ng-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