And he should have known that a criminal with a sack of stolen silver doesn’t get far. It’s a shameful, ungrateful move born out of desperation. In spite of this great kindness, however, the marked man can’t keep himself from stealing the priest’s few silver plates and cups. A priest sees him shivering in a church doorway and invites him in for a meal, some bread, a glass of wine-luxuries Valjean never believed he’d see again. Kindness and forgiveness are but the hopes of fools.įortunately for Valjean there is one man who is willing to offer him a bit of both. In fact, he’s hounded and beaten like a mongrel wherever he goes. Papers that mark him as a former criminal so that none of the locals will offer him work or give shelter to the likes of him. Even after parole he must carry and present his papers in every town and hamlet his bare, half-frozen feet can carry him to. Valjean’s misery doesn’t end there, though. Nearly 20 years he spent in near slavery-five for simply stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child, another 14 for trying to escape his too-cruel bonds. That’s when the emaciated and hobbled Jean Valjean is finally released from his prison debts. The world can be a terrible and cruel place.
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