Elves And The Shoe Maker

the elves, and the shoemaker.

小精灵与鞋匠

Chapter 1. Making Shoes Once, an old shoemaker lived with his wife in a room above their workshop.

第一章 做鞋子 从前，有个老鞋匠和妻子住在作坊楼上的小屋里。

Each day, he laid out his leather, drew different shoe shapes, cut them out, and sewed them together. Then he stretched the shoe shapes over a wooden foot, cut out more leather, and sewed it on.

每天，他拿出皮革，画出各式各样的鞋样，剪裁好后，就动手把它们 缝到一起。 接着他把鞋样套在鞋楦上，再裁些皮革，缝到鞋面上。

Finally, he cut out thick soles, made holes in them with a huge needle, and sew the soles onto the shoes. People loved watching the shoemaker at work. Nobody could go past his workshop without looking in. Oh, look at those heels! And at the end of the day, there was always a crowd of people wanting to buy his latest shoes.

最后，他裁出厚厚的鞋底，用大粗针在上面钻孔，再把鞋底缝到鞋上。 大家都爱看老鞋匠干活，路过他的作坊时，没人不往里面瞅两眼。 “哇，瞧那些鞋跟多好看！” 每天收工的时候，总有一大群人等着买他新做好的鞋子。

Chapter 2 Bad Business One day, the shoemaker's wife spied trouble. A cart passed by the window with cheap shoes painted on the side. At first, she kept quiet. She didn't want to worry her husband. But slowly, the crowd outside their workshop became smaller and smaller. Where is everyone? I think you should look outside there.

第二章 生意变差了 有一天，鞋匠的妻子发现了不对劲。 一辆马车从窗边驶过，车身上画着便宜鞋子的广告。 一开始她没吭声。 她不想让丈夫担心。 可慢慢的，作坊外面的人越来越少了。 “大家都去哪儿了？” “我觉得你该去外面看看。”

A crafty shoe seller had set up a table at the end of their street. His shoes were badly sewn with poor leather, but he sold them at a bargain price. Buy your cheap shoes here. This is terrible, said the shoemaker. He is putting me out of business. And his shoes are awful, said the shoemaker's wife. But the local people were delighted. Now they could buy two pairs of shoes for the price of one.

一个狡猾的鞋商在街尾摆了个摊位。 他的鞋用的是劣质皮革，缝得也很糙，但卖得特别便宜。 “快来买便宜鞋子咯！” “太过分了，”鞋匠说，“他要把我的生意抢光了。” “而且他的鞋质量太差了，”鞋匠的妻子说。 可当地人都开心得很，现在花一双鞋的钱能买两双呢。