Fairytales of Famous Authors Compared to Disney Cartoons with proper respect etc

Story 78: The Elves Brothers' Grimm (1812)

First Story

A shoemaker through no fault of his own, had become so poor that all he had left was enough leather for a single pair of shoes. In the evening, he cut out the shoes, meaning to start work on them the next day. Then, as his conscience was clear, he went calmly to bed, commended himself to God, and fell asleep. In the morning he said his prayers and was sitting down to work when he saw the shoes lying all finished on his workbench. He was so surprised that he didn't know what to think. He picked the shoes up and looked at them more closely. Not a single stitch was awry, the workmanship was as perfect as if the shoes had been made by a master craftsman. Better still, a customer soon came in, and he liked the shoes so well that he paid more than usual for them. With the money the shoemaker was able to bey later for two pals of sto co tage is the norin the crease, to bey g to start work with new course in the morning, buy the mes no ned to, for when he got up the shoes were alrcady indices was they too found buyers, who gave him enough money to bey Anther for four pairs of shoes. In the morning he found the four pay f shoes all fished. And so it went on: the shoes he cut out in tho evening were always finished by morning, so that he was soon mal. ing a good living and in the course of time became wealtty. One night shortly before Christmas, after the man had cut the leather and just as they were getting ready for bed, the man said to his wife:
"Suppose we stay up tonight to see who has been helping us." His wife was pleased with the idea and lit the lamp. Then they hid behind some clothes that were hanging in the corner, and waited. At midnight two cunning little naked men came in, sat down at the work-bench, took the pieces that had been cut out, and began to punch, sew, and hammer so nimbly and quickly with their little fingers that the shoemaker could only stare in amazement. They worked without a moment's rest until all the shoes lay finished on the bench, and then they ran away.
Next morning the woman said; "Those little men have made us rich; we ought to show our gratitude. They must be cold running around like that with nothing on. Do you know what? I'm going to make them shirts and coats and vests and breeches, and knit a pair of stockings for each of them. You can be making two pairs of shoes!"
"Good idea," said the shoemaker, and that evening, when everything was finished, they put their presents on the workbench instead of the cut-out leather. Then they hid to see what the little men would do.
At midnight they came bounding in, ready for work. At first they were puzzled to see wee little clothes instead of cut-out leather, but then they leaped for joy. As quick as a flash they slipped into their pretty little clothes, smoothed them down, and sang:

"What pretty boys we are!
We will work on shoes no more!"

They hopped and danced, jumped over chairs and benches, and finally danced out the door. After that they never came back, but the shoemaker prospered till the end of his days, and succeeded in everything he set his hand to.

Second Story

There was a once a poor servant girl, who worked hard and was neat and clean. Every day she swept the house and threw the rubbish on a big heap outside the door. One morning as she was about to start work, she found a letter on the rubbish heap. Since she couldn't read, she put her broom down in the corner and took the letter to her mis-tress. It was an invitation from the elves, asking the girl to stand godmother to one of their children. The girl didn't know what to do. Fi-sally, when the people of the house had talked to her for some time and assured her that this sort of invitation can't be turned down, she accepted. Three elves came and took her to the hollow mountain where the little folk lived. Everything there was tiny, but delicate and beautiful beyond description. The child's mother was lying in bed of black ebony with pearl bed knobs; the blankets were embroidered in gold, the cradle was ivory, and the bath was pure gold.
After the christening the girl wanted to go home again, but the elves begged her to spend three days with them, and so she did. The hours pased in joy and happiness, and the little folk did everything they could to please her. When she finally insisted on leaving, they filled her pockets with gold and led her out of the mountain. As soon as she got home, she wanted to start work again, picked up the broom that was still standing in the corner, and began to sweep. But some strange people came out of the house and asked her who she was and what she was doing there. It wasn't three days she had spent with the little folk in the mountain, as she thought, but seven years, and her old masters had died in the meantime.

Third Story

The elves had taken a mother's child out of the cradle and in his place left a changeling with a big head and staring eyes, who couldn't do anything but eat and drink. In her distress the mother went to the neighbor woman for advice. The neighbor woman told her to take the changeling into the kitchen, put him down on the stove, light a fire, and boil water in two eggshells. That would make the changeling laugh, and if he laughed that would be the end of him. The mother did everything the neighbor woman had told her. When she par the eggshells filled with water on the fire, the blockhead said:

"I am as old
As the Westerwold,
And I've never seen anyone cooking in an eggshell."

And he began to laugh. And as he was laughing, a big crowd of elves came in , bringing back the right child. They put him down on the stove and took the changeling away with them.

The end. Hope you enjoyed, Skylights.