Karen received the red shoes, and wore them for the first time. They
were certainly not intended for mourning, but she had no others, and
with stockingless feet she followed the poor straw coffin in them to the
grave.

Suddenly an 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 that little girl, I will adopt her!"

Karen believed all this happened on account of her red shoes, but the
old lady thought they were horrible, and so they were burnt; but Karen
was otherwise nicely clothed, and besides, had a pretty doll charmingly
dressed in green.

[Illustration: KAREN WITH HER DOLL.]

She must now learn to read and sew; and people said she was a nice
little girl; but the looking-glass said, "Thou art more than nice, thou
art beautiful!"

Now the queen once travelled through the land, and she had a 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 mother Shoemaker had made.

Nothing in the world can compare with red shoes, thought Karen, and she