Once upon
a time there was little girl, pretty and dainty. But in summer time she was
obliged to go barefooted because she was poor, and in winter she had to wear
large wooden shoes, so that her little instep grew quite red.
In the middle of the village lived an old shoemaker's wife; she sat down and
made, as well as she could, a pair of little shoes out of some old pieces of
red cloth. They were clumsy, but she meant well, for they were intended for the
little girl, whose name was Karen.
Karen received the shoes and wore them for the first time on the day of her
mother's funeral. They were certainly not suitable for mourning; but she had no
others, and so she put her bare feet into them and walked behind the humble
coffin.
Just then a large old carriage came by, and in it sat an old lady; she looked
at the little girl, and taking pity on her, said to the clergyman, "Look
here, if you will give me the little girl, I will take care of her."
Karen believed that this was all on account of the red shoes, but the old lady
thought them hideous, and so they were burnt. Karen herself was dressed very
neatly and cleanly; she was taught to read and to sew, and people said that she
was pretty. But the mirror told her, "You are more than pretty - you are
beautiful."
One day the Queen was travelling through that part of the country, and had her
little daughter, who was a princess, with her. All the people, amongst them
Karen too, streamed towards the castle, where the little princess, in fine
white clothes, stood before the window and allowed herself to be stared at. She
wore neither a train nor a golden crown, but beautiful red morocco shoes; they
were indeed much finer than those which the shoemaker's wife had sewn for
little Karen. There is really nothing in the world that can be compared to red
shoes!
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