French · Beginner
Adapted from The Red Shoes
A girl’s beautiful red shoes lead her into a troubling chain of events.
Read and listen in French, with English alongside.
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Scene 1 · Beginner
Karen était une petite fille pauvre. L'été, elle marchait pieds nus. L'hiver, ses grands sabots de bois lui faisaient rougir le dessus des pieds.
Karen was a poor little girl. In summer, she walked barefoot. In winter, her big wooden clogs made the tops of her feet red.
Une vieille femme, épouse d'un cordonnier du village, lui a fabriqué des souliers avec de vieux morceaux de tissu rouge. Ils n'étaient pas très beaux, mais elle voulait aider Karen.
An old woman, the wife of the village shoemaker, made her shoes from old scraps of red cloth. They weren’t very pretty, but she wanted to help Karen.
La petite fille les a portés pour la première fois aux funérailles de sa mère. Ils ne convenaient pas à ce jour de tristesse, mais elle n'en avait pas d'autres. Elle les a donc mis pour suivre le cercueil.
The little girl wore them for the first time at her mother’s funeral. They weren’t right for a day of mourning, but she had no others. So she put them on to follow the coffin.
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