悲惨世界｜Les Miserables

每天五分钟听经典英文故事，读绘本，磨耳朵。一块面包换来十九年牢狱，一对银烛台照亮一生的救赎之路。When Jean Valjean walked out of prison, all he had on him was a yellow passportThat paper was heavier than chainsIt told every inn, every door, every person who saw him, this man has been in prisonNineteen years ago, he had stolen a loaf of bread for his sister's starving childNineteen years later, he had become a silent, hardened man, pushed out by the worldAt night, he knocked on doors in the cold windSome drove him away, some set their dogs on himAt last, a bishop opened his door, sat him down, fed him, and gave him a clean bedJean Valjean did not trust this kindnessIn the middle of the night, he stole the bishop's silver and fledHe was soon caught by the gendarmes and brought back, the silver still on himThe bishop looked at him, but did not expose himThe bishop said the silver had been a gift all alongThen he brought out a pair of silver candlesticks and placed them in Jean Valjean's hands, as if handing him the last road forwardJean Valjean walked out clutching the silver, as if something had struck himHe did not know whom to hate, nor where to goAfter that night, the convict who had only known how to fight the world with his fists began to hide himself away, bit by bit, and live as another manYears later, a man named Madeleine appeared in a seaside townHe opened a factory, helped the poor, and became mayorPeople respected him, for he was quiet and hardworking, and because he always seemed to see the suffering others missedBut Inspector Javert kept his eyes on himJavert believed the law was as hard as stoneA criminal was a criminal, even in fine clothes, even praised by the whole town, in his bones, he was still a criminalIn that very town, Fantine was falling, step by step, into the depthsShe had left her daughter Cosette with the Thénardiers and gone to work in a factoryShe believed that if she endured, saved, and sent money home, her daughter would have food to eat and clothes to wearBut when it was discovered she had a child out of wedlock, the factory turned her outAfter that, she sold her golden hair, sold her teeth, sold everything she had left to sellShe grew thinner and thinner, her cough grew worse and worse, and still she had to believe her daughter far away was being taken care ofIn truth, Cosette was living like a little servant in the Thénardiers' dark houseShe carried water, took the scoldings, wore rags, and on winter nights hauled a bucket bigger than herself into the woodsShe did not know her mother was giving her life away for her, little by littleJean Valjean discovered Fantine's suffering at a moment already too lateHe rescued her, gave her shelter, and promised he would bring Cosette backBut just then, another poor man was mistaken for Jean Valjean and about to be sentenced for his crimesJean Valjean could go on being mayor, could go on protecting the people in his factory, could let that stranger sink in his placeHe wrestled with himself all night, then walked into the courtroom and spoke his nameIt was not her daughter who came to Fantine, but the footsteps of JavertShe heard that Jean Valjean was to be arrested again, heard hope shatter beside her bedWhen she died, Cosette was still far away, her hands cracked with cold, her eyes without a single grown-up's true loveJean Valjean did not forget his promiseHe escaped his pursuers and found Cosette on Christmas EveThe child was dragging a water bucket back from the woods, her small body swallowed by the darkJean Valjean walked over and took the handle in his handsFrom that moment on, Cosette had a hand she could hold ontoHe took her away from the Thénardiers, then hid with her in Paris, hid in a conventFor many years, he dared not make too much noise, dared not stand in too bright a placeHe poured all his tenderness into CosetteWhen she grew a little taller, he felt a quiet joyWhen she glanced a little longer at the world outside, he feared the day would come when he could not keep herCosette grew upIn a garden, she met MariusThe two young souls only saw each other from a distance, missed each other again and again, yet their hearts had already crossed the garden wallJean Valjean saw the change in Cosette's eyesHe understood for the first time that the child he had saved could not belong forever to his loneliness aloneLove had given him a life, and now it was beginning to push him toward lossThe streets of Paris grew restlessYoung men gathered, talking of the suffering of the poor, of the republic, of the uprising about to igniteMarius too went to the barricadeBelieving he had lost Cosette, he gave his life to a battle that had almost no hope of winningWhen Jean Valjean heard the news, he too went to the barricadeHe did not come for any flagHe only knew that the man Cosette loved was thereCannon fire, smoke, rubble, blood, the night pressed down lowOne by one, the young men on the barricade fellThe boy Gavroche gathered bullets under the gunfire, as if picking up scraps of hope from the ruins, until he too lay still in the streetJavert was captured by the rebels and handed over to Jean ValjeanThe man who had hunted him all his life now stood before him, waiting to dieJean Valjean led him to a quiet corner, but did not fireHe cut the ropes and let him goJavert could not understandThe law told him Jean Valjean should be arrestedEverything unfolding before his eyes told him this criminal had saved a man, forgiven his enemy, and was carrying a young man's life through the darknessAfter the barricade fell, Jean Valjean lifted the wounded Marius onto his back and disappeared into the sewers of ParisAbove was gunfire, below was sewage, mud, and an endless blackHe pressed on, step by step, as if carrying the whole weight of Cosette's futureAt last, he carried Marius out of the darknessJavert was waiting thereBut this time, Javert did not lock him up at onceThe man who had believed in nothing but the iron law all his life was cornered by Jean Valjean's goodness, with nowhere left to goDeep in the night, he walked to the river and threw himself inMarius survived and married CosetteOn the wedding day, Jean Valjean stood beside the happiness, yet stood outside itHe told Marius about his past, that he was a convict, and then he left of his own accordHe believed this was how to protect CosetteSo he stopped visiting her as oftenThe room grew colder, his steps grew slowerThe old man who had once carried a man through the sewers was left in the end with only a chair, a candle's light, and a heart too afraid to ask for loveUntil at last Marius learned that the man who had saved him was Jean ValjeanHe rushed with Cosette to the old man's sideJean Valjean saw Cosette coming, as if from a great distance he saw that small hand againThe bishop's silver candlesticks glowed beside himThat light had traveled from a night many years ago to this very moment, shining past bread and chains and courtrooms and barricades and sewers, and now it fell upon a man's face at the endHe took no wealth with him, and no fameHe had only placed Cosette into the hands of the one she loved, repaid what he owed where he could, and little by little saved himself from hateThe candlelight burned quietlyJean Valjean closed his eyes, and at last, he stopped running前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动