daylight.
Gabriel, the chorus master, why, yes, didn't you know?
(17:33):
And he was wearing his dressclothes in broad daylight.
Who Gabriel?
Why Noah the ghost?
Certainly Gabriel told me sohimself.
That's what he knew him by.
Gabriel was in the stagemanager's office.
Suddenly the door opened andthe Persian entered.
(17:55):
You know, the Persian has theevil eye.
Oh, yes, answered the littleballet girls in chorus, warding
off ill luck by pointing theirforefinger and little finger at
the absent Persian, while theirsecond and third fingers were
bent on the palm and held downby the thumb.
(18:16):
And you know how superstitiousGabriel is continued Joms.
However, he is always polite.
When he meets the Persian, hejust puts his hand in his pocket
and touches his keys.
Well, the moment the Persianappeared in the doorway, gabriel
(18:39):
gave one jump from his chair tothe lock of the cupboard so as
to touch iron.
In doing so, he tore a wholeskirt of his overcoat on a nail.
Praying to get out of the room,he banged his forehead against
a hat peg and gave himself ahuge bump.
Then, suddenly, stepping back,he skinned his arm on the screen
(19:03):
near the piano.
He tried to lean on the pianobut the lid fell on his hands
and crushed his fingers.
He rushed out of the officelike a madman, slipped on the
staircase and came down the holeof the first flight on his back
.
I was just passing with mother.
We picked him up.
(19:24):
He was covered with bruises andhis face was all over blood.
We were frightened out of ourlives, but all at once he began
to think providence that he hadgot off so cheaply.
Then he told us what hadfrightened him.
He had seen the ghost behindthe Persian, the ghost with the
(19:47):
death's head.
Just like Joseph Bouquet'sdescription, Joms had told her
story ever so quickly, as thoughthe ghost were at her heels and
was quite out of breath at thefinish.
The silence followed whileSorelli polished her nails in
(20:10):
great excitement.
It was broken by Lil' Geary whosaid Joseph Bouquet would do
better to hold his tongue.
Why should he hold his tongue,asked somebody.
That's mother's opinion,replied Meg.
That's mother's opinion,replied Meg, lowering her voice
(20:35):
and looking all about her asthough fearing lest others hear
than those present mightoverhear.
And why is it your mother'sopinion?
Hush mother says the ghostdoesn't like being talked about.
And why does your mother say so?
Because, because nothing.
(20:57):
This reticence exasperated thecuriosity of the young ladies
who crowded round little Giribegging her to explain herself.
They were there side by side,leaning forward simultaneously,
in one movement of entreaty andfear, communicating their terror
(21:20):
to one another, taking a keenpleasure in feeling their blood
freeze in their veins.
I swore not to tell, gasped Meg, but they left her no peace and
promised to keep the secretuntil Meg, burning to say all
(21:41):
she knew, began with her eyesfixed on the door.
Well, it's because of theprivate box.
What private box?
The ghost box.
Has the ghost a box?
Oh, do tell us, do tell us, notso loud, said Meg, it's box
(22:06):
five.
You know the box on the grandtier next to the stage box on
the left?
Oh, nonsense, I tell you it is.
Mother has charge of it.
I swear you won't say a word,of course, of course.
Well, that's the ghost box.
(22:28):
No one has had it for over amonth except the ghost, and
orders have been given at thebox office that it must never be
sold.
And does the ghost really comethere?
Yes, and somebody does come,why?
No, the ghost comes, but thereis nobody there.
(22:51):
The little ballet girlsexchanged glasses.
If the ghost came to the box, hemust be seen because he wore a
dress, coat and death's head.
This is what they tried to makeMeg understand, but she replied
that's just it.
(23:12):
The ghost is not seen and hehas no dress, coat and no head.
All that talk about his death'shead and his head of fire is
nonsense.
There's nothing in it.
You only hear him when he is inthe box.
There's nothing in it.
You only hear him when he is inthe box.
(23:34):
Mother has never seen him, butshe has heard him.
Mother knows, because she giveshim his program.
Sorelli interfered Geary child,you're getting at us.
Thereupon, little Geary beganto cry.
(23:54):
I ought to have held my tongueif mother ever came to know.
But I was quite right.
Joseph Bouquet had no businessto talk of things that don't
concern him.
It will bring him bad luck.
Mother was saying so last night.
There was a sound of hurried andheavy footsteps in the passage
and a breathless voice criedCecil, cecil, are you there?
(24:18):
It's Mother's voice, said Joms,what's the matter?
She opened the door.
A respectable lady, built onthe lines of a Pomeranian
grenadier, burst into thedressing room and dropped
groaning into a vacant armchair.
Her eyes rolled madly in herbrick, dust-colored face.
(24:42):
How awful, she said.
How awful.
What, what?
Joseph Bouquet?
What about him?
Joseph Bouquet is dead.
The room became filled withexclamations, with astonished
(25:05):
outcries, with scared requestsfor explanations.
Yes, he was found hanging inthe third floor cellar.
It's the ghost.
Little Geary blurted as thoughin spite of herself.
But at once she crooked herselfwith her hands pressed against
(25:30):
her mouth.
No, no, I didn't say it.
I didn't say it.
All around her, herpanic-stricken companions
repeated under their breaths yes, it must be the ghost.
Sorelli was very pale.
I shall never be able to recitemy speech.
(25:56):
She said.
Majans gave her opinion whileshe emptied a glass of liqueur
that happened to be standing ona table.
While she emptied a glass ofliqueur that happened to be
standing on a table, the ghostmust have something to do with
(26:16):
it.
The truth is that no one everknew how Joseph became at his
death.
The verdict at the inquest wasnatural suicide.
In his memoirs of manager,monsieur Monchemin, one of the
joint managers who succeededMadame de Bien in Poligny,
(26:37):
describes the incident asfollows A grievous accident
spoiled the little party whichMadame Debienne and Pligny gave
to celebrate their retirement.
I was in the manager's officeand Mercier, the acting manager,
(26:57):
suddenly came darting in.
He seemed half-mad and told methat the body of a scene-shifter
had been found hanging in thethird cellar, under the stage
between a farmhouse and a scenefrom the King of L'Eau.
I shouted Come and cut him down.
(27:21):
By the time I had rushed downthe staircase and the Jacob's
Ladder, the man was no longerhanging from his rope.
So this is an event whichMonsieur Mon Charmin thinks is
natural.
The man hangs at the end of arope, the goad cut him down.
(27:43):
The rope has disappeared.
Oh, monsieur Marchand-Mine founda very simple explanation.
Listen to him.
It was just after the balletand leaders and dancing girls
lost no time in taking theirprecautions against the evil eye
(28:05):
.
There you are.
Picture the corpse de balletscuttling down the Jacob's
Ladder and dividing thesuicide's rope amongst
themselves in less time than ittakes to write.
When, on the other hand, Ithink of the exact spot where
(28:26):
the body was discovered, thethird cellar underneath the
stage, imagine that somebodymust have been interested in
seeing that the rope disappearedafter it had affected its
purpose.
I wonder if that's true, andtime will show if I'm wrong.
The horrid news soon spread allover the opera, where Joseph
(28:55):
Bouquet was very popular.
The dressing rooms emptied andthe ballet girls crowding around
Sorelli like timid sheep aroundthe shepherdess made for the
foyer through the ill-litpassages and staircases,
(29:16):
trotting as fast as their littlepink legs could carry
no-transcript.
(33:33):
No-transcript ¶¶.
(38:22):
© transcript Emily Beynon.
Thank you.
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