the elves

tale of the Brothers Grimm

translation by Renate Kaufmann
review by Ruth Salles

FIRST TALE

Once upon a time there was a shoemaker who became so poor, though it was not his fault, that he finally had only leather for a single pair of shoes. Then, in the evening, he cut the leather, to make the shoes the next morning; and, having a clear conscience, he lay down calmly, commended himself to the dear God, and fell asleep.

Early in the morning, after saying his prayer, he was going to sit down to work when he found the ready pair of shoes on the table. He was so amazed that he didn't know what to say. He took the shoes in his hand to examine them more closely: they were so well made that not a single stitch had been missed, as if it really were a masterpiece.

Shortly after, a buyer appeared. He liked the shoes so much that he paid a premium price for them. With that money, the shoemaker was able to buy leather for two pairs of shoes.

He cut the leather at night and, full of energy, was going to start work early in the morning, but he didn't have to. He found the shoes ready-made, and there was no shortage of buyers who gave him so much money that he was able to buy leather for four pairs of shoes.

Early in the morning he found these shoes ready too; and so the thing continued. The shoemaker cut the leather at night, and in the morning the shoes were ready; so his situation improved again, and at last he became a rich man.

Now it happened that one night, not far from Christmas, after he had cut the leather, before going to sleep the shoemaker said to his wife:

– What do you think about staying up tonight to see who helps us?

The woman liked the idea and turned on a light; then the two of them hid in a corner of the room, behind the clothes that were hanging there, and paid attention.

When it was midnight, two graceful little naked men appeared, sat down in front of the shoemaker's table, took up all the cut leather and, with their little fingers, began to pierce, sew, hammer. The shoemaker, amazed, could not look away. The little men did not stop until the work was done, with their shoes ready on the table; so they hopped out of there quickly.
The next morning the woman said:

– The goblins made us rich, and we should show them our gratitude. They walk around with nothing on their bodies and must be frozen. Do you know what I'm going to do? I will sew them a small shirt, coat, doublet and small trousers, and a pair of socks; you can make them a pair of shoes.

The husband replied:

– I really liked this idea.

And at night, when they had everything ready, instead of leaving the cut leather on the table, they put the gifts there and then hid to see what the reaction of the elves would be.

At midnight they came bounding up and were about to begin work; but as they saw no cut leather, and found the little garments, they were first astonished, then showed great joy. With the greatest speed, they put on their clothes, smoothed them over their bodies and sang:

“We are fine, elegant boys.
We will not be shoemakers from now on!”

And they jumped, and they danced, and they jumped over chairs and benches. Finally, they danced out the door.

Since then, they have not returned, but for the shoemaker things went very well while he lived, and he was successful in whatever he set out to do.

SECOND TALE

Once upon a time there was a poor maid, hardworking and clean, who swept the house every day and gathered the rubbish by piling it up in front of the door.
One day, when she was about to start work, she found a letter. Since he couldn't read, he put the broom in the corner and took the letter to his boss. It was an invitation from the elves to be godmother of a child.

The girl didn't know what to do, but as many people said that this invitation could not be refused, she consented.

Then came three goblins and took her to a high mountain, where the child lived. Everything there was small, but so graceful and luxurious, there are no words to describe it. The child's mother was lying on an ebony bed with pearl buttons, the covers were embroidered in gold, the cradle was ivory and the bathtub was gold.

The girl served as godmother and later wanted to return home, but the elves insisted that she stay with them for three days. So she stayed and had very happy days, and the goblins did everything to please her.

Finally, as she was about to head home, they filled her pockets with gold, then led her back down the mountain.
Arriving home, she wanted to start her work, took the broom, which was still in the corner, and began to sweep. At that, unknown people appeared at the house, who asked who she was and what she was doing there. Then she saw that she hadn't spent three days with the goblins on the mountain, as she thought, but seven years, and her old masters had already died.

THIRD TALE

The elves took a child from its mother and left in the crib a little monster with a big head and staring eyes, who only wanted to eat and suck. The mother, in her desperation, went to ask her neighbor for advice. The neighbor said that she should take the little monster to the kitchen, sit him on the stove, light the fire and boil water in two eggshells. That would make the little monster laugh, and it would all be over when he laughed.

The woman did everything the neighbor had said. When he put the eggshells with water on the fire, the big head exclaimed:

“Like the sunset forest,
I'm old, my people,
I'm nothing new.
But I never saw anyone
cooking in eggshells”,

and started to laugh. As he laughed, a band of goblins arrived bearing the real child; they sat her down on the stove and took the little monster away again.

***