Dutch · Beginner
Adapted from The Red Shoes
A girl’s beautiful red shoes lead her into a troubling chain of events.
Read and listen in Dutch, with English alongside.
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Scene 1 · Beginner
Er was eens een arm meisje dat Karen heette. Ze was mooi. In de zomer liep ze op blote voeten. In de winter droeg ze grote klompen die haar voeten rood maakten.
Once upon a time, there was a poor girl named Karen. She was beautiful. In summer, she went barefoot. In winter, she wore large clogs that made her feet red.
In het dorp woonde de vrouw van een schoenmaker. Ze was al oud, maar ze maakte een paar schoenen voor Karen van oude stukken rode stof. Ze waren niet zo netjes gemaakt, maar de vrouw wilde Karen graag helpen.
In the village lived a shoemaker’s wife. She was already old, but she made a pair of shoes for Karen from old pieces of red cloth. They weren’t very neatly made, but the woman wanted to help Karen.
Karen droeg de rode schoenen voor het eerst bij de begrafenis van haar moeder. Rode schoenen pasten niet bij zo'n verdrietige dag, maar ze had geen andere. Zo liep ze achter de doodskist aan.
Karen wore the red shoes for the first time at her mother’s funeral. Red shoes were not right for such a sad day, but she had no others. So she walked behind the coffin.
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