Once upon a time there was a little girl who was very cute and pretty. But her family was very poor, and in the summer she could only walk barefoot. In winter, she wore a pair of shoes made of wood, which were heavy and uncomfortable, and her feet were rubbed red, making it especially painful to walk.
In the middle of the village lived a very old woman shoemaker. She saw that the little girl had no decent shoes to wear and felt very sad. So she found some old red fabric and sewed a pair of small shoes with her own hands. Although the shoes didn’t look very delicate, she made them with all her heart in the hope that the little girl would wear them.
The little girl’s name was Jalen. One day, her mom passed away. That day was the first time she wore these red shoes. In fact, it wasn’t quite appropriate to wear red shoes to a funeral, but she really didn’t have any other shoes to wear. She wore these red shoes and followed her mom’s coffin.
On the way, an old carriage passed by. There was an elderly lady sitting in the carriage. When she saw Jalen walking alone behind her, she felt sorry for her, so she got out of the car and said to the pastor next to her, “Could you let me adopt this child? I will take good care of her.”
Just like that, Jaren was taken away by this old lady. The old lady didn’t like the red shoes and thought the color was too bright, so she burned them. Then she changed Jaren into clean clothes and taught her to read and write. Gradually everyone realized that Jaren was not only smart, but also more and more beautiful. Sometimes she would look in the mirror and say to herself, “I am really beautiful.”
Once the queen was traveling across the country with her little daughter. They came to the town where Jalen lived. Many people ran to the palace gates to see the princess. Jalen went to see the fun too. The little princess was wearing a white dress and stood by the window for everyone to see. She wasn’t wearing a crown or a dress that trailed down her long skirt, but she had a pair of beautiful red leather shoes on her feet. Those shoes were really nice, even nicer than the pair made by the lady cobbler before.
A few years later, Jalen grew up and was ready to be confirmed (a religious ceremony). The old lady bought her new clothes and took her shopping for new shoes. They went to a shoe store in town. The store had many beautiful shoes, including a pair of red shoes that looked exactly like the ones the princess wore that year. The shoemaker said that the shoes were originally made for the daughter of an earl, but when she tried them on she didn’t think they fit very well.
The old lady didn’t notice that they were red and thought they were just ordinary leather shoes. Jaron tried the shoes on and they fit just right, so he bought them. But the old lady didn’t know they were red shoes, and if she had known, she wouldn’t have let her wear them to church.
As a result, Jaren went to church wearing the red shoes anyway. That day, everyone was looking at her feet. When she walked into the church, she felt like all those portraits hanging on the walls were staring at her. The pastor spoke from the pulpit, talking about faith and responsibility, but all she could think about was her red shoes. The organ played and the children sang hymns, but Jalen heard nothing.
That afternoon, when the old lady heard that she was wearing red shoes, she was angry and said that in the future she must wear black shoes to church, even if they were older.
The next Sunday was the day for communion. Jaron looked at the black shoes and then at the red shoes. She hesitated for a long time and finally decided to wear the red shoes to church.
The sun was shining brightly as she walked along the country road with the old lady. The road was a little dusty. At the door of the church stood an old soldier on crutches with a red beard, bending down to help the old lady shine her shoes. He asked Jalen if she wanted help shining her shoes, too. Jalen put her foot out, and the old soldier smiled and said, “That’s a pair of dancing shoes!”
The old lady gave the veteran a few coins and then went into the church with Jalen. That day, almost everyone noticed Jalen’s red shoes. She kept her eyes on her shoes while she was taking communion. She even forgot how to say her prayers and even forgot to sing the hymns.
After the service, the old lady got into the carriage and prepared to go home. Jaren was just about to get in when the old soldier said again, “What beautiful dancing shoes!” The remark made Jalen resist the urge to dance a few steps. As soon as she moved her feet, those feet began to jump up and down and she couldn’t stop at all. She circled around the church, unable to control herself. The coachman had to go after her and pull her into the car. But her feet were still jumping and she accidentally kicked the old lady.
Finally, they had to take off the red shoes to quiet her legs.
When they got home, Jalen put the red shoes in the cupboard. But she could never resist sneaking a look at the shoes. She felt that she was all right.
Not long after that, the old lady got sick and lay in bed, unable to get up. Everyone said she might not make it. It was time for Jaron to stay and look after her. But there happened to be a ball in town, and Jaron was invited. She thought about the sick old man while she wanted to go to the dance. She looked at the red shoes and thought, “I’ll just try them on, it’s nothing.” So she put on the red shoes and went to the dance.
As soon as she started to dance, she realized that she couldn’t control her feet at all. The red shoes seemed to have a mind of their own and carried her on and on. She danced farther and farther, and finally jumped out of the city gates and into the forest.
A strange light appeared in the woods. Jalen thought it was the moon and when she got closer, it turned out to be the old soldier with the red beard. He sat there nodding and smiling, “What beautiful dancing shoes!”
Jalen was terrified and tried to take the shoes off. But the shoes stuck so tightly to her feet that she couldn’t get them off. She tugged at her socks and pulled at the laces, all to no avail. All she could do was keep dancing, dancing in the fields, dancing in the rain, dancing in the daytime, dancing in the dark. The scariest part was dancing in the night. She skipped to the graveyard to find a place to rest, but the dead wouldn’t pay any attention to her. She jumped to the door of the church and saw an angel in white with a sword in his hand.
The angel said, “You are going to keep jumping until you get old and cold, until your body turns to bone. You will dance in every house so that people will know the price of pride and vanity.”
Jalen cried and begged for mercy, but no one responded to her. All she could do was keep jumping, jumping until dawn, jumping in front of other people’s houses, jumping around every corner.
One morning she jumped to a familiar doorway. The sound of chanting came from the house, and people carried out a coffin decorated with flowers. She realized that the old lady had died. She was overwhelmed with loneliness and felt that she had been abandoned by everyone and punished by God.
She continued to jump, day and night, regardless of the wind and rain. She jumped over thorn bushes, her feet bleeding from the thorns; she jumped over the wilderness and finally jumped in front of a remote hut. She knew that there lived an executioner. She knocked on the window and said, “Please come out, I can’t get in because I’m dancing.”
The executioner came out and said, “I am the one who cuts off the heads of bad men, and my axe is already trembling.”
Jalen begged him, “Please don’t cut off my head, but I wish I could cut off these red shoes along with my feet.”
The executioner agreed and cut off her feet. The red shoes jumped deep into the forest with her feet.
The executioner fitted her with a wooden prosthetic foot, gave her a walking stick, and taught her a song that prisoners used to sing. She kissed his hand gratefully and walked off into the wilderness.
She said, “I have suffered too much for these red shoes, and now I will go to church and let everyone see me.”
She walked to the door of the church only to find the red shoes still dancing in front of her, and she was so frightened that she ran away.
She was sad and cried for a whole week. By the next Sunday, she gathered her courage and tried again to walk into the church. But when she got to the door, she saw the red shoes again and was so frightened that she backed away again.
She reverently confessed her faults to God and then went to the pastor and asked to work in his house. She said, “I’ll do anything to have a place to stay and be with good people.”
The pastor’s wife took pity on her and took her in. From then on, Jalen worked very hard every day and listened quietly to the pastor read the Bible at night. The pastor’s children loved her, too. But whenever they talked about who dressed well or who looked pretty, she would shake her head.
The next Sunday, the pastor’s family was going to church for a service. They asked Jalen if she wanted to come along. She looked at her cane, tears in her eyes, and shook her head. So the pastor’s family went to church, leaving her alone in her room.
The room was so small that it only fit a bed and a chair. She sat there with a hymn book in her hand, carefully reading the words in it. Outside came the sound of the church organ. She looked up and with tears in her eyes said, “God, please help me.”
At that moment, sunlight poured into the room. The white angel she had once seen in her dreams appeared. This time, instead of a sword, the angel held a green branch covered with roses. With a flick of her hand, the ceiling rose and the walls opened up. She saw the organ in the church, and the portraits of the pastor and the pastor’s wife. It was as if she was back in the church, sitting in the crowd and singing with everyone.
When the vicar’s family returned from the service, they were surprised to find that Jalen was also in the church. They nodded and said, “You’re here too.”
Jalen said, “I am forgiven.”
At that moment, her heart was filled with sunshine, peace and joy. The feeling was so intense that her heart seemed to burst. Her soul flew to heaven with the sunshine. From then on, no one ever mentioned those red shoes again.
