十九世紀のパリにそびえ立つ豪華なオペラ座は、世界中の音楽家や舞台人が憧れる華やかな殿堂であった。しかし、その煌びやかな表舞台の裏では、ある奇妙な噂が職員たちの間に絶えず流れていた。
In nineteenth-century Paris, the magnificent Opera House rose above the city as a glittering temple to which musicians and stage artists from all over the world dreamed of pilgrimage. Yet behind that brilliant facade, a strange rumor had taken hold and never quite faded among the staff who worked there.
「夜な夜な地下から不気味な音楽が聞こえてくる」「五番のボックス席には誰も座らせてはならぬとの脅迫状が届く」と、関係者たちはひそひそと言い交わしていた。いつしか彼らは、その正体不明の存在を「オペラ座の怪人」と呼ぶようになっていたのである。
"Eerie music can be heard rising from the cellars at night," "a threatening letter has come demanding that no one be allowed to sit in Box Five" — these were the things they whispered to one another. Before long they had come to call this unknown presence simply the Phantom of the Opera.
そんな折、若く美しい歌手のクリスティーヌが、合唱団の一人にすぎなかった地位から、突如として主役の代役に大抜擢された。その夜の彼女の歌声は神々しいほどに澄み渡り、観客はそろって息をのみ、嵐のような喝采を送った。
It was just then that Christine, a young and beautiful singer who had been no more than one face among the chorus, was suddenly thrust into the leading role as an understudy. That night her voice rang out with a clarity so pure it seemed almost divine, and the audience held its breath as one before sending up a storm of applause.
楽屋を訪ねた友人に、クリスティーヌは打ち明けた。「実は私には、見えない『音楽の天使』が毎晩こっそりと歌の指導をしてくれているの」と、彼女ははにかみながらも、その存在を心の底から信じきっていた。
To a friend who came to her dressing room afterward, Christine confided the truth. "An invisible 'Angel of Music' has been secretly giving me singing lessons every night," she said. Bashful as she was, she clearly believed in his existence with all her heart.
しかし、その「天使」の正体は、エリックという名の、生まれつき顔がひどく醜く崩れた一人の天才音楽家であった。世間の蔑みと拒絶に身も心も削られながら生きてきた彼は、ついには地上に居場所を失い、オペラ座の地下深くに身を潜めて暮らすほかなかったのである。
But this "angel" was, in fact, none other than Erik — a brilliant musician born with a face so hideously deformed that the world above could not bear to look upon him. Worn down in body and soul by years of scorn and rejection, he had at last lost every place where he might belong above ground, and had no choice but to hide himself away in the deep cellars beneath the Opera.
暗い湖と燭台に囲まれた地下の隠れ家で、彼は誰にも知られぬ孤独の中、ひそかにオペラの楽譜を書き、歌姫の卵たちにそっと声楽の手ほどきをしていた。
In his hidden lair, ringed by a dark subterranean lake and the soft light of countless candles, he lived in a solitude no one knew of, secretly writing operatic scores and giving discreet vocal lessons to a chosen few young singers.
彼にとってクリスティーヌは、暗闇に降ってきた一筋の光のような存在であった。彼女のひたむきさに触れるにつけ、エリックの愛情は次第に狂気にも似た独占欲へと変わりつつあった。
For Erik, Christine was like a single ray of light come down into his darkness. The more deeply he was drawn to her sincerity, the more his love began to take on the cast of a possessive obsession verging on madness.
ある夜、エリックはとうとう姿を現し、半ば呆然とするクリスティーヌを地下の隠れ家へと誘い込んだ。「君の歌声は私だけのものだ。永遠にここで私と暮らしてくれ」と、彼は彼女の前にひざまずいて願った。
One night, Erik at last revealed himself and drew the half-stunned Christine down into his hidden realm. "Your voice belongs to me alone. Stay here and live with me forever," he begged, kneeling at her feet.