The red shoes: Chapter 1 a poor little girl.
A little girl named Karen lived with her mother. She was a small and weak looking girl. In summer, she never had any shoes because she was very poor. In winter, she had to wear a pair of heavy wooden shoes.
These shoes always made her feet hurt, but she didn't have anything else to wear. An old shoemaker in the village felt sorry for her and made a pair of red shoes for her. They weren't very good shoes, but they made her very happy.
Unfortunately, the little girl's mother died soon after. Her mother's funeral was the first time she wore her new shoes. Karen was walking behind her mother's coffin.
Just then a large carriage passed by. An old lady in the carriage saw the little girl. She immediately felt sorry for her. To the church minister she said, give her to me. I will raise and take care of her. Karen thought it was all because of the red shoes. But the old lady said, those shoes are terrible. Throw them out.
Karen went to live with the old lady. Every day she dressed and ate well. She learned many things. She became a very pretty girl. One day, the queen was traveling with her daughter.
All of the village people crowded around the nearby castle to see them. Karen was there too. Through a window, she could see the princess. She was dressed in white and wore a beautiful pair of red shoes. Then, Karen remembered her old red shoes.
Karen grew older, and it was time for her to be confirmed. She needed some new clothes and shoes for this. In a shop, Karen found some red shoes like the princesses. But she needed to wear black shoes. The old lady had very poor sight. She did not know that the shoes were red and bought them.
Karen wore them to her confirmation. Everyone was quite shocked to see her shoes. During her confirmation, Karen only thought about her pretty red shoes. Later that day, the old lady heard about the color of her shoes from a neighbor.
Karen, it was very bad of you to wear red shoes. You must always wear black shoes. She scolded.
The next sunday, Karen looked at her black shoes, and then at her red shoes. She put on her red ones. Karen and the old lady walked to church along a dusty road.
Outside the church door, there was an old soldier standing. Shall I dust your shoes for you? He asked them. Yes, please do so. They replied. The old soldier dusted them and said to Karen, what pretty dancing shoes! Be careful when you dance. Then he hit the bottom of her shoes with his hand.
After church, Karen started to get into the carriage. Just at that moment, the old soldier said to her again, what pretty dancing shoes!
When she heard that, she danced a few steps. Then something very strange happened. She couldn't stop dancing. She danced all the way around the church. The coachman grabbed her and put her in the carriage.
Her feet continued to dance in the carriage. She even kicked the old lady. At last they got the shoes off and put them away in the cupboard. But Karen loved those shoes