THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER.
There was once a kind old shoemaker who was very poor. He had leather to make only one pair of shoes.
He cut these out and went to bed. The next morning the shoes were standing ready upon the table.
The shoemaker sold them and bought leather to make two pairs of shoes.
He cut these out, and again found the shoes made when he got up in the morning.
He sold the shoes and bought leather to make four pairs. The work he cut out was always done in the morning.
One evening the shoemaker said to his wife, “I should like to sit up to-night and see who it is that makes the shoes.”
In the night two little elves ran in. They sewed and rapped and tapped so quickly that the shoes were made long before morning. Then the elves ran away.
The next day the shoemaker’s wife said, “These elves have made us rich. I should like to do something for them. You make each of them a little pair of shoes, and I will make them some clothes.”
On Christmas eve they put the shoes and the clothes on the table. Then they hid behind the door to see what the elves would do.
When the elves saw the clothes, they quickly put them on. They laughed and danced and jumped about.
At last they danced out of the door and across the grass and were seen no more. But the kind shoemaker and his wife lived a long and happy life.
JacobandWilliam Grimm(Adapted).