There was once an honest shoemaker who, through no fault of his own, had fallen upon hard times. At last he had only enough leather left for a single pair of shoes. That evening he cut the leather out ready to sew in the morning, said his prayers with a clear conscience, and went to bed.
When he rose at dawn, he found upon his bench a pair of shoes already finished — stitched so fine and true that not a false seam could be found in them. Astonished, he set them in his window, and before the morning was out a customer paid a handsome price for them, enough to buy leather for two pairs more.
Again he cut the leather at night, and again by morning the shoes stood finished, better than any he could have made himself. So it went, day after day: whatever he prepared in the evening was completed by first light, and his little shop began to prosper as never before.
One night, close to Christmas, the shoemaker said to his wife, “Let us stay awake and see who it is that helps us so.” They left a candle burning and hid themselves behind a curtain. At the stroke of midnight, in crept two little elves, quite naked, who hopped onto the bench and set to work. Their tiny fingers flew, tapping and stitching and hammering, until every shoe was done, and then away they darted into the dark.
“The little men have made us rich,” said the wife, “and they go about with nothing on, half frozen in the cold. Let us show them we are grateful.” So she sewed each of them a small shirt and coat and a pair of trousers, and the shoemaker made two little pairs of shoes to match.
On the last night before Christmas they laid out the gifts instead of leather and hid once more to watch. When the elves came and found the little clothes, they laughed with delight, dressed themselves at once, and skipped about the room singing. Then they danced out of the door and were never seen again.
But the shoemaker prospered all the rest of his days, and never forgot that his good fortune had begun with a kindness he could not repay, only pass along.
A good turn done in secret is best answered with a grateful heart.