Once upon a time there was a shoemaker who, through no fault of his own, had become so poor he only had enough leather to make one last pair of shoes.

That evening he cut out the pattern for the shoes which he intended to make the next morning and since it was late went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

In the morning, he got up ready to start work and to his surprise found a finished pair of shoes standing on his table. He was amazed and could not understand what had happened.

He picked up the shoes and looked at them. They were so neatly sewn that not a stitch was out of place, and they looked like they had been made by a master craftsman.

Later that morning a customer came into his shop and saw the shoes. He thought they were so nice he paid more than the normal price for them. This meant the shoemaker was able to buy leather for two more pairs of shoes with the extra money he got.

That night he once again cut out the pattern for the shoes from the leather and went to bed.

The next day he woke up and was about to start work but he didn’t have to, as the shoes were already finished. They looked amazing and two lucky customers bought them both before lunchtime.

This gave him so much money that he was able to buy leather for four more pairs of shoes.

Early next morning he found the four pairs of shoes had once again been made for him, and so it continued.

What he cut out in the evening was finished by the morning and this happened night after night and in no time at all he was in a better position again and had money to live from. In fact, he actually became quite rich!

One evening, after he had finished cutting out the pattern for the shoes, he said to his wife: “Why don’t we stay up tonight to see who is giving us such a helping hand?”

His wife agreed, so they lit a candle and hid themselves in the corner of the room to wait.

At midnight, two little men with no clothes, appeared and sat down at the shoemaker’s table. They picked up the cut-out leather and began with their tiny fingers to stitch, sew and hammer so neatly and quickly, that the shoemaker could not believe his eyes.

They did not stop until everything was finished and as soon as it was all done, they quickly ran away.

The next day his wife said: “The little men have made us rich, and we should show our gratitude. They run about with nothing on and must freeze with cold. I will make them little shirts, coats and trousers and will even knit them some socks and you can make them each a pair of shoes.”

The husband agreed and that evening, when they had everything ready, they laid out the presents on the table and hid themselves to see how the little men would react.

At midnight they came skipping in and were about to start to work; but, instead of the cut-out leather they found the charming little clothes.

At first, they were surprised, then very happy. With great speed they put them on, singing:

“Now we’re dressed so fine and neat,

Why cobble more for others’ feet?”

Then they hopped and danced about and leaped over chairs and tables and out of the door.

The little men never came back again but the shoemaker continued to be a success for the rest of his life and had good luck in everything he did, all thanks to the two little elves.

The end

To watch the animated video of this Fairy Tale on the Oxbridge Baby YouTube Channel click here (please note these links take you to an external website).