Clever Shoemaker | Stories for Teenagers | @EnglishFairyTales

Brief Summary

This story is about a clever shoemaker who outsmarts a gang of thieves multiple times. Initially poor, the shoemaker goes to the city to find work. He earns enough to buy a donkey, which he later uses to trick thieves into giving him their gold. The thieves try to get revenge, but the shoemaker cleverly tricks them again, ultimately leading to their humiliation and his prosperity. Key takeaways include the importance of cleverness, resourcefulness, and not underestimating the underdog.

  • A poor shoemaker becomes wealthy by outsmarting thieves.
  • The shoemaker uses his wit to turn bad situations into opportunities.
  • The thieves are repeatedly fooled due to their greed and lack of intelligence.

The Poor Shoemaker

The story begins with a poor shoemaker and his wife living in a small village. Due to lack of work, they are struggling to even buy food. The shoemaker decides to go to the big city to find a job and improve his luck, hoping to get some decent work there.

Finding Work in the City

Arriving in the city, the shoemaker roams the streets, calling out to offer his services for making and repairing shoes. On the first day, he doesn't find any work. The next day, he continues his search and finally gets a couple of offers to mend shoes, earning him some money. He dreams of earning enough to buy a donkey.

The Donkey and the Thieves

After working hard for a few days, the shoemaker earns four gold coins. He uses two of them to buy a donkey and decides to return home. On his way, he encounters a band of thieves. Cleverly, he ties a gold coin to the donkey's neck and pretends to be a poor cobbler. When the coin falls, he tricks the thieves into believing the donkey can create gold, selling it to them for 50 gold coins.

The Thieves are Fooled

The shoemaker returns home happy with his gold coins and buys a poultry farm. Meanwhile, the thieves discover that the donkey doesn't produce gold. They realize they have been fooled and decide to get their money back from the shoemaker, planning to punish him for the deception.

The Dog Trick

The thieves arrive at the shoemaker's farm. The shoemaker, seeing them approach, tells his wife to say he is in the farm and to send their dog, Milo, to call him. The thieves are amazed when Milo appears to understand and fetch the shoemaker. They then believe that the dog is valuable and buy Milo from the shoemaker for 40 gold coins.

Milo's Return

The thieves take Milo to their hideout, but Milo keeps returning to the shoemaker. The thieves realize they have been tricked again. Frustrated, they decide to take extreme measures to punish the shoemaker once and for all.

The Sack and the Swineherd

The thieves capture the shoemaker, put him in a sack, and plan to throw him in the mud. They stop at a church to rest, leaving the shoemaker in the sack. A swineherd passes by, and the shoemaker tricks him into believing he is being forced to marry the king's daughter. The swineherd eagerly takes his place in the sack.

The Mud Pit

The thieves return, throw the sack (with the swineherd inside) into the mud, and leave. They are shocked to see the shoemaker on the road, who tells them there's a magical place with gold in the mud, guarded by pigs. The thieves, driven by greed, ask to be taken there.

Final Trick and Happy Ending

The shoemaker leads the thieves to the spot and convinces them to tie themselves in sacks to get the gold. He then throws them into the mud and releases his pigs on them. The thieves are humiliated and finally give up. The shoemaker returns home and lives peacefully and happily with his wife.

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Transcript

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0:04 the clever shoemaker this is the story of a poor shoemaker who used to stay in a small village with his wife he had no work in the village and soon he had no money even to buy food so one day he made a decision and said to his wife i should not stay here any longer there is no work here i must try my luck in the big city just might be able to get a decent job there the shoemaker reached the big city he would roam the streets calling out get new shoes made get new shoes made or get your old shoes to look just like new ones or simply get shiny new ones

0:52 get new shoes made get new shoes made the shoemaker got no work on the first day the next day he roamed the streets of the big city again calling out get new shoes made get shoes made a woman called out to him mr shoemaker man these shoes please sure madam the shoemaker sat at the door of the house and stitched up those shoes here my lady the shoes are ready how much one copper coin here you go [Music] he took the money and left as soon as he entered the next street

1:38 another woman called out to him and asked him to repair some shoes here are some pairs of shoes please man them the shoemaker mended the shoes took the money and left i have made quite a bit of money today i keep working like this i shall soon have enough money to buy a donkey he worked very hard and after a few days he had earned four gold coins he bought a donkey with two of them and decided to return home the next day he packed all his stuff and left for home on his way he passed through a jungle

2:24 where he saw a band of thieves god save me these thieves will take away all my money and i shall become poor once again what do i do the shoemaker was very clever he did not lose heart and thought of a plan he tied one gold coin to the neck of the donkey and walked ahead the thieves caught him out with all your money come on quick see i am a poor cobbler i have nothing other than this donkey please let me go as soon as it heard this the donkey braid and the gold coin fell from its neck to the ground really

3:10 then where did you get this gold coin from how dare you lie to us stop stop all right i shall tell you this donkey creates gold this is how i get all my money all right sell us this donkey and we shall let you go no not at all if i sell it i shall be left with nothing we shall give you 50 gold coins for this fine but be careful to keep the donkey with each of you for one day in turn or else you will end up fighting for the money the shoemaker sold the donkey and returned home he was very happy to have got the gold

3:57 coins with the money he bought a poultry farm meanwhile the thieves too had reached their hideout with the donkey their chief said to all of them being the chief of this gang i shall be the first to keep the donkey with me the thieves obeyed their chief and that night the chief slept in the stable with the donkey he wanted to take the money as soon as he awoke the next morning when he got up he saw there was nothing in the stable he searched the entire stable but he found nothing he realized that the cobbler had fooled them meanwhile another thief got there keith you got the gold tell us how many

4:43 coins has a donkey created you will find out for yourself when you keep the donkey with you tonight the chief said nothing to anyone for he wanted to make sure that he had not made a mistake one by one all the thieves kept the donkey with them but none of them got a thing all of them understood that they had been fooled the chief called a meeting that shoemaker has fooled us we will teach him a lesson he sold us his ordinary donkey for 50 gold coins we shall take our money back from him and punish him for daring to dupe us yes let's go

5:29 they leave for the shoemaker's home he was working in the farm he saw the thieves coming he rushed inside the house and said to his wife listen carefully when the thieves get here and ask for me tell them that i am working in the farm and then send our dog milo to call me saying this he hid behind his house a little while later the thieves got there where is that shoemaker call him we wish to speak to him [Music] he has gone to the farm let me send the dog to call for him milo go and call your master tell him that some people have come to see him [Music]

6:15 what is all this will milo really get your husband to come here sure he understands everything whenever i need to speak to him while he is at the farm i simply send milo to him and milo delivers my message when the thieves were talking to the shoemaker's wife the shoemaker arrived oh it's you milo told me that you wish to speak with me we got nothing from the donkey you cheated us lied to us [Music] listen i am sure you've made a mistake whatever i have it is because of the donkey all right we believe you but you will have to sell us this dog

7:01 too no not at all i cannot sell it we shall pay you 40 gold coins for it after refusing a bit the shoemaker agreed to sell them the dog the thieves took milo and left when they reached the cave the chief announced that he would be the first to keep the dog with him the others obeyed him and left [Applause] the chief called his daughter camilla listen camilla i am going off to work if anyone comes to ask for me send milo to call me as you say father

7:48 sometime later a man came there and asked the chief's daughter to call her father please wait i shall send for him at once mallow go tell father that someone is here to meet him milo ran away from the chief's home and instead of going to the chief thief he went straight to the shoemaker when the thief returned home in the evening he saw that milo was not there he realized that milo must have gone back to his master so he went to the shoemaker's house listen has milo come to you yes here he is i think he must have been missing me give him a little time eventually he

8:34 will start accepting you as his master the chief took milo back with him and gave him to one of his comrades the next day milo stayed with all the members of the gang one by one but each day he would return to the shoemaker everyone realized that they had been cheated once again they discussed this time we shall not be fooled i shall teach that shoemaker a lesson this time they reached the shoemaker's house they did not pay heed to anything the shoemaker had to say they put him in a sack and left to teach him a lesson the shoemaker lay in the sack quietly

9:20 on their way they passed by a church one of the thieves said it is really hot let us rest for a while in the church we can surely wait till evening to do the work they left him there and all of them went inside the church this church was on top of a hill a swine herd was passing by when he heard the swineherd's voice an idea struck the shoemaker and he started shouting loudly i won't do it i won't do it leave me let me go the swineherd heard the shoemaker's voice and he came towards him he asked the shoemaker

10:07 wait what happened what will you not do who put you in that sack they want to get me married to the king's daughter but i do not want to get married why mate you crazy had i've been in your place i would have definitely got married to that princess if that is the case come i shall put you in the sack go and marry the princess really of course but first let me out the swineherd let the shoemaker out of the sack and himself got inside it the shoemaker tied him up and taking his pigs got away from there the thieves came out of the church in

10:53 the evening took the sack and left listen let's throw him here in the mud this will teach him a lesson the thieves throw him in the mud and depart from there while returning they saw the shoemaker on the road and they were shocked how did you get here there was a magical place beneath that mud there is a lot of gold and the guards of that gold are these pigs i came out with the help and brought some gold with me too just going back to sleep there wait take us to that magical place beware dare you even touch the gold but i do as we say

11:40 all right if you insist the gang of thieves reached the spot with the shoemaker [Music] if you want the gold then you must lock yourselves in the sack all thieves tied themselves in the sack the cobbler threw all of them in the mud and then left the pigs on them hey he fooled us again hey brother get a shower we will not bother you further do not leave us like this please the thieves kept shouting the pigs licks the thieves seeing this the shoemaker laughed and went to his house thereafter lived peacefully and happily with his wife

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