# The Elves explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

This chapter features three stories about helpful elves. In the first, a poor shoemaker receives secret help from elves who craft beautiful shoes overnight, making him prosperous. He and his wife repay them by making clothes, and the elves leave. In the second, a poor servant girl helps elves by cleaning their cave and is rewarded with gold. In the third, an elf child is taken by a mother who wants to keep it, but the elf mother retrieves it, and the child grows up to be honest.

## Themes in this chapter

### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished

The shoemaker's kindness and the servant girl's helpfulness are rewarded with prosperity and gold, while the elves' departure after being repaid shows a balanced exchange.

## Character check-ins

### the poor man

A poor shoemaker who becomes prosperous thanks to the elves' secret help.

### the servant

A poor servant girl who cleans the elves' cave and is rewarded with gold.

## Key lines

> A shoemaker, through no fault of his own, had become so poor that at last he had nothing left but leather for one pair of shoes.

A shoemaker, who was not to blame for his misfortune, became so destitute that he only had enough leather left for a single pair of shoes.

_Establishes the shoemaker's dire poverty at the start of the first story._

> The woman thought to herself, 'The little men are making us rich, and we ought to show our gratitude.'

The shoemaker's wife decided that they should thank the elves for their help by making them gifts.

_Highlights the theme of gratitude and reciprocity._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-elves
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters