‘Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
Beware of the man that makes but one shoe;
Beware of the man with the awl and the axe,
With the pegs and the leather and the shoemaker’s wax.
If you’re out of your palace when you meet this man,
You’d better get back as fast as you can.’
“Smat felt very much like laughing at the solemn way in which the oldest and wisest councilor repeated this prophecy, or whatever it might be called. ‘Your majesty needn’t be worried about that prophecy,’ said he. ‘It’s the easiest thing in the world to break the force of it.’
“‘How?’ asked the king.
“‘Why, having made one shoe, I’ll go to work and make another,’ replied Smat.
“The oldest and wisest of the councilors said that was a pretty good plan,—anyhow, it was worth trying. Smat promised to make another shoe, and have it ready in two days. But this was easier said than done. In the first place, he had used nearly all his leather in making a shoe for the beautiful girl. In the second place, the awl point wouldn’t stay in the handle. In the third place, the pegs split and broke every time he tried to drive them, and the shoemaker’s wax wouldn’t stick. Everything went wrong at first and grew worse at last, so that when the king sent his officers for the shoe it was no nearer done than it had been before Smat began.