Times had become so lean that I could no longer afford the leather to make shoes. I had only enough material to make one last pair. That night, I cut out the shoes, intending to stitch them in the morning, and I went to bed. I had done everything I could as well as I could. I commended myself to God, and fell asleep.

When I went to work the next morning, I found the shoes sitting on the table, completed! I picked them up and turned them over, and there was not one bad stitch in them. A masterpiece! I had enough money to cut two pairs of shoes, and they were also finished overnight.

My fortune has changed now. I’m comfortably well-off. My wife and I wonder, who is this hidden partner, who so expertly finishes my shoes? We would like to thank him!

The Astonished Cobbler in The Elves, First Story, Grimms. Illustration by Rie Cramer.