Les Misérables Not Only The Musical
Act Ⅰ
Prologue – Work Song
（1815, Toulon, France. The chain gang, overseen by brutal warders, works in the sun.）
Chorus (Prisoners):Look down, look downDon’t look ’em in the eyeLook down, look down,You’re here until you die
1st Convict:The sun is strongIt’s hot as hell below
Chorus:Look down, look down,There’s twenty years to go
2nd Convict:I’ve done no wrong!Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!
Chorus:Look down, look down,Sweet Jesus doesn’t care
3rd Convict:I know she’ll wait,I know that she’ll be true!
Chorus:Look down, look down,They’ve all forgotten you
4th Convict:When I get free ya won’t see meHere for dust!
Chorus:Look down, look downDon’t look ’em in the eye
5th Convict:How long, oh LordBefore you let me die?
Chorus:Look down, look down,You’ll always be a slaveLook down, look down,You’re standing in your grave
Javert:Now bring me prisoner 24601Your time is upAnd your parole’s begunYou know what that means.
Valjean:Yes, it means I’m free.
Javert:No!It means you getYour yellow ticket-of-leaveYou 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 deathAnd we were starving.
Javert:You will starve againUnless you learn the meaning of the law.
Valjean:I know the meaning of those 19 yearsA slave of the law
Javert:Five years for what you didThe rest because you tried to runYes, 24601.
Valjean:My name is Jean Valjean
Javert:And I am JavertDo not forget my name!Do not forget me,24601.
Chorus:Look down, look downYou’ll always be a slaveLook down, look downYou’re standing in your grave.
Valjean:Freedom is mine. The earth is still.I feel the wind. I breathe again.And the sky clearsThe world is waking.Drink from the pool. How clean the taste.Never forget the years, the waste.Nor forgive themFor what they’ve done.They are the guilty – everyone.The day begins…And now lets seeWhat this new worldWill do for me!
（He finds work on a farm.）
Farmer:You’ll have to goI’ll pay you off for the dayCollect your bits and pieces thereAnd be on your way.
Valjean:You have given me halfWhat the other men get!This handful of tinWouldn’t buy my sweat!
Laborer:You broke the lawIt’s there for people to seeWhy should you get the sameAs honest men like me?
Valjean:Now every door is closed to meAnother jail. Another key. Another chainFor when I come to any townThey check my papersAnd they find the mark of CainIn their eyes I see their fear`We do not want you here.’
（He comes to an inn.）
Innkeeper’s Wife:My rooms are fullAnd I’ve no supper to spareI’d like to help a strangerAll we want is to be fair
Valjean:I will pay in advanceI can sleep in a barnYou see how dark it isI’m not some kind of dog!
Innkeeper:You leave my houseOr feel the weight of my rodWe’re law-abiding people hereThanks be to God.They throw him out of the inn.
Valjean:And now I know how freedom feelsThe jailer always at your heelsIt is the law!This piece of paper in my handThat makes me cursed throughout the landIt is the law!Like a curI 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 humbleWhat 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 fillI had the lion’s shareThe silver in my handCost twice what I had earnedIn all those nineteen years –That lifetime of despairAnd yet he trusted me.The old fool trusted me –He’d done his bit of goodI played the grateful serfAnd thanked him like I shouldBut when the house was still,I got up in the night.Took the silverTook my flight!
（Taking the silver cup, he runs off, but is brought back by two constables.）