The story follows a young girl named Karen who finds a pair of red shoes and faces the consequences of her stubbornness. Later, a young man attempts to solve the mystery of the princesses' worn-out shoes. With the help of a magic cape from an old lady, he discovers that the princesses secretly dance at night. As a reward, he gets to choose a princess to marry and becomes the future king.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Karen found a pair of red shoes on the roadside.
2. Karen's mother got very sick, and Karen went to buy medicine for her.
3. Karen promised her mother not to wear the red shoes.
4. Karen lived with an old woman who adopted her.
5. Karen received a new pair of shoes from the old woman but didn't like them.
6. Karen missed her red shoes.
7. Karen finally wore the red shoes again, against the old woman's advice.
8. The shoes made Karen dance uncontrollably.
9. Karen fell asleep and woke up in her room.
10. Karen gave up her stubbornness.
11. A young man attempted to solve the mystery of the princesses' worn-out shoes.
12. An old lady gave the young man a magic cape.
13. The young man drank a sleeping potion given by the princesses on two nights.
14. On the third night, the young man used the magic cape to become invisible.
15. He saw the princesses secretly leaving their room and entering a secret passage.
The remaining part of the text appears to be a different story about a king and his twelve princesses, which is unrelated to the initial story about Karen and the red shoes. If you would like information on that part, please let me know.