THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER

Once upon a time there was an honest shoemaker, who was very poor. He worked as hard as he could, and still he could not earn enough to keep himself and his wife. At last there came a day when he had nothing left but one piece of leather, big enough to make one pair of shoes. He cut out the shoes, ready to stitch, and left them on the bench; then he said his prayers and went to bed, trusting that he could finish the shoes on the next day and sell them.

Bright and early the next morning, he rose and went to his work-bench. There lay a pair of shoes, beautifully made, and the leather was gone! There was no sign of any one's having been there. The shoemaker and his wife did not know what to make of it. But the first customer who came was so pleased with the beautiful shoes that he bought them, and paid so much that the shoemaker was able to buy leather enough for two pairs.


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Happily, he cut them out, and then, as it was late, he left the pieces on the bench, ready to sew in the morning. But when morning came, two pairs of shoes lay on the bench, most beautifully made, and no sign of any one who had been there. The shoemaker and his wife were quite at a loss.

That day a customer came and bought both pairs, and paid so much for them that the shoemaker bought leather for four pairs, with the money.

Once more he cut out the shoes and left them on the bench. And in the morning all four pairs were made.

It went on like this until the shoemaker and his wife were prosperous people. But they could not be satisfied to have so much done for them and not know to whom they should be grateful. So one night, after the shoemaker had left the pieces of leather on the bench, he and his wife hid themselves behind a curtain, and left a light in the room.

Just as the clock struck twelve the door opened softly, and two tiny elves came dancing into the room, hopped on to the bench, and began to put the pieces to-


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gether. They were quite naked, but they had wee little scissors and hammers and thread. Tap! tap! went the little hammers; stitch, stitch, went the thread, and the little elves were hard at work. No one ever worked so fast as they. In almost no time all the shoes were stitched and finished. Then the tiny elves took hold of each other's hands and danced round the shoes on the bench, till the shoemaker and his wife had hard work not to laugh aloud. But as the clock struck two, the little creatures whisked away out of the window, and left the room all as it was before.


The shoemaker and his wife looked at each other, and said, ``How can we thank the little elves who have made us happy and prosperous?''

``I should like to make them some pretty clothes,'' said the wife, ``they are quite naked.''

``I will make the shoes if you will make the coats,'' said her husband.

That very day they set about it. The wife cut out two tiny, tiny coats of green, two weeny, weeny waistcoats of yellow, two little pairs of trousers, of white, two


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bits of caps, bright red (for every one knows the elves love bright colors), and her husband made two little pairs of shoes with long, pointed toes. They made the wee clothes as dainty as could be, with nice little stitches and pretty buttons; and by Christmas time, they were finished.

On Christmas eve, the shoemaker cleaned his bench, and on it, instead of leather, he laid the two sets of gay little fairy-clothes. Then he and his wife hid away as before, to watch.

Promptly at midnight, the little naked elves came in. They hopped upon the bench; but when they saw the little clothes there, they laughed and danced for joy. Each one caught up his little coat and things and began to put them on. Then they looked at each other and made all kinds of funny motions in their delight. At last they began to dance, and when the clock struck two, they danced quite away, out of the window.

They never came back any more, but from that day they gave the shoemaker and his wife good luck, so that they never needed any more help.

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Meratap dalam angin malam, terdengar suara daun-daun yang seakan meraup-raup, meminta tak ingin di sentuh, di hempas, apalagi di pisah dari bagian yang sudah terangkai. Angin ini memaksa memisahkan apa yang telah bersatu menjadi sebuah kehidupan. Memulai dengan kasarnya, daun itu gugur sebelum waktunya. Terasa dingin dan halus, menghanyutkan meraru bunga untuk bersinar mekar dalam balutan angin. Melambai-lambai, terlihat indah, namun di campakan, di hempaskan, di rusak bunga itu secara perlahan. Tak ada lagi angin yang akan menyentuhnya, membelai, memanjanya dan hilang seakan tak risau. Suara itu tak asing, terdengar lama hinggaku tak pernah lupa. Lembut serta damai bagiku. Wajah tersinari cahaya kuning, di lorong gudang ilmu, memberi kesan tak bisa untuk aku lupakan. Perempuan itu, sudah lama menghiasi hatiku. Tak banyak bicara, apa adanya, tak banyak basa-basi. Tapi itu sebuah kejenuhan, tak banyak kenangan yang terukir, walaupun banyak waktu terlewati bersama. Di sudut atap berlindungnya aku berselisih.
"Azzam, sekarang sikapmu berubah, jauh dariku?" tanya Riri kepadaku.
Aku berpikir tentang pertanyaan itu, sejenak.
"sikap ini adalah sikapmu."jawabku singkat.
"maksudmu, zam?"
"sikap kamu, yang selama ini aku rasa. Tak peduli, dekat tapi terasa jauh, bahkan tak ada perhatianmu yang kurasa." panjang lebar jawabku.
Tak ada kata yang terucap untuk menjawab, diam dan dengan muka tak peduli.
"aku tak suka dengan sikapmu seperti ini."cetusku memecah keheningan.

"Azzam, aku berani membuang semua yang kamu tidak suka yang ada dalam diriku. Biar aku lebih indah untukmu, tapi aku butuh waktu." Riri menjawab dengan nada menusuk. Aku termenung, mulut terkunci terasa kaku, tak bisa berucap. Hati ini gelisas, terseok-seok ke dalam palung lautan dalam. Hari demi hari aku terpikir oleh kata-kata itu, menghantuiku setiap saat. Aku dan Riri adalah patung. Bertemu tak ada kata, tapi mata berbicara. Tak tau apa yg di rasakan dan di pikirkan. Tak peduli, biarkan angin menghapus keadaan ini. Sudah lama aku tak melihatnya. Ah...tak peduli dengan semua ini. Sungai itu tak pernah kering, hamparan hijau terasa dingin. Ceria, bahagia, dan tertawa. Tak pernah kekurangan apa itu harta atau cinta. Hingga diam-diam hatiku telah berpaling, berpaling dari hati ke hati lain, terbang beriring-iring. Cinta memang datang sengaja, dengan tiba-tiba. Tak khayal seperti mimpi, memalingkan apa yang ada di hati, hingga aku lupa diri. Mata itu tajam menatap, ketika aku lihat. Bibirnya kadang tertahan tersipu, ingin senyum tati malu. Apakah hati ini mendua? Ada tempat untuk Juwita yang datang tiba-tiba. Setiap hari aku melihat juwita di lorong gudang ilmu. Sungguh menarik, sampai mata tak bisa berkedip. Lama aku mengagguminya, hingga tak tahan ingin ku dekat dengannya. Burung dan anginpun memberikan nyanyian kebahagiaan.
Tak lama, aku bisa dekat dengannya, rasanya seperti angin pagi yang mengangkat tubuhku ke langit dan beselit-selit hati ini. Sekarang aku bahagia, walau aku merasa sedikit berdosa. Riri selama ini pergi entah kemana, tak apa, karna ada juwita yang ada di perbatasan cinta. Lambat laun Riri mengetahui kedekatanku dengan juwita, tapi dia tak langsung bertanya. Membiarkan aku terjerumus dahulu. Tak pelak hubungan kami pun seperti air dan api.
Dan suatu malam di taman, dia menanyakan tentang hatiku.
"Azzam, kini kau sibuk, sibuk mencari cinta ke cinta lain, terbang dari hati ke hati lain." Riri menuduh.
"aku terbang dari hati ke hati, karna sayap ini, sayap yang tak pernah kau jaga."ujarku.
"sudah banyak waktu yang terbuang percuma."
"itu semua karna kita, terlalu membuang waktu. Kapal yang sudah ku bangun, hanya tinggal menunggu kau dan memberi aba-aba untuk berlayar. Tapi itu tak jadi kenyataan."
"zam, maafkan aku, aku tak bisa berlayar dengan lautan cintamu. Lebih baik aku menunggu di persinggahan lain, dan ada kapal yang mau membawaku."
"terserah."
Saat itu adalah pertemuan terakhirku. Akhir cinta yang kubangun dan akhirnya hancur percuma.
Kebahagiaanku dengan Juwita pun seiring air meninggalkan hulu. Pergi, dan hatiku sendiri. Kenyataan yang ku buat sendiri, dan biarkan menjadi mimpi yang tak kembali.
Tak mengingat apa yang terjadi, tak peduli apa yang akan terjadi. Biarkan suratan ini berjalan sendiri. Burung menyambut itu semua dengan kicauan, entah itu kicauan kebahagian atau kesedihan. Tapi tak pernah lelah untuk selalu menyambut hari. Dingin udara, seakan mengantar ke dalam lamunan, bagaimana jalani lika-liku hidup, menusuk-nusuk sampai tulang rusuk, sadarkan dalam setiap kenyataan.