The Elves and the Shoemaker

Once there was a shoemaker. He made shoes in his little shop. He lived there with his wife.

The shoemaker worked hard. But he was very poor. One evening, he had only enough leather left to make one pair of shoes.

He cut out the leather carefully. He put the pieces on his workbench. “I will sew them in the morning,” he said. Then he went to bed. He felt worried.

In the morning, the shoemaker came into his shop. He stopped. He rubbed his eyes.

On the workbench was a pair of shoes. They were finished! The stitches were tiny and neat. They were the best shoes he had ever seen.

The shoemaker felt surprised. “Who made these?” he asked. His wife did not know either.

A lady came into the shop. She saw the shoes. “How lovely!” she said. She paid a lot of money for them.

With the money, the shoemaker bought leather for two pairs of shoes. That evening, he cut out the leather. He put the pieces on his workbench. Then he went to bed.

In the morning, there were two pairs of new shoes on the workbench. They were perfect.

The next night, he cut out four pairs. In the morning, there were four new pairs of shoes. This happened every night. Soon the shoemaker and his wife had enough money for food and warm clothes.

“Who is helping us?” said the shoemaker’s wife. “Let us stay up tonight and see.”

So that night, they hid quietly behind a curtain. They waited. The clock went tick, tock, tick, tock.

At midnight, two tiny elves came in. They climbed up onto the workbench. They began to sew. Stitch, stitch, stitch. Tap, tap, tap. They worked very fast.

The shoemaker and his wife saw that the elves had no shoes. Their clothes were old and thin. They looked cold.

When the shoes were done, the elves ran away into the night.

“The elves have helped us so much,” said the wife. “Let us help them too. Let us say thank you.”

So the wife sewed two tiny shirts, two tiny coats and two tiny pairs of trousers. The shoemaker made two tiny pairs of shoes. That night, they put the presents on the workbench and hid again.

At midnight, the elves came in. They saw the little clothes. They felt so happy! They put on the shirts, the coats, the trousers and the shoes.

The elves danced and jumped around the shop. “Now we are warm and smart!” they sang. Then they waved goodbye and skipped out of the door.

The elves did not come back. But the shoemaker did not mind. He kept making good shoes. And he and his wife always remembered the kind little elves. The end.