The Elves and the Shoemaker Stories
A shoemaker and his wife receive magical assistance from some elves every evening as they go to bed. But goblins also need help, right?
This is a classic fairy tale and may contain violence
We encourage parents to read ahead if their child is sensitive to such topics. Once upon a time, there was a shoemaker who worked very hard and was very honest but still could not make ends meet. And in the end, everything he had in life was gone, leaving only enough leather to make a pair of shoes.
Then he cuts the skin off, all ready for makeup the next day, which means getting up early in the morning to go to work. His conscience is clear, and his heart is light amid all difficulties. So he went to sleep with peace of mind, entrusting all his worries to God, and soon fell asleep. In the morning, after praying, he sat down to work.
Then, to his great surprise, there were already made shoes on the table. The kind man didn’t know what to say or think about such a strange thing happening. He looks at the artistry. There was no false stitch in the whole work; It’s all so neat and realistic that it’s truly a masterpiece.
That same day, a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so much that he was willing to pay a higher price than usual for them, and the poor shoemaker, with that money, bought enough leather to make two more pairs.
In the evening, he puts aside his work and goes to bed early to get up and start work the next day, but he avoids all trouble, for when he wakes up in the morning, the work is ready for him. Buyers soon arrived, paying him handsomely for his goods, allowing him to buy enough leather for four more pairs.
He again finished the work overnight in the morning as before. So it went on for some time: the preparations made in the evening were always completed by dawn, and the excellent man soon became prosperous and well-off again.
One evening, at Christmas time, as he and his wife were sitting and chatting by the fire, he said to her: “Tonight I want to sit up and watch to see who comes and does my work.”.” The wife liked the thought, So they left a lamp burning and hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind the curtain hanging there, and watched to see what would happen.
It was midnight, and two naked dwarfs came in. They sat down on the shoemaker’s chair, did all the work they had cut out, and began to ping their little fingers, sewing and tapping and tapping with such speed that the shoemaker was surprised. And I couldn’t stand it. He looked away from them. And they keep working until the job is finished and the shoes are ready for use on the table. It was long before dawn; they rushed away as fast as lightning.
The next day, the wife told the shoemaker
‘These little undead have made us rich, and we must be grateful to them and help them if we can. I’m sorry to see them running around like that, and indeed, it was not very decent, for they had nothing on their backs to withstand the cold. I will tell you this: I will make each of you a shirt, a coat and a waistcoat, and a pair of trousers at a bargain price, And you can make each of us a pair of little shoes.”
That thought pleased the good shoemaker, and one evening when everything was ready, they laid them on the table instead of the work they usually cut out and went away to hide themselves to see what the little elves would do.
About midnight, they came, danced and pranced, danced about the room, and then sat down to work as usual, but when they saw the clothes for them, they giggled and seemed extremely happy.
Then they were dressed in a flash, dancing, dancing, and dancing around, having as much fun as possible, until finally they jumped out the door and across the lawn.
The good couple saw them no more, but everything was fine with them from that moment on as long as they lived.
