THE SHOEMAKER’S APRON
THERE was once a shoemaker who made so little at his trade that his wife suffered and his children went hungry. In desperation he offered to sell his soul to a devil.
“How much do you want for your soul?” the devil asked him.
“I want work enough to give me a good livelihood,” the shoemaker said, “so that my wife won’t suffer nor my children starve.”
The devil agreed to this and the shoemaker put his mark on the contract. After that trade improved and soon the little shoemaker was happy and prosperous.
Now one night it happened that Christ and the blessed St. Peter, who were walking about on earth, stopped at the little shoemaker’s cottage and asked for a night’s lodging. The shoemaker received them most hospitably. He had his wife cook them a fine supper and after supper he gave them his own bed to sleep on while he and his wife went to the garret and slept on straw.
In the morning he had his wife prepare them a good
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