The Elves

Once upon a time there was a shoemaker. Through no fault of his own, he had become so poor that at last he had nothing left but leather for one pair of shoes. In the evening he cut out the shoes he wanted to start making the next morning.

He had a clear conscience, so he lay down quietly in his bed, said his prayers, and fell asleep. In the morning, after he had said his prayers and was just about to sit down to work, there stood the two shoes, completely finished, on his table.

He was amazed and didn't know what to say. He picked up the shoes and looked at them closely. They were so neatly made that there wasn't a single bad stitch – just as if they were meant to be a masterpiece. Soon after, a buyer came in.

The shoes pleased him so much that he paid more than the usual price. With that money, the shoemaker could buy leather for two pairs of shoes. He cut them out that night, and the next morning he was about to start work with fresh courage.

But he didn't need to – when he got up, the shoes were already made. Buyers came too, and they gave him enough money to buy leather for four pairs. The next morning he found four pairs finished.

And so it went on: whatever he cut out in the evening was finished by morning. Soon he earned an honest living again, and at last he became a wealthy man. Now it happened one evening, not long before Christmas, when the man had been cutting out, he said to his wife before going to bed, “What if we stay up tonight to see who it is that gives us this helping hand?” The woman liked the idea, so she lit a candle, and they hid in a corner of the room, behind some clothes that were hanging there, and watched.

At midnight, two pretty little naked men came. They sat down at the shoemaker's table, took all the cut-out work, and began to stitch, sew, and hammer so skillfully and quickly with their tiny fingers that the shoemaker couldn't take his eyes off them in astonishment.

They didn't stop until everything was done and stood finished on the table. Then they ran quickly away. The next morning the woman said, “The little men have made us rich. We really must show that we are grateful. They run about with nothing on and must be cold.

I know what I'll do: I'll make them little shirts, coats, vests, and trousers, and knit each of them a pair of stockings. And you must make them two little pairs of shoes.” The man said, “I'll be very glad to do that.” One night, when everything was ready, they laid all the presents on the table instead of the cut-out work.

Then they hid themselves to see what the little men would do. At midnight the elves came bounding in and wanted to get to work at once. But when they didn't find any cut-out leather, only the pretty little clothes, they were first astonished, and then they showed great delight.

They dressed themselves quickly, putting on the pretty clothes and singing, “Now we are boys so fine to see, why should we longer cobblers be?” Then they danced and skipped and jumped over chairs and benches. At last they danced out the door. From that time on, they never came again.

But as long as the shoemaker lived, everything went well for him, and all his work succeeded. There was once a poor servant girl who was hardworking and clean. She swept the house every day and emptied the sweepings onto a large heap in front of the door.

One morning, when she was just about to go back to work, she found a letter on the heap. Since she couldn't read, she put her broom in the corner and took the letter to her master and mistress.

And behold, it was an invitation from the elves, asking the girl to hold a child for them at its christening. The girl didn't know what to do. But after much persuasion, and because they told her it wasn't right to refuse such an invitation, she agreed.

Then three elves came and led her into a hollow mountain where the little people lived. Everything there was small, but more elegant and beautiful than can be described. The baby's mother lay in a bed of black ebony decorated with pearls. The covers were embroidered with gold.

The cradle was of ivory, the bath of gold. The girl stood as godmother. Then she wanted to go home, but the little elves urgently begged her to stay three days with them. So she stayed and passed the time in pleasure and joy.

The little folks did everything to make her happy. At last she set out for home. First they filled her pockets full of money, and then they led her out of the mountain. When she got home, she wanted to start work.

She took the broom, which was still standing in the corner, and began to sweep. Then some strangers came out of the house who asked who she was and what she wanted there. She hadn't, as she thought, been three days with the little men in the mountain, but seven years.

In the meantime, her former masters had died. A certain mother's child had been taken away from its cradle by the elves, and in its place they laid a changeling with a big head and staring eyes, which would do nothing but eat and drink.

In her trouble she went to her neighbor and asked for advice. The neighbor said she should carry the changeling into the kitchen, put it down on the hearth, light a fire, and boil water in two eggshells.

That would make the changeling laugh, and if he laughed, it would be all over. The woman did everything her neighbor told her. When she put the eggshells with water on the fire, the little imp said, “I am as old as the Wester Forest, but I have never seen anyone boil anything in an eggshell!” And he began to laugh.

While he was laughing, suddenly a host of little elves came. They brought the right child, set it down on the hearth, and took the changeling away with them.