First fairy tale.

A cobbler had become so poor through no fault of his own that he finally had nothing left but leather for a single pair of shoes. Now he cut the shoes in the evening, which he wanted to take the next morning in work; and because he had a good conscience, so he lay down quietly in bed, ordered himself to the dear God and fell asleep. In the morning, after he had said his prayers and was about to sit down to work, the two shoes were ready on his table. He was surprised and did not know what to say. He took the shoes in his hand to look at them more closely: they were so neatly made that there was not a stitch wrong with them, just as if it were a masterpiece.

Soon a buyer came in, and because he liked the shoes so much, he paid more than usual for them, and the shoemaker was able to get two pairs of shoes from the money. He cut them in the evening and wanted to go to work the next morning with fresh courage, but he did not need to, because when he got up they were already finished, and there were also buyers who gave him so much money that he could buy leather for four pairs of shoes. Early in the morning he also found the four pairs ready; and so it went on and on, what he cut in the evening was processed in the morning, so that he soon had his honest livelihood again and finally became a wealthy man. Now it happened one evening not long before Christmas, when the man had again cut, that before going to bed he said to his wife "how would it be if we stayed up this night to see who would give us such a helpful hand?" The wife was satisfied and lit a light; then they hid in the corners of the room, behind the clothes that were hung up there, and took care. When it was midnight, two cute little naked men came, sat down in front of the cobbler's table, took all the work that had been cut out, and began to prick, sew, and tap with their fingers so deftly and quickly that the cobbler could not take his eyes off them in amazement. They did not let up until everything was finished and ready on the table, then they quickly jumped away.

The next morning the woman said, "The little men have made us rich, we should show our gratitude. They walk around like this, with nothing on, and they have to freeze. You know what? I will sew a shirt, skirt, doublet and pants for them, and knit a pair of stockings for each of them; you make a pair of shoes for each of them." The man said, "I am satisfied with that," and in the evening, when they had finished everything, they put the presents together on the table instead of the cut work, and then hid themselves to see how the men would do it. At midnight they jumped in and wanted to get to work right away, but when they found not cut leather, but the cute clothes, they were surprised at first, but then they showed a tremendous joy. With the greatest speed they dressed, stroked the beautiful clothes on their bodies and sang:

"Are we not boys smooth and fine?
What longer shall we be cobblers!"

Then they jumped and danced, and jumped over chairs and benches. At last they danced out of the door. From now on they did not come back, but the cobbler was well as long as he lived, and everything he did was successful.

Second fairy tale.

Once upon a time there was a poor servant girl who was diligent and clean, swept the house every day and piled the sweepings on a large pile in front of the door. One morning, as she was about to go back to work, she found a letter on it, and because she could not read, she put the broom in the corner and brought the letter to her master, and there it was an invitation from the pixies, who asked the girl to give them a child from the baptism. The girl did not know what to do, but after a lot of persuasion, and because they told her not to refuse such a thing, she agreed. Then three elves came and led her into a hollow mountain where the little ones lived. There everything was small, but so dainty and splendid that it is not to be said. The child's mother lay in a bed of black ebony with pearl buttons, the blankets were embroidered with gold, the cradle was of ivory and the bathtub of gold. The girl was now in charge and wanted to go home again, but the pixies begged her to stay with them for three days. So she stayed and spent the time in joy and pleasure, and the little ones did everything for her. At last he was about to set off on his return journey, when they first filled his pockets with gold and then led him back to the mountain. When it came home, it wanted to start its work, took the broom in the hand, which still stood in the corner and began to sweep. Then strangers came out of the house and asked who it was and what it had to do there. He had not been with the little men in the mountain for three days, as he had thought, but for seven years, and his previous master had died during that time.

Third fairy tale.

A mother had her child taken out of the cradle by the elves, and a changeling with a fat head and staring eyes had been put inside, who wanted nothing but to eat and drink. In her distress, she went to her neighbor and asked her for advice. The neighbor told her to carry the changeling into the kitchen, put it on the stove, light a fire and boil water in two eggshells: this would make the changeling laugh, and when it laughed, it would be over. The woman did everything as the neighbor had said. As she put the eggshells with water over the fire, the blockhead spoke:

"Now I am as old as the Westerwald,
And didn't see anyone cooking in bowls."

And he began to laugh about it. While he was laughing, a crowd of elves came, brought the right child, put him on the stove and took the changeling away again.