[SAILOR ONE]
I smell women
Smell 'em in the air
Think I'll drop my anchor
In that harbor over there

[SAILOR TWO]
Lovely ladies
Smell 'em through the smoke
Seven days at sea
Can make you hungry for a poke

[SAILOR THREE]
Even stokers need a little stoke!

[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies
Waiting for a bite
Waiting for the customers
Who only come at night
Lovely ladies
Ready for the call
Standing up or lying down
Or any way at all
Bargain prices up against the wall

[OLD WOMAN]
Come here, my dear
Let's see this trinket you wear
This bagatelle...

[FANTINE]
Madame, I'll sell it to you...

[OLD WOMAN]
I'll give you four

[FANTINE]
That wouldn't pay for the chain!

[OLD WOMAN]
I'll give you five. You're far to eager to sell.
It's up to you.

[FANTINE]
It's all I have

[OLD WOMAN]
That's not my fault

[FANTINE]
Please make it ten!

[OLD WOMAN]
No more than five
My dear, we all must stay alive!

[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies
Waiting in the dark
Ready for a thick one
Or a quick one in the park

[WHORE 1]
Long time short time
Any time, my dear
Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!

[ALL]
Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!

[CRONE]
What pretty hair!
What pretty locks you got there
What luck you got. It's worth a centime, my dear
I'll take the lot

[FANTINE]
Don't touch me! Leave me alone!

[CRONE]
Let's make a price.
I'll give you all of ten francs,
Just think of that!

[FANTINE]
It pays a debt

[CRONE]
Just think of that

[FANTINE]
What can I do? It pays a debt.
Ten francs may save my poor Cosette!

[SAILOR THREE]
Lovely lady!
Fastest on the street
Wasn't there three minutes
She was back up on her feet

[SAILOR ONE]
Lovely lady!
What yer waiting for?
Doesn't take a lot of savvy
Just to be a whore
Come on, lady
What's a lady for?

[Fantine re-emerges, her long hair cut short]

[PIMP]
Give me the dirt, who's that bit over there?

[WHORE ONE]
A bit of skirt. She's the one sold her hair.

[WHORE TWO]
She's got a kid. Sends her all that she can

[PIMP]
I might have known
There is always some man
Lovely lady, come along and join us!
Lovely lady!

[WHORE ONE]
Come on dearie, why all the fuss?
You're no grander than the rest of us
Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap
Join your sisters

[WHORE TWO]
Make money in your sleep!

[Fantine goes off with one of the sailors]

[WHORE ONE]
That's right dearie, let him have the lot

[WHORE THREE]
That's right dearie, show him what you've got!

[WOMEN]
Old men, young men, take 'em as they come
Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum
Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land
See them with their trousers off they're never quite as grand
All it takes is money in your hand!

Lovely ladies
Going for a song
Got a lot of callers
But they never stay for long

[FANTINE]
Come on, Captain,
you can wear your shoes
Don't it make a change
To have a girl who can't refuse
Easy money
Lying on a bed
Just as well they never see
The hate that's in your head
Don't they know they're making love
To one already dead!

[VALJEAN]
He thinks that man is me
He knew him at a glance!
That stranger he has found
This man could be my chance!

Why should I save his hide?
Why should I right this wrong
When I have come so far
And struggled for so long?

If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!

I am the master of hundreds of workers.
They all look to me.
How can I abandon them?
How would they live
If I am not free?

If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!

Who am I?
Can I condemn this man to slavery
Pretend I do not feel his agony
This innocent who bears my face
Who goes to judgement in my place
Who am I?
Can I conceal myself for evermore?
Pretend I'm not the man I was before?
And must my name until I die
Be no more than an alibi?
Must I lie?
How can I ever face my fellow men?
How can I ever face myself again?
My soul belongs to God, I know
I made that bargain long ago
He gave me hope when hope was gone
He gave me strength to journey on

[He appears in front of the court]

Who am I? Who am I?
I am Jean Valjean!

[He unbuttons his shirt to reveal the number tattooed to his chest]

And so Javert, you see it's true
That man bears no more guilt than you!
Who am I?
24601!

[Fantine is lying in a hospital bed, deliriously dreaming of her daughter Cosette]

[FANTINE]
Cosette, it's turned so cold
Cosette, it's past your bedtime
You've played the day away
And soon it will be night.

Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading
Don't you see the evening star appearing?
Come to me, and rest against my shoulder
How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder.

Hurry near, another day is dying
Don't you hear, the winter wind is crying?
There's a darkness which comes without a warning
But I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning.

[Valjean enters]

[VALJEAN]
Oh, Fantine, our time is running out
But Fantine, I swear this on my life

[FANTINE]
Look, M'sieur, where all the children play

[VALJEAN]
Be at peace, be at peace evermore.

[FANTINE]
My Cosette...

[VALJEAN]
Shall live in my protection

[FANTINE]
Take her now

[VALJEAN]
Your child will want for nothing

[FANTINE]
Good M'sieur, you come from God in Heaven.

[VALJEAN]
And none shall ever harm Cosette
As long as I am living.

[FANTINE]
Take my hand. The night grows ever colder.

[VALJEAN]
Then I will keep you warm.

[FANTINE]
Take my child. I give her to your keeping.

[VALJEAN]
Take shelter from the storm

[FANTINE]
For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping
And tell Cosette I love her
And I'll see her when I wake...

[She dies with a smile. Javert arrives]

=============

[BAMATABOIS]
Here's something new. I think I'll give it a try.
Come closer you! I like to see what I buy...
The usual price, for just a slice of your pie

[FANTINE]
I don't want you. No, no, m'sieur, let me go.

[BAMATABOIS]
Is this a trick? I won't pay more!

[FANTINE]
No, not at all.

[BAMATABOIS]
You've got some nerve, you little whore
You've got some gall.
It's the same with a tart as it is with a grocer
The customer sees what he gets in advance
It's not for the whore to say `yes sir' or `no sir'
It's not for the harlot to pick and to choose
Or lead me to a dance!

[He hits her with his stick, she claws at his face, drawing blood]

[FANTINE]
I'll kill you, you bastard,
try any of that!
Even a whore who has gone to the bad
Won't be had by a rat!

[BAMATABOIS]
By Christ you'll pay for what you've done
This rat will make you bleed, you'll see!
I guarantee, I'll make you suffer
For this disturbance of the peace
For this insult to life and property!

[FANTINE]
I beg you, don't report me sir
I'll do whatever you may want

[BAMATABOIS]
Make your excuse to the police!

[Javert enters, accompanied by constables]

[JAVERT]
Tell me quickly what's the story
Who saw what and why and where
Let him give a full description
Let him answer to Javert!
In this nest of whores and vipers
Let one speak who saw it all
Who laid hands on this good man here?
What's the substance of this brawl?

[BAMATABOIS]
Javert, would you believe it
I was crossing from the park
When this prostitute attacked me
You can see she left her mark

[JAVERT]
She will answer for her actions
When you make a full report
You may rest assured, M'sieur,
That she will answer to the court.

[FANTINE]
There's a child who sorely needs me
Please M'sieur, she's but that high
Holy God, is there no mercy?
If I go to jail she'll die!

[JAVERT]
I have heard such protestations
Every day for twenty years
Let's have no more explanations
Save your breath and save your tears
`Honest work, just reward,
That's the way to please the Lord.'

[Fantine gives a last despairing cry as she is arrested by the constables. Valjean emerges from the crowd]

[VALJEAN]
A moment of your time, Javert
I do believe this woman's tale

[JAVERT]

[VALJEAN]
You've done your duty, let her be
She needs a doctor, not a jail.

[JAVERT]
But M'sieur Mayor!

[FANTINE]
Can this be?

[VALJEAN]
Where will she end -
This child without a friend?

I've seen your face before
Show me some way to help you
How have you come to grief
In a place such as this?

[FANTINE]
M'sieur, don't mock me now, I pray
It's hard enough I've lost my pride
You let your foreman send me away
Yes, you were there, and turned aside
I never did no wrong

[VALJEAN]
Is it true, what I have done?

[FANTINE]
My daughter's close to dying...

[VALJEAN]
To an innocent soul?

[FANTINE]
If there's a God above

[VALJEAN]
Had I only known then...

[FANTINE]
He'd let me die instead

[VALJEAN]
In His name my task has just begun
I will see it done!

[JAVERT]
But M'sieur Mayor!

[VALJEAN]
I will see it done!

[JAVERT]
But M'sieur Mayor!

[VALJEAN]
I will see it done!

[VOICES]
Look out! It's a runaway cart!

[JAVERT]
Valjean, at last,
We see each other plain
`M'sieur le Mayor,'
You'll wear a different chain!

[VALJEAN]
Before you say another word, Javert
Before you chain me up like a slave again
Listen to me! There is something I must do.
This woman leaves behind a suffering child.
There is none but me who can intercede,
In Mercy's name, three days are all I need.
Then I'll return, I pledge my word.
Then I'll return...

[JAVERT]
You must think me mad!
I've hunted you across the years
A man like you can never change
A man such as you.

[VALJEAN(in counterpoint)]
Believe of me what you will
There is a duty that I'm sworn to do
You know nothing of my life
All I did was steal some bread
You know nothing of the world
You would sooner see me dead
But not before I see this justice
done
I am warning you Javert
I'm a stronger man by far
There is power in me yet
My race is not yet run
I am warning you Javert
There is nothing I won't dare
If I have to kill you here
I'll do what must be done!

[JAVERT(in counterpoint)]
Men like me can never change
Men like you can never change
No,
24601
My duty's to the law - you have no
Rights
Come with me 24601
Now the wheel has turned around
Jean Valjean is nothing now
Dare you talk to me of crime
And the price you had to pay
Every man is born in sin
Every man must choose his way
You know nothing of Javert
I was born inside a jail
I was born with scum like you
I am from the gutter too!

[Valjean breaks a chair and threatens Javert with the broken piece.
Turns to Fantine]

[VALJEAN]
[to Fantine] And this I swear to you tonight

[JAVERT]
[to Valjean] There is no place for you to hide

[VALJEAN]
Your child will live within my care

[JAVERT]
Wherever you may hide away

[VALJEAN]
And I will raise her to the light.

[VALJEAN AND JAVERT]
I swear to you, I will be there!

[They fight, Javert is knocked out. Valjean escapes]