Page 15 - English Expedition Class 4

2 The Elves and the

Shoemaker

What if one day you wake up to find that your homework has already been done? How
surprised will you be? Will you try to find out who did it for you? Read the following story
to find out how a shoemaker and his wife were surprised by two elves and what they did in

return.

There was once a shoemaker who was honest and hard-working. However, he could
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not earn enough to make ends meet . Times were hard and work was scarce. The
shoemaker became poorer and poorer until he had no food and no money. At last he
was left with leather just enough to make one pair of shoes.
So he cut his leather out meaning to rise early in the morning to do his work. His
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conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles, so he went peacefully
to bed, left all his cares to Heaven and soon fell
asleep.
In the morning, the shoemaker rose early
and was almost ready to work. To his great

surprise, there stood the shoes, already made,
upon the table! The good man was speechless.
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He looked at the workmanship . There was not
one false stitch in the whole job. It was quite a

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masterpiece .
The same day a customer came in. The shoes
suited him so well that he paid a price higher
than usual for them. The poor shoemaker was

able to buy leather for two pairs of shoes.
In the evening, he cut out the leather and
went to bed thinking that he might get up
early the next day and begin working. But when he got up in the morning, the work

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was already done. Soon, buyers came in, who paid him handsomely for his goods. The

1 make ends meet: earn enough money to provide for one’s 4 workmanship: the skill with which something is made
basic needs 5 masterpiece: an excellent work of art
2 conscience: sense of right and wrong 6 handsomely: (here) well
3 amidst: in the middle of
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