 Hans  father is the least wealthy shoemaker in town, though he s good at his work. Hans has a good imagination; it helps that his town is a little on the fantastic side, with talking mice and cats, and the mysterious stranger, Uncle Oley, who comes by to have his shoes repaired and pays with a piece of red leather. The leather is well timed, since there s a contest to make red shoes for the princess to wear to the opera, and Hans  father couldn t afford the red leather. Oley tells Hans his jobs include polishing the stars weekly and acting as the sand man; he lets Hans help in the latter. The poor flower-seller next door to Hans is evicted, in large part because the Mayor/landlord s daughter wouldn t pay for the flowers she ordered. Her granddaughter, Elisa, is a good friend of Hans; he later sees her selling matches to pay for her grandmother s medicine and uses the money he earned for an opera ticket to buy all her matches instead. At the opera, the red shoes make the princess (the Mayor s daughter) dance uncontrollably out the door and onto the rooftops; the audience panics and runs after her. When they return, Hans is telling a boy the story of the little match girl; he doesn t notice them assemble, but they are enthralled by his storytelling skills, and the Governor, who came to town for the opera, takes Hans to Copenhagen for his education.