Once upon a time there was a poor shoemaker who lived with his wife. He made excellent shoes and worked quite diligently, but even so he could not earn enough to support himself and his family. He became so poor that he he could not even afford to buy the leather he needed to make shoes; finally he had only enough to make one last pair. He cut them out with great care and put the pieces on his workbench, so that he could sew them together the following morning.
His wife asked, "What will happen to us? The cupboards are bare, and we have no firewood. Even our last candle has almost burned away." She was very worried.
"Don’t worry," said the shoemaker. "Things will work out for us. You'll see, I will finish these shoes tomorrow, and someone will buy them."
He cut out the leather and then went to bed. The shoemaker would finish working first thing in the morning.
