The next morning, the good shoemaker was amazed to find on his workbench, not the leather pieces, but a pair of shoes, finished and sewn with fine neat stitches. "This must be magic!" he declared to his wife. "It would take me a week to make such shoes." That day, a lady came into the store and paid him handsomely for the shoes. The shoemaker was now able to buy enough leather for two new pairs. In the evening, he cut out two pairs of shoes and laid the pieces on the bench before going to bed.
When he woke up in the morning, he found two pairs of finished shoes, as finely and neatly stitched as the first pair. That day, customers bought the shoes. With the money he got for them, the shoemaker was able to buy leather for four more pairs. In the evening, he cut out the pieces and laid them on the bench. In the morning, four pairs of finished shoes lay in their place. And so it went. Each night he left out a number of pairs of shoes ready to be stitched, and every morning he found them finished and ready to be sold.
One day, the shoemaker's wife said, "Let us stay up tonight and see who it is who helps us." "Better not," said the shoemaker, "for this is magic, and it is best not to be curious about matters of magic." "But if we see these 'magicians', we might find some way to repay them," said the good wife. The shoemaker agreed, and that night, instead of going to bed, they lit a candle and peeped out from between the folds of the curtains. After the clock had struck midnight, two little naked men came through the window. Without a word, they hopped onto the bench and set to work stitching the leather pieces. How the tiny fingers flew! Before long, all the leather had been made into shoes. Then the two little men joined hands and pranced and skipped about. As the clock struck two, they skipped out the window.
"Poor little men," said the shoemaker's wife, when she was sure they had gone. "They looked so bare and cold. I think I will make them each a little suit." "What a fine idea!" said the shoemaker. "And I will make them each shoes." "And instead of setting out work for them tonight, we shall set out our presents," said the wife. The next day, the good wife sewed two little coats of yellow, two little pairs of trousers of blue and two little hats of red. The shoemaker made two tiny pairs of shoes of soft red leather. After supper, they laid out the tiny outfits and two tiny servings of supper. Then they went to bed.
As the clock struck twelve, the two little men pranced through the window and skipped over to the bench. When they saw the two little suits of clothes, they chuckled with delight and put them on immediately. Then they sat down and ate. When they had finished, they went prancing and skipping out the window. The shoemaker and his wife never saw the elves again. But the elves must have left them luck, for the good couple never again wanted for anything.
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