The Elves and the Shoemaker.

The last story this week is another traditional story that is told at this time of year and is called:

The Elves and the Shoemaker.

Once upon a time there was a poor shoemaker who worked very hard and was very honest yet he could never make enough money to pay his bills and buy food for his family. Eventually he had nothing left except one small piece of leather, just enough to make one more pair of shoes. The shoemaker cut the leather ready for the next morning as he meant to get up nice and early to start work and have a new pair of shoes ready for a customer who would pick them up that day.

He was in great humour and his heart was untroubled even though he had so many financial worries and he went off to bed where he soon fell into a peaceful sleep believing all his troubles would be safe in god’s hands. As you can tell he was a very religious man and in the morning he woke up and immediately said his prayers then he went into the kitchen and had a very small breakfast. He then went into his workshop intending to start work. Imagine his wonder and surprise to find that the shoes he intended to start work on had already been made and were sitting upon his work table. He looked at the workmanship, there was not a single stitch out of place, they were neat and polished and were really a truly beautiful pair of the finest shoes he had ever seen.

Later that day the customer came to collect his new shoes and was so delighted he paid the shoemaker twice what he asked for them. With the money the shoemaker bought enough leather to make two more pairs of shoes. That evening he cut out the leather and left it on the workshop table intending to start work early in the morning. He went to bed and once again had a peaceful sleep and woke up nice and early. He said his prayers, had a small breakfast then went into his workshop to begin his days work. As before, the work was already done and upon the worktable sat two pairs of the finest shoes he had ever seen. Soon the two customers came in to collect their shoes and once again he was paid handsomely for his work. With the money he bought enough leather to make four pairs of shoes but having cut out the leather he rose early next morning only to find the work already completed just like before. This went on day after day and he soon became quite well off in fact you could even say his business was thriving.

One evening, it was around Christmas time, the shoemaker and his wife were sitting by the fire chatting to each other over a nice mug of tea.

“I think I’ll sit up tonight and see if I can catch whoever it is who does my work for me” the shoemaker said,

The wife agreed that it was a good idea and so they left a lamp burning and hid in a corner of the room behind a curtain waiting to see what would happen.  Soon it was midnight and in came two tiny little people who were naked, they were no bigger than your hand. Up they jumped onto the worktable where the shoemaker had left a load of leather just as before. The little elves for thats what they were picked up the leather and began to stitch and hammer the leather at such a speed that all the shoemaker and his wife could do was look with wonder, in fact they couldn’t take their eyes off them.  It wasn’t long before there was a long line of shoes standing ready upon the table and long before daybreak the two little elves disappeared as quickly as they had come.

The following morning the wife said to the shoemaker,

“These little elves have made us rich and I think we should return the favour. In order to show how thankful we are for their help I’m going to make each of them a shirt, a coat, a waistcoat, and a pair of trousers and I think you should make them each a pair of your finest shoes.”

The shoemaker thought this was a great idea and when they were finished they laid the shoes and clothes onto the workshop table where they normally left the pieces of leather and hid behind the curtain to watch what the little elves would do. On the stroke of midnight the little elves appeared, dancing and skipping they hopped around the room and then jumped up onto the table ready to start work. When they saw the clothes lying there they were delighted. They dressed in the twinkling of an eye and jumped around as happy and merry as two elves could be.  Clicking the heels of their new shoes together they danced out the door and away over the fields.

The shoemaker and his wife never saw them again but from that day forward everything they did went well, they continued to prosper and to this day they are doing very well and still making the finest shoes you could possibly want.