While Joseph is still a young boy living "in a poor village by the Baltic Sea," he sees "that all around him the world dance." One day, at the shore, he is approached by an old man who dances toward him and tells him, "I'm the Dancing Man and I have a gift for you." After he disappears, Joseph sees that he has left him a pair of silver shoes. When Joseph is old enough for the shoes to fit him, he goes dancing from village to village, bringing joy and laughter and relief from pain. Even though people want him to stay, he never does. He is rather like the Elijah of Jewish folklore, who never stays in one place for very long. Finally, when Joseph is very old, he sees a young boy by the shore; the story will continue with him.
Although there is nothing obviously Jewish about the story or the pictures, the people in the small villages that Joseph travels to are dressed in shtetl-ish clothing. ( )