Leonard Wolf
Translator
1996
The Essential
The definitive, annotated edition of Leroux's classical novel,
buy here ⚜⚜⚜
Different covers and Translations
Translations and Errors
The Essential
The definitive, annotated edition of Leroux's classical novel,
buy here ⚜⚜⚜
Different covers and Translations
Translations and Errors
Chapter Titles
Preface
Chapter I
Is it the Phantom?
Chapter II
The New Marguerite
Chapter III
In Which, For The First Time, Messrs. Debienne And Poligny Secretly Tell The New Directors Of The Opera,
Messrs. Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard, The True And Mysterious Reason For Their Departure
From The National Academy Of Music
Chapter IV
Box Number Five
Chapter V
Continuation of "Box Number Five"
Chapter VI
The Enchanted Violin
Chapter VII
A Visit to Box Five
Chapter VIII
In Which Messrs. Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin Have The Audacity to Present Faust in an
Auditorium That Has Been Cursed, And The Frightful Event That Followed Thereupon. the terrible events which ensued
Chapter IX
The Mysterious Brougham
Chapter X
At The Masked Ball
Chapter XI
The Name Of The Man's Voice Must Be Forgotten!"
Chapter XII
Above the Trapdoors
Chapter XIII
Apollo's Lyre
Chapter XIV
The Trapdoor Lover's Masterstroke
Chapter XV
The Remarkable Behavior of the Safety Pin
Chapter XVI
Christine! Christine!
Chapter XVII
Astonishing Revelations of Mme. Giry Regarding Personal Relationships With
The Phantom Of The Opera
Chapter XVIII
More About The Remarkable Behavior Of The Safety Pin
Chapter XIX
The Superintendent of Police, The Viscount And The Persian
Chapter XX
The Viscount And The Persian
Chapter XXI
In The Opera's Cellar's
Chapter XXII
Interesting and Instructive Tribulations Of A Persian In The Opera's Cellar's
Chapter XXIII
In The Torture Chamber
Chapter XXIV
The Tortures Begin
Chapter XXV
"Barrels! Barrels! Have You Any Barrels For Sale?"
Chapter XXVI
To Turn The Scorpion Or TO Turn The Grasshopper?
Chapter XXVII
The Phantom's Love Story Concluded
Epilogue
Preface
Chapter I
Is it the Phantom?
Chapter II
The New Marguerite
Chapter III
In Which, For The First Time, Messrs. Debienne And Poligny Secretly Tell The New Directors Of The Opera,
Messrs. Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard, The True And Mysterious Reason For Their Departure
From The National Academy Of Music
Chapter IV
Box Number Five
Chapter V
Continuation of "Box Number Five"
Chapter VI
The Enchanted Violin
Chapter VII
A Visit to Box Five
Chapter VIII
In Which Messrs. Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin Have The Audacity to Present Faust in an
Auditorium That Has Been Cursed, And The Frightful Event That Followed Thereupon. the terrible events which ensued
Chapter IX
The Mysterious Brougham
Chapter X
At The Masked Ball
Chapter XI
The Name Of The Man's Voice Must Be Forgotten!"
Chapter XII
Above the Trapdoors
Chapter XIII
Apollo's Lyre
Chapter XIV
The Trapdoor Lover's Masterstroke
Chapter XV
The Remarkable Behavior of the Safety Pin
Chapter XVI
Christine! Christine!
Chapter XVII
Astonishing Revelations of Mme. Giry Regarding Personal Relationships With
The Phantom Of The Opera
Chapter XVIII
More About The Remarkable Behavior Of The Safety Pin
Chapter XIX
The Superintendent of Police, The Viscount And The Persian
Chapter XX
The Viscount And The Persian
Chapter XXI
In The Opera's Cellar's
Chapter XXII
Interesting and Instructive Tribulations Of A Persian In The Opera's Cellar's
Chapter XXIII
In The Torture Chamber
Chapter XXIV
The Tortures Begin
Chapter XXV
"Barrels! Barrels! Have You Any Barrels For Sale?"
Chapter XXVI
To Turn The Scorpion Or TO Turn The Grasshopper?
Chapter XXVII
The Phantom's Love Story Concluded
Epilogue
Differences
Which Translation do you have?
A good way to tell is the opening paragraph of the book
***It should be noted that the only translation that does not cut anything out is Wolf's and my own***
A good way to tell is the opening paragraph of the book
***It should be noted that the only translation that does not cut anything out is Wolf's and my own***
Gaston Leroux
|
Wolf
|
Le fantôme de l’Opéra a existé. Ce ne fut point, comme on l’a cru longtemps, une inspiration d’artistes, une superstition de directeurs, la création falote des cervelles excitées de ces demoiselles du corps de ballet, de leurs mères, des ouvreuses, des employés du vestiaire et de la concierge.
Oui, il a existé, en chair et en os, bien qu’il se donnât toutes les apparences d’un vrai fantôme, c’est-à-dire d’une ombre. |
"The Phantom of the Opera existed. He was not, as was believed for a long time, a creature imagined by artists; a superstition of directors; a droll creation of the excitable minds of young women in the corps de ballet, their mothers, or the box attendants, the cloak room employees or the doorkeeper.
Yes, he existed, in flesh and blood, despite the fact, he appeared to everyone to be a veritable phantom-that is to say, a ghost." |
The “fantôme de l’Opéra” did really exist. He was not, as was long believed, an invention of the performer’s imaginations, a superstition of the managing directors, or a creation from the easily excited and impressionable minds of the young ladies of the Corps de Ballet, or of their mothers, the box keepers, ushers, the cloakroom attendants, or the concierge.
Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he did take on the persona of a real ghost; that is to say, a of kind spectral shadow spirit |
NOTES : A fairly decent translations overall with some blaring mistakes thrown in.
Noteworthy Changes
Gaston Leroux
|
Wolf
|
Quand je me réveillai, j’étais seule, sur une chaise longue, dans une petite chambre toute simple, garnie d’un lit banal en acajou, aux murs tendus de toile de Jouy,
|
When I woke, I was alone on a chaise longue in a small, simple room furnished with an ordinary mahogany bed. There were cretonne hangings on the wall.
|
When I awoke, I was alone, laying on a chaise lounge in a small simple room furnished with an ordinary mahogany bed. The walls were all hung with Toile de Jouy,
|
Gaston Leroux
« Ce soir-là, nous n’échangeâmes plus une parole… Il avait saisi une harpe et il commença de me chanter, lui, voix d’homme, voix d’ange, la romance de Desdémone. Le souvenir que j’en avais de l’avoir chantée moi-même me rendait honteuse. Mon ami, il y a une vertu dans la musique qui fait que rien n’existe plus du monde extérieur en dehors de ces sons qui vous viennent frapper le coeur. Mon extravagante aventure fut oubliée. Seule revivait la voix et je la suivais enivrée dans son voyage harmonieux ; je faisais partie du troupeau d’Orphée ! Elle me promena dans la douleur, et dans la joie, dans le martyre, dans le désespoir, dans l’allégresse, dans la mort et dans les triomphants hyménées… j’écoutais… Elle chantait… Elle me chanta des morceaux inconnus… et me fit entendre une musique nouvelle qui me causa une étrange impression de douceur, de langueur, de repos… une musique qui, après avoir soulevé mon âme, l’apaisa peu à peu, et la conduisit jusqu’au seuil du rêve. Je m’endormis. . . . . . « Quand je me réveillai, j’étais seule, sur une chaise longue, dans une petite chambre |
Wolf
"...And I listened - and I stayed. . "That evening, we exchanged not a word. He took up a harp and began to sing with his man's voice, his angel's voice, the romance of Desdemona. He made me ashamed to remember that I, too, had sung it. My dear, there is a virtue in music that can make you feel that nothing of the external world exists except those sounds that strike the heart. Forgotten was my bizarre adventure. Only the voice existed, and intoxicated, I followed it on it's harmonious voyage; I was one of the Orpheus' flock. The voice led me through grief and joy, through delight, through death and triumphant marriages. I listened. It sang unknown fragments and made me hear new music that gave me a strange feeling of sweetness, of languor of repose... A music that, after it had exalted my soul, claimed it little by little and led it to the threshold of dreams. I fell asleep. . . . . . . . . "When I woke, I was alone on a chaise longue in a small, simple room... |
PT Translation
... And I listen to him ... and I stayed! . “That evening, we did not exchange a word... He had taken up a harp. ‘It’... the man’s voice, the voice of an angel began to sing to me, ‘The Romance of Desdemona’ The memory I had, of singing it myself, made me ashamed. My friend, music has a quality that makes one forget the outside world, apart from those sounds that impress upon the heart. My wild adventure was all but forgotten. Only the voice and I existed. Intoxicated, I followed where ever its harmony led me. It was as though suddenly, I became part of Orpheus’s flock! It’s triumphant hymns, walked me through sorrow then on to ecstasy, down the path of martyrdom and through the pain of despair, to the highs of elation, and then finally to death... I listened ... and the voice than sang to me, an unfamiliar pieces ... and I heard music like nothing I had ever heard before. It caused in me an unusual feeling, a sweet euphoria washed over me, a kind of languishing. The soft music lifted my soul, soothed it as it wrapped it in sound, and I was brought to the threshold of dreams. That is when I fell asleep.” “When I awoke, I was alone, laying on a chaise lounge in a small simple room |
Gaston Leroux
«...on dit communément d’elle que c’est “une belle créature» Ses cheveux blonds et purs comme l’or couronnent un front mat au-dessous duquel s’enchâssent deux yeux d’émeraude. Sa tête se balance mollement...» |
Wolf
...it is commonly said of her that she is "a beautiful creature." Her hair, blond and pure as gold, crowns a forehead beneath which her emerald eyes are set. Her head is balanced gently... |
PT Translation
...she is commonly referred to as “a lovely creature”, her fair hair is as pure as gold and crowns a flat forehead bellow which sits two emerald eyes. Her head sways softly like the long neck of an egret, elegant and very proud. |
NOTES: From the chapter At the Masked Ball/ Le bal Masqué
|
Gaston Leroux
«.Ne me touchez pas! Je suis la Mort rouge qui passe!...» |
Wolf
"Touch me not! I am Red Death passing by!" |
NOTES: Interesting and Instructive Tribulations of a Persian in the Underground of the Opera: (notice the difference through out all the translations)
de Mattos
“My duty, you great booby!...It is my wish... my wish to let her go |
Gaston Leroux
– Mon devoir, immense niais ! – (textuel). – C’est ma volonté… ma volonté de la laisser partir, |
PT Translation
‘My duty, immense ninny! - (verbatim). - It is my desire... my wish to let her go, |
Wolf
"'My duty, you stupid ninny. It's what I want. I want to let her go-- |
Lowell Bair
My duty, you immense simpleton [sic]. is my will, my will to let her leave, |