这是一起充满了宗教意味的小故事，来源于作者儿时的回忆。安徒生的父亲都虔信上帝。这现象在穷困的人中很普遍，因为他们在现实生活中不到任何出路的时候，就幻想上帝能解救他们。安徒生儿时就是在这种气氛中度过的。信上帝必须无条件地虔诚，不能有任何杂念。这个小故事中的主人公珈伦偏偏有了杂念，因而受到惩罚，只有经过折磨和苦难，断绝了杂念和思想净化了以后，她才"得到了宽恕"，她的灵魂才得以升向天国——因为她究竟是一个纯真的孩子。关于这个故事安徒生手记中说："在《我的一生的童话》中，我曾说过在我受坚信礼的时候，第一次穿着一双靴子。当我在教堂的地上走着的时候，靴子在地上发出吱咯、吱咯的响声。这使我感到很得意，因为这样，做礼拜的人就都能听得见我穿的靴子是多么新。但忽然间感到我的心不诚。我的内心开始恐慌起来：我的思想集中在靴子上，而没有集中在上帝身上。关于此事的回忆，就促使我写出这篇《红鞋》。"
THE RED SHOES 红鞋
There was once a little girl who was very pretty and delicate, but in summershe was forced to run about with bare feet, she was so poor, and in winterwear very large wooden shoes, which made her little insteps quite red, andthat looked so dangerous!
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker; she sat and sewedtogether, as well as she could, a little pair of shoes out of old red stripsof cloth; they were very clumsy, but it was a kind thought. They were meantfor the little girl. The little girl was called Karen.
On the very day her mother was buried, Karen received the red shoes, and worethem for the first time. They were certainly not intended for mourning, butshe had no others, and with stockingless feet she followed the poor strawcoffin in them.
Suddenly a large old carriage drove up, and a large old lady sat in it: shelooked at the little girl, felt compassion for her, and then said to theclergyman:
"Here, give me the little girl. I will adopt her!"
And Karen believed all this happened on account of the red shoes, but the oldlady thought they were horrible, and they were burnt. But Karen herself wascleanly and nicely dressed; she must learn to read and sew; and people saidshe was a nice little thing, but the looking-glass said: "Thou art more thannice, thou art beautiful!"
Now the queen once travelled through the land, and she had her little daughterwith her. And this little daughter was a princess, and people streamed to thecastle, and Karen was there also, and the little princess stood in her finewhite dress, in a window, and let herself be stared at; she had neither atrain nor a golden crown, but splendid red morocco shoes. They were certainlyfar handsomer than those Dame Shoemaker had made for little Karen. Nothing inthe world can be compared with red shoes.
Now Karen was old enough to be confirmed; she had new clothes and was to havenew shoes also. The rich shoemaker in the city took the measure of her littlefoot. This took place at his house, in his room; where stood largeglass-cases, filled with elegant shoes and brilliant boots. All this lookedcharming, but the old lady could not see well, and so had no pleasure in them.In the midst of the shoes stood a pair of red ones, just like those theprincess had worn. How beautiful they were! The shoemaker said also they hadbeen made for the child of a count, but had not fitted.
"That must be patent leather!" said the old lady. "They shine so!"
"Yes, they shine!" said Karen, and they fitted, and were bought, but the oldlady knew nothing about their being red, else she would never have allowedKaren to have gone in red shoes to be confirmed. Y et such was the case.
Everybody looked at her feet; and when she stepped through the chancel door onthe church pavement, it seemed to her as if the old figures on the tombs,those portraits of old preachers and preachers' wives, with stiff ruffs, andlong black dresses, fixed their eyes on her red shoes. And she thought only ofthem as the clergyman laid his hand upon her head, and spoke of the holybaptism, of the covenant with God, and how she should be now a maturedChristian; and the organ pealed so sole
mnly; the sweet children's voices sang,and the old music-directors sang, but Karen only thought of her red shoes.
In the afternoon, the old lady heard from everyone that the shoes had beenred, and she said that it was very wrong of Karen, that it was not at allbecoming, and that in future Karen should only go in black shoes to church,even when she should be older.
The next Sunday there was the sacrament, and Karen looked at the black shoes,looked at the red ones--looked at them again, and put on the red shoes.
The sun shone gloriously; Karen and the old lady walked along the path throughthe corn; it was rather dusty there.
At the church door stood an old soldier with a crutch, and with a wonderfullylong beard, which was more red than white, and he bowed to the ground, andasked the old lady whether he might dust her shoes. And Karen stretched outher little foot.
"See, what beautiful dancing shoes!" said the soldier. "Sit firm when youdance"; and he put his hand out towards the soles.
And the old lady gave the old soldier alms, and went into the church withKaren.
And all the people in the church looked at Karen's red shoes, and all thepictures, and as Karen knelt before the altar, and raised the cup to herlips, she only thought of the red shoes, and they seemed to swim in it; andshe forgot to sing her psalm, and she forgot to pray, "Our Father in Heaven!"
Now all the people went out of church, and the old lady got into her carriage.Karen raised her foot to get in
after her, when the old soldier said,
"Look, what beautiful dancing shoes!"
And Karen could not help dancing a step or two, and when she began her feetcontinued to dance; it was just as though the shoes had power over them. Shedanced round the church corner, she could not leave off; the coachman wasobliged to run after and catch hold of her, and he lifted her in the carriage,but her feet continued to dance so that she trod on the old lady dreadfully.At length she took the shoes off, and then her legs had peace.
The shoes were placed in a closet at home, but Karen could not avoid looking
at them.
Now the old lady was sick, and it was said she could not recover. She must benursed and waited upon, and there was no one whose duty it was so much asKaren's. But there was a great ball in the city, to which Karen was invited.She looked at the old lady, who could not recover, she looked at the redshoes, and she thought there could be no sin in it; she put on the red shoes,she might do that also, she thought. But then she went to the ball and beganto dance.
When she wanted to dance to the right, the shoes would dance to the left, andwhen she wanted to dance up the room, the shoes danced back again, down thesteps, into the street, and out of the city gate. She danced, and was forcedto dance straight out into the gloomy wood.
Then it was suddenly light up among the trees, and she fancied it must be themoon, for there was a face; but it was the old soldier with the red beard; hesat there, nodded his head, and said, "Look, what beautiful dancing shoes!"
Then she was terrified, and wanted to fling off the red shoes, but they clungfast; and she pulled down her stockings, but the shoes seemed to have grown toher feet. And she danced, and must dance, over fields and meadows, in rain andsunshine, by night and day; but at night it was the most fearful.
She danced over the churchyard, but the dead did not dance--they hadsomething better to do than to dance. She wished to seat herself on a poorman's grave, where the bitter tansy grew; but for her there was neither peacenor rest; and when she danced towards the open church door, she saw an angelstanding there. He wore long, white garments; he had wings which reached fromhis shoulders to the earth; his countenance was severe and grave; and in hishand he held a sword, broad and glittering.
"Dance shalt thou!" said he. "Dance in thy red shoes till thou art pale andcold! Till thy skin shrivels up and thou art a skeleton! Dance shalt thou fromdoor to door, and where proud, vain children dwell, thou shalt knock, thatthey may hear thee and tremble! Dance shalt thou--!"
"Mercy!" cried Karen. But she did not hear the angel's reply, for the shoescarried her through the gate into the fields, across roads and bridges, andshe must keep ever dancing.
One morning she danced past a door which she well knew. Within sounded apsalm; a coffin, decked with
flowers, was borne forth. Then she knew that theold lady was dead, and felt that she was abandoned by all, and condemned bythe angel of God.
She danced, and she was forced to dance through the gloomy night. The shoescarried her over stack and stone; she was torn till she bled; she danced overthe heath till she came to a little house. Here, she knew, dwelt theexecutioner; and she tapped with her fingers at the window, and said, "Comeout! Come out! I cannot come in, for I am forced to dance!"
And the executioner said, "Thou dost not know who I am, I fancy? I strike badpeople's heads off; and I hear that my axe rings!"
"Don't strike my head off!" said Karen. "Then I can't repent of my sins! Butstrike off my feet in the red shoes!"
And then she confessed her entire sin, and the executioner struck off her feetwith the red shoes, but the shoes danced away with the little feet across thefield into the deep wood.
And he carved out little wooden feet for her, and crutches, taught her thepsalm criminals always sing; and she kissed the hand which had wielded theaxe, and went over the heath.
"Now I have suffered enough for the red shoes!" said she. "Now I will go intothe church that people may see me!" And she hastened towards the church door:but when she was near it, the red shoes dan
ced before her, and she wasterrified, and turned round. The whole week she was unhappy, and wept manybitter tears; but when Sunday returned, she said, "Well, now I have sufferedand struggled enough! I really believe I am as good as many a one who sits inthe church, and holds her head so high!"
And away she went boldly; but she had not got farther than the churchyard gatebefore she saw the red shoes dancing before her; and she was frightened, andturned back, and repented of her sin from her heart.
And she went to the parsonage, and begged that they would take her intoservice; she would be very industrious, she said, and would do everything shecould; she did not care about the wages, only she wished to have a home, andbe with good people. And the clergyman's wife was sorry for her and took herinto service; and she was industrious and thoughtful. She sat still andlistened when the clergyman read the Bible in the evenings. All the childrenthought a great deal of her; but when they spoke of dress, and grandeur, andbeauty, she shook her head.
The following Sunday, when the family was going to church, they asked herwhether she would not go with them; but she glanced sorrowfully, with tears inher eyes, at her crutches. The family went to hear t
he word of God; but shewent alone into her little chamber; there was only room for a bed and chair tostand in it; and here she sat down with her Prayer-Book; and whilst she readwith a pious mind, the wind bore the strains of the organ towards her, and sheraised her tearful countenance, and said, "O God, help me!"
clothes中文And the sun shone so clearly, and straight before her stood the angel of Godin white garments, the same she had seen that night at the church door; but heno longer carried the sharp sword, but in its stead a splendid green spray,full of roses. And he touched the ceiling with the spray, and the ceiling roseso high, and where
he had touched it there gleamed a golden star. And hetouched the walls, and they widened out, and she saw the organ which wasplaying; she saw the old pictures of the preachers and the preachers' wives.The congregation sat in cushioned seats, and sang out of their Prayer-Books.For the church itself had come to the poor girl in her narrow chamber, or elseshe had come into the church. She sat in the pew with the clergyman's family,and when they had ended the psalm and looked up, they nodded and said, "It isright that thou art come!"
"It was through mercy!" she said.
And the organ pealed, and the children's voices in the choir sounded so sweetand soft! The clear sunshine streamed so warmly through the window into thepew where Karen sat! Her heart was so full of sunshine, peace, and joy, thatit broke. Her soul flew on the sunshine to God, and there no one asked afterthe RED SHOES.
译文
红鞋
从前有一个小女孩——一个非常可爱的、漂亮的小女孩。不过她夏天得打着一双赤脚走路，因为她很贫穷。冬天她拖着一双沉重的木鞋，脚背都给磨红了，这是很不好受的。
在村子的正中央住着一个年老的女鞋匠。她用旧红布匹，坐下来尽她最大的努力缝出了一双小鞋。这双鞋的样子相当笨，但是她的用意很好，因为这双鞋是为这个小女孩缝的。这个小姑娘名叫珈伦。
在她的妈妈入葬的那天，她得到了这双红鞋。这是她第一次穿。的确，这不是服丧时穿的东西；但是她却没有别的鞋子穿。所以她就把一双小赤脚伸进去，跟在一个简陋的棺材后面走。
这时候忽然有一辆很大的旧车子开过来了。车子里坐着一位年老的太太。她看到了这位小姑娘，非常可怜她，于是就对牧师（注：在旧时的欧洲，孤儿没有家，就由当地的牧师照管。）说："把这小姑娘交给
我吧，我会待她很好的！"
珈伦以为这是因为她那双红鞋的缘故。不过老太太说红鞋很讨厌，所以把这双鞋烧掉了。不过现在珈伦却穿起干净整齐的衣服来。她学着读书和做针线，别人都说她很可爱。不过她的镜子说："你不但可爱；你简直是美丽。"
有一次皇后旅行全国；她带着她的小女儿一道，而这就是一个公主。老百姓都拥到宫殿门口来看，珈伦也在他们中间。那位小公主穿着美丽的白衣服，站在窗子里面，让大家来看她。她既没有拖着后裾，也没有戴上金王冠，但是她穿着一双华丽的红鞣皮鞋。比起那个女鞋匠为小珈伦做的那双鞋来，这双鞋当然是漂亮得多。世界上没有什么东西能跟红鞋比较！
现在珈伦已经很大，可以受坚信礼了。她将会有新衣服穿；她也会穿到新鞋子。城里一个富有的鞋匠把她的小脚量了一下——这件事是在他自己店里、在他自己的一个小房间里做的。那儿有许多大玻璃架子，里面陈列着许多整齐的鞋子和擦得发亮的靴子。这全都很漂亮，不过那位老太太的眼睛看不清楚，所以不感到兴趣。在这许多鞋子之中有一双红鞋；它跟公主所穿的那双一模一样。它们是多么美丽啊！鞋匠说这双鞋是为一位伯爵的小做的，但是它们不太合她的脚。
"那一定是漆皮做的，"老太太说，"因此才这样发亮！"
"是的，发亮！"珈伦说。
鞋子很合她的脚，所以她就买下来了。不过老太太不知道那是红的，因为她决不会让珈伦穿着一双红鞋去受坚信礼。但是珈伦却去了。
所有的人都在望着她的那双脚。当她在教堂里走向那个圣诗歌唱班门口的时候，她就觉得好像

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