The Elves And The Shoemaker

There was once a shoemaker who lived with his wife. The shoemaker
Worked very hard, but he never made much money. In time, he became
Poorer and poorer. Then, one day, all he had left was one piece
Of leather. Just enough leather to make one more pair of shoes
So that night, before going to bed, the shoemaker cut out the
Leather and left it on his workbench ready to sew in the morning
That night, the shoemaker had a restless night's sleep as he
Worried about what they would do once the leather had gone. But

When the shoemaker went to the bench in the morning, he couldn't
Believe his eyes. In place of the cut out bits of leather, there
Stood the finest pair of shoes he'd ever seen. Every stitch on
Them was so small and neat that they could hardly even be seen
"I've never seen such shoes!" the shoemaker told his wife. They couldn
'T think who could have sewn them, but they proudly displayed them in
The shop window anyway. Later that morning, a grand lady came into
The shop and tried them on. "I've never worn
Anything so comfortable!" she said. And she paid
The shoemaker twice his normal price for them

The shoemaker was delighted. Now he had money to buy food
And enough leather to make two pairs of shoes. That evening
He carefully cut out the two pairs of shoes. Then he left
Them on his workbench ready to stitch in the morning

The following morning, the shoemaker was delighted to see two pairs
Of shoes in place of the leather. And once again they were
Beautifully stitched. Later that day, a noble lord came into the
Shop to buy shoes. The shoemaker showed him the two pairs, and the
Lord was so impressed that he tried both of them on. They fitted
Perfectly, so he bought both of them for a lot of money. Now, the
Shoemaker had enough money to buy leather for four pairs of shoes

That evening, before going to bed, he carefully cut out the four
Pairs of shoes and left them on the workbench. Once again, he
Intended to stitch them in the morning. However, when he awoke the
Following morning, he found four perfect pairs of shoes sitting on
His workbench. Once again, he sold
The shoes for a great deal of money

And so it went on. Each night, the shoemaker cut out shoes ready to
Stitch in the morning, and each morning he found in their place
Shoes so perfectly made that he couldn't even see one bad stitch on
Them. Day after day, rich customers came to the shoemaker's shop to
Buy the perfectly made shoes. So, in time, the shoemaker and his
Wife became rich. But they never took their good fortune for granted

One evening, just before Christmas, the shoemaker said to his wife "
Why don't we stay up this evening to see who is stitching our shoes?
". The shoemaker's wife quickly agreed, and that night they hid
Behind some clothes hanging in the corner of the room and they
Waited. For a long time, nothing happened. Then, at midnight, two
Tiny little men danced into the room. The two little men, who the
Shoemaker recognized as Elves, had
Bare feet and were dressed in rags

The two Elves did not see the shoemaker and his wife, but climbed up
On the bench, sat down, and began stitching. They
Worked so fast that the shoemaker could hardly believe
His eyes. They did not stop until all the work was done
And then they danced off merrily into the night

The following morning, the shoemaker and his wife agreed that they
Should repay the Elves in some way. After all, they had made
Them rich! So that very day, they went out and bought the
Finest material and the softest leather they could find. And
That evening, they set to work making new clothes for the Elves
Night after night, they worked on the clothes. And, at last
On Christmas Eve, everything was ready, and instead of leaving
Shoes on the workbench, the shoemaker and his wife laid out
The perfectly made outfits. Then they hid themselves and waited

At midnight, the Elves danced into the room and climbed
Up onto the workbench. They were surprised to see tiny
Matching outfits instead of shoes for stitching. Delighted
They dressed themselves in their new clothes. Then
Laughing and singing, they danced merrily out into the night

After that, the shoemaker and his wife never saw the Elves
Again. But they didn't mind. They had repaid the favour
And from then on luck was always with them. In time, they became
Very, very rich, and lived a long and happy life together