(1845)
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
