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Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Karen. She was sweet and pretty, but her family was poor. In the summer, she went barefoot, and in the winter, she had to wear big wooden clogs that chafed and stained her ankles red.
In the village where Karen lived, there was an old lady whom everyone called Mother Shoemaker. She was kind and one day sewed a pair of shoes for Karen – made from old red fabric scraps. The shoes were a bit clumsy, but they were made with love.
Karen received them on the same day her mother died, and she wore them to the funeral. They didn’t suit such a sad day, but they were the only shoes she had.
That very day, a rich old lady passed by and saw Karen. She thought Karen looked sweet and offered to take her in. Karen felt it was the red shoes that had brought her luck.
But the old lady thought the shoes were ugly and burned them. She gave Karen beautiful new dresses and taught her to read and write. Karen grew up to be very beautiful – and when she looked in the mirror, she thought she looked even more beautiful.
One day she saw a real princess wearing elegant red shoes. Karen never forgot the sight.
When she was to be confirmed, she got new clothes and was also to choose new shoes. In the shoe store, she spotted a pair of fine red shoes – just like the princess’s! Even though the old lady said no, Karen chose to buy them.
At the confirmation, she wore the red shoes, and everyone in the church stared at them. Karen could hardly think about anything other than how beautiful they were.
But the shoes were magical. They began to dance on their own – and Karen couldn’t stop.
An old soldier without a beard said to her, “What lovely dancing shoes!” And suddenly Karen danced out of the church, out of the town, and deep into the forest. She danced night and day, in rain and sun, and couldn’t make her feet stop.
Karen grew scared and tired. She went to a woodcutter – a man who usually chopped trees and large branches with an axe. Karen begged him to chop off the shoes from her feet.
He did as she asked. He chopped off her feet – and the shoes danced on into the forest, still with her feet inside them.
Karen got wooden feet and tried to go on with her life. She sought peace in the church, but every time she tried to go in, it felt as if the red shoes were still dancing and keeping her out.
She found work with a kind pastor and his family. There, she learned to be quiet, helpful, and humble. She prayed and read hymns, and people thought she had become a good and loving girl.
But the thought of the red shoes never quite let her go.
When Karen grew old and lay on her deathbed, an angel came to her – the same angel she had once seen in the church. But this time, he had no sword. He held a beautiful branch with roses.
He showed her a vision of a church where the doors stood open, and everyone was smiling at her. Karen closed her eyes, and her soul flew up to heaven – a place where no red shoes could dance anymore, and where no one was judged for their mistakes.
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