The Phantom of the Opera - Chapter 9: At the Masked Ball

Julie G. (United Kingdom)
Words from Gaston Leroux's novel "The Phantom of the Opera" (English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, 1911).

[The maker of this vocabulary list would like to add that although this is the best-known and most widely available English translation of Leroux's novel, it is in fact an abridged version, despite some publishers' claims to the contrary. It is, however, in the public domain, and has a very nice style to it. Personally, I recommend either Lowell Bair's or Mireille Ribiere's translations if you're looking for the full text in English.]
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stalking
    the act of following prey stealthily
    From his shoulders hung an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a king's train; and on this cloak was embroidered, in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!"
  2. funereal
    suited to or suggestive of a grave or burial
    It was at this moment that Raoul passed in front of the funereal masquerader, who had just happened to turn in his direction.
  3. cohort
    a band of warriors
    Numbers of artists had arranged to go, accompanied by a whole cohort of models and pupils, who, by midnight, began to create a tremendous din.
  4. captivating
    attracting and holding interest as if by a spell
    Whence came that strange sound, that distant rhythm?...A faint singing seemed to issue from the walls...yes, it was as though the walls themselves were singing!...The song became plainer ...the words were now distinguishable...he heard a voice, a very beautiful, very soft, very captivating voice...but, for all its softness, it remained a male voice...The voice came nearer and nearer...it came through the wall...it approached ...and now the voice was IN THE ROOM, in front of Christine.
  5. bodice
    part of a dress above the waist
    Suddenly, she raised her head and hid the sheets in her bodice....She seemed to be listening...
  6. flout
    treat with contemptuous disregard
    "You lie, madam, for you do not love me and you have never loved me! What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout me as you have done! Why did you give me every reason for hope, at Perros... for honest hope, madam, for I am an honest man and I believed...
  7. staggering
    so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm
    The boy stepped forward, staggering as he went.
  8. gruesome
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    As Raoul once more passed through the great crush-room, this time in the wake of his guide, he could not help noticing a group crowding round a person whose disguise, eccentric air and gruesome appearance were causing a sensation.
  9. imprudence
    a lack of caution in practical affairs
    The somber picture which he had for a moment imagined of a Christine forgetting her duty to herself made way for his original conception of an unfortunate, innocent child, the victim of imprudence and exaggerated sensibility.
  10. ajar
    slightly open
    Then she opened the door ajar, looked out into the corridor and, in a low voice, said:
  11. placidly
    in a quiet and tranquil manner
    Christine began to write, deliberately, calmly and so placidly that Raoul, who was still trembling from the effects of the tragedy that separated them, was painfully impressed.
  12. facetious
    cleverly amusing in tone
    Raoul climbed the grand staircase at five minutes to twelve, did not linger to look at the motley dresses displayed all the way up the marble steps, one of the richest settings in the world, allowed no facetious mask to draw him into a war of wits, replied to no jests and shook off the bold familiarity of a number of couples who had already become a trifle too gay.
  13. whirlpool
    a powerful circular current of water
    Into what whirlpool had she been dragged?
  14. distaste
    a feeling of intense dislike
    After her father's death, she acquired a distaste of everything in life, including her art.
  15. stupefied
    as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise
    He listened to it in a fever and he now began to understand how Christine Daae was able to appear one evening, before the stupefied audience, with accents of a beauty hitherto unknown, of a superhuman exaltation, while doubtless still under the influence of the mysterious and invisible master.
  16. endurable
    capable of being borne though unpleasant
    He asked himself these questions with a cruel anguish; but even this pain seemed endurable beside the frenzy into which he was thrown at the thought of a lying and deceitful Christine.
  17. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    The voice without a body went on singing; and certainly Raoul had never in his life heard anything more absolutely and heroically sweet, more gloriously insidious, more delicate, more powerful, in short, more irresistibly triumphant.
  18. disconsolate
    sad beyond comforting; incapable of being soothed
    He burst into a mad laugh, while Christine gave a disconsolate moan behind her velvet mask.
  19. masquerade
    a party of guests wearing costumes and disguises
    It was at this moment that Raoul passed in front of the funereal masquerader, who had just happened to turn in his direction.
  20. deceitful
    marked by deliberate deceptiveness
    He asked himself these questions with a cruel anguish; but even this pain seemed endurable beside the frenzy into which he was thrown at the thought of a lying and deceitful Christine.
  21. lucidity
    freedom from obscurity of expression; comprehensibility
    Struggling against the charm that seemed to deprive him of all his will and all his energy and of almost all his lucidity at the moment when he needed them most, he succeeded in drawing back the curtain that hid him and he walked to where Christine stood.
  22. paradise
    any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
    "May one ask at least to what darkness you are returning?...For what hell are you leaving, mysterious lady...or for what paradise?"
  23. wench
    a young woman
    "No, no, you have driven me mad! When I think that I had only one object in life: to give my name to an opera wench!"
  24. motley
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    Raoul climbed the grand staircase at five minutes to twelve, did not linger to look at the motley dresses displayed all the way up the marble steps, one of the richest settings in the world, allowed no facetious mask to draw him into a war of wits, replied to no jests and shook off the bold familiarity of a number of couples who had already become a trifle too gay.
  25. punctual
    acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed
    The Angel of Music!...For three months the Angel of Music had been giving Christine lessons....Ah, he was a punctual singing-master!...
  26. sensibility
    mental responsiveness and awareness
    The somber picture which he had for a moment imagined of a Christine forgetting her duty to herself made way for his original conception of an unfortunate, innocent child, the victim of imprudence and exaggerated sensibility.
  27. grudge
    a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
    His grudge against her was gone.
  28. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    From his shoulders hung an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a king's train; and on this cloak was embroidered, in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!"
  29. repel
    force or drive back
    Raoul tried to overcome the girl's resistance by force, but she repelled him with a strength which he would not have suspected in her.
  30. curse
    an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil
    He no longer knew whether to pity Christine or to curse her; and he pitied and cursed her turn and turn about.
  31. lace
    a cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks
    With his face in a mask trimmed with long, thick lace, looking like a pierrot in his white wrap, the viscount thought himself very ridiculous.
  32. revive
    cause to regain consciousness
    No more was needed to revive his hope.
  33. feather
    a light growth that makes up the covering of a bird's body
    It was a man dressed all in scarlet, with a huge hat and feathers on the top of a wonderful death's head.
  34. hitherto
    up to this point; until the present time
    He listened to it in a fever and he now began to understand how Christine Daae was able to appear one evening, before the stupefied audience, with accents of a beauty hitherto unknown, of a superhuman exaltation, while doubtless still under the influence of the mysterious and invisible master.
  35. monster
    an imaginary creature usually having human and animal parts
    What monster had carried her off and by what means?
Created on Tue Sep 15 16:07:41 EDT 2015 (updated Tue Sep 22 17:19:51 EDT 2015)

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