صفحة 373 من 626

One evening, about Christmas-time, as he and his wife were

sitting over the fire chatting together, he said to her, 'I

should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it

is that comes and does my work for me.' The wife liked the

thought; so they left a light burning, and hid themselves in a

corner of the room, behind a curtain that was hung up there, and

watched what would happen.

As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked

dwarfs; and they sat themselves upon the shoemaker's bench, took

up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their

little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a

rate, that the shoemaker was all wonder, and could not take his

eyes off them. And on they went, till the job was quite done, and

the shoes stood ready for use upon the table. This was long

before daybreak; and then they bustled away as quick as

lightning.