The Phantom of the Opera [antikvár]

CHAPTER 1 IT WAS THE EVENING ON WHICH MoNSIEUR DeBIENNE AND MONSIEUR Poligny, the managers of the famous Paris Opera House, were giving a gala performance of Faust to celebrate their retirement. Sorelli, one of the principal dancers, was sitting in her dressing room. She was practising the speech that she was going to give at the farewell party. Suddenly, the door burst open and a group of young ballerinas rushed in. The girls were chattering loudly Some were laughing nervously while others looked terrified. "What's going on?" asked SoreUi. "I said I didn't want to be disturbed." "It's the ghost!" said little Cecile as she locked the door. "We just saw him in the passageway!" "He just appeared out of nowhere," said another girl. Sorelli was not completely convinced. "And what did the ghost look like?" she asked. "He's as thin as a skeleton," said Cecile. "He has big black holes for eyes, his skin is yellow and he hardly has a nose! He's very ugly!"