Browse more books
Graded reader
German & English

Les Misérables

Die Elenden
Original author
Victor Hugo
Adapted by
Line by Line Publishing,

Read Les Misérables by Victor Hugo in German and English, a parallel text graded reader with audio. Available in CEFR levels A2, B1, and B2.

About this book

A man walks out of nineteen years in the galleys with a yellow passport and a heart turned to stone. He steals again, this time from the one house that took him in, a bishop's, and is dragged back by gendarmes. Then the Bishop lies to save him, presses the silver candlesticks into his hands, and sends him off with a charge to become an honest man. "It is your soul that I buy from you," the Bishop says. Les Misérables begins with that act of mercy and follows where it leads across a lifetime.

Available editions

A2
Short, concrete sentences for early learners.
34,513 sentences
B1
Longer sentences and a wider vocabulary.
34,513 sentences
B2
Complex sentences and a fuller vocabulary, close to everyday native reading.
34,513 sentences

Read a sample

I. Herr Myriel
I. M. Myriel
1

Im Jahr 1815 war Herr Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel Bischof von D⁠⸺.

In 1815, M. Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D⁠⸺.

2

Er war ein alter Mann, ungefähr 75 Jahre alt.

He was an old man, about seventy-five years old.

3

Er war seit 1806 Bischof von D⁠⸺.

He had held the position of Bishop of D⁠⸺ since 1806.

4

Dieses Detail hat nicht wirklich mit der Geschichte zu tun, die wir erzählen werden.

This detail is not really connected to the story we will tell.

5

Aber es wird trotzdem nützlich sein, bei allem genau zu sein.

But it will still be useful to be exact about everything.

6

Schauen wir uns also an, was die Leute über ihn sagten, als er zum ersten Mal in die Stadt kam.

So let’s look at what people said about him when he first came to the town.

7

Die Leute reden über eine Person.

People say things about a person.

History

  1. Written by Victor Hugo in French
  2. Adapted by Line by Line Publishing in 2026