Heinrich and the Elfling Shoemakers🔊

Once upon a time, in a small town in Germany, there lived a humble shoemaker named Heinrich. Heinrich was well-known throughout the town for his craftsmanship and dedication to his craft. His shoes were not only durable and comfortable but also elegantly designed.

It happened so that one day, while Heinrich was bookkeeping, he realised the scarcity of leathers and other resources. His heart sank as he found his savings insufficient to replenish his materials, forcing him to predict the closure of the shop within days.

The same night, as he was ponderously retiring to bed, he decided to cut the last pieces of leather and prepare for his final pair of shoes. He placed the cut leather on his workbench, setting aside the thought of assembling it for the next day, and drifted off into troubled slumber.

The morning sun rays hit Heinrich’s eyes, jerking him from his sleep. With a heavy heart, he started for his workshop. As he flung open the door, he was greeted by a sight that left him staggered. On his workbench, where he had left the cut pieces of leather, now lay a pair of exquisitely made shoes. Heinrich was taken aback.

The news spread across the town like wildfire, and people thronged to buy the finely crafted shoes. Heinrich managed to secure enough money to restock his leather supply. Intrigued and rather puzzled, Heinrich decided to repeat his actions, leaving cutouts of leather on the table and retiring for the night.

Every morning the pattern repeated—each pair of shoes mysteriously crafted with even more sophistication than the last. Slowly, Heinrich's store became renowned, with the townsfolk waiting eagerly for each new day's pair.

Being an honest man, he was troubled with the unidentified overnight help. As curiosity took the better of him, Heinrich decided to stay awake one night to uncover the mystery. As midnight chimed, he saw two frail, barefoot elflings materialize and set to work. They stitched and hammered, their nimble fingers working swiftly to create footwear more magnificent than one could imagine. As dawn broke, they disappeared, leaving behind a beautiful set of shoes.

Heinrich was brimming with gratitude. In his desire to thank the elflings, he and his wife crafted tiny pairs of shoes and clothes, the finest they'd ever created, and placed them on the workbench before retiring for the night.

The elflings arrived at the stroke of midnight and gleefully started working on the material. Their eyes lit upon sighting the miniature shoes and clothes tailored to their measurements. They were overjoyed. They wore them, danced around the room, and with beaming faces, disappeared into thin air, never to return again.

The mysterious shoemakers had moved on, but they left Heinrich and his wife a prosperous business and a story to tell. Heinrich's shop thrived even more because of the excellent reputation and skills he had acquired. Both he and his wife lived the rest of their lives in comfort, never forgetting the two elflings who had brought them fortune. Every night before he slept, Heinrich would look at the tiny shoes on the mantle and remember the gratitude he felt for his small, nocturnal benefactors.