Clarissa hoped that the witch would go out so that she could find the bag of gold but for a long time the witch did not go out and Clarissa had no chance to look up the chimney. She had to work very and she didn’t like it. But at last one day the witch did go out and Clarissa looked up the chimney. A bag of gold fell down and Clarissa picked it up and left the house and ran away as fast as she could.
Soon the witch came back and realised that Clarissa had taken her bag of gold. Clarissa had not gone very far when she heard the witch coming after her on her broomstick. She ran to the apple tree and asked it to hide her but it refused. Clarissa had nowhere to hide and had to keep running. And then the witch came along. She asked the apple tree if it had seen Clarissa. “Yes, I’ve seen her,” it said, “she’s carrying a bag of gold and she went that way!” So the witch flew off and caught Clarissa. They struggled and struggled until the witch managed to take the bag of gold away from her. And Clarissa went home with nothing.
Everybody was very sympathetic. “It doesn’t matter,” said Kate. “We’ve got all the gold we need.” And she was right. Thanks to Kate the family had enough to keep them in comfort for the rest of their lives. And that’s the end of the story.
3. THE STORY OF THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER
This story is about a shoemaker. He and his wife kept a shop in the town. The shoemaker made shoes and sold them in his shop. He worked very hard, but he and his wife were very poor. One day the shoemaker realised that he had only enough money to buy the leather for one more pair of shoes. As he counted his money, he said to his wife “We’ve almost no money left. What are we going to do?” His wife replied “We must try to keep going. So you must go out and buy the leather and bring it home and cut it out and make the shoes as usual. And perhaps things will get better.” But the shoemaker was miserable. “We should never have started this business,” he said. And his wife replied “It’s a bit late to think of that now.”
So he bought the leather and brought it home and began to cut it out to make the shoes. He wondered if they would be the last pair of shoes he would ever make. It was late and the shoemaker was tired. “I’ll finish the shoes in the morning,” he said. So he left the cut out leather lying neatly on the table and went upstairs to bed.
The next morning when the shoemaker and his wife came downstairs, they got a big surprise. On the table was a pair of shoes - finished and ready to wear. His wife couldn’t believe it. “Who did the work?”, she asked. “Was it you?” But the shoemaker had not made the shoes. He looked at them carefully. They had been beautifully made, with very fine stitches. “What beautiful workmanship” said the shoemaker. His wife agreed. “We’ve got one pair of beautiful shoes,” she said. “I hope someone buys them.”
Soon a customer came into the shop and tried on the shoes. “These shoes fit perfectly,” he said. “I want to buy them.” And he gave the shoemaker more money than usual. “The shoes are worth it.” he said.
Now the shoemaker realised that he had enough money to buy leather for two pairs of shoes. “Things are getting better”, exclaimed his wife. So that night the shoemaker cut out the leather for two pairs of shoes. Then he laid the pieces out neatly on the table and went upstairs to bed.
The next day the shoemaker and his wife came downstairs and there on the table were two pairs of shoes - finished and ready to wear. “I don’t believe it,” the shoemaker’s wife said, “Who did the work?” “I don’t know,” replied the shoemaker, “but now we’ve got two pairs of beautiful shoes. I hope someone buys them.” And someone did buy the shoes and paid the shoemaker well. Now the shoemaker had enough money to buy leather for four pairs of shoes.
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