Christmas Stories: 'The Elves and the Shoemaker,' Part II

Here is the second part of "The Elves and the Shoemaker":

Again, when the shoemaker sat down at his workbench, the shoes from his dream were sitting before his eyes!

"I can't believe this!" said the shoemaker.

His wife heard the shoemaker's words and came running into the room. "What happened?" she asked breathlessly. Then she saw the two new pairs of shoes and squealed with joy.

The shoemaker and his wife were in the middle of celebrating when once again, the door to the shop opened. This time two customers walked into the shop. They took one look at the two new pairs of shoes and smiled.

"This is exactly what I've been looking for," said the first customer. And when he tried the shoes on, of course, he found that they fit him perfectly!

The second customer was a wealthy woman, who fell in love with the second pair of shoes. "I can't believe what I'm seeing," she said. "This pair will match my new gown that I just had custom made. They're perfect in every way!"

The two customers paid handsomely for each pair of shoes, then quickly left the store. The shoemaker and his wife were left stunned. They could not believe the miracle that took place each night, and they could not believe how quickly the mysterious shoes sold!

Soon the shoemaker's wife gathered some money and ran off to the market to buy a goose for dinner. The shoemaker had enough money left over to purchase leather for four more pairs of shoes!

©2006 Publications International, Ltd.

That evening the shoemaker and his wife enjoyed a feast of roasted goose with all the trimmings. Later that night the shoemaker once again cut out the leather and set it aside to work on in the morning. He went to bed with a full belly and a happy heart. As he dreamed that night, he saw the leather that he bought forming itself into beautiful shoes, as if by magic. As he dreamed some more, he could see that the leather was actually being worked by tiny hands, not much bigger than the head of a hat pin.

When the shoemaker awoke the next morning, he called to his wife. "Have you seen them?" he asked her excitedly. "Have you seen the shoes? Are they there?"

The shoemaker and his wife quickly ran to the workbench. Sure enough, four pairs of elegant shoes sat before them. They were exactly as the shoemaker had seen them in his dream.

"This is amazing," said the shoemaker's wife. "How is this happening?"

The shoemaker shook his head. "I can't be sure, but in my dream I saw tiny hands working the leather and stitching the stitches."

As the shoemaker shrugged his shoulders, four customers hurried into the shop. Like the customers before, they were delighted with what they saw. The new shoes were gone in a blink of an eye, and the shoemaker and his wife had more money than they had ever dreamed.

"I do believe our money troubles are over, Martha," said the shoemaker, happily. "But we must not let all this success go to our heads."

For several weeks, the mysterious activities continued in the middle of the night. Each morning beautiful and wonderful shoes were waiting for the shoemaker and his wife. Now they were no longer poor. In fact, they were quite well-off.

It was almost Christmas Day. The shoemaker and his wife gave thanks for all their good fortune. But they did not know who to thank for making such fabulous shoes.

"Martha, I think it's about time we find out who is doing this tremendous favor for us," said the shoemaker.

"I quite agree! We need to make sure the mysterious stranger has a wonderful Christmas like ours," said the shoemaker's wife.

The shoemaker and his wife agreed that they would stay awake that night to see the secret stranger arrive. They hid behind a bookcase with just a candle for light.

As the clock struck midnight, the shoemaker and his wife were amazed at what they saw.

To find out how "The Elves and the Shoemaker" ends, see the next page.