The
Elves and the
Shoemaker
Long, long ago, during
Christmas time,
tinsel sparkled and bells did chime.
There was a shoe shop decor
ated with lights.
It looked so cosy and warm an d bright.
But sadly inside the shop was strife.
The poor shoemaker and his wife
didn't have near enough to
eat, no
Christmas pudding or tasty sweets.
See, the shoemaker and his wife together only
just had enough pieces of leather to make
one pair of shiny shoes.
He cried, oh dear,
what shall we do?
He took the leather and then he cut it, sew, sew,
sewing each little bit, cob -cobbling the
leather into shoes,
but the poor shoemaker was feeling blue.
I just can't carry on, he said,
and drooped his tired and heavy head, leaving his half -made
shoes in the shed.
He went off to sleep in his big
old bed.
The next morning the shoemaker went down,
but soon he lost his worried frown.
Someone had finished making the shoes.
He ran to tell his wife the news.
You won't believe it,
Maria, he cried.
He was laughing and his
eyes were wide.
My shoes were finished in the night.
They are so perfect and so bright.
His wife jumped up and out of her bed.
But who finished them?
She said.
They looked at the
shoes together.
How beautiful looked the shiny leather.
That very day the new shoes sold
for seven shiny coins of gold.
The shoemaker and his wife jumped for joy,
now
Christmas they could enjoy.
That night, just before they went to bed,
they crept silently into the shed.
They wanted to see if there were clues about
who had made the lovely shoes.
Suddenly there was a
jingle and a rustle.
Into the shed two elves did bustle.
Marja,
look !" the shoemaker said.
The elves' hats were
fluffy and red.
Christmas elves! his wife whispered back.
The elves worked with a creak an d a clack,
sew -sewing shoes together, cob -cobbling some
new leather.
Soon the elves had made a shiny
new pair.
They ran out and left the
shoes right there.
Green leather shoes that sparkled so bright,
made by elf magic, during the night.
The shoemaker's wife said to him then,
Why, they've helped us
out again.
We should give them something back,
something those kind elves lack.
I agree,
Maya, the shoemaker said,
but what to give those elves in the shed?
Then his wife said,
Hmm, aha, I know, they need some warm
winter clothes.
She made woolly jumpers for the elves, and
laid them out on the shelves.
From then on the elves always helped out,
and none of them ever went without.