--- title: "The Elves" story_id: "3cff7f50-11a1-4860-9471-e8a743e1d059" text_id: "a563992f-e05f-4359-8ad3-4e10306b7560" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-elves" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-elves" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Elves > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-elves) Version: Modernized In this German tale from the Brothers Grimm, a poor shoemaker has only enough leather left for one pair of shoes. He cuts it out before bed, then wakes to find the shoes beautifully finished. Who has been working while he slept? These three short stories tell of elves whose visits change people’s lives in surprising ways… **Content warning:** The third story describes a baby being taken away and portrays a child with an unusual appearance as a supernatural being. ## First Story A shoemaker, by no fault of his own, had become so poor that at last he had nothing left but leather for one pair of shoes. So that evening he cut out the leather for the shoes he planned to make the next morning. His conscience was clear, so he lay down peacefully, entrusted himself to God and fell asleep. In the morning, he said his prayers and was just going to sit down to work. The two shoes stood quite finished on his table. He was astounded, and did not know what to say. He took the shoes in his hands to examine them more closely. They were so neatly made that there was not one bad stitch in them, just as if they were intended as a masterpiece. Soon afterwards, a customer came in. He liked the shoes so much that he paid more than the usual price. With the money, the shoemaker could buy leather for two pairs of shoes. He cut them out that night and planned to start work the next morning with fresh courage. But there was no need: when he got up, the shoes were already made. There was no shortage of customers, and they paid him enough to buy leather for four pairs. The following morning, he found the four pairs made too. And so it went on: what he cut out in the evening was finished by morning. Soon he could make an honest living again, and in time he became wealthy. One evening, not long before Christmas, the man had been cutting out leather. Before going to bed, he said to his wife, “What do you think of staying up tonight to see who it is that lends us this helping hand?” His wife liked the idea and lit a candle. Then they hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind some clothes which were hanging up there, and watched. At midnight, two pretty little naked men appeared. They sat at the shoemaker’s table and took the work laid out for them. They stitched, sewed and hammered so skilfully and quickly with their little fingers that the shoemaker could not look away in his astonishment. They did not stop until everything was finished and stood ready on the table. Then they ran quickly away. Next morning the woman said, “The little men have made us rich, and we really must show that we are grateful for it. They run about with nothing on. They must be cold. I’ll tell you what I’ll do: I will make them little shirts, and coats, and vests, and trousers, and knit both of them a pair of stockings, and you can make them two little pairs of shoes.” The man said, “I shall be very glad to do it.” One night, when everything was ready, they laid their presents all together on the table instead of the cut-out work, and then concealed themselves to see how the little men would behave. At midnight they came bounding in, eager to start work. But instead of cut-out leather, they found the pretty little clothes. At first they were astonished, then intensely delighted. They dressed themselves as quickly as they could, putting the pretty clothes on, and singing, “Now we are boys so fine to see, Why should we still shoemakers be?” Then they danced and skipped and leapt over chairs and benches. At last they danced out of doors. ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/b8367a3a-4393-4f09-8e6b-0ce3662e25ba) From then on they never returned. But as long as the shoemaker lived, all went well with him, and everything he did prospered. ## Second Story Once upon a time, there was a poor servant-girl who was hardworking and tidy. She swept the house every day and emptied her sweepings on the great heap in front of the door. One morning, as she was returning to work, she found a letter on the heap. She could not read, so she left her broom in the corner and took the letter to her master and mistress. And there it was: an invitation from the elves, asking her to hold a child at its christening, the ceremony of baptism. The girl did not know what to do. Her master and mistress urged her to accept, saying it was wrong to refuse such an invitation. At last she agreed. Then three elves came and led her to a hollow mountain, where the little folks lived. Everything there was small, but more elegant and beautiful than can be described. The baby’s mother lay in a bed of black ebony wood ornamented with pearls. The bedcovers were embroidered with gold, the cradle was of ivory, and the bath of gold. The girl acted as godmother and then wanted to go home again. But the little elves begged her to stay three days with them. So she stayed, and enjoyed herself, and the little folks did all they could to make her happy. At last she set out on her way home. First they filled her pockets right up with money, and then they led her out of the mountain again. When she got home, she wanted to begin her work. She took the broom, still standing in the corner, in her hand and began to sweep. Then some strangers came out of the house and asked who she was and what business she had there. She had spent not three days with the little men in the mountain, as she thought, but seven years. In that time, her former master and mistress had died. ## Third Story The elves had taken a mother’s child from its cradle and left a changeling in its place. The changeling had a large head and staring eyes, and did nothing but eat and drink. In her distress, the mother went to her neighbour and asked her advice. The neighbour said that she was to carry the changeling into the kitchen, set it down on the hearth, light a fire, and boil some water in two egg-shells. This would make the changeling laugh. If he laughed, she would be rid of him. The woman did everything that her neighbour told her to do. When she put the egg-shells with water on the fire, the imp said, “I am as old now as the Wester forest, but I have never yet seen anyone boil anything in an eggshell!” And he began to laugh at it. While he was laughing, a crowd of little elves suddenly appeared. They brought back the mother’s own child, set it down on the hearth and took the changeling away with them. ## Modernization notes - which would make the changeling laugh, and if he laughed, all would be over with → This would make the changeling laugh. If he laughed, she would be rid of: The changeling is carried away at the end of the story; it is not killed. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Grimm’s Fairy Tales, 1914, Cupples & Leon Company, New York - author: Jacob Grimm - author: Wilhelm Grimm - translator: Margaret Hunt ## Illustration [Otto Kubel](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/b8367a3a-4393-4f09-8e6b-0ce3662e25ba) — Die Heinzelmännchen ## Reading music Songs Without Words, Op. 67 — No. 5 Felix Mendelssohn Benjamin Moser (piano) Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (source) [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) ## Quiz ### What is a shoemaker's last? - A model foot (Correct answer) - A pair of leather scissors - A polishing brush Shoemakers work with a model foot called a last. A carved wooden last gives a shoe its shape during manufacture. [Museums Victoria — Shoe Last](https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/1333096) ### Which Spanish city lies behind the word cordwainer? - Madrid - Córdoba (Correct answer) - Barcelona The word cordwainer recalls Córdoba in Spain. Shoemakers valued the fine goatskin leather produced there. [The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers — Cordwainers](https://cordwainers.org/) ### Which plant material was used at the old Welsh tannery? - Rose petals - Pine needles - Oak bark (Correct answer) Oak bark could turn hides into leather. At a preserved Welsh tannery, the traditional process took a total of eighteen months. [Amgueddfa Cymru — Rhaeadr Tannery](https://museum.wales/collections/historic-buildings/28/Rhaeadr-Tannery) ### What is the ancient Egyptian sandal at the British Museum made of? - Woven plant materials (Correct answer) - Glass - Porcelain Shoes need not be made of leather. The British Museum holds an Egyptian sandal woven from reeds, palm leaves and papyrus. [The British Museum — Sandal EA4459](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA4459) ### Why did some Roman shoes have metal studs under their soles? - To make music while walking - To make feet float on water - For grip and durability (Correct answer) Some Roman shoes had metal studs under their soles. These improved grip and helped footwear withstand long marches. [The British Museum — Legion: life in the Roman army](https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/legion-life-roman-army/large-print-guide) ## Other languages - [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/the-elves?format=markdown) - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-elves?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)