The Elves and the Shoemaker

Once upon a time, there lived a poor shoemaker and his wife. The man was a good shoemaker who worked hard, but he and his wife were growing poorer and poorer, because times were hard, and work was scarce. At last, the time came when he had only one piece of leather. It was enough to make only one pair of shoes. That night, before the shoemaker went to bed, he cut out a pair of shoes and left them in the shop, ready to sew the next morning. 

As he and his wife were going to bed that night, the shoemaker told his wife that he had only one piece of leather which would make only one pair of shoes. He told her that he did not know what they would do if he was not able to buy more leather from what he got for the shoes. 

The next day, the shoemaker got up early and went downstairs. To his astonishment, he found that the shoes were already made with no bad stitch in them. He carefully examined the shoes and saw that they were perfect and said that he had never seen such beautiful shoes.

 That morning, a rich lady came into the shop. She picked up the shoes and looked at them. She bought them for three gold coins. With the money the shoemaker bought two pieces of leather. He cut out two pairs of shoes and left them on his table, ready to sew the next morning. 

When the shoemaker went to the table the next day, he found that there were two shoes on the table that were already made. Once again, he found that they had no bad stich in them.

 That morning a rich man came into the shop. He bought them for six gold coins. With the money, the shoemaker bought enough leather to make three pairs of shoes. After cutting the leather and putting it on the table, he went to bed. 

The next morning, when he came downstairs, he found that the shoes were sewn with no bad stich in them once more. The shoemaker told his wife that they were going to find out who was sewing their shoes. After they had sold the shoes, the shoemaker bought enough leather for four pairs of shoes. But, instead of going to bed, they hid in a corner of the room. At twelve o’clock, the door opened, and two tiny elves came into the room. They were dressed in rags and carried tiny green bags. The elves jumped onto the table and opened their bags. They sewed and hammered and stitched until they had made four pairs of shoes. Then they picked up their bags, closed them and ran out of the shop. 

The next morning, after they had sold the shoes, the shoemaker’s wife had a good idea. They decided that they would make some clothes and shoes for the elves. That day, they made the clothes and shoes and also two tiny green hats and two pairs of socks. 

By the end of the evening, they had managed to make the clothes, shoes, hats, and socks. Then they put them on the table and hid again. As the clock struck twelve, the elves came in once more and jumped onto the table. When they saw the tiny clothes, shoes, socks, and hats, they were extremely surprised. They put them on immediately.

 The elves went on helping the shoemaker and his wife to make perfect shoes, and the shoemaker and his wife made more things for the elves. And the shoemaker and his wife and the two little elves lived happily ever after.