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 passport That paper was heavier than chains It told every inn, every door, every person who saw him, this man has been in prison Nineteen years ago, he had stolen a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child Nineteen years later, he had become a silent, hardened man, pushed out by the world At night, he knocked on doors in the cold wind Some drove him away, some set their dogs on him At last, a bishop opened his door, sat him down, fed him, and gave him a clean bed Jean Valjean did not trust this kindness In the middle of the night, he stole the bishop's silver and fled He was soon caught by the gendarmes and brought back, the silver still on him The bishop looked at him, but did not expose him The bishop said the silver had been a gift all along Then he brought out a pair of silver candlesticks and placed them in Jean Valjean's hands, as if handing him the last road forward Jean Valjean walked out clutching the silver, as if something had struck him He did not know whom to hate, nor where to go After 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 man Years later, a man named Madeleine appeared in a seaside town He opened a factory, helped the poor, and became mayor People respected him, for he was quiet and hardworking, and because he always seemed to see the suffering others missed But Inspector Javert kept his eyes on him Javert believed the law was as hard as stone A criminal was a criminal, even in fine clothes, even praised by the whole town, in his bones, he was still a criminal In that very town, Fantine was falling, step by step, into the depths She had left her daughter Cosette with the Thénardiers and gone to work in a factory She believed that if she endured, saved, and sent money home, her daughter would have food to eat and clothes to wear But when it was discovered she had a child out of wedlock, the factory turned her out After that, she sold her golden hair, sold her teeth, sold everything she had left to sell She grew thinner and thinner, her cough grew worse and worse, and still she had to believe her daughter far away was being taken care of In truth, Cosette was living like a little servant in the Thénardiers' dark house She carried water, took the scoldings, wore rags, and on winter nights hauled a bucket bigger than herself into the woods She did not know her mother was giving her life away for her, little by little Jean Valjean discovered Fantine's suffering at a moment already too late He rescued her, gave her shelter, and promised he would bring Cosette back But just then, another poor man was mistaken for Jean Valjean and about to be sentenced for his crimes Jean Valjean could go on being mayor, could go on protecting the people in his factory, could let that stranger sink in his place He wrestled with himself all night, then walked into the courtroom and spoke his name It was not her daughter who came to Fantine, but the footsteps of Javert She heard that Jean Valjean was to be arrested again, heard hope shatter beside her bed When she died, Cosette was still far away, her hands cracked with cold, her eyes without a single grown-up's true love Jean Valjean did not forget his promise He escaped his pursuers and found Cosette on Christmas Eve The child was dragging a water bucket back from the woods, her small body swallowed by the dark Jean Valjean walked over and took the handle in his hands From that moment on, Cosette had a hand she could hold onto He took her away from the Thénardiers, then hid with her in Paris, hid in a convent For many years, he dared not make too much noise, dared not stand in too bright a place He poured all his tenderness into Cosette When she grew a little taller, he felt a quiet joy When she glanced a little longer at the world outside, he feared the day would come when he could not keep her Cosette grew up In a garden, she met Marius The two young souls only saw each other from a distance, missed each other again and again, yet their hearts had already crossed the garden wall Jean Valjean saw the change in Cosette's eyes He understood for the first time that the child he had saved could not belong forever to his loneliness alone Love had given him a life, and now it was beginning to push him toward loss The streets of Paris grew restless Young men gathered, talking of the suffering of the poor, of the republic, of the uprising about to ignite Marius too went to the barricade Believing he had lost Cosette, he gave his life to a battle that had almost no hope of winning When Jean Valjean heard the news, he too went to the barricade He did not come for any flag He only knew that the man Cosette loved was there Cannon fire, smoke, rubble, blood, the night pressed down low One by one, the young men on the barricade fell The boy Gavroche gathered bullets under the gunfire, as if picking up scraps of hope from the ruins, until he too lay still in the street Javert was captured by the rebels and handed over to Jean Valjean The man who had hunted him all his life now stood before him, waiting to die Jean Valjean led him to a quiet corner, but did not fire He cut the ropes and let him go Javert could not understand The law told him Jean Valjean should be arrested Everything 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 darkness After the barricade fell, Jean Valjean lifted the wounded Marius onto his back and disappeared into the sewers of Paris Above was gunfire, below was sewage, mud, and an endless black He pressed on, step by step, as if carrying the whole weight of Cosette's future At last, he carried Marius out of the darkness Javert was waiting there But this time, Javert did not lock him up at once The man who had believed in nothing but the iron law all his life was cornered by Jean Valjean's goodness, with nowhere left to go Deep in the night, he walked to the river and threw himself in Marius survived and married Cosette On the wedding day, Jean Valjean stood beside the happiness, yet stood outside it He told Marius about his past, that he was a convict, and then he left of his own accord He believed this was how to protect Cosette So he stopped visiting her as often The room grew colder, his steps grew slower The 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 love Until at last Marius learned that the man who had saved him was Jean Valjean He rushed with Cosette to the old man's side Jean Valjean saw Cosette coming, as if from a great distance he saw that small hand again The bishop's silver candlesticks glowed beside him That 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 end He took no wealth with him, and no fame He 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 hate The candlelight burned quietly Jean Valjean closed his eyes, and at last, he stopped running 前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动