The Elves and the Shoemaker (Academy Storytime)
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Summary
A story from the Brothers Grimm about two little elves who help out a man who was in need long, long ago, way far away in the land of Germany. Here is our story: The Shoemaker and the Elves. There once was a shoemaker who, through no fault of his own, had become so poor that he had only enough leather for one more pair of shoes. I will make these the best shoes I can, he told himself. And that night, he cut out the shoes and planned to sew them together in the morning. And then he kissed his white good night.
Transcript
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Hi my friends, Githia's Sheila McNellan here about to tell you a story from the Brothers Grimm.
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These are German stories from long ago. This story deals with elves and if you're
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like a lot of people, a lot of little kids, you often think about elves this
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time of year because sometimes they're involved in putting things around yule
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trees and in stockings and they come to our homes. Well, this is about two little
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elves that helped out a man who was in need long, long ago, way far away in the
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land of Germany. Here is our story. It is called the shoemaker and the elves. There once was a
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shoemaker who through no fault of his own had become so poor that he had only enough leather
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for one more pair of shoes. I will make these the best shoes I can, he told himself, and that night
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he cut out the shoes and planned to sew them together in the morning. And then he kissed his
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white good night, he blew out the candle and crawled into bed. Being a kind and honest man,
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the shoemaker had no trouble sleeping soundly through the night. He awoke the next morning
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ready to begin work, but when he got to his workbench, he could hardly believe his eyes.
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And here he is. This is what it looks like when he's hard at work. There he is.
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Because they had to make all the shoes by hand in those days.
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There on the table was a pair of shoes, all made and finished.
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The shoemaker rubbed his eyes and looked again.
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He picked up the shoes and looked at them in wonder.
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Only a master craftsman could make shoes this fine.
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That very morning a customer tried on the shoes.
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for he was afraid that someone was playing a trick on him.
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These shoes are the finest I've ever seen, said the customer,
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and he paid the shoemaker more than the usual price.
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With this money, the shoemaker was able to buy enough leather
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That night, he cut the shoes out to have them ready to sew together the next morning.
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but once again he woke to find the shoes were already sewn. They were so beautiful
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just as the first pair and they sold quickly and with the money paid for them the shoemaker was
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able to buy leather for four pairs of shoes. Early the next morning the shoemaker woke to find
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four pairs of shoes finished and so it continued to happen. After a time the shoemaker began to
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make a good living and he and his wife lived quite comfortably. One evening around Christmas time
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as a shoemaker sat at his bench he looked up at his wife and he said if we were to stay up late
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tonight we might be able to discover who has been helping us all this time. His wife agreed. She lit
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a candle and the two of them hid behind some coats in the corner of the room and here they are.
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They waited and they waited and at the stroke of midnight, two tiny elves came in and scampered over to the workbench.
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Without wasting any time, they took the shoes that had been cut out and they began to stitch, sew, hammer, as quick as can be.
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they worked so nimbly that the shoemaker and his wife were in awe. The elves did
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not stop until all the shoes on the workbench were finished and then they
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quickly ran off again. And here they are. This is what it looks like when they're
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busy working. Take a look at them. Look at their clothes. Look at their shoes. Oh,
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oh they don't have shoes hmm the next morning the wife said little men have
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made us rich we have to show them how grateful we are the shoemaker agreed but
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what can we do he asked well said his wife I'm sure they must be cold for
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they don't have any proper clothing I will make them little shirts and
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And then I'll get them each a pair of long wood socks,
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woolen socks, and you can make them each a pair of shoes.
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And then they both hid and waited for the elves to appear.
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The two little men came scampering through the door, but when they reached the workbench, they stopped and they looked down in surprise.
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All of a sudden, they burst into cackles of laughter and delight and began trying on their new clothes.
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As soon as they were dressed, they began to sing.
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Now that we look so fine and dandy, no more need to work and be handy.
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And then off they went, dancing and skipping and jumping over chairs and benches.
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They danced right out the door and were never seen again.
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But the shoemaker continued to prosper, and he and his wife lived out their days very happily.
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the little elves helping the farmer, helping the shoemaker and his wife when they needed that.
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But it also tells us about a gift for a gift. The little elves had gifted the shoemaker and his wife
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all those shoes that they sold and were able to make money selling. And in return,
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the shoemaker's wife gave them clothes, and that was something they didn't have.
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And once they had that, that kind of sealed the bargain.
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They each got something wonderful from the other.
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And we often think about this time of year as we head into Yule and we're giving gifts to our families.
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And we think of gifts to the ancestors and our ancestors return with gifts for us.
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And so this is a story about gift giving and being generous.
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generous spirit and also working hard because the shoemaker never wanted to be lazy. He always
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wanted to work hard and do his very best job. And so he did. He continued. After the little elves
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left, he continued to make shoes and be very happy in his life with his wife. And we hope those
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little elves are happy too. And maybe they'll come to your house this coming season. All right,
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we'll see you next time. Thank you for being here to listen to The Elves and the Shoemaker. Bye-bye.