109 lines
6 KiB
Text
109 lines
6 KiB
Text
The Elves
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FIRST STORY
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A shoemaker, by no fault of his own, had become so poor that at last he
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had nothing left but leather for one pair of shoes. So in the evening,
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he cut out the shoes which he wished to begin to make the next morning,
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and as he had a good conscience, he lay down quietly in his bed,
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commended himself to God, and fell asleep. In the morning, after he had
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said his prayers, and was just going to sit down to work, the two shoes
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stood quite finished on his table. He was astounded, and knew not what
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to say to it. He took the shoes in his hands to observe them closer,
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and they were so neatly made that there was not one bad stitch in them,
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just as if they were intended as a masterpiece. Soon after, a buyer
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came in, and as the shoes pleased him so well, he paid more for them
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than was customary, and, with the money, the shoemaker was able to
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purchase leather for two pairs of shoes. He cut them out at night, and
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next morning was about to set to work with fresh courage; but he had no
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need to do so, for, when he got up, they were already made, and buyers
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also were not wanting, who gave him money enough to buy leather for
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four pairs of shoes. The following morning, too, he found the four
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pairs made; and so it went on constantly, what he cut out in the
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evening was finished by the morning, so that he soon had his honest
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independence again, and at last became a wealthy man. Now it befell
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that one evening not long before Christmas, when the man had been
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cutting out, he said to his wife, before going to bed, “What think you
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if we were to stay up to-night to see who it is that lends us this
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helping hand?” The woman liked the idea, and lighted a candle, and then
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they hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind some clothes which
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were hanging up there, and watched. When it was midnight, two pretty
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little naked men came, sat down by the shoemaker’s table, took all the
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work which was cut out before them and began to stitch, and sew, and
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hammer so skilfully and so quickly with their little fingers that the
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shoemaker could not turn away his eyes for astonishment. They did not
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stop until all was done, and stood finished on the table, and they ran
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quickly away.
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Next morning the woman said, “The little men have made us rich, and we
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really must show that we are grateful for it. They run about so, and
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have nothing on, and must be cold. I’ll tell thee what I’ll do: I will
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make them little shirts, and coats, and vests, and trousers, and knit
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both of them a pair of stockings, and do thou, too, make them two
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little pairs of shoes.” The man said, “I shall be very glad to do it;”
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and one night, when everything was ready, they laid their presents all
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together on the table instead of the cut-out work, and then concealed
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themselves to see how the little men would behave. At midnight they
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came bounding in, and wanted to get to work at once, but as they did
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not find any leather cut out, but only the pretty little articles of
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clothing, they were at first astonished, and then they showed intense
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delight. They dressed themselves with the greatest rapidity, putting
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the pretty clothes on, and singing,
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“Now we are boys so fine to see,
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Why should we longer cobblers be?”
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Then they danced and skipped and leapt over chairs and benches. At last
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they danced out of doors. From that time forth they came no more, but
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as long as the shoemaker lived all went well with him, and all his
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undertakings prospered.
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SECOND STORY
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There was once a poor servant-girl, who was industrious and cleanly,
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and swept the house every day, and emptied her sweepings on the great
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heap in front of the door. One morning when she was just going back to
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her work, she found a letter on this heap, and as she could not read,
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she put her broom in the corner, and took the letter to her master and
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mistress, and behold it was an invitation from the elves, who asked the
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girl to hold a child for them at its christening. The girl did not know
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what to do, but at length, after much persuasion, and as they told her
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that it was not right to refuse an invitation of this kind, she
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consented. Then three elves came and conducted her to a hollow
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mountain, where the little folks lived. Everything there was small, but
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more elegant and beautiful than can be described. The baby’s mother lay
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in a bed of black ebony ornamented with pearls, the coverlids were
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embroidered with gold, the cradle was of ivory, the bath of gold. The
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girl stood as godmother, and then wanted to go home again, but the
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little elves urgently entreated her to stay three days with them. So
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she stayed, and passed the time in pleasure and gaiety, and the little
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folks did all they could to make her happy. At last she set out on her
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way home. Then first they filled her pockets quite full of money, and
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after that they led her out of the mountain again. When she got home,
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she wanted to begin her work, and took the broom, which was still
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standing in the corner, in her hand and began to sweep. Then some
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strangers came out of the house, who asked her who she was, and what
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business she had there? And she had not, as she thought, been three
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days with the little men in the mountains, but seven years, and in the
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meantime her former masters had died.
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THIRD STORY
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A certain mother’s child had been taken away out of its cradle by the
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elves, and a changeling with a large head and staring eyes, which would
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do nothing but eat and drink, laid in its place. In her trouble she
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went to her neighbour, and asked her advice. The neighbour said that
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she was to carry the changeling into the kitchen, set it down on the
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hearth, light a fire, and boil some water in two egg-shells, which
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would make the changeling laugh, and if he laughed, all would be over
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with him. The woman did everything that her neighbour bade her. When
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she put the egg-shells with water on the fire, the imp said, “I am as
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old now as the Wester forest, but never yet have I seen any one boil
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anything in an egg-shell!” And he began to laugh at it. Whilst he was
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laughing, suddenly came a host of little elves, who brought the right
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child, set it down on the hearth, and took the changeling away with
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them.
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