Chapter 86
The Red ShoesONCE 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 carria
