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0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
