[The docks. Sailors, whores and their customers, pimps, etc. Fantine wanders in]
[SAILOR ONE]
I smell women
Smell ’em in the air
Think I’ll drop my anchor
In that harbor over there
[SAILOR TWO]
Lovely ladies
Smell ’em through the smoke
Seven days at sea
Can make you hungry for a poke
[SAILOR THREE]
Even stokers need a little stoke!
[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies
Waiting for a bite
Waiting for the customers
Who only come at night
Lovely ladies
Ready for the call
Standing up or lying down
Or any way at all
Bargain prices up against the wall
[OLD WOMAN]
Come here, my dear
Let’s see this trinket you wear
This bagatelle…
[FANTINE]
Madame, I’ll sell it to you…
[OLD WOMAN]
I’ll give you four
[FANTINE]
That wouldn’t pay for the chain!
[OLD WOMAN]
I’ll give you five. You’re far to eager to sell.
It’s up to you.
[FANTINE]
It’s all I have
[OLD WOMAN]
That’s not my fault
[FANTINE]
[OLD WOMAN]
No more than five
My dear, we all must stay alive!
[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies
Waiting in the dark
Ready for a thick one
Or a quick one in the park
[WHORE ONE]
Long time short time
Any time, my dear
Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!
[ALL]
Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!
[CRONE]
What pretty hair!
What pretty locks you got there
What luck you got. It’s worth a centime, my dear
I’ll take the lot
[FANTINE]
Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!
[CRONE]
Let’s make a price.
I’ll give you all of ten francs,
Just think of that!
[FANTINE]
It pays a debt
[CRONE]
Just think of that
[FANTINE]
What can I do? It pays a debt.
Ten francs may save my poor Cosette!
[SAILOR THREE]
Lovely lady!
Fastest on the street
Wasn’t there three minutes
She was back up on her feet
[SAILOR ONE]
Lovely lady!
What yer waiting for?
Doesn’t take a lot of savvy
Just to be a whore
Come on, lady
What’s a lady for?
[Fantine re-emerges, her long hair cut short]
[PIMP]
Give me the dirt, who’s that bit over there?
[WHORE ONE]
A bit of skirt. She’s the one sold her hair.
[WHORE TWO]
She’s got a kid. Sends her all that she can
[PIMP]
I might have known
There is always some man
Lovely lady, come along and join us!
Lovely lady!
[WHORE ONE]
Come on dearie, why all the fuss?
You’re no grander than the rest of us
Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap
Join your sisters
[WHORE TWO]
Make money in your sleep!
[Fantine goes off with one of the sailors]
[WHORE ONE]
That’s right dearie, let him have the lot
[WHORE THREE]
That’s right dearie, show him what you’ve got!
[WOMEN]
Old men, young men, take ’em as they come
Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum
Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land
See them with their trousers off they’re never quite as grand
All it takes is money in your hand!
Lovely ladies
Going for a song
Got a lot of callers
But they never stay for long
[FANTINE]
Come on, Captain,
you can wear your shoes
Don’t it make a change
To have a girl who can’t refuse
Easy money
Lying on a bed
Just as well they never see
The hate that’s in your head
Don’t they know they’re making love
To one already dead!
[BAMATABOIS]
Here’s something new. I think I’ll give it a try.
Come closer you! I like to see what I buy…
The usual price, for just a slice of your pie
[FANTINE]
I don’t want you. No, no, m’sieur, let me go.
[BAMATABOIS]
Is this a trick? I won’t pay more!
[FANTINE]
No, not at all.
[BAMATABOIS]
You’ve got some nerve, you little whore
You’ve got some gall.
It’s the same with a tart as it is with a grocer
The customer sees what he gets in advance
It’s not for the whore to say `yes sir’ or `no sir’
It’s not for the harlot to pick and to choose
Or lead me to a dance!
[He hits her with his stick, she claws at his face, drawing blood]
[FANTINE]
I’ll kill you, you bastard,
try any of that!
Even a whore who has gone to the bad
Won’t be had by a rat!
[BAMATABOIS]
By Christ you’ll pay for what you’ve done
This rat will make you bleed, you’ll see!
I guarantee, I’ll make you suffer
For this disturbance of the peace
For this insult to life and property!
[FANTINE]
I beg you, don’t report me sir
I’ll do whatever you may want
[BAMATABOIS]
Make your excuse to the police!
[Javert enters, accompanied by constables]
[JAVERT]
Tell me quickly what’s the story
Who saw what and why and where
Let him give a full description
Let him answer to Javert!
In this nest of whores and vipers
Let one speak who saw it all
Who laid hands on this good man here?
What’s the substance of this brawl?
[BAMATABOIS]
Javert, would you believe it
I was crossing from the park
When this prostitute attacked me
You can see she left her mark
[JAVERT]
She will answer for her actions
When you make a full report
You may rest assured, M’sieur,
That she will answer to the court.
[FANTINE]
There’s a child who sorely needs me
Please M’sieur, she’s but that high
Holy God, is there no mercy?
If I go to jail she’ll die!
[JAVERT]
I have heard such protestations
Every day for twenty years
Let’s have no more explanations
Save your breath and save your tears
`Honest work, just reward,
That’s the way to please the Lord.’
[Fantine gives a last despairing cry as she is arrested by the constables.
Valjean emerges from the crowd]
[VALJEAN]
A moment of your time, Javert
I do believe this woman’s tale
[JAVERT]
[VALJEAN]
You’ve done your duty, let her be
She needs a doctor, not a jail.
[JAVERT]
But M’sieur Mayor!
[FANTINE]
Can this be?
[VALJEAN]
Where will she end –
This child without a friend?
I’ve seen your face before
Show me some way to help you
How have you come to grief
In a place such as this?
[FANTINE]
M’sieur, don’t mock me now, I pray
It’s hard enough I’ve lost my pride
You let your foreman send me away
Yes, you were there, and turned aside
I never did no wrong
[VALJEAN]
Is it true, what I have done?
[FANTINE]
My daughter’s close to dying…
[VALJEAN]
To an innocent soul?
[FANTINE]
If there’s a God above
[VALJEAN]
Had I only known then…
[FANTINE]
He’d let me die instead
[VALJEAN]
In His name my task has just begun
I will see it done!
[JAVERT]
But M’sieur Mayor!
[VALJEAN]
I will see it done!
[JAVERT]
But M’sieur Mayor!
[VALJEAN]
I will see it done!
[VOICES]
Look out! It’s a runaway cart!
[A man is trapped under a cart. Valjean (Monsieur Mayor) saves the man]
[JAVERT]
Can this be true?
I don’t believe what I see
A man your age
To be as strong as you are
A memory stirs
You make me think of a man
From years ago
A man who broke his parole
He disappeared
Forgive me sir I would not dare.
[VALJEAN]
Say what you must
Don’t leave it there
[JAVERT]
I have only known one other
Who can do what you have done
He’s a convict from the chain gang
He’s been ten years on the run
But he couldn’t run forever
We have found his hideaway
And he’s just been rearrested
And he comes to court today
Well of course he now denies it
You’d expect that of a con
But he couldn’t run forever
No not even Jean Valjean
[VALJEAN]
You say this man denies it all
With no sign of understanding or repentance
And that’s he’s sure to be returned
To serve his sentence?
Come to that, can you be sure
That you have got your man?
I have known the thief for ages
Tracked him down through thick and thin
And to make the matter certain
There’s the brand upon his skin
He will bend, he will break
This time there is no mistake!
[Javert Leaves]
