12 - The Red Shoes - Hans Christian Andersen
A poor girl named Karen is orphaned when her mother dies. A shoemaker takes pity on her and makes her some red shoes, which she loves because they seem so fancy and because (she believes) they get a rich old lady to notice her. The rich old lady takes Karen in and throws away her now ratty red shoes. When it's time for Karen's confirmation in the church, the old lady buys her new shoes, which are also red. This is just a coincidence; the old lady's eyesight is going, so she can't actually tell what color they are. Karen wears the new red shoes to the confirmation, but she's so busy thinking about how pretty she looks in her red shoes that she doesn't pay any attention to what the bishop says. The old lady hears about how Karen was wearing red shoes and scolds her. Apparently, it's improper to wear red shoes to church. Still, Karen wears her red shoes the next time they go to church. Outside the door, an old soldier praises her pretty shoes, calling them dancing shoes. As soon as they leave the church, the old soldier again remarks on her pretty little dancing shoes—and Karen starts dancing uncontrollably. She dances through the woods until she reaches a church. An angel appears to her saying that she will dance until she dies, and she will visit all the houses so that children will be terrified of her fate. But wait! Karen dances until she reaches the house of the executioner, whom she begs to chop off her feet. He does. She repents of her sins, works for a minister, and prays to be able to enter a church again (because every time she tries, the shoes appear and block her way). God sends a vision of the church to her, and she's so happy that she dies and goes to heaven. Summary Source [https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/hans-christian-andersen/summary/tales-31-40]
Music by Olexy [https://pixabay.com/music/acoustic-group-morning-garden-acoustic-chill-15013/] on pixabay
Follow along or Read the full story with me. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1597/1597-h/1597-h.htm#link2H_4_0018]
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