German · Beginner
Adapted from The Red Shoes
A girl’s beautiful red shoes lead her into a troubling chain of events.
Read and listen in German, with English alongside.
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Scene 1 · Beginner
Karen ist ein kleines, hübsches Mädchen. Sie ist sehr arm. Im Sommer läuft sie ohne Schuhe, und im Winter trägt sie große Holzschuhe. Die drücken so sehr auf ihre Füße, dass die Haut rot wird.
Karen is a small, pretty girl. She is very poor. In summer she walks without shoes, and in winter she wears large wooden clogs. They press so hard on her feet that her skin turns red.
Im Dorf lebt die alte Frau eines Schuhmachers. Aus alten roten Stoffresten macht sie ein Paar Schuhe für Karen. Die Schuhe sehen etwas grob aus, aber die Frau möchte Karen damit helfen.
An old shoemaker’s wife lives in the village. She makes a pair of shoes for Karen from old scraps of red fabric. The shoes look a little rough, but the woman wants to help Karen.
Am Tag der Beerdigung ihrer Mutter trägt Karen die roten Schuhe zum ersten Mal. Die Farbe passt nicht zu diesem traurigen Tag, aber Karen hat keine anderen Schuhe. So geht sie hinter dem einfachen Sarg ihrer Mutter her.
On the day of her mother’s funeral, Karen wears the red shoes for the first time. Their color does not suit such a sad day, but Karen has no other shoes. So she walks behind her mother’s plain coffin.
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