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Tale Summary

There was once an honest, hardworking Shoemaker, who could not earn enough to make a living. He was down to his last bit of leather to make one more pair of shoes, and so he cut them out to finish in the morning and went to bed. When he awoke, they were already made. A customer came in and was so pleased with their quality he paid a high price, with which the Shoemaker bought leather for two more shoes. He cut these out and went to bed early, and again woke to find the work was done. His business did well, and people came from miles around to buy his quality shoes. One evening at Christmas-time, the Shoemaker and his wife decided to stay up and find out who was doing the work, and at midnight saw two little elves who toiled away and then fled. The wife said to the Shoemaker that they should repay them somehow, and that it pained her that they had no clothes to keep them warm. They decided to make for each of them a shirt, a coat, a waistcoat, a pair of pantaloons, and a tiny pair of shoes. When they were ready one evening, the couple laid them out instead of the usual shoe cut-outs, and hid behind a curtain to watch. At midnight, the elves arrived, and were gleeful to find the clothes, dressing themselves and dancing out the door. The Shoemaker never saw them again, but everything went well with him as long as he lived.

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