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Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Kamishibai The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Once upon a time, there was a hardworking shoemaker.
Despite of his hard work, the shoemaker became poor and poor, and at last all he had was just enough leather to make one pair of shoes.
“Oh, this is going to be the last pair of shoes I can make.”
The shoemaker cut the last leather into a shoe shape and went to bed that night.
The next morning the shoemaker woke up and was surprised at what he saw.
A pair of shoes had been made completely.
The shoes were in such a good quality that they were sold for very high price.
With that money, the shoemaker bought leather to make two more pairs of shoes.
He cut the leather into a shoe shape and went to bed again.
The next morning, he found two pairs of beautifully made shoes.
Since then, the same thing happened every single day.
Two pairs of shoes became four pairs, four became eight, eight became sixteen, sixteen became thirty two… and kept increasing.
Soon the shoemaker became rich.
One day the shoemaker and his wife decided to stay up all night.
They wanted to see who had been making those fine shoes.
In the middle of the night, two naked elves appeared out of nowhere.
With the little hands, the two elves sew the leather quickly, patted it into shape, and completed fine shoes in no time.
The wife suggested the shoemaker the next morning.
“Dear, I’m thinking to make clothes for those elves in appreciation for making beautiful shoes.
They look cold naked.
How about you making shoes for them?”
“That’s a good idea. Let’s do that.”
The next evening, instead of leather to make shoes, the shoemaker left little shirts, pants, and bests that his wife made and little shoes and socks that he made for the two elves.
The elves put on the clothes with delight and sang jumping up and down.
♪We are now lovely elves.
♪No longer a shoemaker.
They soon left the house and never showed up again.They soon left the house and never showed up again.
The elves were gone, but the shoemaker’s shoes continued to fly off the shelves, and he was able to live happily ever after.
The end
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