44 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
44 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER
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Once upon a time there lived a poor shoemaker. He lived in misery because
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as he grew old he could not see all that well anymore and, consequently he
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could not work like he used to.
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One night he went to bed sad, without finishing a repair job he had begun.
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In the morning he found the job done.
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During the day he set out all the tools and material necessary to make a
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new pair of shoes for a rich customer.
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"Tomorrow morning, when it will be sunny and bright, I will begin working
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on them," he thought. But the morning after, instead of the leather he had
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left the night before, the shoemaker was very surprised to find a beautiful
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pair of brand new shoes. Later on in the day, the customer went by the shop to
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see how his new shoes were coming along. When he found a very nice pair of
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shoes ready, he was very happy and paid the shoemaker twice the price they had
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agreed upon.
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The shoemaker was very confused and wondered what had happened. That night,
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he left out some more leather and the next morning he found another shiny and
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perfect pair of new shoes. These shoes were sold at an even higher price. Now
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the shoemaker left out leather and tools to his mysterious helper every night,
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and, every morning, he found a new pair of shoes. Pretty soon, the shoemaker
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was able to save a good sum of money. When the shoemaker's wife noticed all
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the money the shoemaker had saved, she grew suspicious and demanded an
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explanation. When she was informed of the unusual nocturnal occurrences, she
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proposed:
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"Let's wait until nightfall. We will hide and find out what's happening."
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And so the shoemaker and his wife hid and, around midnight, saw two elves
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sneak into the shoemaker's shop. The quick and skilled elves made a new pair
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of shoes in a flsh. It was winter and the elves, dressed in ragged clothes,
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shivered while they worked.
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"Poor fellows! They must be very cold," the shoemaker's wife whispered to
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her husband. "Tomorrow I will make them two heavy wool jackets. That way they
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will be warmer and maybe, instead of one pair of shoes, they will make two!"
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The following midnight, next to the leather, the two elves found two
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elegant red jackets with gold buttons. They put on the jackets and were very
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happy. They danced shouting:
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"What beautiful jackets! We'll never be cold again." But when one of the
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elves said:
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"Let's get to work now," the other answered:
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"Work? What for? With two jackets like these we are rich. We will never
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have to work again."
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The two elves left the shop of the astonished shoemaker and his even more
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puzzled wife and were never seen agin.
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