A shoemaker and his wife lived in a little house on the edge of a forest. They were very, very poor. One day, the only thing in the house was leather for one pair of shoes.
“I will cut out this piece of leather and make the shoes in the morning,” he said to his wife.
The shoemaker cut out the leather and went to bed. In the morning, he came down to his workshop to make the shoes.
“What’s this?” he cried out. His wife rushed into the workshop. They saw a beautiful pair of shoes on the bench.
“How strange,” said the shoemaker. “But I will sell these so we will have some money.”
The shoemaker sold the shoes for a good price. He now had enough money to buy leather for two pairs of shoes. That night, he cut out the leather. Then, he went to bed.
The next morning, the shoemaker went into the workshop to sew the shoes.
And what did he see, but two beautiful pairs of shoes, ready to be sold!
Night after night, the shoemaker would leave the cut leather pieces on the bench. In the morning, he would find the shoes finished, as if by magic. Soon, he became very rich. The shoes he sold were so beautiful, even the Queen wore them!
One night, the shoemaker and his wife hid themselves in the workshop. At the stroke of midnight, they saw two little elves jump through the window. The elves skipped and danced up to the bench, sat down with their legs crossed and began to work on the leather.
Their needles flew back and forth, back and forth! Their hammers beat rap-a-tap, rap-a-tap! In a wink, the work was done and the little elves disappeared into the night.
The next morning, the shoemaker said to his wife, “What can we do for those helpful little elves?”
“I would like to make some clothes for them,” she said. “Their clothes were old and shabby.”
“And I will make them some shoes. Their little feet were bare,” said the shoemaker.
The whole day, the shoemaker and his wife worked on the clothes and shoes for the elves. That night, they left their gifts on the bench and hid themselves. When the clock struck twelve, the elves jumped in. They went skipping and dancing to the bench as before but stopped when they saw the tiny clothes and shoes.
The elves clapped their hands and jumped for joy, then put on their new clothes and shoes and skipped out of the window.
The shoemaker and his wife never saw the little elves again, but after that night, good luck was always with them. And they were never poor again.