The Phantom of the Opera

Suddenly, two monstrous arms issued from the bosom of the waters and

seized me by the neck, dragging me down to the depths with irresistible

force. I should certainly have been lost, if I had not had time to

give a cry by which Erik knew me. For it was he; and, instead of

drowning me, as was certainly his first intention, he swam with me and

laid me gently on the bank: "How imprudent you are!" he said, as he stood before me, dripping with

water. "Why try to enter my house? I never invited you! I don't want

you there, nor anybody! Did you save my life only to make it

unbearable to me? However great the service you rendered him, Erik may

end by forgetting it; and you know that nothing can restrain Erik, not

even Erik himself."

He spoke, but I had now no other wish than to know what I already

called the trick of the siren. He satisfied my curiosity, for Erik,

who is a real monster--I have seen him at work in Persia, alas--is

also, in certain respects, a regular child, vain and self-conceited,

and there is nothing he loves so much, after astonishing people, as to

prove all the really miraculous ingenuity of his mind.

He laughed and showed me a long reed.

"It's the silliest trick you ever saw," he said, "but it's very useful

for breathing and singing in the water. I learned it from the Tonkin

pirates, who are able to remain hidden for hours in the beds of the

rivers."[1] I spoke to him severely.

"It's a trick that nearly killed me!" I said. "And it may have been

fatal to others! You know what you promised me, Erik? No more

murders!"

"Have I really committed murders?" he asked, putting on his most

amiable air.

"Wretched man!" I cried. "Have you forgotten the rosy hours of

Mazenderan?"

"Yes," he replied, in a sadder tone, "I prefer to forget them. I used

to make the little sultana laugh, though!"

"All that belongs to the past," I declared; "but there is the present

... and you are responsible to me for the present, because, if I had

wished, there would have been none at all for you. Remember that,

Erik: I saved your life!"

And I took advantage of the turn of conversation to speak to him of

something that had long been on my mind: "Erik," I asked, "Erik, swear that ..."