100个儿童英语小故事: The Little Elves 小精灵

 

073 The Little Elves

Long time ago, there lived a very poor shoemaker. Because the old man was so poor, he had enough leather to make only one pair of shoes. Still, the very understanding old man never complained. "Tomorrow morning, let's make one pair of shoes with a cheerful¹ heart."

 The Little Elves

After the old man cleaned and prepared the leather that he was going to work on the next day, he placed it on the worktable and went to sleep. The next day, it was morning. The old man was very surprised. "Oh, where did this beautiful shoes come from?" On top of the worktable, the leather was gone, instead a pair of shoes that had been made with a lot of effort was there.

A little later, a customer came into the store. "I saw from the outside window the very beautiful shoes. Please, sell the shoes to me." The customer showed such a great desire to buy the shoes that he bought it for much more than the normal price. With that money, the old man bought enough leather to make four pairs of shoes.

"Dear, Lord² thank you very much." The old man prayed with a grateful³ heart. "Tomorrow, let's wake up with a fresh feeling and make some beautiful shoes." However, there was no need to. When the old man woke up from his sleep, the shoes were already made.

Because the shoes were so beautiful, all four pairs were sold at a very expensive price. This kept happening all the time. At night, the leather would be carefully prepared, placed on top of the worktable and he would go to sleep. The next morning, a well tailored made shoes would be on top of the worktable.

The old man quickly became rich. Whenever the old man saw his neighbors or a poor person, he would help them as if it was his own work and lived happily. It was a few nights before Christmas. After the old man finished preparing the leather and before going to bed, he said to his wife,

"Tonight, let's stay awake through the night. Then we can see the person who is helping⁴ us." The old woman, too, was very curious as to who was helping them all this time. "Okay. Let's hide and see."

The old man and the old woman hid behind the closet⁵ and watched the workshop table. How much time could have past. Little naked⁶ elves started to go up the worktable one by one. "Hurry, Let's Hurry." The little elves were singing as they started to work.

"Cut and sew. Cut and sew." "Let's make wonderful shoes and give it to the old man." "We are little elves! We are kind elves that help kind people."

The little elves were singing happily as they made beautiful shoes. With little fingers, they skillfully pierced⁷ and sewed with a needle and banged⁸ with the hammer. The old man and the old woman were so shocked that they could not believe their eyes. The elves, without resting for a second, worked hard and finished making the shoes. When the sun was rising, they quickly hid themselves.

"Because of those little elves, we became rich." "We must show them our gratitude⁹." In a rush, the old woman found some leather. "The elves weren't wearing any clothes. How cold they must be. Let's make the elves some pants and shirts." "That's a good idea."

The old man and the old woman devotedly¹⁰ made the clothes for the elves. When it was night, the old man and the old woman placed on top of the worktable clothes, instead of the leather. In the middle of the night, the elves came out and discovered their clothes. "What fabulous¹¹ clothes." "Yes, they are." Each of the elves put on their clothes and were very happy. They disappeared as they sang. After that, the old man and the old woman continued to work hard and lived even more happily.

1 cheerful   

adj.快活的，高兴的，兴高采烈

参考例句：

• Yellow is a cheerful colour.黄色是令人高兴的颜色。
• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。

2 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

3 grateful   

adj.感谢的，感激的，受欢迎的，表示谢意的

参考例句：

• If you will help us, we shall be very grateful.如果你愿意帮助我们，我们会很感激你。
• He closed his letter with expression of grateful thanks.他在那封信的结尾表达了自己的感激之情。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 closet   

n.壁橱；储藏室

参考例句：

• I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
• Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。

6 naked   

adj.裸露的；赤裸裸的，无遮蔽的

参考例句：

• To the east of our school,there's a naked hillside.我们学校东边有片光秃秃的山坡。
• The children stripped off their clothes and swam naked in the river.孩子们脱得光溜溜的在河里游泳。

7 pierced   

v.刺入，刺穿，穿透( pierce的过去式和过去分词 )；冲破，突破

参考例句：

• The arrow pierced his shoulder. 箭头射入他的肩膀。
• He pierced the skin of cooking Frankforts with a fork. 他用叉子在要烹调的香肠上扎了孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 banged   

vt.猛击，猛撞（bang的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Two days after the accident she still looked pretty banged up. 事故过去两天后她看上去伤势仍然很重。
• I've banged into the doorpost and hurt my arm. 我撞着了门柱，把臂伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

10 devotedly   

专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地

参考例句：

• He loved his wife devotedly. 他真诚地爱他的妻子。
• Millions of fans follow the TV soap operas devotedly. 千百万观众非常着迷地收看这部电视连续剧。

11 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。