The Elves and the Shoemaker There was once a shoemaker,
Who worked very hard and was very honest.
But still he could not earn enough to live upon,
And at last,
All he had in the world was gone,
Save just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.
Then he cut his leather out,
All ready to make up the next day,
Meaning to rise early in the morning to his work.
His consciousness was clear,
And his heart lied amidst all his troubles,
So he went peaceably to bed,
Left all his cares to heaven,
And soon fell asleep.
In the morning,
After he had said his prayers,
He sat himself down to his work,
When,
To his great wonder,
There stood the shoes already made upon the table.
The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening.
He looked at the workmanship,
There was not one false stitch in the whole job,
All was so neat and true that it was quite a masterpiece.
The same day,
A customer came in,
And the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a price higher than usual for them.
And the poor shoemaker with the money bought leather enough to make two pairs more.
In the evening,
He cut out the work and went to bed early,
That he might get up and begin bedtimes next day.
But he was saved all the trouble,
For when he got up in the morning,
The work was ready to his end.
Soon in came buyers,
Who paid him handsomely for his goods,
So that he bought leather enough for four more pairs.
He cut out the work again overnight,
And found it done in the morning as before.
And so it went on for some time,
When what got ready in the evening,
Was always done by daybreak.
And the good man soon became thriving and well off again.
As soon as it was midnight,
There came in two little naked dwarfs,
And they sat themselves upon the shoemaker's bench,
Took up all the work that was cut out,
And began to play with their little fingers,
Stitching and wrapping and tapping away at such a rate,
That the shoemaker was so wonder that he could not take his eyes off them.
And on they went,
Till the job was quite done,
And the shoes stood ready for use upon the table.
This was long before daybreak,
And then they busted away as quick as lighting.
The next day,
The wife said to the shoemaker,
These little whites have made us rich,
And we ought to be thankful to them,
And to do them a good turn if we can.
I'm quite sorry to see them run about as they do,
And indeed it's not very decent,
For they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold.
I'll tell you what,
I will make each of them a shirt,
And a waistcoat,
And a pair of pantaloons into the bargain,
And do you make each of them a little pair of shoes.
The thought pleased the good cover very much,
And one evening,
When all the things were ready,
They laid them on the table,
Instead of the work that they used to cut out,
And then went and hid themselves,
To watch what the little elves would do.
About midnight in they came,
Dancing and skipping hope round the room,
And then went to sit down to their work as usual,
But when they saw the clouds lying for them,
They laughed and chuckled,
And seemed mightily delighted.
Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye,
And danced,
And gapered,
And sprang about as merry as could be,
Till at last they danced out at the door,
And away over the green.
The good couple saw them no more,
But everything went well with them for that time forward,
As long as they lived.
