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 waiting
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]
Let me eat my fill
I have my lying share
The silver in my hand cost twice what I had earned
In all those 19 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 here 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!