German · Intermediate
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 · Intermediate
Es war einmal ein kleines Mädchen, das hübsch und zierlich war. Weil es arm war, ging es im Sommer barfuß. Im Winter musste es große Holzschuhe tragen, von denen seine kleinen Fußrücken ganz rot wurden.
Once upon a time there was a little girl who was pretty and delicate. Because she was poor, she went barefoot in summer. In winter she had to wear big wooden shoes that made her little insteps quite red.
Mitten im Dorf wohnte eine alte Schustersfrau. Aus einigen alten roten Stoffresten nähte sie für das Mädchen ein Paar kleine Schuhe. Die Schuhe sahen zwar recht klobig aus. Doch sie waren gut gemeint und sollten Karen gehören, denn so hieß das Mädchen.
An old shoemaker’s wife lived in the middle of the village. From some old scraps of red cloth, she sewed a pair of little shoes for the girl. The shoes did look rather clumsy. But she had made them with good intentions, and they were meant for Karen, as the girl was called.
Karen trug die roten Schuhe zum ersten Mal, als ihre Mutter beerdigt wurde. Zu einer Beerdigung passten sie eigentlich nicht, aber andere Schuhe besaß sie nicht. So schlüpfte sie mit den nackten Füßen hinein und ging hinter dem schlichten Sarg her.
Karen wore the red shoes for the first time when her mother was buried. They were not really suitable for a funeral, but she had no other shoes. So she slipped her bare feet into them and walked behind the plain coffin.
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