'They're
Elves'
That night the shoemaker and
his wife did not go to bed. They hid behind the workbench
and waited. At midnight the door opened and a group of tiny
people came into the room.
‘They’re elves!’ whispered the shoemaker.
‘But they look so poor!’ said the
shoemaker’s wife. ‘Look at their old clothes!
And they don’t have shoes.’
The elves talked in very low voices. ‘I’m so
cold!’ said one.
‘And my feet hurt!’ said another.
‘But we must help the shoemaker! We don’t want
his shop to close.’
Two elves climbed onto the table. That night they make ten
pairs of shoes for the shoemaker. Then they run out of the
door. ‘Quick!’ they cried. ‘We must go
before the shoemaker gets up.’
'We love the
shoemaker'
The elves left the room.
‘The elves have no warm clothes,’ said the
shoemaker to his wife. ‘We must try and help
them.’
The next day the shoemaker made some tiny shoes for the
elves. He made them warm clothes, too. That night he left
the shoes and the clothes on the table.
The elves found the shoes and the clothes. They danced for
joy and sang a song. ‘We love the shoemaker,’
they sang. ‘And he loves us.’
