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The Shoes of Fortune

From Andersen's Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen

This reader is drawn from 'The Shoes of Fortune', a philosophical fairy-tale by Hans Christian Andersen, first published in Danish in 1838. Andersen, the celebrated Danish author, is best known for tales such as 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Ugly Duckling', and 'The Emperor's New Clothes'; his work blends folk tradition with moral and psychological insight. 'The Shoes of Fortune' is one of his longer, more discursive tales, mixing satire, fantasy, and sombre reflection on human longing. The present reader compresses Andersen's original (which runs to over twelve thousand words and includes additional episodes) while preserving the essential narrative arc: the enchanted shoes, the Councillor's journey into the past, the watchman's journey to the moon and into the officer's heart, and the Divine's fatal journey into his own wish. A few period terms—such as 'galoshes' for overshoes, and 'Divine' for a student of theology—have been retained with contextual support. This tale is worth a young reader's time because it explores a timeless paradox: that our desires, when granted, often reveal not happiness but the gap between what we imagine and what we can bear, and because it asks whether the fault lies in our wishes, in our nature, or in the world itself. This text reflects its era.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1471 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Andersen's Fairy Tales, H. C. Andersen

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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