[The crowd parts to reveal that the cart has crashed, trapping Monsieur Fauchelevant]

[VOICES]
Look at that!
Look at that!
It's Monsieur Fauchelevant!
Don't approach! Don't go near!
At the risk of your life!
He is caught by the wheel!
Oh, the pitiful man!
Stay away, Turn away!
There is nothing to do!
There is nothing to do!

[VALJEAN]
Is there anyone here
Who will rescue the man?
Who will help me to shoulder
The weight of the cart?

[VOICES]
Don't go near him, Mr. Mayor
The load is heavy as hell
The old man's a goner for sure
It'll kill you as well.

[Valjean attempts to lift the cart... but fails. He tries again. They manage to pull Fauchelevant clear]

[FAUCHELEVANT]
M'sieur le Mayor, I have no words
You come from God, you are a saint.

[Javert takes Valjean aside]

[JAVERT]
Can this be true?
I don't believe what I see!
A man your age
To be as strong as you are!
A mem'ry stirs...
You make me think of a man
From years ago
A man who broke his parole
He disappeared
Forgive me, Sir,
I would not dare!

[VALJEAN]
Say what you must
Don't leave it there...

[JAVERT]
I have only known one other
Who can do what you have done
He's a convict from the chain gang
He's been ten years on the run
But he couldn't run forever
We have found his hideaway
And he's just been re-arrested
And he comes to court today.
Well, of course he now denies it
You'd expect that of a `con'
But he couldn't run forever -
No, not even Jean Valjean!

[VALJEAN]
You say this man denies it all
And gives no sign of understanding or repentance?
You say this man is going to trial
And that's he's sure to be returned
To serve his sentence?
Come to that, can you be sure,
That I am not your man?

[JAVERT]
I have known the thief for ages
Tracked him down through thick and thin
And to make the matter certain
There's the brand upon his skin
He will bend, he will break
This time there is no mistake.

[Javert leaves. Valjean is alone]

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down
Don't look 'em in the eye
Look down, look down,
You're here until you die

[CONVICT ONE]
The sun is strong
It's hot as hell below

[PRISONER]
Look down, look down,
There's twenty years to go

[CONVICT TWO]
I've done no wrong!
Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!

[PRISONERS]
Look down look down,
Sweet Jesus doesn't care

[CONVICT THREE]
I know she'll wait,
I know that she'll be true!

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down,
They've all forgotten you

[CONVICT FOUR]
When I get free ya won't see me
Here for dust!

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down
Don't look 'em in the eye

[CONVICT FIVE]
How long, oh Lord
Before you let me die?

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down,
You'll always be a slave
Look down, look down,
You're standing in your grave

[JAVERT]
Now bring me prisoner 24601
Your time is up
And your parole's begun
You know what that means.

[VALJEAN]
Yes, it means I'm free.

[JAVERT]
No!
It means you get
Your yellow ticket-of-leave
You are a thief

[VALJEAN]
I stole a loaf of bread.

[JAVERT]
You robbed a house.

[VALJEAN]
I broke a window pane.
My sister's child was close to death
And we were starving.

[JAVERT]
You will starve again
Unless you learn the meaning of the law.

[VALJEAN]
I know the meaning of those 19 years
A slave of the law

[JAVERT]
Five years for what you did
The rest because you tried to run
Yes, 24601.

[VALJEAN]
My name is Jean Valjean

[JAVERT]
And I am Javert
Do not forget my name!
Do not forget me,
24601.

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down
You'll always be a slave
Look down, look down
You're standing in your grave.

[VALJEAN]
Freedom is mine. The earth is still.
I feel the wind. I breathe again.
And the sky clears
The world is waking.
Drink from the pool. How clean the taste.
Never forget the years, the waste.
Nor forgive them
For what they've done.
They are the guilty - everyone.
The day begins...
And now lets see
What this new world
Will do for me!

[He finds work on a farm]

[FARMER]
You'll have to go
I'll pay you off for the day
Collect your bits and pieces there
And be on your way.

[VALJEAN]
You have given me half
What the other men get!
This handful of tin
Wouldn't buy my sweat!

[LABORER]
You broke the law
It's there for people to see
Why should you get the same
As honest men like me?

[VALJEAN]
Now every door is closed to me
Another jail. Another key. Another chain
For when I come to any town
They check my papers
And they find the mark of Cain
In their eyes I see their fear
`We do not want you here.'

[He comes to an inn]

[INKEEPER'S WIFE]
My rooms are full
And I've no supper to spare
I'd like to help a stranger
All we want is to be fair

[VALJEAN]
I will pay in advance
I can sleep in a barn
You see how dark it is
I'm not some kind of dog!

[INNKEEPER]
You leave my house
Or feel the weight of my rod
We're law-abiding people here
Thanks be to God.

[They throw him out of the inn]

[VALJEAN]
And now I know how freedom feels
The jailer always at your heels
It is the law!
This piece of paper in my hand
That makes me cursed throughout the land
It is the law!
Like a cur
I walk the street,
The dirt beneath their feet.

[He sits down despairingly outside a house from which emerges the Bishop of Digne.]

[BISHOP]
Come in, Sir, for you are weary,
And the night is cold out there.
Though our lives are very humble
What we have, we have to share.
There is wine here to revive you.
There is bread to make you strong,
There's a bed to rest till morning,
Rest from pain, and rest from wrong.

[VALJEAN]
He let me eat my fill
I had the lion's share
The silver in my hand
Cost twice what I had earned
In all those nineteen years -
That lifetime of despair
And yet he trusted me.
The old fool trusted me -
He'd done his bit of good
I played the grateful serf
And thanked him like I should
But when the house was still,
I got up in the night.
Took the silver
Took my flight!

[Taking the silver cup, he runs off, but is brought back by two constables]