The Cobbler's Elves (Grimm)

Once upon a time there was a cobbler who knew his trade and worked hard.

How could he not, in the end he was so ruined that he had nothing left but the skin for a pair of shoes. That night he cut out the shoe to make it the next day; his conscience was clear, he did not brood much on the future, he thought he would get by somehow, a decent man does not starve; he went to bed and went to sleep peacefully.

The next day he got up early and wanted to get down to his work, and there he was: a pair of shoes ready on his desk. The shoemaker stared in amazement, not knowing what to make of it. He took the shoe in his hand, looked it over carefully, examined every stitch, every nail, every detail; there was no flaw, no craftsmanship that could have been better.

Soon a buyer came. He really liked the shoes. He tried them on: they fit his feet just right

- As if it was made just for me! - He said, delighted, and finding the cobbler was asking little for it, he gave a little more than the price, just enough for two pairs of skins.

The cobbler also gave them out in the evening. "I'll do the rest of the work in the morning," he thought, "I'm free from my work."

But when he woke up the next day, he had two pairs of shoes ready, and he didn't have to lift a finger. There were buyers for both of them, they were well paid for, and the cobbler, with the money, could now buy four pairs of skins.

On the third morning he found the four pairs of shoes ready. And so it went on day after day, week after week. What he ordered in the evening was ready in the morning.

The shoemaker soon made a respectable income and became a wealthy man again. One evening around Christmas, as was his custom, he cut the leather for the next day's shoes, and before they went to bed he said to his wife:

- Do you hear, my soul, how about staying up tonight and seeing who is so diligently helping us in our workshop?

The woman took the matter up, for she herself had thought about it a great deal, but she did not dare to bring it up to her master. She lit a candle and put it on top of the cupboard, and they hid in the corner. They watched from there to see what would happen.

When the clock struck midnight in the tower, they heard a scratching, a banging, a stirring; the door opened a foot wide, and two nice little elves crept into the room. Without a word, they sat down at the cobbler's table, took the skins that had been cut out, and set to work. They worked so nimbly, so skilfully, stitching and needling with their tiny little fingers, that the cobbler did not know where to look in his amazement.

The elves didn't stop working for a moment until the shoes were finished and polished and lined up on the table. Then they whistled, and, illa berek!

The next morning the cobbler's wife said:

- We have these elves to thank for making us prosperous. They're running around naked, good thing they're not freezing! You know what? I'll sew them shirts, jackets, vests, trousers, knit them stockings, and you make them all a nice pair of shoes.

They worked on it all day long; the woman's hands were busy with the needle, the scissors were clicking, the little dresses were being made, and the man was hunched on his chair, hammering, nailing, turning the wooden pegboard, until he had made the little shoes.

In the evening they put the gifts on the table instead of the leather; they arranged everything neatly, hid in the corner and listened curiously to what the elves would say. The elves appeared, as usual, at midnight sharp, and were eager to get down to business.

But as soon as their eyes fell on the table, they slammed down their tools and didn't know what to grab, what to caress, what to rejoice. In a moment they were in their little dresses, they were putting on their little shoes, they were whistling, they were singing, they were singing, they were singing. 

Aren't we pretty boys?

We're not even going to bother any more!

- they sang; they danced around the table, they skipped, they jumped, and finally they ran out of the room. They never came back.

And the cobbler was doing well all his life, he always had a job, and he succeeded in everything he started.