The Elves and the Shoemaker

Once there lived a shoemaker and her husband. They were very poor indeed. The husband took care of the house and meals while his wife was at her workbench. “We’re down to our last piece of leather,” said the shoemaker. “I have enough to cut out one more pair of boots to sell. With all the big factories springing up all over the city, it’s hard to make a living as a shoemaker these days.” With a sigh, the shoemaker cut out the last strip of leather and left it on her workbench.

Lo and behold, the next morning there was a beautiful pair of leather boots sitting on the workbench. A young man came into the shop and paid a generous price for the boots. Word spread, and soon there were at least a dozen orders for more boots. The shoemaker was delighted and used the money to buy enough leather for 2 more pairs. As before, she left the cut leather on her workbench. Sure enough, in the morning, she found 2 beautiful pairs of boots. Then she bought leather for 4 pairs of boots, and so it went for 10 days! The shoemaker and her husband were written up in the newspaper and became famous in their town.