The Elves and the Shoemaker - Jenna

Once upon a time there was a friendly shoemaker. He was very poor. His wife was starving. They lived in a small village. He looked around his workshop and found there was just enough leather to make one pair of shoes. He cut up the leather and went to bed. In the morning he found a fine pair of shoes. He was very surprised. He showed the shoes to his wife. She was extremely surprised. Later in the day a rich woman came in the shop. She put the shoes on. “They fit perfectly”, said the woman. “I will give you 4 pieces of silver for the shoes”. With 4 pieces of silver he could enough food for his wife and him and enough leather for 2 pairs of shoes. He cut out the leather and went to bed. In the morning he saw there were 2 pairs of fine shoes. A rich man came in the shop. He loved the shoes so much he bought both. So each day rich people came and bought the shoes. Soon the shoemaker and his wife were rich too. This kept on going until one night at dinner time the shoemaker said to his wife “Someone has been making our shoes all this time and we still don’t know who it is.” “Why don’t we stay up and watch” said his wife. After dinner they lit a candle and hid behind the counter. Eventually 2 elves dressed in rags came in. Instantly they set to work. Once they had finished they polished them until they shone in the moonlight. As soon as they finished they left in a hurry. In the morning the shoemaker said to his wife “How can we repay them?” “Well, why don’t you make some little shoes for them and I will knit 2 little caps and some clothes.” So from that day on the shoemaker helped his wife to make all sorts of clothes for the elves. On Christmas Eve everything stood in a neat pile. In came the elves. They looked at each other very surprised when they realized the presents were for them. They took off their old clothes and put on their new ones. As they ran out the door they sang “Oh what handsome boys we are, we will work on shoes no more.”