August 3, 2025 • 17 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There was once a little girl who was very pretty
and delicate. But in summer she was forced to run
about with her bare feet. She was so poor, and
in winter were very large wooden shoes, which made her
little in steps quite red, and that looked so dangerous.
(00:24):
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker.
She sat and sewed together as well as she could
a little pair of shoes out of old red strips
of cloth. They were very clumsy, but it was a
kind thought. They were meant for the little girl. The
(00:46):
little girl was called Karen. On the very day her
mother was buried, Karen received the red shoes and wore
them for the first time. They were certainly not intended
for mourning, but she had no other, and with stalkingless feet,
she followed the poor strock of within them. Suddenly a
(01:11):
large old carriage drove up, and a large old lady
sat in it. She looked at the little girl, felt
compassion for her, and then said to the clergyman, here
give me the little girl. I'll adopt her. And Karen
believed all this happened on account of those red shoes.
(01:34):
But the old lady thought they were horrible and they
were burned. But Karen herself was cleanly and nicely dressed.
She must learn to read and sew. And people said
she was a nicely thing, But the looking glass said,
thou art more than nice, thou art beautiful. Now the
(02:00):
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 a little princess stood in her fine white dress
in the window and let herself be stared at. She
(02:24):
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
(02:47):
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.
(03:11):
All this looked charming, but the old lady could not
see where, so had no pleasure in them. In the
midst of those shoes stood a pair of red shoes,
just like those the princess had worn. How beautiful they were,
(03:31):
the shoemaker said. Also they had been made for the
child of Account, but had not fitted. That must be
a patent lay there, said the old lady. They shine,
So yes, they shine, said Karen. And they fitted and
(03:51):
were bought. But the old lady knew nothing about their
being read, 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,
(04:14):
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
(04:38):
spoke of the holy baptism of the Covenant with God,
and how she would be now a matured Christian, and
the organ peeled so solemnly, the sweet children's voices sang,
and the old music directors sang. But Karen only thought
(04:59):
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
(05:22):
when she should be older. The next Saturday, 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 shoes. The sun shone gloriously. Karen and
(05:43):
the old lady walked along the path through the corner.
It was rather dusty. There at the church door stood
an old soldier with a crouch and with a wonderfully
long beard which was more red than and he bowed
to the ground and asked the old lady whether he
(06:05):
might dust her shoes. And Karen stretched out her little foot,
say what beautiful dancing shoes. Said the soldier sit form
when you dance, and put his hand out towards the soles.
(06:27):
And the old lady gave the old soldier arms and
went into the church with Karen. And all the people
in the church looked at Karen's shoes and all the
pictures and as Karen knelt before the altar and raised
the cup to her lips, she only thought of the
(06:48):
red shoes, and they seemed to swim in it, and
she forgot to sing her song, and she forgot to
pray our father in heaven. Now all the people went
out of church, and the old lady got into her carriage.
Karen raised her foot to get in after her, when
(07:11):
the old soldier said, look what beautiful dancing shoes. And
Karen could not help dancing a step or two. And
when she began, her feet continued to dance. It was
just as though the shoes had power over them. She
(07:31):
danced around the church corner. She could not leave off.
The coachman was obliged to run after and catch hold
of her, and he lifted her in the carriage, But
her feet continued to dance, so that she trod on
the old lady dreadfully. At length she took the shoes off,
(07:52):
and then her legs had peace. The shoes were placed
in a closet at home, but Karen could not avoid
looking at them. Now the old lady was sick, and
it was said she could not recover. She must be nursed,
and waited upon and there was no one whose duty
(08:14):
it was so much as Karen's. But there was a
great ball in the city to which Karen was invited.
She looked at the old lady who could not recover.
She looked at the red shoes, and she thought there
could be mussin in it. She put on the red shoes.
(08:35):
She might do that also, she thought. But then she
went to the ball and began to dance. When she
wanted to dance to the right, the shoes would dance
to the left, And when she wanted to dance up
the room, the shoes danced back again. Down the steps,
into the street, and out of the city gate. She danced,
(08:59):
and was four to dance straight out into the gloomy wood.
Then it was suddenly light up among the trees, and
she fancied it must be the moon, for there was
a face. But it was the old soldier with the
red beard. He sat there, nodded his head and said,
(09:21):
look what beautiful dancing shoes. Then she was terrified and
wanted to fling off the red shoes, but they clung fast,
and she pulled down her stockings, but the shoes seemed
to have grown to her feet. As she danced, and
must dance over fields and meadows in rain and sunshine
(09:45):
by night and day. But at night it was the
most fearful. She danced over the churchyard, but the dead
did not dance. They had something better to do than dance.
She wished to seat herself on a poor man's grave
(10:06):
where the bitter dancy grew. But for her there was
neither peace nor rest. And when she danced towards the
open church door, she saw an angel standing there. He
wore long white garments. He had wings which reached from
(10:26):
his shoulder to the earth. His countenance was severe and grave,
and in his hand he held a sword, broad and glittering. Dance.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Shalt thou, said he dance in thy red shoes, till
thou art pale and cold, till thy skin shrivels up,
and thou art a skeleton.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Dance. Shalt thou from door to door, and where proud
wain children dwell, knock, that they may hear thee and
tremble dance. Shelt thou mercy, cried Karen, But she did
not hear the angel's reply, for the shoes carried her
(11:16):
through the gate into the fields, across the roads, and bridges,
and she must keep ever dancing. One morning she danced
past the door, which she well knew within sounded a
sum A coffin decked with flowers was borne forth. Then
she knew that the old lady was dead, and felt
(11:39):
that she was abandoned by all and condemned by the
angel of God. She danced and was forced to dance
through the gloomy night. The shoes carried her over stack
and stone. She was torn till she bled. She danced
over the heath till she came to a little house.
(12:04):
Here she new twelthy executioner. And she tapped with her
fingers at the window and said, come out, come out.
I cannot come in, for I am forced to dance.
And the executioner said, thou dost not know who I am.
I fancy I strike bad people's heads off, and I
(12:25):
hear that my axe rings. Don't strike my head off,
said Karen. Then I can't repent of my sins, but
strike off my feet in the red shoes. And then
she confessed her entire sin, and the executioner struck off
her feet with red shoes. But the shoes danced away
(12:47):
with the little feet across the field into the deep wood,
and he carved out little wooden feet for her, and
crutches taught her the sum criminals always sing, and she
kissed the hand which had wielded the axe, and went
over the heat. Now I have suffered enough for the
(13:09):
red shoes, said she. Now I will go into the
church that people may see me. And she hastened toward
the church door, but when she was near it, the
red shoes danced before her, and she was terrified and
turned it out. The whole week she was unhappy and
(13:32):
wept many bitter tears. But when Saturday returned she said, well,
now I have suffered and struggled enough. I really believe
I am as good as many a one who sits
in the church and holds her head so high. And
away she went boldly. But she had not got farther
(13:56):
than the churchyard gate before she saw the red shoes
dancing before her. And she was frightened and turned back
and repented of her sin from her heart. And she
went to the parsonage and begged that they would take
her into service. She would be very industrious, she said,
(14:19):
and would do everything she could. She did not care
about the wages, only she wished to have a home
and be with good people. And the clergyman's wife was
sorry for her and took her into service, and she
was industrious and thoughtful. She sat still and listened when
(14:45):
the clergyman read the Bible in the evenings. All the
children thought a great deal of her, but when they
spoke of dress and grandeur and beauty, she shook her head.
The following Sunday, when the family was going to church,
they asked her whether she would not go with them,
(15:06):
but she glanced sorrowfully with tears in her eyes at
her crutches. The family went to hear the World of God,
but she went alone into her little chamber. There was
only one room for a bed and chair to stand
in it. And whilst she read with pious mind, the
(15:27):
wind bore the strains of the organ towards her. And
she raised her tearful countenance and said, of God, help me.
And the sun shone so clearly and straight. Before her
stood the Angel of God in white garments, the same
(15:48):
she had seen that night at the church door. But
he no longer carried the sharp sword, but in its
stead a splendid green spray of roses, and he touched
the ceiling with the spray, and ceiling rose so high,
and where he had touched it, there gleamed a golden star.
(16:11):
And he touched the walls, and they widened out, and
she saw the organ which was playing. She saw the
old pictures of the preachers and preachers wives. The congregations
sat in cushioned seats and sang out of their prayer books.
For the church itself had come to the poor girl
(16:33):
in her narrow chamber, or else she had come into
the church. She sat in the pew with the clergyman's family.
When they had ended the psalm and looked up, they
nodded and said, it is right that thou warlt come.
It was through mercy, she said. And the organ pealed,
(16:58):
and the children's voices in the choir sounded so sweet
and soft. The clear sunshine streamed so warmly through the
window into the pew where Karen sat. Her heart was
so full of sunshine, peace and joy that it broke
her soul flew on the sunshine to God. And there
(17:22):
no one asked after the Red Shoes. End of the
Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen
There was once a little girl who was very pretty
and delicate. But in summer she was forced to run
about with her bare feet. She was so poor, and
in winter were very large wooden shoes, which made her
little in steps quite red, and that looked so dangerous.
(00:24):
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker.
She sat and sewed together as well as she could
a little pair of shoes out of old red strips
of cloth. They were very clumsy, but it was a
kind thought. They were meant for the little girl. The
(00:46):
little girl was called Karen. On the very day her
mother was buried, Karen received the red shoes and wore
them for the first time. They were certainly not intended
for mourning, but she had no other, and with stalkingless feet,
she followed the poor strock of within them. Suddenly a
(01:11):
large old carriage drove up, and a large old lady
sat in it. She looked at the little girl, felt
compassion for her, and then said to the clergyman, here
give me the little girl. I'll adopt her. And Karen
believed all this happened on account of those red shoes.
(01:34):
But the old lady thought they were horrible and they
were burned. But Karen herself was cleanly and nicely dressed.
She must learn to read and sew. And people said
she was a nicely thing, But the looking glass said,
thou art more than nice, thou art beautiful. Now the
(02:00):
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 a little princess stood in her fine white dress
in the window and let herself be stared at. She
(02:24):
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
(02:47):
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.
(03:11):
All this looked charming, but the old lady could not
see where, so had no pleasure in them. In the
midst of those shoes stood a pair of red shoes,
just like those the princess had worn. How beautiful they were,
(03:31):
the shoemaker said. Also they had been made for the
child of Account, but had not fitted. That must be
a patent lay there, said the old lady. They shine,
So yes, they shine, said Karen. And they fitted and
(03:51):
were bought. But the old lady knew nothing about their
being read, 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,
(04:14):
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
(04:38):
spoke of the holy baptism of the Covenant with God,
and how she would be now a matured Christian, and
the organ peeled so solemnly, the sweet children's voices sang,
and the old music directors sang. But Karen only thought
(04:59):
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
(05:22):
when she should be older. The next Saturday, 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 shoes. The sun shone gloriously. Karen and
(05:43):
the old lady walked along the path through the corner.
It was rather dusty. There at the church door stood
an old soldier with a crouch and with a wonderfully
long beard which was more red than and he bowed
to the ground and asked the old lady whether he
(06:05):
might dust her shoes. And Karen stretched out her little foot,
say what beautiful dancing shoes. Said the soldier sit form
when you dance, and put his hand out towards the soles.
(06:27):
And the old lady gave the old soldier arms and
went into the church with Karen. And all the people
in the church looked at Karen's shoes and all the
pictures and as Karen knelt before the altar and raised
the cup to her lips, she only thought of the
(06:48):
red shoes, and they seemed to swim in it, and
she forgot to sing her song, and she forgot to
pray our father in heaven. Now all the people went
out of church, and the old lady got into her carriage.
Karen raised her foot to get in after her, when
(07:11):
the old soldier said, look what beautiful dancing shoes. And
Karen could not help dancing a step or two. And
when she began, her feet continued to dance. It was
just as though the shoes had power over them. She
(07:31):
danced around the church corner. She could not leave off.
The coachman was obliged to run after and catch hold
of her, and he lifted her in the carriage, But
her feet continued to dance, so that she trod on
the old lady dreadfully. At length she took the shoes off,
(07:52):
and then her legs had peace. The shoes were placed
in a closet at home, but Karen could not avoid
looking at them. Now the old lady was sick, and
it was said she could not recover. She must be nursed,
and waited upon and there was no one whose duty
(08:14):
it was so much as Karen's. But there was a
great ball in the city to which Karen was invited.
She looked at the old lady who could not recover.
She looked at the red shoes, and she thought there
could be mussin in it. She put on the red shoes.
(08:35):
She might do that also, she thought. But then she
went to the ball and began to dance. When she
wanted to dance to the right, the shoes would dance
to the left, And when she wanted to dance up
the room, the shoes danced back again. Down the steps,
into the street, and out of the city gate. She danced,
(08:59):
and was four to dance straight out into the gloomy wood.
Then it was suddenly light up among the trees, and
she fancied it must be the moon, for there was
a face. But it was the old soldier with the
red beard. He sat there, nodded his head and said,
(09:21):
look what beautiful dancing shoes. Then she was terrified and
wanted to fling off the red shoes, but they clung fast,
and she pulled down her stockings, but the shoes seemed
to have grown to her feet. As she danced, and
must dance over fields and meadows in rain and sunshine
(09:45):
by night and day. But at night it was the
most fearful. She danced over the churchyard, but the dead
did not dance. They had something better to do than dance.
She wished to seat herself on a poor man's grave
(10:06):
where the bitter dancy grew. But for her there was
neither peace nor rest. And when she danced towards the
open church door, she saw an angel standing there. He
wore long white garments. He had wings which reached from
(10:26):
his shoulder to the earth. His countenance was severe and grave,
and in his hand he held a sword, broad and glittering. Dance.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Shalt thou, said he dance in thy red shoes, till
thou art pale and cold, till thy skin shrivels up,
and thou art a skeleton.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Dance. Shalt thou from door to door, and where proud
wain children dwell, knock, that they may hear thee and
tremble dance. Shelt thou mercy, cried Karen, But she did
not hear the angel's reply, for the shoes carried her
(11:16):
through the gate into the fields, across the roads, and bridges,
and she must keep ever dancing. One morning she danced
past the door, which she well knew within sounded a
sum A coffin decked with flowers was borne forth. Then
she knew that the old lady was dead, and felt
(11:39):
that she was abandoned by all and condemned by the
angel of God. She danced and was forced to dance
through the gloomy night. The shoes carried her over stack
and stone. She was torn till she bled. She danced
over the heath till she came to a little house.
(12:04):
Here she new twelthy executioner. And she tapped with her
fingers at the window and said, come out, come out.
I cannot come in, for I am forced to dance.
And the executioner said, thou dost not know who I am.
I fancy I strike bad people's heads off, and I
(12:25):
hear that my axe rings. Don't strike my head off,
said Karen. Then I can't repent of my sins, but
strike off my feet in the red shoes. And then
she confessed her entire sin, and the executioner struck off
her feet with red shoes. But the shoes danced away
(12:47):
with the little feet across the field into the deep wood,
and he carved out little wooden feet for her, and
crutches taught her the sum criminals always sing, and she
kissed the hand which had wielded the axe, and went
over the heat. Now I have suffered enough for the
(13:09):
red shoes, said she. Now I will go into the
church that people may see me. And she hastened toward
the church door, but when she was near it, the
red shoes danced before her, and she was terrified and
turned it out. The whole week she was unhappy and
(13:32):
wept many bitter tears. But when Saturday returned she said, well,
now I have suffered and struggled enough. I really believe
I am as good as many a one who sits
in the church and holds her head so high. And
away she went boldly. But she had not got farther
(13:56):
than the churchyard gate before she saw the red shoes
dancing before her. And she was frightened and turned back
and repented of her sin from her heart. And she
went to the parsonage and begged that they would take
her into service. She would be very industrious, she said,
(14:19):
and would do everything she could. She did not care
about the wages, only she wished to have a home
and be with good people. And the clergyman's wife was
sorry for her and took her into service, and she
was industrious and thoughtful. She sat still and listened when
(14:45):
the clergyman read the Bible in the evenings. All the
children thought a great deal of her, but when they
spoke of dress and grandeur and beauty, she shook her head.
The following Sunday, when the family was going to church,
they asked her whether she would not go with them,
(15:06):
but she glanced sorrowfully with tears in her eyes at
her crutches. The family went to hear the World of God,
but she went alone into her little chamber. There was
only one room for a bed and chair to stand
in it. And whilst she read with pious mind, the
(15:27):
wind bore the strains of the organ towards her. And
she raised her tearful countenance and said, of God, help me.
And the sun shone so clearly and straight. Before her
stood the Angel of God in white garments, the same
(15:48):
she had seen that night at the church door. But
he no longer carried the sharp sword, but in its
stead a splendid green spray of roses, and he touched
the ceiling with the spray, and ceiling rose so high,
and where he had touched it, there gleamed a golden star.
(16:11):
And he touched the walls, and they widened out, and
she saw the organ which was playing. She saw the
old pictures of the preachers and preachers wives. The congregations
sat in cushioned seats and sang out of their prayer books.
For the church itself had come to the poor girl
(16:33):
in her narrow chamber, or else she had come into
the church. She sat in the pew with the clergyman's family.
When they had ended the psalm and looked up, they
nodded and said, it is right that thou warlt come.
It was through mercy, she said. And the organ pealed,
(16:58):
and the children's voices in the choir sounded so sweet
and soft. The clear sunshine streamed so warmly through the
window into the pew where Karen sat. Her heart was
so full of sunshine, peace and joy that it broke
her soul flew on the sunshine to God. And there
(17:22):
no one asked after the Red Shoes. End of the
Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen
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