The Elves and the Shoemaker: Learn English - Story for Children
English |
06m 02s
A poor cobbler and his wife worked very hard but could never earn enough to live comfortably. Watch how two little elves come to their rescue.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Retold by BookBox
Although Peter Schumaker
worked hard and was kind to
everyone in the village,
he could never earn
enough money making shoes.
On this particularly
cold and snowy day,
all he had left in his workroom
was enough leather to make
one last pair of shoes.
That evening,
Peter carefully cut up
his precious leather
and laid it aside for the morning,
when he would sew them together.
The sun rose the next morning
and Peter was ready to start work,
but to his great surprise
an exquisitely crafted
pair of shoes
sat on his worktable.
“What magic!”
said Cecilia, his wife.
They quickly put the shoes
in the shop window,
for the holiday shopping season
had just begun.
As luck would have it,
the shoes fitted the finicky
Mrs. Sniggins perfectly,
and she paid a generous sum
for the fine fit.
With the money,
Peter went to buy more leather,
enough for two more pairs.
That evening,
he once again set to work
cutting his leather,
and he left the pieces on the table
when he went to bed.
Hoping for a good design,
he fell asleep dreaming of shoes.
When he awoke
early the next morning,
he again found two finely
crafted pairs of shoes
before his eyes.
Customers bought these up
quickly,
for they were masterpieces.
Now Peter could buy
enough leather
for four pairs of shoes.
This magical business
went on for some time,
and Schumaker’s name
became well-known
for the finest shoes in town.
These days,
life was much better
for Peter and Cecilia.
One day Cecilia said,
“I wonder who has been helping us
so much?”
Peter announced:
“Tonight,
we will hide in the workshop
and see what goes on there!”
And so they did.
At exactly midnight,
two tiny elves tiptoed in
and began to work,
swiftly making the fine shoes.
They were shabbily dressed
and weren’t even wearing
shoes themselves.
Before daybreak,
they had already dashed off,
leaving several pairs of shoes
ready for sale that day.
Peter and Cecilia
were grateful to these little elves,
and worried about them
working so hard
in such cold weather.
So Peter set to work
making two tiny pairs of shoes,
and Cecilia stitched
two warm sets of clothing
for each of them.
On Christmas Eve,
instead of leather pieces,
they set the little shoes
and clothes out
and hid themselves again.
At midnight,
the elves popped in
and saw the new clothes.
In a flash,
they had them
on their little bodies!
They were so happy
that they laughed and chuckled,
and danced right out the window,
never to be seen again.
Peter continued making shoes
everyday,
and he and Cecilia
lived a very happy
and contented life for many years.
As did the elves!
Illustrations: Charudutta Prabhu Desai
Animation: BookBox
Music & Art Director: Holger Jetter