garments, he had wings which reached from his shoulders to the earth,
his countenance was severe and grave, and in his hand he held a sword,
broad and glittering.

"Dance shalt thou!" said he, "dance in thy red shoes till thou art pale
and cold! Dance shalt thou from door to door; and where proud, vain
children dwell, thou shalt stand and knock, that they may hear thee and
tremble! Dance shalt thou!--"

"Mercy!" cried Karen. But she did not hear the angel's reply, for the
shoes carried her through the gate into the fields, across roads and
bridges, and she must keep ever dancing.

One morning she danced past a door she well knew. Within sounded a
psalm; a coffin decked with flowers was borne forth. Then she knew that
the old lady was dead, and that she was abandoned by all. She danced,
and she was forced to dance through the gloomy night. The shoes carried
her over stock and stone; she was torn till she bled. She danced over
the heath till she came to a little house. Here, she knew, dwelt the
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 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 and the red shoes!"

And then she confessed her entire sin, and the executioner struck off
her feet, with the red shoes; but the shoes danced away with the little