accident. He fell very awkwardly … but simply and naturally … into the lake! …”
“You lie!” shouted the Persian.
Erik bowed his head and said:
“I have not come here … to talk about Count Philippe … but to tell you that … I am going … to die. …”
“Where are Raoul de Chagny and Christine Daaé?”
“I am going to die. …”
“Raoul de Chagny and Christine Daaé?”
“Of love … daroga … I am dying … of love. … That is how it is. … I loved her so! … And I love her still … daroga … and I am dying of love for her, I … I tell you! … If you knew how beautiful she was … when she let me kiss her … alive. … It was the first … time, daroga, the first … time I ever kissed a woman. … Yes, alive. … I kissed her alive … and she looked as beautiful as if she had been dead! …”
The Persian shook Erik by the arm:
“Will you tell me if she is alive or dead.”
“Why do you shake me like that?” asked Erik, making an effort to speak more connectedly. “I tell you that I am going to die. … Yes, I kissed her alive. …”
“And now she is dead?”
“I tell you I kissed her just like that, on her forehead … and she did not draw back her forehead from my lips! … Oh, she is a good girl! … As to her being dead, I don’t think so; but it has nothing to do with me. … No,