Back to: ISC Class 11 & 12 English
Table of Contents
Introduction
Gessler brother made excellent boots but the new firms were a potential threat to their art.
Art is Art
The narrator knew Mr. Gessler when he was young. He owned a shop with his elder brother. They made wonderful boots. The narrator once asked if it was hard to make boots, and he replied that it was an art.
When one went into his shop, it was like one has entered a church. He would come downstairs and stand in a leather apron. Mr. Gessler spoke in a German accent. He would come with a fine piece of leather and ask the customer when he wanted the boot. The narrator told him that he wanted the boot as soon as Mr. Gessler could finish it.
Excellent Human Being
One day when the narrator told him that a pair of boots made by him were not good. He told the narrator to send them back. He told the narrator that some boots are defective, and if he was unable to repair them, he would not charge the narrator for them.
When the narrator entered his shop once, he recognized that the narrator was not wearing his boots. He could tell the narrator the exact spot where the boots hurt him. He also told the narrators that those firms (who manufactured those defective boots) had no self-respect.
The Firms
He complained to the narrator about big firms that used advertising as a measure to attract customers. As a result, the work of Mr. Gessler shrank day by day. The narrator felt pity and ordered many pairs.
The boots lasted for a longer time, and when the narrator visited him, he told the narrator that his brother was dead now. Mr. Gessler had grown old now. The narrator again ordered some boots and went abroad.
Quantity Triumphed Quality
He again returned to London and found that Mr. Gessler was seventy-five now. The narrator bought more boots. When the narrator visited the shop after a week to tell Mr. Gessler about the boots, he found out that the shop was not there.
The shop now had a young English man who told the narrator that Mr. Gessler was dead. He never advertised and took too much time to make boots, and people could not wait. He was dead, and the narrator told the young man that Mr. Gessler indeed made good boots.
