The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving

Publication date 2012-06-27
Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0Creative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobooks, short stories, fiction, horror, ghost stories, mystery, Ichabod Crane, headless horseman, folktales
LibriVox recording of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.
Read by Bob Neufeld

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820. It was based on a German folktale set in the Dutch culture of Post-Revolutionary War in New York State. With Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", it is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today. (Summary by Wikipedia).
the legend of sleepy hollow by washington irving part one this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org read by bob neufeld

the legend of sleepy hollow found among the papers of the late dedrick knickerbocker a pleasing land of drowsy head it was of dreams that wave before the half-shot eye and of gay castles in the clouds that pass forever flushing round a summer sky castle of indolence

in the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the hudson at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient dutch navigators the tappan zee and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of saint nicholas when they crossed there lies a small market town or rural ports which by some is called greensburg but which is more generally and properly known by the name of terrytown this name was given we are told in former days by the good housewives of the adjacent country from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days be that as it may i do not vouch for the fact but merely advert to it for the sake of being precise and authentic not far from this village perhaps about two miles there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills which is one of the quietest places in the whole world a small brook glides through it with just murmur enough to lull one to repose and the occasional whistle of quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility i recollect that when a stripping my first exploit in squirrel shooting was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one side of the valley i had wandered into it at noon time when old nature is peculiarly quiet and was startled by the roar of my own gun as it broke the sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes if ever i should wish for a retreat with or i might steal from the world and its distractions and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life i know of none more promising than this little valley from the listless repose of the place and the peculiar character of its inhabitants who are descendants from the original dutch settlers this sequestered glenn has long been known by the name of sleepy hollow when its rustic lads are called the sleepy hollow boys throughout all the neighboring country a drowsy dreamy influence seems to hang over the land and pervade the very atmosphere some say that the place was bewitched by a high german doctor during the early days of the settlement others that an old indian chief the prophet or wizard of his tribe held his powerhouse there before the country was discovered by master hendrik hudson certain it is the place still continues under the sway of some witching power that holds a spell over the minds of the good people causing them to walk in a continual reverie they are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs are subject to trances and visions and...

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving

Publication date 2012-06-27
Usage Public Domain Mark 1.0Creative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobooks, short stories, fiction, horror, ghost stories, mystery, Ichabod Crane, headless horseman, folktales
LibriVox recording of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.
Read by Bob Neufeld

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820. It was based on a German folktale set in the Dutch culture of Post-Revolutionary War in New York State. With Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", it is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today. (Summary by Wikipedia).
the legend of sleepy hollow by washington irving part one this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org read by bob neufeld

the legend of sleepy hollow found among the papers of the late dedrick knickerbocker a pleasing land of drowsy head it was of dreams that wave before the half-shot eye and of gay castles in the clouds that pass forever flushing round a summer sky castle of indolence

in the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the hudson at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient dutch navigators the tappan zee and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of saint nicholas when they crossed there lies a small market town or rural ports which by some is called greensburg but which is more generally and properly known by the name of terrytown this name was given we are told in former days by the good housewives of the adjacent country from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days be that as it may i do not vouch for the fact but merely advert to it for the sake of being precise and authentic not far from this village perhaps about two miles there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills which is one of the quietest places in the whole world a small brook glides through it with just murmur enough to lull one to repose and the occasional whistle of quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility i recollect that when a stripping my first exploit in squirrel shooting was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one side of the valley i had wandered into it at noon time when old nature is peculiarly quiet and was startled by the roar of my own gun as it broke the sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry echoes if ever i should wish for a retreat with or i might steal from the world and its distractions and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life i know of none more promising than this little valley from the listless repose of the place and the peculiar character of its inhabitants who are descendants from the original dutch settlers this sequestered glenn has long been known by the name of sleepy hollow when its rustic lads are called the sleepy hollow boys throughout all the neighboring country a drowsy dreamy influence seems to hang over the land and pervade the very atmosphere some say that the place was bewitched by a high german doctor during the early days of the settlement others that an old indian chief the prophet or wizard of his tribe held his powerhouse there before the country was discovered by master hendrik hudson certain it is the place still continues under the sway of some witching power that holds a spell over the minds of the good people causing them to walk in a continual reverie they are given to all kinds of marvelous beliefs are subject to trances and visions and...

The Coral Island
by R. M. Ballantyne

Publication date 2009-06-22
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics ballantyne, audio, adventure, shipwreck, pirates, south seas, librivox, audiobook, children, teens,
LibriVox recording of The Coral Island, by R. M. Ballantyne, read by Tom Weiss.

Ralph Rover is a traveler at heart, and has always dreamed of shipping out to the South Sea islands. He finally convinces his aging parents to let him go and find his way in the world. But the islands that Ralph finds are not as idyllic as his dreams. Shipwrecked on a large, uninhabited island, Ralph and his fellow survivors, Jim and Peterkin, discover a world of hostile natives and villainous pirates. Danger, high adventure, and wonders of the sea greet them at every turn. When all seems lost, they find help from an unexpected source. (Summary by Tom Weiss).

chapter 1 of the coral island this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by tom weiss the coral island by r m valentine chapter one beginning my early life and character i thirst for adventure in foreign lands and go to sea

roving has always been and still is my ruling passion the joy of my heart the very sunshine of my existence in childhood in boyhood and in man's estate i have been a rover not a mere rambler among the woody glenns and upon the hilltops of my own native land but an enthusiastic rover throughout the length and breadth of the wide wide world it was a wild black night of howling storm the night on which i was born on the foaming bosom of the broad atlantic ocean my father was a sea captain my grandfather was a sea captain my great grandfather had been a marine nobody could tell positively what occupation his father had followed but my dear mother used to assert that he had been a midshipman whose grandfather on the mother's side had been an admiral in the royal navy at any rate we knew that as far back as our family could be traced it had been intimately connected with the great watery waste indeed this was the case on both sides of the house or my mother always went to see with my father on his long voyages and so spent the greater part of her life upon the water thus it was i suppose that i came to inherit a roving disposition soon after i was born my father being old retired from a seafaring life purchased a small cottage in a fishing village on the west coast of england and settled down to spend the evening of his life on the shores of that sea which had for so many years been his home it was not long after this that i began to show the roving spirit that dwelt within me for some time passed my infant legs had been gaining strength so that i came to be dissatisfied with rubbing the skin off my chubby knees by walking on them and made many attempts to stand up and walk like a man all of which attempts however resulted in my sitting down violently and in sudden surprise one day i took advantage of my dear mother's absence to make another effort and to my joy i actually succeeded in reaching the doorstep over which i tumbled into a pool of muddy water that lay before my father's cottage door ah how vividly i remember the horror of my poor mother when she found me sweltering in the mud amongst a group of cackling ducks and the tenderness with which she stripped off my dripping clothes and washed my dirty little body from this time forth my rambles became more frequent and as i grew older more distant until at last i had wandered far and near on the shore and in the woods around our humble dwelling and did not rest content until my father bound me apprentice to a coasting vessel and let me go to sea

for some years i was happy in visiting the seaports and in coasting along the shores of my native land my christian name was ralph and my comrades added to this the name of...

The Coral Island
by R. M. Ballantyne

Publication date 2009-06-22
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics ballantyne, audio, adventure, shipwreck, pirates, south seas, librivox, audiobook, children, teens,
LibriVox recording of The Coral Island, by R. M. Ballantyne, read by Tom Weiss.

Ralph Rover is a traveler at heart, and has always dreamed of shipping out to the South Sea islands. He finally convinces his aging parents to let him go and find his way in the world. But the islands that Ralph finds are not as idyllic as his dreams. Shipwrecked on a large, uninhabited island, Ralph and his fellow survivors, Jim and Peterkin, discover a world of hostile natives and villainous pirates. Danger, high adventure, and wonders of the sea greet them at every turn. When all seems lost, they find help from an unexpected source. (Summary by Tom Weiss).

chapter 1 of the coral island this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by tom weiss the coral island by r m valentine chapter one beginning my early life and character i thirst for adventure in foreign lands and go to sea

roving has always been and still is my ruling passion the joy of my heart the very sunshine of my existence in childhood in boyhood and in man's estate i have been a rover not a mere rambler among the woody glenns and upon the hilltops of my own native land but an enthusiastic rover throughout the length and breadth of the wide wide world it was a wild black night of howling storm the night on which i was born on the foaming bosom of the broad atlantic ocean my father was a sea captain my grandfather was a sea captain my great grandfather had been a marine nobody could tell positively what occupation his father had followed but my dear mother used to assert that he had been a midshipman whose grandfather on the mother's side had been an admiral in the royal navy at any rate we knew that as far back as our family could be traced it had been intimately connected with the great watery waste indeed this was the case on both sides of the house or my mother always went to see with my father on his long voyages and so spent the greater part of her life upon the water thus it was i suppose that i came to inherit a roving disposition soon after i was born my father being old retired from a seafaring life purchased a small cottage in a fishing village on the west coast of england and settled down to spend the evening of his life on the shores of that sea which had for so many years been his home it was not long after this that i began to show the roving spirit that dwelt within me for some time passed my infant legs had been gaining strength so that i came to be dissatisfied with rubbing the skin off my chubby knees by walking on them and made many attempts to stand up and walk like a man all of which attempts however resulted in my sitting down violently and in sudden surprise one day i took advantage of my dear mother's absence to make another effort and to my joy i actually succeeded in reaching the doorstep over which i tumbled into a pool of muddy water that lay before my father's cottage door ah how vividly i remember the horror of my poor mother when she found me sweltering in the mud amongst a group of cackling ducks and the tenderness with which she stripped off my dripping clothes and washed my dirty little body from this time forth my rambles became more frequent and as i grew older more distant until at last i had wandered far and near on the shore and in the woods around our humble dwelling and did not rest content until my father bound me apprentice to a coasting vessel and let me go to sea

for some years i was happy in visiting the seaports and in coasting along the shores of my native land my christian name was ralph and my comrades added to this the name of...

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen

Publication date 2008-03-25
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobook, austen, northanger, romance, regency
Northanger Abbey follows Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Seventeen year-old Catherine spends her time visiting newly-made friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and going to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother John Thorpe (Catherine's brother James's friend from university), and by Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, because she has been reading Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, Catherine expects to be dark, ancient and full of fantastical mystery. (Summary by Wikipedia).
chapter 1 of northanger abbey this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org read by elizabeth klett houston texas february 2008 northanger abbey by jane austen chapter one advertisement by the authors to northanger abbey this little work was finished in the year 1803 and intended for immediate publication it was disposed of to a bookseller it was even advertised and why the business proceeded no farther the author has never been able to learn that any bookseller should think it worthwhile to purchase what he did not think it worthwhile to publish seems extraordinary but with this neither the author nor the public have any other concern than as some observation is necessary upon those parts of the work which 13 years have made comparatively obsolete the public are entreated to bear in mind that 13 years have passed since it was finished many more since it was begun and that during that period places manners books and opinions have undergone considerable changes

chapter one no one who had ever seen catherine morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be in heroin her situation in life the character of her father and mother her own person and disposition were all equally against her her father was a clergyman without being neglected or poor and a very respectable man though his name was richard and he had never been handsome he had a considerable independence besides two good livings and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters her mother was a woman of useful plain sense with a good temper and what is more remarkable with a good constitution she had three sons before catherine was born and instead of dying and bringing the letter into the world as anybody might expect she still lived on lived to have six children more to see them growing up around her and to enjoy excellent health herself a family of ten children will always be called a fine family where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number but the morelands had little other right to the word for they were in general very plain and catherine for many years of her life as plain as any she had a thin awkward figure a sallow skin without color dark blank hair and strong features so much for her person and not less unpropitious for heroism seemed her mind she was fond of all boys plays and greatly preferred cricket not merely to dolls but to the more heroic enjoyments of infancy nursing a dormouse feeding a canary bird or watering a rose bush indeed she had no taste for a garden and if she gathered flowers at all it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief at least so it was conjectured from her always preferring those which she was forbidden to take such were her propensities her abilities were quite as extraordinary she never could learn or understand anything before she was taught and sometimes not even...

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen

Publication date 2008-03-25
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobook, austen, northanger, romance, regency
Northanger Abbey follows Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Seventeen year-old Catherine spends her time visiting newly-made friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and going to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother John Thorpe (Catherine's brother James's friend from university), and by Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, because she has been reading Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, Catherine expects to be dark, ancient and full of fantastical mystery. (Summary by Wikipedia).
chapter 1 of northanger abbey this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org read by elizabeth klett houston texas february 2008 northanger abbey by jane austen chapter one advertisement by the authors to northanger abbey this little work was finished in the year 1803 and intended for immediate publication it was disposed of to a bookseller it was even advertised and why the business proceeded no farther the author has never been able to learn that any bookseller should think it worthwhile to purchase what he did not think it worthwhile to publish seems extraordinary but with this neither the author nor the public have any other concern than as some observation is necessary upon those parts of the work which 13 years have made comparatively obsolete the public are entreated to bear in mind that 13 years have passed since it was finished many more since it was begun and that during that period places manners books and opinions have undergone considerable changes

chapter one no one who had ever seen catherine morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be in heroin her situation in life the character of her father and mother her own person and disposition were all equally against her her father was a clergyman without being neglected or poor and a very respectable man though his name was richard and he had never been handsome he had a considerable independence besides two good livings and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters her mother was a woman of useful plain sense with a good temper and what is more remarkable with a good constitution she had three sons before catherine was born and instead of dying and bringing the letter into the world as anybody might expect she still lived on lived to have six children more to see them growing up around her and to enjoy excellent health herself a family of ten children will always be called a fine family where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number but the morelands had little other right to the word for they were in general very plain and catherine for many years of her life as plain as any she had a thin awkward figure a sallow skin without color dark blank hair and strong features so much for her person and not less unpropitious for heroism seemed her mind she was fond of all boys plays and greatly preferred cricket not merely to dolls but to the more heroic enjoyments of infancy nursing a dormouse feeding a canary bird or watering a rose bush indeed she had no taste for a garden and if she gathered flowers at all it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief at least so it was conjectured from her always preferring those which she was forbidden to take such were her propensities her abilities were quite as extraordinary she never could learn or understand anything before she was taught and sometimes not even...

Scaramouche
by Rafael Sabatini

Publication date 2007-04-27
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobook, literature, fiction, adventure
Librivox recording of Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini.

Scaramouche is a romantic adventure and tells the story of a young aristocrat during the French Revolution. His successive endeavors as a lawyer, politician, actor, lover, and buffoon lead his enemies to call him "Scaramouche" (also called Scaramuccia, a roguish character in the commedia dell'arte), but he impresses many with his elegant orations and precision swordsmanship. The later film version includes one of the longest, and many believe, best swashbuckling sword-fighting scenes ever filmed.

The novel has a memorable start (Book I: The Robe, Chapter I, 'The Republican'): "He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. And that was all his patrimony. His very paternity was obscure, although the village of Gavrillacs had long since dispelled the cloud of mystery that hung about it."
(Summary by Gord).

this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information please visit librivox.org

this recording by gordon mckenzie

scaramouche a romance of the french revolution by raphael sabatini book one chapter one the republican

he was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad and that was all his patrimony his very paternity was obscure although the village of gavriak had long since dispelled the cloud of mystery that hung about it those simple brittany folk were not so simple as to be deceived by the pretended relationship which did not even possess the virtue of originality when a nobleman for no apparent reason announces himself the godfather of an infant fetched no man knew whence and thereafter cares for the lads rearing in education the most unsophisticated of country folk perfectly understand the situation

and so the good people of gavriak permitted themselves no illusions on the score of the real relationship between andre louis moreau as the lad had been named and quentin de carcadio lord of gavriak who dwelt in the big grey house that dominated from its eminence the village clustering below

andre louis had learned his letters at the village school lodged the while with old vrabu yay the attorney who in the capacity of fiscal intendant looked after the affairs of monsieur du carcadio thereafter at the age of 15 he had been packed off to paris to the lycee of louis le grand to study the law which he was now returned to practice in conjunction with rabu yeh all this at the charges of his godfather monsieur de carcadio who by placing him once more under the tutelage of rabu yeh would seem thereby quite clearly to be making provision for his future

andre louis on his side had made the most of his opportunities you behold him at the age of 4 and 20 stuffed with learning enough to produce an intellectual indigestion in any ordinary mind out of his zestful study of man from thusey diedes to the encyclopedists from seneca to russo he had confirmed into an unassailable conviction his earliest conscious impressions of the general insanity of his own species nor can i discover that anything in his eventful life ever afterwards caused him to waver in that opinion

in body he was a slight wisp of a fellow scarcely above middle height with a lean astute countenance prominent of nose and cheekbones and with a lank black hair that reached almost to his shoulders his mouth was long thin lipped and humorous he was only just redeemed from ugliness by the splendor of a pair of everquesting luminous eyes so dark as to be almost black

of the whimsical quality of his mind and his rare gift of graceful expression his writings unfortunately but too scanty and particularly his...

Scaramouche
by Rafael Sabatini

Publication date 2007-04-27
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics librivox, audiobook, literature, fiction, adventure
Librivox recording of Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini.

Scaramouche is a romantic adventure and tells the story of a young aristocrat during the French Revolution. His successive endeavors as a lawyer, politician, actor, lover, and buffoon lead his enemies to call him "Scaramouche" (also called Scaramuccia, a roguish character in the commedia dell'arte), but he impresses many with his elegant orations and precision swordsmanship. The later film version includes one of the longest, and many believe, best swashbuckling sword-fighting scenes ever filmed.

The novel has a memorable start (Book I: The Robe, Chapter I, 'The Republican'): "He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. And that was all his patrimony. His very paternity was obscure, although the village of Gavrillacs had long since dispelled the cloud of mystery that hung about it."
(Summary by Gord).

this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information please visit librivox.org

this recording by gordon mckenzie

scaramouche a romance of the french revolution by raphael sabatini book one chapter one the republican

he was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad and that was all his patrimony his very paternity was obscure although the village of gavriak had long since dispelled the cloud of mystery that hung about it those simple brittany folk were not so simple as to be deceived by the pretended relationship which did not even possess the virtue of originality when a nobleman for no apparent reason announces himself the godfather of an infant fetched no man knew whence and thereafter cares for the lads rearing in education the most unsophisticated of country folk perfectly understand the situation

and so the good people of gavriak permitted themselves no illusions on the score of the real relationship between andre louis moreau as the lad had been named and quentin de carcadio lord of gavriak who dwelt in the big grey house that dominated from its eminence the village clustering below

andre louis had learned his letters at the village school lodged the while with old vrabu yay the attorney who in the capacity of fiscal intendant looked after the affairs of monsieur du carcadio thereafter at the age of 15 he had been packed off to paris to the lycee of louis le grand to study the law which he was now returned to practice in conjunction with rabu yeh all this at the charges of his godfather monsieur de carcadio who by placing him once more under the tutelage of rabu yeh would seem thereby quite clearly to be making provision for his future

andre louis on his side had made the most of his opportunities you behold him at the age of 4 and 20 stuffed with learning enough to produce an intellectual indigestion in any ordinary mind out of his zestful study of man from thusey diedes to the encyclopedists from seneca to russo he had confirmed into an unassailable conviction his earliest conscious impressions of the general insanity of his own species nor can i discover that anything in his eventful life ever afterwards caused him to waver in that opinion

in body he was a slight wisp of a fellow scarcely above middle height with a lean astute countenance prominent of nose and cheekbones and with a lank black hair that reached almost to his shoulders his mouth was long thin lipped and humorous he was only just redeemed from ugliness by the splendor of a pair of everquesting luminous eyes so dark as to be almost black

of the whimsical quality of his mind and his rare gift of graceful expression his writings unfortunately but too scanty and particularly his...

The Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston Leroux

Publication date 2007-05-26
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics LibriVox, literature, audiobook, leroux, phantom, mystery, adventure
LibriVox recording of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.

An old theatre under new management; a diva who thinks she can sing; a young ingenue who really can; a masked man who wreaks havoc if he doesn't get his own way. Secrets, intrigues, falling chandeliers! The Phantom of the Opera is here! (Summary by Karen Savage)
this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recorded by corey samuel the phantom of the opera by gaston leroux prologue in which the author of the singular work informs the reader how he acquired the certainty that the opera ghost really existed

the opera ghost really existed he was not as was long believed a creature of the imagination of the artists the superstition of the managers or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet their mothers the box keepers the cloak from attendance or the concierge yes he existed in flesh and blood although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom that is to say of a spectral shade

when i began to ransack the archives of the national academy of music i was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the ghost and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the paris upper classes and i soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question the events do not date more than 30 years back and it would not be difficult to find at the present day in the foyer of the ballet old men of the highest respectability men upon whose word one could absolutely rely who would remember as though they happened yesterday the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnapping of christine daye the disappearance of the compte de chagni and the death of his elder brother count philippe whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the opera on the rue screebside but none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary figure of the opera ghost with that terrible story the truth was slow to enter my mind puzzled by an inquiry that at every moment was complicated by events which at first sight might be looked upon as superhuman and more than once i was within an ace of abandoning a task in which i was exhausting myself in the hopeless pursuit of a vain image at last i received the proof that my presentments had not deceived me and i was rewarded for all my efforts on the day when i acquired the certainty that the opera ghost was more than a mere shade on that day i had spent long hours over the memoirs of a manager the light and frivolous work of the two skeptical monshamer who during his term at the opera understood nothing of the mysterious behavior of the ghost and who was making all the fun of it that he could at the very moment when he became the first victim of the curious financial operation that went on inside the magic envelope i had just left the library in despair when i met the delightful acting manager of our national academy who stood chatting on the landing with a lively and well groomed little old man to whom he introduced me daily the acting manager knew all about my investigations and how eagerly and unsuccessfully i had been trying to discover the whereabouts of the examining magistrate in the famous shagni case monsieur nobody knew what had become of him alive or dead and here he was back from canada where he had spent 15 years and the first thing he had done on his return to paris was to come to the secretarial offices at the opera and ask for...

The Phantom of the Opera
by Gaston Leroux

Publication date 2007-05-26
Usage Public DomainCreative Commons Licensepublicdomain
Topics LibriVox, literature, audiobook, leroux, phantom, mystery, adventure
LibriVox recording of The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.

An old theatre under new management; a diva who thinks she can sing; a young ingenue who really can; a masked man who wreaks havoc if he doesn't get his own way. Secrets, intrigues, falling chandeliers! The Phantom of the Opera is here! (Summary by Karen Savage)
this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recorded by corey samuel the phantom of the opera by gaston leroux prologue in which the author of the singular work informs the reader how he acquired the certainty that the opera ghost really existed

the opera ghost really existed he was not as was long believed a creature of the imagination of the artists the superstition of the managers or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet their mothers the box keepers the cloak from attendance or the concierge yes he existed in flesh and blood although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom that is to say of a spectral shade

when i began to ransack the archives of the national academy of music i was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the ghost and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the paris upper classes and i soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question the events do not date more than 30 years back and it would not be difficult to find at the present day in the foyer of the ballet old men of the highest respectability men upon whose word one could absolutely rely who would remember as though they happened yesterday the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnapping of christine daye the disappearance of the compte de chagni and the death of his elder brother count philippe whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the opera on the rue screebside but none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary figure of the opera ghost with that terrible story the truth was slow to enter my mind puzzled by an inquiry that at every moment was complicated by events which at first sight might be looked upon as superhuman and more than once i was within an ace of abandoning a task in which i was exhausting myself in the hopeless pursuit of a vain image at last i received the proof that my presentments had not deceived me and i was rewarded for all my efforts on the day when i acquired the certainty that the opera ghost was more than a mere shade on that day i had spent long hours over the memoirs of a manager the light and frivolous work of the two skeptical monshamer who during his term at the opera understood nothing of the mysterious behavior of the ghost and who was making all the fun of it that he could at the very moment when he became the first victim of the curious financial operation that went on inside the magic envelope i had just left the library in despair when i met the delightful acting manager of our national academy who stood chatting on the landing with a lively and well groomed little old man to whom he introduced me daily the acting manager knew all about my investigations and how eagerly and unsuccessfully i had been trying to discover the whereabouts of the examining magistrate in the famous shagni case monsieur nobody knew what had become of him alive or dead and here he was back from canada where he had spent 15 years and the first thing he had done on his return to paris was to come to the secretarial offices at the opera and ask for...