tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">THE BELL OF ATRI

German Folk Tale 92 THE BABY Hugh Miller 96 BRUCE AND THE SPIDER Scottish Tradition 97 THE WISE LITTLE PIG Anonymous 100 AN INDIAN STORY 102 A GOOD PLAY Robert Louis Stevenson 112 DICK WHITTINGTON English Folk Tale 113 THE NEW MOON Eliza Lee Follen 124 BRIAR ROSE William and Jacob Grimm 126 ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL Mrs. C.F. Alexander 135 THE BAKER BOYS AND THE BEES German Folk Tale 136 FALLING SNOW Anonymous 142 LITTLE GOODY TWO SHOES Ascribed to Goldsmith 143 ONE STEP AND THEN ANOTHER Anonymous 157 GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING Lord Houghton 158 DAVID AND GOLIATH Adapted from the Bible 160 PHONETIC TABLES 167

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THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES—I

A shoemaker and his wife lived in a little house on the edge of a wood.

They were very, very poor, and each day they grew poorer and poorer.

At last there was nothing left in the house but leather for one pair of shoes.

"I will cut out this last pair of shoes," the shoemaker said to his wife.

"To-morrow I will sew them and peg them."

So he cut out the leather and left it on his bench.

The next morning he went into his shop to make the shoes.

What did he see!

A pair of shoes, all nicely made and ready to be sold.

The stitches were so fine and the shoes so well made that they were quickly sold.

With the money the poor shoemaker bought leather for two pairs of shoes.

Then he said to his wife, "I will cut out the leather for two pairs of shoes.

To-morrow I will sew them and peg them."

So he cut out the leather for the shoes and left it on his bench.

The next morning when he went into his shop to make the shoes, what did he find!

Yes, there were two pairs of shoes already made.

The work was so well done that those shoes were also sold very quickly.

With the money the poor shoemaker bought enough leather for four pairs of shoes.

Those he also cut out and left upon his bench.

The next morning he found four pairs of beautiful shoes, all well made.

And so it went on and on. Instead of being a very poor shoemaker, he became a very rich shoemaker.

His shoes were so well made that even the queen herself wore them.

THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES—II

At last the shoemaker said to his wife, "We must find out who makes the shoes."

So one bright moonlight night they hid behind a curtain, where they could watch the bench and not be seen.

Just on the stroke of midnight, two little elves jumped through the window.

They went skipping and dancing up to the bench.

Sitting cross-legged they took up the leather and began to work.

How their needles flew back and forth, back and forth!

How their little hammers beat rap-a-tap-tap, rap-a-tap-tap!

Almost before the shoemaker and his wife could think, the work was all done.

The tiny elves