A shoemaker, by no fault of his own, became so poor that at last he had nothing left but enough leather for one pair of shoes. So in the evening, he cut the leather into the shape of the shoes, and he left his work on the table to finish in the morning. He lay down quietly in his bed, and before he fell asleep he asked God to help him.
In the morning, he saw the two shoes standing quite finished on his table. He was astounded, and did not know what to make of it. He took the shoes in his hands to look at them more closely and he saw that they were so neatly made that there was not one bad stitch in them.
Soon after, a customer came in to the shop, and paid more than the usual price. Now the shoemaker had enough money to buy leather for two pairs of shoes.
That night, he cut out the leather, and the next morning he saw that the shoes were already made. There was no shortage of customers who wanted the shoes, and the shoemaker soon had enough to buy leather for four pairs of shoes.
Soon he was no longer poor, and he even became quite rich.
Now one evening, not long before Christmas, the man said to his wife: "Let's stay up tonight to see who it is that lends us this helping hand?"
The woman liked the idea, and they hid themselves in a corner of the room behind some clothes and watched.
When it was midnight, two little elves came into the room, both without any clothes on. They took all the work which was cut out before them and began to stitch, sew, and hammer so skillfully and so quickly with their little fingers that the shoemaker could not turn away his eyes for astonishment. They did not stop until all was done and stood finished on the table, and then they ran quickly away.
The next morning the woman said: "The little men have made us rich, and we really must show that we are grateful for it. I will make them little shirts, coats, vests, and trousers, and knit both of them a pair of stockings. You can help too – make them two little pairs of shoes."
The man agreed, and one night, they laid their presents altogether on the table instead of the cut out work.
At midnight they came bounding in, but as they did not find any leather cut out, but only the pretty little articles of clothing, they were at first puzzled – and then delighted.
"Now we are boys so fine to see, Why should we longer cobblers be?"
They danced and skipped and leaped over chairs and benches. From that time on they came no more, but as long as the shoemaker lived, all went well with him, and all his business prospered.