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THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES
A German Folk Tale
Once upon a time there was a shoemaker who
worked hard and was very honest; but still he could
not earn enough to keep himself and his wife. At
last there came a day when all he had was gone
except one piece of leather — ^just enough to make
one pair of shoes. He cut out the shoes, ready to
stitch and make up the next day, and left them on
the bench, meaning to get up early in the morning
to work. He lived a good, pure life; so his heart
was light amidst all his troubles, and he went peace-
fully to bed, trusting that he could finish the shoes
the next day and sell them. Leaving all his cares
to heaven, he fell asleep.
Bright and early the next morning he arose, went
to his work bench and, lo and behold! there stood
the shoes, already made, upon the table. They
were beautifully made, too; all was so neat and true;
there was not one false stitch. Yet there was no
sign of any one’s having been there. The good man
and his wife knew not what to say or think of this
strange event. But the first customer that came
in was so pleased with the beautiful shoes, that he
bought them and paid so much for them that the
shoemaker was able to buy leather enough to make
two pairs of shoes.
In the evening he cut out the shoes, and went to
bed early so as to get up early the next day and
begin stitching. But he was saved all the trouble,
for when he got up in the morning, there were two
pairs of shoes on the bench, all finished and beauti-
fully made, and once again no sign that any one^
had been there.
That day in came cus-
tomers who paid the shoe-
maker handsomely for his
goods, so that he was able
now to buy leather for
four pairs of shoes.
Once more he cut out the shoes and left them on
the bench, and in the morning all four pairs were
made.
And so it went on for some time; what was got
ready by evening was already done by daybreak,
until the good man and his wife were thriving and
prosperous. But they could not be satisfied to have
so much done for them and not know to whom they
should be grateful. One evening about Christmas
time, as they were sitting over the fire and chatting
together, the shoemaker said to his wife:
“I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that
we may see who it is that comes and does my work
for me.” The wife liked the thought; so they left
a light burning, hid themselves in the corner of
the room behind a curtain, and waited to see what
would happen.
Just as the clock struck twelve, two tiny elves
came dancing into the room, hopped onto the
bench, took up the work that was cut out, and
began to ply their little fingers, stitching and rap-
ping and tapping at such a rate that the shoemaker
was amazed, and could not take his eyes off them.
These little elves were quite naked, but they had
wee little scissors and hammers and thread. Tap!
tap! went the little hammers; stitch! stitch! went
the thread. No one ever worked so fast as they.
On they went until the job was quite finished and
the shoes stood ready for use upon the table. Then
the tiny elves took hold of each others* hands and
danced around the shoes on the bench. The shoe-
maker and his wife had hard work not to laugh
aloud at the sight. But at daybreak the little
creatures danced away out of the windows and left
the room as it was before.
The shoemaker and his wife looked at each other
and said: “These little wights have made us rich
and happy. How can we thank them and do them
a good service in return?”
“I am sorry to see them run about as they do
with nothing on their backs to keep off the cold.
I should like to make them some pretty clothes,
a coat, and a waistcoat and a pair of trousers into
the bargain,” said the wife.
“And I will make each of them a little pair of
shoes,” said her husband.
That very day they set about it. The wife cut
out two tiny coats of green, two weeny, weeny
waistcoats of yellow, two little pairs of trousers of
white, two bits of caps, bright red (for every one
knows the elves love bright colors), and her hus-
band made two little pairs of shoes with long,
pointed toes. They made the wee clothes as dainty
as could be, with nice little stitches and pretty
buttons; and by Christmas time, they were finished.
On Christmas eve, the shoemaker cleaned his
bench, and on it instead of leather, he laid the two
sets of gay little fairy-clothes. Then he and his
wife hid away as before to see what the elves
would do. Promptly at midnight they came in and
hopped upon the bench to do their work; but
when they saw the little clothes they laughed and
danced for joy. Each one caught up his clothes
and put them on in the twinkling of an eye. Then
they looked at each other and began to dance and
caper and prance in a circle! But just as the sun
rose, they danced out of the window, over the green
and out of sight; and the shoemaker saw them
no more.
From that day on, all went well with the shoe-
maker and his wife, and they never needed any more
help.
— Adapted from Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm
