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Page 66
THE RED SHOES
There was once a little girl who was very pretty and delicate, but in summer
she was forced to run about with bare feet, she was so poor, and in winter
wear very large wooden shoes, which made her little insteps quite red, and
that looked so dangerous!
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker; she sat and sewed
together, as well as she could, a little pair of shoes out of old red strips
of cloth; they were very clumsy, but it was a kind thought. They were meant
for the little girl. The little girl was called Karen.
On the very day her mother was buried, Karen received the red shoes, and wore
them for the first time. They were certainly not intended for mourning, but
she had no others, and with stockingless feet she followed the poor straw
coffin in them.
Suddenly a large old carriage drove up, and a large old lady sat in it: she
looked at the little girl, felt compassion for her, and then said to the
clergyman:
"Here, give me the little girl. I will adopt her!"
And Karen believed all this happened on account of the red shoes, but the old
lady thought they were horrible, and they were burnt. But Karen herself was
cleanly and nicely dressed; she must learn to read and sew; and people said
she was a nice little thing, but the looking-glass said: "Thou art more than
nice, thou art beautiful!"
Now the queen once travelled through the land, and she had her little daughter
with her. And this little daughter was a princess, and people streamed to the
castle, and Karen was there also, and the little princess stood in her fine
white dress, in a window, and let herself be stared at; she had neither a
train nor a golden crown, but splendid red morocco shoes. They were certainly
far handsomer than those Dame Shoemaker had made for little Karen. Nothing in
the world can be compared with red shoes.
Now Karen was old enough to be confirmed; she had new clothes and was to have
new shoes also. The rich shoemaker in the city took the measure of her little
foot. This took place at his house, in his room; where stood large
glass-cases, filled with elegant shoes and brilliant boots. All this looked
charming, but the old lady could not see well, and so had no pleasure in them.
In the midst of the shoes stood a pair of red ones, just like those the
princess had worn. How beautiful they were! The shoemaker said also they had
been made for the child of a count, but had not fitted.
"That must be patent leather!" said the old lady. "They shine so!"
"Yes, they shine!" said Karen, and they fitted, and were bought, but the old
lady knew nothing about their being red, else she would never have allowed
Karen to have gone in red shoes to be confirmed. Yet such was the case.
Everybody looked at her feet; and when she stepped through the chancel door on
the church pavement, it seemed to her as if the old figures on the tombs,
those portraits of old preachers and preachers' wives, with stiff ruffs, and
long black dresses, fixed their eyes on her red shoes. And she thought only of
them as the clergyman laid his hand upon her head, and spoke of the holy
baptism, of the covenant with God, and how she should be now a matured
Christian; and the organ pealed so solemnly; the sweet children's voices sang,
and the old music-directors sang, but Karen only thought of her red shoes.
In the afternoon, the old lady heard from everyone that the shoes had been
red, and she said that it was very wrong of Karen, that it was not at all
becoming, and that in future Karen should only go in black shoes to church,
even when she should be older.
The next Sunday there was the sacrament, and Karen looked at the black shoes,
looked at the red ones--looked at them again, and put on the red shoes.
The sun shone gloriously; Karen and the old lady walked along the path through
the corn; it was rather dusty there.
At the church door stood an old soldier with a crutch, and with a wonderfully
long beard, which was more red than white, and he bowed to the ground, and
asked the old lady whether he might dust her shoes. And Karen stretched out
her little foot.
"See, what beautiful dancing shoes!" said the soldier. "Sit firm when you
dance"; and he put his hand out towards the soles.
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