The Elves and the Shoemaker

Once upon a time a shoemaker and his wife lived above a small shop. Although the shoemaker worked hard, they were very poor.

One day, the shoemaker found that he only enough money for leather to make one pair of shoes. He cut the leather out and left the pieces on his workbench before going to bed. The next morning he was astonished to find that the leather had been made into a beautiful pair of shoes.

Still muttering in amazement, he put the shoes in the shop window. That morning a very rich lady saw the shoes in the window and at once rushed inside.

"I simply must have those shoes!" she cried.

That afternoon, the shoemaker was able to buy leather for two pairs of shoes. As before he cut out the leather and left it on his bench overnight. The next morning, two pretty pairs of shoes were waiting. So it went on, until the shoemaker and his wife were quite wealthy.

One night, just before Christmas, the shoemaker's wife said. "We still don't know who is helping us in this way. Why don't we stay up tonight and hide in your workroom? Then we will see what happens."

That night the shoemaker and his wife saw two little elves run in, do all the work, then disappear.  

The next morning the shoemaker said to his wife, "did you notice how ragged the elves' clothes were? Let's make them some little clothes and shoes to wear."

The shoemaker's wife thought this was an excellent idea. On Christmas Eve, the presents were finished. The shoemaker and his wife hid in the workroom again to see what would happen.

At midnight the elves ran in as before. They were so overjoyed with their little suits and their tiny shoes that they danced around and sang,

"We look so fine, as you can see,
We need no longer cobblers be!"