In Their Shoes Read online

  Hermes asked him: “Are you quite sure that you have everything you need in order to win?”

  With the insouciance of his youth, Perseus answered: “Oh, well, we’ll see when we get there!”

  Hermes shook his head unhappily and sat on a rock. All of a sudden he, the spirited and impulsive young god, was feeling much more sensible than Perseus. “Perhaps as a result of learning more things and of discovering the world,” he mulled, “I am becoming a little wiser?” He took the sack he had been carrying on his shoulder and threw it over to the young man. “Catch this bag, you might need it. You will find inside the helmet which makes one invisible, the one belonging to my uncle Hades, the king of the Underworld. I borrowed it from him. There is also a long and mighty sword, a sword so sturdy that even the Gorgons’ thick, hard skin will not be able to withstand it. As for the sack itself, it is magical: it takes the form of whatever you slip inside it.” Then he slowly took off his shoes and held out the winged sandals to Perseus. “I will lend these to you as well. You can return everything to me later.”

  This time, Perseus was properly armed to wage battle against the Gorgons. Happy as a child in front of new toys, he put on the winged sandals, drew the long sword out of its scabbard, grabbed hold of Athena’s shield and put on the helmet of Hades. He instantly became invisible and flew away towards the Gorgons’ den. “Do not forget,” Hermes cried after him, “you can only kill Medusa. She is the only one of the three Gorgons who can die, the other two are immortal, do not attack them!” Perseus, however, was already far away. Hermes’ words were lost in the wind. The messenger god decided to follow the young man in order to keep an eye on him.

  The Gorgons lived on an icy island battered by raging winds. Perseus flew first of all across the ocean, until he noticed an island with beautiful cold and deserted beaches. There he discovered an absolutely incredible landscape and he knew that he was approaching the Gorgons’ lair. There were animals of every kind and some men as well. But as he approached, he realized that these were statues of stone. Each had met the gaze of one of the Gorgons and had been immediately transformed into a statue! Perseus landed and began to walk amidst the statues of stone. He was touched by the fate of all these wretched creatures and his anger rose up inside him. When he reached the cave where the Gorgons lived, they were all three asleep. Perseus observed them on Athena’s shield, which served him as a mirror. They were even more appalling than anything Perseus had been able to imagine. Their heads were aswarm with snakes writhing in every direction and their necks were covered with dragon scales. They had enormous golden wings and their hands bore talons of bronze. He flew above the sleeping Gorgons, yet his hand was reluctant to strike. If he missed his target, what would happen once the monstrous sisters were awake? And, what is more, which of the three was Medusa? Hermes again came to his aid. He indicated Medusa to him with a motion of his hand. Perseus then brandished his heavy sword while keeping a keen eye on Medusa in the mirror-shield.

  And Athena, who was also watching discreetly from the heights of Olympus, guided his hand. His magic sword came crashing down and lopped off Medusa’s head with one clean blow. He came down immediately, grabbed the head, catching hold of it by its vile snake-hair, and slipped it inside his sack without looking at it. He had thus escaped the terrible gaze which turned people into stone.

  Instantly, an incredible winged horse emerged from Medusa’s body, by the name of Pegasus. For a moment Perseus stood there dazzled, his breath taken away by the winged horse’s beauty. He stretched out his hand towards the animal to catch it, but the horse immediately flew away towards Olympus and disappeared from Perseus’ sight.

  In the meantime, the other two Gorgons had woken up and were getting ready to go after Medusa’s murderer. Would Perseus manage to escape his pursuers?

  The winged sandals that Hermes had lent to Perseus were extraordinarily swift. And so he took flight. Behind him, the two Gorgons tore howling along. They screamed, spat, yelled with rage, threatened Perseus with a thousand cruel sufferings. But where had he gone? Perseus had just put back on the helmet that made him invisible. And soon enough they had to abandon their chase, for they couldn’t see him anywhere. Perseus was wild with joy to have succeeded in such an exploit.

  The day rose. Perseus came in sight of a black, rocky coast bounded by crystalline blue water. Suddenly a sun ray revealed to him an extraordinary sight. A naked young woman was chained to an enormous rock right by the sea. She was so beautiful, with her dark skin and its shimmering reflections, and her hair floating in the wind, that Perseus fell instantly in love with her. He drew nearer. She remained motionless and stared hard at the sea while silent tears ran down her cheeks.

  “What are you doing here chained like this?” asked Perseus.

  The young woman gave a little jump when she saw him appear. “I am called Andromeda and I am the only daughter of the king of Ethiopia,” she murmured. “And I am waiting for the sea monster who is supposed to come and devour me.”

  Perseus could not believe his ears. “But what have you done to deserve such a horrid fate?” he exclaimed.

  “I? Nothing!” Andromeda sighed. “But my mother is so proud of me that she declared everywhere that I was the most beautiful of all. She even dared say that I was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. The nymphs became vexed and asked Poseidon, the god of the Seas, to avenge them.” Andromeda stopped speaking. She was staring hard at the horizon and Perseus followed her gaze. He saw something writhing on the sea surface. And this something was coming closer and closer. He felt the young girl shake like a leaf. “This is it! This is it!” she cried. “This horrid sea monster ravages everything in its passage. It makes my father’s people suffer, devours the fishermen and their boats. And I must be sacrificed to it to placate its anger…”

  The monster was just a few feet away from Andromeda. You could see its gaping mouth and its scaly skin. Its pointed tail thrashed the waves, splattering the sky with spume. Its enormous torso cut through the water like a ship sailing at full speed. Perseus unsheathed his magic sword and, with a kick of his winged sandals, landed on the monster’s spine. Then he thrust his sword into the monster’s shoulder. Surprised, the monster bucked. Yet Perseus did not lose his balance. Three times his sword came crashing down, and three times the sharp blade gashed the monster’s neck. A torrent of blood was flowing out now, dyeing the sea red. The monster lowed; then, after having squirmed in every direction, it gave up the fight and let itself sink to the bottom of the sea. Perseus barely had time to withdraw his sword and fly away again. On the shore, a symphony of applause burst out. The country’s inhabitants were arriving in all haste to hail the hero who had defeated the monster and rescued their princess. Among those enthusiastic spectators was also Hermes. He had watched his protégé with keen attention, ready to intervene if things went awry. But he was proud of Perseus: he had known how to manage on his own.

  Perseus paid no attention to his public. He had hurried to Andromeda and with a stroke of his magic sword had severed the chains which held her prisoner. Andromeda’s parents rushed forward and took her in their arms. But Andromeda pulled herself free and turned smiling towards Perseus. She opened her arms and the young man held her fast against his heart.

  The Greek myths were tales of the gods, goddesses, heroes and heroines of ancient Greece. The stories are millennia old, and were passed down by word of mouth. MURIELLE SZAC is a French writer who has retold the Greek myths for children.

  The Pair of Shoes

  PIERRE GRIPARI

  THERE ONCE WAS A PAIR OF SHOES THAT GOT married. The right shoe, which was the man, was called Nicolas, and the left shoe, which was the lady, was called Tina.

  They lived in a beautiful cardboard box where they lay wrapped in tissue paper. They were perfectly happy there, and they hoped things would go on like this for ever.

  But then, one fine morning, a sales assistant took them out of their box so that a lady could try them on. The lady put t
hem on, took a few steps, then, seeing that the shoes looked good on her, she said:

  “I’ll take them.”

  “Would you like the shoebox?” asked the sales assistant.

  “No need,” replied the lady, “I’ll walk home in them.”

  She paid and left, her new shoes already on her feet.

  So it was that Nicolas and Tina walked about for a whole day without a single glimpse of each other. Only that night were they reunited inside a dark cupboard.

  “Is that you, Tina?”

  “Yes, it’s me, Nicolas.”

  “Ah, thank goodness! I thought you were lost!”

  “Me too. But where were you?”

  “Me? I was on the right foot.”

  “And I was on the left foot.”

  “Now I see it all,” said Nicolas. “Every time you were in front, I was behind, and when you were behind, why, I was in front. That’s why we couldn’t see each other.”

  “And is this how it will be every day?” asked Tina.

  “I’m afraid so!”

  “But this is terrible! To spend all day without seeing you, my dear Nicolas! I shall never get used to this!”

  “Listen,” said Nicolas, “I have an idea. Since I am always on the right and you always on the left, well, every time I step forward, I shall make a little swerve towards you, at the same time. That way, we shall be able to say hello. All right?”

  “All right!”

  This, then, is what Nicolas did, in such a way that for the whole of the following day the lady wearing the shoes could not take three steps without her right foot bumping into her left heel, and every time it did – crash! She fell flat on the ground.

  Very worried, that same day the lady went to consult a doctor.

  “Doctor, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I keep tripping myself up!”

  “You trip yourself up?”

  “Yes, doctor! Almost every time I take a step, my right foot catches my left heel and it makes me fall over!”

  “This is very serious,” said the doctor. “If it goes on, we shall have to cut off your right foot. But here is a prescription: this will get you ten thousand francs’ worth of treatment. Pay me two thousand francs for the consultation, and come and see me tomorrow.”

  That evening, inside the cupboard, Tina asked Nicolas:

  “Did you hear what the doctor said?”

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “This is terrible! If they cut off the lady’s right foot, she will throw you out, and we will be separated for ever! We must do something!”

  “Yes, but what?”

  “Listen, I have an idea: since I am on the left, tomorrow, I’ll be the one who makes a little swerve to the right, every time I step forward! Okay?”

  “Okay!”

  Tina did as she said, so that on the second day, all day long it was the left foot that bumped into the right heel, and – crash! The poor lady found herself on the ground again. Even more worried, she went back to her doctor.

  “Doctor, I am going from bad to worse! Now it’s my left foot that is catching on my right heel!”

  “This is even more serious,” said the doctor. “If this goes on, we shall have to cut off both your feet! But wait, here is a prescription: this will get you a twenty-thousand-franc treatment. Give me three thousand francs for the consultation and, above all, don’t forget to come back and see me tomorrow.”

  That evening, Nicolas asked Tina:

  “Did you hear?”

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “If they cut off both the lady’s feet, what will become of us?”

  “I can’t bear to think of it!”

  “I still love you, Tina!”

  “Me too, Nicolas, I love you!”

  “I want to be with you for ever!”

  “Me too, that’s what I want too!”

  And so they talked, in the darkness, not suspecting that the lady who had bought them was pacing up and down in the corridor, in her slippers, because she couldn’t get to sleep for thinking about the doctor’s diagnosis. Walking past the cupboard door, she overheard the shoes’ entire conversation and, being very intelligent, she understood everything.

  “So that’s what it is,” she thought. “It isn’t me who is ill, it’s my shoes who are in love! How sweet!”

  Upon which, she tossed the thirty thousand francs’ worth of medicines that she had bought into the rubbish bin, and the following morning told her maid:

  “Do you see that pair of shoes? I shan’t wear them again, but I should like to keep them all the same. Now, polish them nicely, look after them, so that they are always shiny, and above all, never separate them from each other!”

  As soon as she was alone, the maid said to herself:

  “Madame is mad, to keep these shoes but never wear them! In a fortnight or so, when madame has forgotten all about it, I shall steal them!”

  Two weeks later, she stole them and started wearing them. But as soon as she put them on, the cleaner too began to trip herself up. One evening, while she was on the back staircase taking the rubbish out, Nicolas and Tina tried to kiss, and badaboom! Bang! Bump! The cleaning lady came to rest on her behind on the landing, with a bird’s-nest of potato peelings on her head and a strip of apple peel dangling in a spiral between her eyes, like a lock of hair.

  “These shoes are witches,” she thought. “I won’t try wearing them again. I’ll give them to my niece; she already has a limp!”

  This is what she did. The niece, who did indeed have a limp, generally spent most of her days sitting in a chair, with her feet together. When she happened to go for a walk, she walked so slowly that she could hardly get her feet caught. And the shoes were happy for, even during the day, they were mostly side by side.

  This went on for a long time. Unfortunately, since the niece limped, she wore out one shoe faster than the other.

  One evening, Tina said to Nicolas:

  “I can feel that my sole is becoming thin, oh so thin! Very soon I shall have a hole!”

  “Don’t say that!” said Nicolas. “If they throw us out, we shall be separated again!”

  “I know,” said Tina, “but what can we do? I cannot help growing old!”

  And so it happened: a week later, her sole had a hole in it. The limping niece bought a new pair of shoes and threw Nicolas and Tina into the rubbish bin.

  “What will become of us?” worried Nicolas.

  “I don’t know,” said Tina. “If only I could be sure of staying with you for ever!”

  “Come close,” said Nicolas, “and take my strap in yours. This way we shall not be parted.”

  So they did. Together they were tossed into the big bin; together they were taken away by the dustmen and left in a plot of wasteland. They stayed there together until the day when a little boy and a little girl found them.

  “Oh, look at those shoes! They are arm in arm.”

  “That’s because they’re married,” said the little girl.

  “Well,” said the little boy, “since they’re married, they shall have a honeymoon!”

  The little boy picked up the shoes, set them side by side on a plank, then carried the plank down to the water’s edge and let it drift away, carried by the current, towards the sea. As the plank floated away, the little girl waved her handkerchief, calling:

  “Goodbye, shoes, and have a wonderful journey!”

  So it was that Nicolas and Tina, who were hoping for nothing more out of life, nevertheless had a beautiful honeymoon.

  This story is originally part of a book of fairy tales written by PIERRE GRIPARI and published in 1967. They all take place in Paris, on rue Broca – a street that is hidden under a boulevard and where mysterious things happen. ‘The Pair of Shoes’ has been adapted for television numerous times… to the delight of children and grown-ups and alike!

  About the Illustrator

  LUCIE ARNOUX is a keen storyteller, who likes to spend a lot of time on her illustrations, and in her
illustrations. She left her native south of France for London, because the grass there is genuinely greener – and they have tea. Since graduating from Kingston University in Illustration & Animation, she has settled in a cottage where she paints and doodles and enjoys life.

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  In Their Shoes: Fairy Tales and Folktales first published by Pushkin Press in 2015

  ‘The Story of Yexian’, published in Chinese Chronicles of the Strange: The ‘Nuogao ji’ by Duan Chengshi, translated from the Classical Chinese by Carrie E. Reed, 2001. Reprinted by kind permission of Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York

  ‘Puss in Boots’ and ‘Hop o’ my Thumb’ from The Complete Fairy Tales translated from the French by Christopher Betts (2009), pp. 115–126, 151–166. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press

  ‘The Story of Chernushka’ translation © Julia Nicholson, 2015, translated from the Russian with help from Clare Fanthorpe and Remi Oriogun-Williams

  ‘Perseus and the Winged Sandals’ first published in French in Le Feuilleton d’Hermès © Éditions Bayard 2006. Translation © Mika Provata 2014. This translation was first published by Pushkin Children’s Books as part of The Adventures of Hermes, God of Thieves in 2014