Happy birthday FdelO (Fantôme de l'Opéra)! (If anybody doesn’t know: FdelO was first published from 23 Sep.-8 Jan.) To celebrate the occasion I thought I’d take some time (that I should spend studying) and finally make a proper summary of Carrie Hernández’s article “Lost in Translation : Gaston Leroux’s Phantom novel and what the translators have done to it”. I’ve posted another version before, but this one is special because this time I will include the part about abridgement, and I‘ve also rewritten the other parts. What follows is basically me rewording Carrie’s article based on my notes and there’s also some elements from Carrie’s interview with the Lofficiers, and I’ve added examples from the Scandinavian (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) translations. (In case you‘re new to the fandom: Carrie Hernández ran a webpage with many interesting articles and essays about The Phantom of the Opera, but it has been taken down, hence me not just linking to the articles.)

If you speak Russian this site has a similar overview for the Russian translations. And if you want bibliographical information about Le Fantôme and other Leroux translations Index Translationum is perfect. Note you have to type leroux gaston in the search box (the last name first and without a comma between the names).

Just so you know u.å. stands for uten år (without year).

Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois. The first installment saw the light of day (as previously mentioned) on September the 23 1909 and the last January 8 1910, and was published as a complete novel in February 1910 by Lafitte, see the bibliography on gastonleroux.com for confirmation. And thanks to Robyn Taylor we can see what the first installment looked like. One can also read Leroux’s novel (in French) in its entirety online at Ebooks libres et gratuits

At the present there are 4 English language translations of Leroux. The first was by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (who from now on will be referred to as TdM), it was first published in 1911, both in America and Britain. Between the covers.com has a 3D rendering of the American version.

This is the most widespread translation. Carrie has a theory on why that is “According to U.S. Copyright Office Circular #22, ”… the U.S. Copyright in any work published or copyrighted prior to January 1, 1923, has expired by operation of law, and the work has permanently fallen into public domain in the United States.” […] In some cases there are steps that have been taken to continue to charge fees for the use of public domain works but unless such steps are taken, material once in the public domain can be used as anyone see's fit - without the need for paying royalties or securing permission from the author or author’s estate. Perhaps for this reason, many publishers have chosen to use Teixeira de Mattos’ translation of Leroux’s Phantom and since the law allows it have done so without giving him credit.” (Hernández u.å.) Carrie goes on to say that any English translations that doesn’t credit a translator is TdM’s, if you don’t believe her you can just compare with one of the online versions of TdM’s translation.

The second is by Lowell Bair, it was published in 1990 by Bantam books. The third was called The essential phantom of the opera : The definitive, annotated edition of Leroux’s classical novel. It was edited by Leonard Wolf, and was first published by Plume books in 1996, then republished by ibooks in 2004. The fourth and latest was translated by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, and published by Black Coat Press in 2004.

Then there is the 3 Scandinavian translations. The first was published in 1926 by V. Pios Boghandel in Nørregade and Povl Branner in Copenhagen. It was translated by Anna Høyer and given the title Operaens hemmelighed (The secret of the opera). Due to many different reasons (which I won‘t go into) it was distributed in both Denmark and Norway. The second is Fantomen på Operan, a Swedish translation by Ulla Hornborg. This translation is the only one of the Scandinavian translation that is based on the English translation (more specifically TdM), not the French original. Hornborg’s translation was published by Trevi in 1988. The third is Fantomet i Operaen, a Danish translation by Lea Brems, published by Klim. The first edition was published in 2000, the next year the same edition was published again for bookclubs (but for a much cheaper price), the last edition was a paperback in 2005 as a tie in with the 2004 ALW movie (The sticker says "The movie is out now!").

ABRIGEMENT
TdM is the biggest sinner here. Not only are there “sentences missing here and paragraphs there” (Hernández u.å.), but the reader isn’t given any warning that TdM abridged at all, some publishers even put “complete and unabridged” on the cover.

Carrie uses a scene from Chapter 13, Apollo’s Lyre, to illustrate TdM‘s abridgment.

Leroux: “Et je l’écoute…, et je reste! 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 unevertu 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 vuivais enivré dans son voyage harmonieux; je faisais partie du troupeau d’Orphée! Elle me premena dans la douleur, et dans la joie, dans le martyre, dans le désespoir, dans l’allégresse, dans la mort et dans les troimphants hyménées… J’ecoutais… Elle chantait… Elle me chata des morceaux inconnus… et me fit entendre une musique nouvelle que me causa un étrange impression de douceur, de langueur, de repose… une musique qui, après avoir soulvevé mon âme, l’apaisa peu à peu, et la conduisit jusqu’au seuil du rêve. Je m’endormis.”

TdM: “And I listened… and stayed!… That night, we did not exchange another word. He sang me to sleep.”

Bair: “And I listened… and I stayed. We said nothing more to each for the rest of the evening. He took a harp, and he, the man’s voice, the angel’s voice, began singing Desdemona’s love song to me. My memory of having sung it myself made me feel ashamed. Music has the power to abolish everything in the outside world except its sounds, which go straight to the heart. My bizarre adventure was forgotten. The Voice had come to life again and followed it, enraptured, on its harmonious journey; I belonged to Orpheus’s flock! It took me into sorrow, joy, martyrdom, despair, bliss, death, and triumphant nuptials. I listened, it sang; it sang unknown pieces to me, and new music that gave me a strange impression of gentleness, languor, and peace, music that stirred my soul, then gradually soothed it and led it to the threshold of a dream. I fell asleep.”

Wolf: “And I listen-and I stay. 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 its harmonious voyage; I was one of Orpheus’ flock. The voice led me through grief and joy, through martyrdom and despair, through delight, through death and triumphant marriages. I listened. It sang unknown fragments and made me hear new music that gave me 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.”

Lofficier: “And I listened… and stayed! That night, we didn’t exchange another word. He took up a harp and with his angelic voice, began to sing the romance of Desdemona. The memories I had of having sung the part myself made me feel ashamed. There is a virtue in music, dearest Raoul, that makes you ignore the existence of the outside world when your soul listens to its harmonies. I forgot all about my extraordinary adventure. Only the Voice existed for me and I followed it on its underground journey. I had become like Orpheus’ flock! I felt Desdemona’s pain and pleasure, her martyrdom, despair, exuberance, death and, finally, wedding day. I listened breathlessly while he sang. He also sang compositions which I had never heard before, a new music that conveyed sweetness, dreaminess and repose… A music which, after raising my soul, made it feel at peace and slowly led me to the Land of Dreams. At last I fell asleep.”

Høyer: “Jeg blev og lyttede til hans dejlige Stemme. Den Aften vekslede vi ikke et Ord mere. Han sang mig i Søvn…”

Hornborg: “Och jag lyssnade och stannade kvar! Den kvällen sa vi inte ett enda ord till. Han sjöng mig till sömns.”

Brems: “Jeg lyttede, og jeg blev! Den aften vekslede vi ikke et ord mere …. Han havde grebet en harpe, og han, mandsstemmen, englestemmen, begyndte at synge Desdemonas romance for mig. Ved tanken om selv at have sunget den skammede jeg mig. Kære ven, musik kan have den virkning, at lat andet i den ydre verden forsvinder, så der kun findes de toner, som strømmer ind og rammer én i hjertet. Mit skræmmende eventyr var glemt. Kun stemmen levede, og jeg fulgte den beruset du på dens vidunderligt vellydende flugt; jeg var en del af Orfeus’ flok! Stemmen førte mig gennem smerten, glæden, martyriet, fortvivlelsen og jublen, døden og genforeningens triumf …Jeg lyttede, stemmen sang; den sang også ukendte stykker for mig, og jeg hørte et nyt musikstykke, som gav mig en hidtil uanet oplevelse af blidhed, længsel og hvile. Det var musik, der efter først at have opløftet min sjæl langsomt fik den bragt til ro og ført ind over drømmens tærskel. Jeg faldt i søvn.”

This cut is in no way an isolated incident in TdM. “Whole passages-some of them the most beautiful in the book-are missing from the Teixeira de Mattos translation. I cannot be certain why he chose to do this, though throughout the course of making some of the translations myself, I discovered that the passages that gave me the most trouble were simply missing from Teixeira de Mattos translation. I am concluding, then, that he was faced with some sort of problem and can only conjecture as to what that problem might have been.” (Hernández u.å.)

Due to TdM being the only English translation until 1990 many have read Leroux without being aware that they are reading an abridged version. “Perhaps the most striking example of the damage this occasioned to the integrity of Leroux’s original work came in 1999. In the preface to his 1999 Phantom sequel entitled The Phantom of Manhattan, Frederick Forsyth called Leroux’s Phantom a “slim little book” (based on the 357-page large print, Teixeira de Mattos version). Ironically, the original Phantom novel, in French, at its full 498 pages (normal-sized print), is more than twice as thick as Forsyth’s 177-page slim little sequel.” (Hérnandez u.å.). (The sarcasm of that last sentence was way to delicious to not be available on the net anymore.)

As this example indicates both Høyer and Hornborg are heavily abridged. Brems translation is the least abridged of the Scandinavian translations, but it’s still not perfect. See:

Bair: “Everyone noticed that the two outgoing managers seemed cheerful. In the provinces, this would not have appeared natural to anyone, but in Paris it was regarded as being in very good taste. No one will ever be a Parisian without learning to put a mask of joy over his sorrows and a mask of sadness, boredom, or indifference over his inner joy. If you know that one of your friends is in distress, do not try to comfort him: he will tell you that things are already looking up for him; and if has had a stroke of good luck, do not congratulate him on it: he will consider it so natural that he will be surprised that anyone should mention it. Parisians are always at a masked ball, and two men as sophisticated as Debienne and Poligny would not have made the mistake of coming into the dancers’ lounge and showing the genuine sorrow they were feeling.”

Brems: “Alle bemærkede, at de to direktører udstrålede munterhed, hvilket ingen i provinsen ville finde naturligt, men som det er god tone i Paris. Den, der ikke har lært at skjule sine bekymringer under munterhedens maske - eller omvendt vise sig tungsindig eller blasert udadtil, mens han er glad indvendig - bliver aldrig en ægte pariser. I Paris er livet et stort maskebal, og balletfoyeren er det sidste sted, hvor to posører som Debienne og Poligny ville begå den fejltagelse at vise deres sorg, hvor ægte den end måtte være.”

Carrie only mentions one cut in Bair:

Bair: “…It is commonly said of her that she is “a lovely creature. Her head sways gently…”

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…”

“Bair’s skipping over this sentence may have been an accident. Nevertheless, it keeps his translation from being a truly “Unabridged” work.” (Hernández u.å.)

ADDITION OF NEW MATERIAL
”Teixeira de Mattos [has a habit of] ”improv[ing] upon” Leroux[, that] permeates his entire translation. And even though I have to admit that in a few isolated examples of Teixeira de Mattos’ inventiveness I find myself thinking, ”I actually like that better,” my liking it better does not in any way change the fact that it is no longer what Leroux wrote, or even intended.” (Hernández u.å.)

Carrie uses the Red Death passage to show case her point.

On Erik’s Red Death costume is written "Ne me touchez pas! Je suis la Mort rouge qui passe!..." Which Carrie says literally translates to ”None of you touch me! I am the Red Death who passes!”. Because this sentence sounds awkward in English the translator are left to figure out a way to make it flow in English. TdM translates the writing on Erik’s cloak as "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad" which is a mistake because: ”"Stalking abroad" (in French: qui traque au loin) is an expression that brings to mind someone boldly walking (or hunting) either out doors or in foreign country. But in fact Leroux has stated that Red Death is passing by (qui passe) "all of you" evident from the word "touchez" which literally means, "all of you touch me". Thus, with the negation, "ne" he is saying "none of you touch me.." and from the context it is clear that he is indeed passing, literally "walking by" all the people at the party.” (Hernández u.å.)

Lofficier translates this as "Don't' touch me! I am Red Death Stalking the Land!", Brems as "Jeg er den røde død midt iblandt jer!" and Høyer as "Jer er den Røde Død, som gaar om iblandt Eder!" (both means "I am the Red Death walking among you") so apparently it wasn't that clear.

But Wolf and Bair get it right with: ”I am Red Death passing by.”

STYLE
Carrie comments on that none of the English translations have been able to capture Leroux poetic flow, and uses the Little Lotte paragraph as an example.

Leroux: ”La petite Lotte pensait à tout et ne pensait à rien. Oiseau d’été, elle plainait dans les rayons d’or du soleil, portant sur ses boucles blondes sa couronne printanière. Son âme était aussi Claire, aussi bleue que son regard. Elle câlinait sa mère, elle était fidèle à sa poupée, avait grand soin de sa robe, de ses souliers rouges et de son violon, mais elle aimait, par-dessus toutes choses, entendre en s’endormant l’Ange de la musique.”

TdM: ”Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the suns rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes. She wheedled her mother, was kind to her doll, took great care of her frock and her little red shoes and her fiddle, but most of all loved, when she went to sleep, to hear the Angel of Music.”

Bair: ”Little Lotte was thinking of everything and nothing. She floated in the golden sunlight like a summer bird, wearing a crown of flowers on her blond curls. Her soul was as clear and blue as her eyes. She was affectionate to her mother and faithful to her doll, she took good care of her violin, but what she liked most of all was to listen to the Angel of Music as she was falling asleep.”

Wolf: ”Little Lotte would think about everything and about nothing. As a summer bird, she soared in the sun’s rays, wearing a springtime crown on her blond curls. Her soul was as clear and as blue as her eyes. She was affectionate to her mother, loyal to her doll, and was very careful of her violin. But more than anything else, she loved to hear the Angel of Music as she was falling asleep.”

”Though pure poetry in the original French, this passage is rendered in fairly clunky-sounding, unimaginative English by each of the translators. I think it’s really up to the reader to decide which of these he or she prefers. Wolf gets closest to the ”poetry” of the phrase with his ”wearing a springtime crown on her blond curls…”” (Hernández u.å.)

But Wolf made the mistake of saying Little Lotte "would" think about everything. Carrie says Bair's "Little Lotte was thinking of everything" is correct. And even TdM’s "Little Lotte thought of everything" ”[I]f one reads Leroux's use of the imperfect past tense (pensait) as meaning a habitual action." (Hernández u.å.).

The Lofficiers said in an interview with Hernández that they focused on preserving Leroux’s pseudo-journalistic style. ”What I did notice prior to doing this, was that Leroux's pseudo-journalistic style (somewhat reminiscent of, say, Doctorow's Ragtime) which lends the [original] book an air of fake realism, was completely missing in T[d]M's version.” Jean-Marc told Carrie. One example of this is that they place the date of the goodbye gala at the beginning of the first chapter. Erik original mentioned that date in Box 5 ”Debienne and Poligny sent me 6575.30 francs for the first ten days of this year’s allotment, since they ceased to be managers on the evening of the tenth.” (Leroux after Bair 1990).

The Lofficiers also changed Erik’s original threat of blowing up the Opera by using the grasshopper: ”La sauterelle!… Prends garde à la sauterelle!… Ça saute!… ça saute joliment bien!…”, Wolf translates this as ”The grasshopper. Beware of the grasshopper. It’s not only the grasshopper that will hop, hop. It hops quite well.”. But the Lofficiers changed the grasshopper to a frog, ”The frog! Be careful of the frog! A frog does not only turn: it also croaks! It croaks! As we might all croak when all is said and done!”. Jean-Marc explains why in his interview with Carrie: ”In French ”sauter” means "to jump", but also (more colloquially) "to explode" or "to die". ”Il va sauter” could mean he’s going to jump, he’s going to explode or he’s going to die. To be faithful in spirit to Leroux, ideally you’d need an animal whose action/verb means both to blow up and to die. ”Grasshopper” completely fails on both counts. It jumps but does not blow up and does not kill. ”Grasshopper” completely misses Erik’s ghastly double-entendre. It is a very bad translation in my humble opinion. [On the other hand] a frog jumps (though in English we still lose the notion of jumping/exploding) but it also croaks, and there we have the double entendre, a pun [whereby] to croak=to die.”

One more change I noticed in the Lofficiers translation is that they translated "Le violon enchanté" as "The Magic Violin" when the others translated it to ”The enchanted violin”. But I think that's because Mozart's "The Magic Flute" is called "La Flûte enchantée" in French, and this chapter is named ”Le violon enchanté”. So Leroux could have been referencing to Mozart.

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS
In the foreword Leroux says that the Persian is referred to as such in ”Tout-Paris” (tout means all). Apparently "Tout-Paris" means "Parisian High Society" when the t is capital and hyphenated to Paris. But all the translator except Bair didn't pick up on it. All of them say "all of Paris" instead, except Lofficier which says ”various Parisian circles”.

DOUBLE MEANINGS
In the Red Death paragraph Leroux described Erik’s cloak ”…un immense manteau de velours rouge dont la flamme s’allongeait royalement sur le parquet…”. Bair made the mistake of interpretating "flamme" as flame, when it was supposed to mean train (as in a train from a dress or cape).

Bair: ”…an immense red cloak that spread across the floor like a sheet of flame…”

The others translated it correctly:

TdM: ”…an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a kings train…”

Wolf: ”…an immense red velvet cloak behind him, whose train spread out royally on the floor…”

Lofficier: ”…an immense red-velvet cloak, which hung from his shoulders and trailed along the floor behind him as if he was a king.”

But Carrie remarks that Bair is the one who makes these kinds of mistakes the least. ”Wolf usually gets the individual words right but slips up when a particular expression has to be translated for meaning.” (Hernández u.å.) TdM is again the worst. When Leroux writes ”Le juge l’avait pris pour un illuminé.” when referring to what Faure thought about the Persian when he tried to convince Faure he knew Erik, TdM mistranslated it to ”The magistrate took him for a visionary,”, because "illuminé" can mean both a visionary and lunatic. But within the context translating ”illuminé” as visionary makes no sense. The others did better:
Bair: ”The magistrate decided he was a lunatic,”
Wolf: ”The judge believed him to be touched in the head”
Lofficier: ”But the worthy Monsieur Faure thought he was merely a harmless lunatic.”

Brems and Høyer both translated this sentence as ”thought him a man who hallucinates”.

OTHER PROBLEMS
Also there is a bit of a continuity problem with the TdM and the Bair translation because they translate "Le Fantôme" as ”The Phantom” for the title, but calls him the ”Opera Ghost” for the rest of the book. But Wolf and Lofficier are constant in calling him ”The Phantom of the Opera”. In the Scandinavian editions he's called "Opera-Spøgelset" (The Opera Ghost) in Høyer’s translation, but the book was renamed "Operaens Hemmelighed" (The Secret of the Opera) so at least it's not a continuity mistake. Brems’ translation called him "Fantomet i Operaen" (The Phantom in the Opera" in the title, but then goes on to call him "Operafantomet" (The Phantom of the Opera" and "operaspøgelse" (The Opera Ghost) later. This begs the question what's more correct: Ghost or Phantom? But that's not the only name issue. The first three English translations and the Danish translation calls Erik the trap-door lover, but the Lofficier calls him the Trickster. Høyer on the other hand calls him ”den underjordiske Elsker" (The Underground Lover).

The Scandinavian translators also seem to have trouble translating "Intéressantes et instructives tribulations d’un Persan dans les dessous de l’Opéra Récit du Persan" and instead just call that chapter "The Persians Story".

So to sum it up, TdM, Hornborg and Høyer are heavily abridged and often mistranslates. Bair tries to balance meaning and wording. Wolf translates word for word, which sometimes makes his version further from what Leroux actually meant. Lofficier has the best flow and style, but since it focus is on style can stray pretty far from the wording. Brems is, at this time, no doubt the best alternative for Scandinavian readers who don’t speak French.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

For identification and comparing.

Avant-propos : Où l’auteur de ce singulier ouvrage raconte au lecteur comment il fut conduit à acquérir la certitude que le fantôme de l’Opéra a réellement existé
TdM: Prologue : In which the author of this singular work informs the reader how he acquired the certainty that the opera ghost really existed
Bair: Foreword : In which the author of this singular work tells the reader how he was led to become certain that the opera ghost really existed
Wolf: Preface : in which the author of this singular work tells the reader how it was that he became persuaded that the phantom of the opera really exited
Lofficier: Foreword : In which the author of this peculiar work tells the reader how he acquired the certainty that the phantom of the opera really exited
Høyer: Indledning : i hvilken forfatteren til dette mærkelige værk fortæller læseren, hvorledes han fik vished for, at spøgelset i pariser-operaen virkelig eksisterede
Hornborg: Inledning : I vilken författaren av detta unika verk talar om för läsaren hur han blev säker på att operaspöket faktiskt existerade
Brems: Prolog : Hvor forfatteren til dette enestående værk fortæller læseren, hvordan han nåede til vished om, at fantomet i operaen virkelig eksisterede

1. Est-ce le fantôme?
TdM: 1. Is it the ghost?
Bair: 1. Was it the ghost?
Wolf: 1. It it the phantom?
Lofficier: 1. It it the phantom?
Høyer: 1. Er det spøgelset?
Hornborg: 1. Är det spöket?
Brems: 1.Er det fantomet?

2. La Marguerite nouvelle
TdM: 2. The new Marguerite
Bair: 2. The new Marguerite
Wolf: 2. The new Marguerite
Lofficier: 2. The new Marguerite
Høyer: 2. Den ny Margrete
Hornborg: 2. Den nya Margareta
Brems: 2. Den ny Margarete

3. Oú, pour la premiére fois, med mer. Debienne et Poligny donnent, en secret, aux nouveaux directeurs de l‘Opéra, MM. Armand Moncharmin et Firmin Richard, la veritable et mystérieuse raison de leur depart de l‘Académie nationale de musique
TdM: 3. The mysterious reason
Bair: 3. In which, for the first time, Debienne and Poligny secretly give the new managers of the opera, Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard, the real and mysterious reason for their departure from the national academy of music
Wolf: 3.In which, for the first time, Messrs. Debienne and Poligny secretly tell the new directtors of the opera, Messrs. Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard, the true and mysterious reason for their departure from the national academy of music
Lofficier: 3. In which Messrs. Debienne and Poligny secretly inform the new directors, Messrs. Moncharmin and Richard, of the true and mysterious reason for their resignation
Høyer: 3. I hvilket M. M. Debienne og Poligny privat gør de to nye Lejere af operaen M. Armand Moncharmin og M. Firmin Richard bekendt med den sande og mystiske grund til, at de selv trækker sig tilbage fra operaen
Hornborg: 3. Varför direktörerna avgick
Brems: 3. Hvor Debienne og Poligny i al hemmelighed betror de to nye direktører for operaen den sandfærdige og mystiske grund til, at de selv trækker sig tilbage

4. La loge nº 5
TdM: 4. Box Five
Bair: 4. Box Five
Wolf: 4. Box number Five
Lofficier: 4. Box No. 5
Høyer: 4. Loge 5
Hornborg: 4. Loge 5
Brems: 4. Loge Nº5

5. Suite de « la loge nº 5 »
TdM: MISSING (TdM, Høyer and Hornborg made “La loge nº 5” and “Suite de « la loge nº 5 »” to one chapter.)
Bair: 5. Continuation of Box Five
Wolf: 5. Continuation of Box Number Five
Lofficier: 5. Box No. 5 (continued)
Høyer: MISSING
Hornborg: MISSING
Brems: 5. Loge Nº5 (fortsat)

6. Le violon enchanté
TdM: 5. The enchanted violin
Bair: 6. The enchanted violin
Wolf: 6. The enchanted violin
Lofficier: 6. The magic violin
Høyer: 5. Violin-Soloen
Hornborg: 5. Den förtrollade violinen
Brems: 6. Violinsoloen

7. Un visite à la loge nº 5
TdM: 6. A visit to box five
Bair: 7. A visit to box five
Wolf: 7. A visit to box five
Lofficier: 7. A visit to box No. 5
Høyer: 6. Et besøg i loge 5
Hornborg: 6. Ett besök i loge 5
Brems: 7. Et besøg i loge Nº5

8. Oú MM. Firmin Richard et Armand Moncharmin ont l‘audace de fair représenter Faust dans une sale « maudite » et de l‘effroyable événment aui en résulta
TdM: 7. Faust and what followed
Bair: 8. In which Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin dare to have Faust performed in a “cursed” opera house, and we see the frightful consequences
Wolf: 8. 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
Lofficier: 8. In which Messrs. Richard and Moncharmin dare stage Faust in a cursed theater and the terrible events which ensued
Høyer: 7. I hvilket M. M. Richard og Moncharmin har den dristighed at give »Faust« i et teater, paa hvilket der hviler en forbandelse, og hvad følgen bliver
Hornborg: 7. Den ödesdigra föreställningen
Brems: 8. Hvor Firmin Richard og Armand Moncharmin har den dristighed at spille »Faust« i en teatersal, hvorpå der hviler en forbandelse

9. La mystérieux coupé
TdM: 8. The mysterious brougham
Bair: 9. The mysterious brougham
Wolf: 9. The mysterious brougham
Lofficier: 9. The mysterious carriage
Høyer: 8. Den mystiske landauer
Hornborg: 8. Den mystiska vagnen
Brems: 9. Den mystiske ekvipage

10. Au bal masqué
TdM: 9. At the masked ball
Bair: 10. At the masked ball
Wolf: 10. At the masked ball
Lofficier: 10. The masked ball
Høyer: 9. Paa maskeballet
Hornborg: 9. På maskeraden
Brems: 10. På maskeballet

11. Il faut oublier le nom de « de la voix d‘homme »
TdM: 10. Forget the name of the man’s voice
Bair: 11. You must forget the name of “the man’s voice”
Wolf: 11. The name of the man’s voice must be forgotten
Lofficier: 11. “You must forget the name of voice!”
Høyer: 10. Glem navnet paa den mand
Hornborg: 10. “Tänk inte på rösten!”
Brems: 11. Glem den mandstemme

12. Au-dessus des trappes
TdM: 11. Above the trap-doors
Bair: 12. Above the trapdoors
Wolf: 12. Above the trapdoors
Lofficier: 12. Above the trap-doors
Høyer: 11. Ovenover Faldlemmen
Hornborg: 11. Ovanför falluckorna
Brems: 12. Oven over faldlemmen

13. La lyre d‘Apollon
TdM: 12. Apollo’s lyre
Bair: 13. Apollo’s lyre
Wolf: 13. Apollo’s lyre
Lofficier: 13. Apollo’s lyre
Høyer: 12. Apollos lyre
Hornborg: 12. Apollons lyra
Brems: 13. Apollons lyre

14. Un coup de maître de l‘amateur de trappes
TdM: 13. A master-stroke of the trap-doorlover
Bair: 14. A master-stroke by the trap-doorlover
Wolf: 14. A trapdoor lover’s masterstroke
Lofficier: 14. The trickster’s master stroke
Høyer: 13. Den underjordiske Elsker slaar sit Hovedslag (Trapdoor lover is translated to «The underground lover»)
Hornborg: 13. En mästerlig kupp
Brems: 14. Et mesterkup af faldlemselskeren

15. Singuliére attitude d‘une epingle de nourrice
TdM: 14. The singular attitude of a safety pin
Bair: 15. The singular attitude of a safety pin
Wolf: 15. The remarkable behavior of a safety pin
Lofficier: 15. The curious incident of the safety pin
Høyer: 14. Sikkerhedsnaalen
Hornborg: 14. Säkerhetsnålen
Brems: 15. En sikkerhedsnåls sære opførsel

16. « Christine! Christine! »
TdM: 15. Christine! Christine!
Bair: 16. “Christine! Christine!”
Wolf: 16. Christine! Christine!
Lofficier: 16. “Christine! Christine!”
Høyer: 15. »Christine! Christine!«
Hornborg: 15. “Christine! Christine!”
Brems: 16. »Christine! Christine!«

17. Révélations étonnantes de Mme Giry relatives à ses relations
TdM: 16. Mme. Giry’s revelations
Bair: 17. Astonishing revelations by madameGiry, concerning her personal relations with the opera ghost
Wolf: 17. Astonishing revelations of Mme. Giry regarding personal relations with the phantom of the opera
Lofficier: 17. The amazing revelations of Madame Giry about her personal relationship with the phantom of the opera
Høyer: 16. M’me Giry fortæller forbausende ting om sit personlige forhold til opera spøgelset
Hornborg: 16. Madame Giry och spöket
Brems: 17. Madame Giry fortæller forbløffende ting om sit personlige forhold til operafantomet

18. Suite de la curieuse attitude d‘une epingle de nourrice
TdM: 17. The safety-pin again
Bair: 18. Continuation of “The singular attitude of a safety pin”
Wolf: 18. More about the remarkable behavior of a safety pin
Lofficier: 18. The curious incident of the safety pin (continued)
Høyer: 17. Historien om sikkerhedsnaalen fortsat
Hornborg: 17. Säkerhetsnålen ännu en gång
Brems: 18. Den sære sikkerhedsnål (fortsat)

19. Le commissaire de police, le vicomte et le Persan
TdM: 18. The commissary, the Viscount and the Persian
Bair: 19. The policeman, the Viscount and the Persian
Wolf: 19. The superintendent of police, the Viscount and the Persian
Lofficier: 19. The police commissary, the Viscomte and the Persian
Høyer: 18. Politikommissæren, Vicomten og Perseren
Hornborg: 18. Poliskommissarien
Brems: 19. Kommissæren, vicomten og Perseren

20. Le vicomte et le Persan
TdM: 19. The Viscount and the Persian
Bair: 20. The Viscount and the Persian
Wolf: 20. The Viscount and the Persian
Lofficier: 20. The Viscount and the Persian
Høyer: 19. Vicomten og Perseren
Hornborg: 19. Vicomten och persern
Brems: 20. Vicomte de Chagny og Perseren

21. Dans les dessous de l‘Opéra
TdM: 20. In the cellars of the opera
Bair: 21. In the cellars of the opera
Wolf: 21. In the opera’s cellars
Lofficier: 21. In the vaults of the opera
Høyer: 20. I operaens kældere
Hornborg: 20. I operans källare
Brems: 21. I operaens underverden

22. Intéressantes et linstructives tribulations d‘un Persan dans les dessous de l‘Opéra
TdM: 21. Interesting vicissitudes
Bair: 22. Interesting and instructive tribulations of a Persian in the cellars of the opera
Wolf: 22. Interesting and instructive tribulations of a Persian in the opera’s cellars
Lofficier: 22. Interesting and enlightening tribulations of a Persian in the vaults of the opera
Høyer: 21. Perserens fortælling (The Persian‘s Story)
Hornborg: 21. En persers växlande öden (A Persian’s changing faith)
Brems: 22. Perserens fortælling (The Persian‘s Story)

23. Dans la chambre des supplices
TdM: 22. In the torture chamber
Bair: 23. In the torture chamber
Wolf: 22. In the torture chambers
Lofficier: 23. Inside the torture-chamber
Høyer: 22. I torturkamret
Hornborg: 22. I tortyrkammaren
Brems: 23. I torturkammeret

24. Les supplices commencent
TdM: 23. The tortures begin
Bair: 24. The tortures begin
Wolf: 24. The tortures begin
Lofficier: 24. The tortures begin
Høyer: 23. Torturen begynder
Hornborg: 23. Tortyren börjar
Brems: 24. Torturen begynder

25. « Tonneaux! Tonneaux! Avez vous des tonneaux à vendre? »
TdM: 24. “Barrels! Barrels! Any barrells to sell?”
Bair: 25. “Barrels! Barrels! Any barrells to sell?”
Wolf: 25. “Barrels! Barrels! Have you any barrells for sale?”
Lofficier: 25. “Barrels! Barrels! Any barrels for sale?”
Høyer: 24. »Tønder! … Tønder! … Ingen tønder til salg?«
Hornborg: 24. “Tunnor! … Tunnor!”
Brems: 25. »Tønder! … Tønder! … Er der nogen tønder til salg?«

26. Faut-il tourner le scorpion? Faut-il tourner la sauterelle?
TdM: 25. The scorpion or the grasshopper : Which?
Bair: 26. The scorpion or the grasshopper?
Wolf: 26. To turn the scorpion or to turn the grasshopper
Lofficier: 26. The scorpion or the frog?
Høyer: 25. Skorpion eller græshoppe?
Hornborg: 25. Vilken skall hon vända på? (Which will she turn?)
Brems: 26. Skorpion eller græshoppe?

27. La fin des amours du fantôme
TdM: 26. The end of the ghost’s love story
Bair: 27. The end of the ghost’s love story
Wolf: 27. The phantom’s love story concluded
Lofficier: 27. The end of the phantom’s love story
Høyer: 26. Enden paa Spøgelsets Kærlighedshistorie
Hornborg: 26. “Erik är död” (Erik is dead)
Brems: 27. Enden på fantomets kærlighedshistorie

Thanks for the great post! I wish Carrie still had her website up, or at least some incarnation of it.

I, too, would like to thank you for all the work you are doing. I plan on going back and reading your posts at least several more times to get everything you say clearly in my head!

I remember Carrie's website; used to visit it all the time. I love the historical details she gave us, but as you say, it's gone and I appreciate your willingness to do all this work.

Again, many thanks!

Great work, Falluke, many thanks. I'll be revisiting and commenting in this thread once things calm down at work. Or when *I* calm down at work... Too much "work" in this post, but am too tired to clean it up.

You pinpoint and put the finger on so many of the weaknesses in the translation, I am sure this will be an eye-opener to many on this site.

Amazing work! And I'm so embarrassed that I forgot that the 23rd was the anniversary! *Hangs head in shame* thats really unforgivable.

Do you by any chance know if the original French news paper printings were abridged or edited in any way? It would be interesting to know, because if they where, then maybe thats what De Mattos wrote his translation from and not the 1910 printing... Just an idea. I always thought that might be one explanation...

I miss Carries site so much.. : ( what an awesome lady.

All the best,
Oldphan

I have French version of "The Phantom Of Opera" online, if someone like to read in origin language, here is link.

http://jydupuis.apinc.org/vents/leroux-fantome.pdf

And thanks for topic.

Thanks for all your work!

I really like this: Høyer on the other hand calls him ”den underjordiske Elsker" (The Underground Lover).

Now that's appropriate!

Jennie I think somewhere mentioned that there is a difference in French between "amour" (love) and "amours" (love affair/love affairs.) Is it possible that "The end of the Ghost's love story" in French could also read, "The end of the Ghost's love affair?"

Quote:

the french word "amours" usually doesn´t mean love, but love affairs.
For example, you also say "saison des amours", which means mating season.

Quote:

I'd forgotten about that Stefanie, thanks for bringing it up. I checked my French dictionary and had a lively lunchtime discussion with a French colleague on the definition of the word "amours". It is his opinion that the title of the chapter would translate as

"The end of the Ghost's / Phantom's love affairs/love stories." The chapter in question contains the heart-rending account of how Christine kissed him, and how their tears mingled. Erik also brings up the tragedy of the mother who could not bear to kiss him. The love story dealt with in the chapter is in some way timeless and "bigger" than something linked to just one woman or mistress. The scene with Christine symbolizes something more than just a smooch in the dark... Erik as a person is accepted and forgiven, redeemed through Love, Charity in the guise of Christine, who even carries the name of the ultimate redeemer and forgiver of sins, Christ himself. The tears can be seen as a form of baptism, cleansing from sin.

In French "amours" does mean love affairs. But not in a sordid/tawdry roll-around in the motel room sense. In the sense of passion and lust and love. Whether it be within or without marriage. In French, love is Love, with a capital letter. As I see it.

Keylie and Jennie, thanks for the French comments.

There aren't enough words in English to talk about all the kinds of love included in this chapter. Every aspect of the Greek four loves comes into the chapter at this point:

Storge - Or rather, the failure of it, when Erik's mother fails to love him in a natural and accepting way;

Eros - Erik's desire for Christine to be his "living wife;"

Philia - the brotherly love of the Persian for Erik (he is concerned about Erik's welfare; if he wasn't, he'd have just left him to rot under the Opera;)

Agape - the selfless love Christine and Erik finally show to and for each other.

ETA: Now that I think of it, each of the three "natural" loves is for Erik a failure - his mother has rejected him; Christine doesn't love him as a husband; the Persian, while concerned about him, is not able to turn him away from his destructive plans. Only agape saves him.

Interesting, the word agape comes from the Greek "to be wide open." That's a beautiful expression of the vulnerability both Erik and Christine show at that point.

Nice work!
I didn't know there were so much different translations...

@Erik99: thank you very, very much for the French version of Leroux. I'm looking about 2 years for a French translation.

LittleLotte21

A very good thread that needs a good ol' bump... besides I want some opinion... I am wanting to get either the Bair or Lofficer translation... I've read the comparison but am just wondering if there is one more faithful then the other... though Bair sounds to be it.

I'd forgotten all about this thread, thanks for bumping Aliiak.

Falluke-elskeren has done such a great job of comparing the different versions.. am going to do a copy paste into Word of the first posts in this thread, for future reference.

Indeed- I've referred to this thread several times, and spent about an hour looking through all the back-topics trying to find it.

It is amazing how many double topics there are :D.

But it's good to save it for the future... I wish Carries site was still up (though I never saw it)

Thank you for posting this! I've read this article somewhere else but for the life of me couldn't find the link again. Now the information is found again.

And now, if anyone is interested at all in which translation I'm planning on buying, I think I'm going to go with Bair's. Enough of Tdm... and even though Wolf had some particularly poetic ways of translating some lines, it strayed from the original french in many ways. Bair will be much like my Tdm version only with much more detail and will include everything.

I'm so excited! And now I'm off to ebay...

I like the Bair translation over the L'officier version. I think it flows better. Can't tell you about how faithful to the original language it is as my French is extremely limited. However, others I've discussed this with have led me to believe that it is. As always, there is usually something "lost in translation" -- just the nature of the beast.

I can't wait for the new translation to come out! I hope it doesn't stray from Leroux at all, it better be the closes to the book yet or else there's no need. It's translated by Mireille Ribiere, and it's published by Penguin books. Does anyone know when the date of publication is scheduled? I signed up for notification on Amazon but I can't go on not knowing.

Here it is on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Opera-R ... 41035935/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

[Edit]

God do I feel stupid, it says it comes out in November.
Stupid me, sorry guys, but Yeah NEW TRANSLATION AT THE END OF NOVEMBER!!!!

A new translation? That sounds...quite interesting. I'll have to add that to my wish list, as I'm a bit short of funds at the moment. Thank you for providing a link. Makes it much easier to find!

Quote:

Your welcome, HDKingsbury, I do, sometimes, enjoy making things easier for fellow phans. I got the info from Scorp's twitter, alot of intresting info coming out of there.

Check it out.

http://twitter.com/fantomedelopera

Quote:

YAY! November 26 can't come fast enough!

I read the Lofficier translation all the way through recently (to celebrate the 100th anniversary) and I noticed something interesting; they said "Punjab wire" instead of "Punjab lasso". I believe the original French is "Le fil du Pendjab", can anybody who speaks French tell us what is the most accurate translation?

Hmm..."punjab wire" makes it sound much more like some kind of a garrote.

Quote:

IMO the most accurate term would be "rope" or "cord", and NOT "wire".

The French word "fil", *can* mean "wire" but in this context it definitely does not. I base conclusion partly on the meaning of the word itself, but also on the explanation given in context of the word.

Raoul and the Persian are exploring parts of the Opera House, and the Persian finds something. "Le fil du Pendjab" that the Persian throws away in horror, and says that it may well be the "corde du pendu", that is, "the rope of the hanged man".

Leroux writes:

Le Persan se baissa et ramassa quelque chose, une sorte de fil qu’il examina une seconde et rejeta avec horreur.

« Le fil du Pendjab ! murmura-t-il.

– Qu’est-ce ? demanda Raoul.

– Ça, répondit le Persan en frissonnant, ça pourrait bien être la corde du pendu que l’on a tant cherchée !… »

So to me it's quite clear that the word "fil" refers to some kind of rope, or thin cord.

Quote:

Thanks for the clarification. I wounder why TdM went with lasso, since it (to me at least) is closely associated with cowboys and the like, but rope or cord sounds pretty unspecific.

Quote:

I don't know if the term "Punjab lasso" is used anywhere else, except in Phantom. A quick google around has given no other sources for the term, but I think someone's posted more information about it somewhere on the site.