Once upon a time there lived a very poor shoemaker. He spent his last coin to buy a piece of leather, and even that was only enough for one pair of shoes. Late at night he finished cutting, put down the scissors, left the leather on the table so that he could start sewing shoes in the morning, and went to bed.
But in the morning, when he went to the table to begin work, instead of pieces of leather he found a pair of brand new, completely finished shoes. He brought them to his eyes in amazement: he had never seen anything like them in his life. The shoemaker was still staring at them when the first customer entered the workshop. When he saw the shoes, he was so delighted that he immediately bought them for a high price.
Now the shoemaker had enough money to buy leather for as many as four pairs of shoes.
“This is luck,” he told his wife.
In the evening he cut all four pairs and left them on the table so that he could start sewing in the morning. But in the morning all four pairs were lying ready again. And again the work was done excellently, so that the shoemaker did not have time to look back when all the buyers had been bought for good money and were trying to snatch his shoes from each other.
Now the shoemaker was able to buy twelve pairs of leather. In the evening he cut everything out and went to bed.
“Tomorrow I have a hard day,” he told his wife, “I’ll have to sew twenty-four shoes.” “He still didn’t believe that he could ever be so lucky again.”
But in the morning again all twenty-four shoes stood ready on the table. And again they were snatched from each other by a whole crowd of buyers.
So the shoemaker went on day after day: in the evening he cut the leather, and in the morning the shoes were ready. And he bought more and more leather and cut more and more shoes, and received more and more money for them. And his business flourished.
One day, just before Christmas, the shoemaker said to his wife: “I would still like to know whose hands are helping us so much? Let’s hide at night and watch.”
In the evening they lit a candle, left it on the table and hid in the closet, hanging themselves with old clothes. They waited until midnight in vain. But as soon as the church clock struck twelve, the window suddenly opened by itself and two tiny people climbed into it. They were so small that each could fit in the palm of your hand, and each had no more clothes on than a newborn baby.
Cross-legged, the little men sat down on the shoemaker's table and began to work with the leather, so much so that it fell to their tiny hands, and before you had time to set the table, a beautiful pair of shoes was ready. And when everything was finished, they carefully put all the tools, blew out the candle and jumped out the window.
The shoemaker and his wife got out of the closet. “You know, hubby,” said the wife, “these kids have made us rich. But the poor fellows themselves have nothing to hide in such cold weather. Let me sew them jackets, pants and hats, and you can make them a good pair of shoes!” The shoemaker agreed. He sewed shoes, and his wife made tiny clothes. And at night, when everything was ready, they put it all on the table near a lit candle and hid in the closet again.
As soon as the church clock struck twelve, the window opened again of its own accord and two little men climbed in. They looked at the table and saw that instead of cut leather there were two tiny suits and two tiny pairs of shoes. And how they laughed, how they jumped for joy! And so, laughing and jumping, they got dressed, and then they held hands and began to dance on the table. They danced and sang a song about how they were finally dressed warmly and could take a little break from work. And then they blew out the candle and jumped out the window.
After that night they didn't come again. But the shoemaker, to be honest, was not very sad - after all, he had learned something by watching the little men, and could now sew shoes himself better than any master in the world.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru