Chapter 1: 1796 France

It is the year 1796, and the people of France are hungry. Not the rich people, of course. They have food, the have warm clothes, they have beautiful houses. No, it is the por people of France... Jean Valjean is one of these poor people. He is a Young man, big, strong and a Good worker. But he has no...

It is the year 1796, and the people of France are hungry. Not the rich people, of course. They have food, the have warm clothes, they have beautiful houses. No, it is the por people of France... Jean Valjean is one of these poor people. He is a Young man, big, strong and a Good worker. But he has no work, he cannot find work, and he is hungry. He lives with his sister in the village of Brie. Her husband is dead and she has seven children. It is a cold hard Winter, and there is no food in the house. No bread, nothing, and seven children. Jean Valjean is a Good man, he is not a thief. But how can a man just sit there, when his sister's children cry all night because they are hungry? What can a man do? He leaves his house at night, and goes down the village Street. He puts his hand through the window of bakery. He takes a loaf of bread and he runs. He runs fast but other people run faster. France is not kind to poor people. France sends Jean Valjean to prison for five years. After four years, he escapes. They find him, and bring him back. They give him six more years. Once again he escapes and two days later, they find him. And they give him another eight years. Nineteen years in prison for a loaf of bread. In 1815, when he leaves prison, Jean Valjean is a different man. Prison changes people. Years of misery, years of back-breaking work, years of cruel prison guards. This things change a man. Once there was love in Jean Valjean's heart. Now there is only hate.