00:00He stole just a single loaf of bread and got sentenced to 19 years in prison.
00:04Every day he was soaked in water, doing the toughest back-breaking labor.
00:07One day he finally finished his sentence, but the warden still didn't want to let him go.
00:10Then the warden gave him an impossible task to carry a several hundred pound flagpole all by himself.
00:15Jean Valjean gritted his teeth and gave it everything he had, and then something unbelievable happened.
00:19He actually lifted the pole and walked it right up to the warden.
00:22The warden had no choice but to hand over the release papers.
00:25But Jean noticed something off.
00:26The paper clearly labeled him a dangerous man.
00:28The freedom he dreamed of had turned into parole.
00:30Now he had to check in with the police every week.
00:33Jean was furious.
00:34He'd stolen that bread to save his starving nephew and got five years for it.
00:37But the warden kept targeting him, stretching his sentence to 19.
00:40Now he was finally getting out, but still not truly free.
00:43He hated the self-righteous warden Javert with all his heart.
00:46Still he clenched his teeth and took the papers.
00:48What he didn't know was that waiting outside prison was more than just weekly check-ins,
00:52but a world even crueler than before.
00:53He searched everywhere for a job, but no one would hire a newly released dangerous man.
00:57He tried to beg for food in a small town, but the adults drove him out.
01:01Even the kids followed their lead, throwing rocks to chase him off.
01:04At night he hid in a stable, but the owner didn't want him dirtying the place and forced him out.
01:08Snow began to fall, and Jean was cold and starving.
01:11He had no choice but to curl up by a tombstone for the night.
01:13But suddenly a priest appeared before him.
01:15Turns out this wasn't a graveyard, it was the backyard of a church.
01:18The priest kindly invited him inside to escape the cold.
01:21He even gave him a hot meal and a warm bed, but Jean had already lost faith in the world.
01:25That night he stole the church's valuables and ran off.
01:28But before he could sell any of it he was caught by the police.
01:31The cops brought the stolen goods and asked the priest to confirm the theft.
01:34But the priest said it was all a gift for him.
01:36He even picked up the expensive candlesticks and said,
01:39He left in such a hurry he forgot the most valuable pieces.
01:42The police had no choice but to let him go.
01:44The priest quietly told Jean,
01:45Use this silver to become an honest and upright man.
01:48Jean was deeply moved.
01:49More than 20 years of injustice and suffering had completely destroyed his hope in the world.
01:53But the priest had pulled his soul back from the edge.
01:55He taught him the meaning of compassion.
01:57Jean decided to turn his life around.
01:59He tore up the release papers that symbolized his painful past and started a brand new life with a new
02:04identity.
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