On Parole/The Bishop

~Valjean~

Freedom is mine. The earth is still.

I feel the wind. I breathe again.

And the sky clears, the world is waking.

Drink from the pool. How clean the taste

Never forget the years, the waste.

Nor forgive them, for what they've done.

They are the guilty, everyone.

The day begins...

And now lets see

What this new world

Will do for me!

~Employer~

You'll have to go

I'll pay you off for the day

Collect your bits and pieces there

And be on your way.

~Valjean~

You've given me half

What the other men get!

This handful of tin

Wouldn't buy my sweat!

~Laborer~

You broke the law

It's there for people to see

Why should you get the same

As honest men like me?

~Valjean~

Now I know how freedom feels

The jail is always at your heels

It is the law

This piece of paper in my hand which bids me cast throughout the land

It is the law

Like a cur

I walk the streets

The dirt beneath their feet

~Bishop~

Come in sir for you are weary

And the night is cold out there

Though our lives are very humble

What 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 fill

I have the lion's share

The silver in my hand cost twice what I had earned

In all those nineteen years, that lifetime of despair

And yet he trusted me

The old fool trusted me

He'd done his bit of good

I played the grateful serf, and thanked him like I should

But when the house was still

I got up in the night

Took the silver

Took my flight!!

Taking the silver cup, he runs off, but is brought back

by two constables.

~Constable 1~

Tell his reverence your story

~Constable 2~

Let us see if he's impressed

~Constable 1~

You were lodging there last night

~Constable 2~

You were the honest Bishop's guest.

~Constable 1~

And then, out of Christian goodness

~Constable 2~

When he learned about your plight

~Constable 1~

You maintain he made a present of this silver -

~Bishop~

That is right.

But my friend you left so early

Surely something slipped your mind

You forgot I gave these also

Would you leave the best behind?

So Messieurs you may release him

For this man has spoken true

I commend you for your duty

And God's blessing go with you.

But remember this, my brother

See in this some higher plan

You must use this precious silver

To become an honest man

By the witness of the martyrs

By the Passion and the Blood

God has raised you out of darkness

I have bought your soul for God!