d 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 traveled 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
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