THE SHOEMAKER AND APPRENTICE
SHORT STORY
PART-1
One will never think that this will be the ideal day in life till one witnessess that with two eyes. Sometimes the most beautiful things, the noblest of gifts, the friendship that one has been expecting all along these courses come most unexpectedly. This was also in the case of Titian the shoemaker. He had been an apprentice to the ablest of craftsmen in the town from the age of nine when his dad unexpectedly succumbed to a terminal malady. And he was in the fifth standard then and his mom told him to find a job and he got the apprentice position with pocket money of 200 rupees a month, an endowment that the head Crispin gave to all the three of his apprentices. The head shoemaker married twice and his eldest son from the first marriage was also in the shop to take care of the trainees under him. He had divorced his first wife but has kept his son by his side. He loved his son so much but was quite tough in his dealings with his son and taught him the lessons of the trade the hard way. On quite a few occasions, he banged the boy mercilessly too, not because of serious transgressions like stealing or fraud but the boy was casual about the hide and parchment and other goods kept in the storehouse for the making of the shoe. The gentleman’s footwear were some of the best in the market, and he put a mark in his mother tongue as a signature but it was of no use, as counterfeit shoes soon came in the market with the same signature in the same curves and casual impression of the original one. Still, the customers could easily identify, those who had worn his shoes earlier could easily identify the original from the duplicate.
The boy was honest and the episode took place when he went to the second show that started at 10 P.M. And ended at 1 A.M. He went to the theatre on a bicycle and after that slept in the corridor in front of the store as usual. But on the special night of the robbery, the door was not locked properly and it led to the theft. The boy was in a hurry to see the film of his favourite heroine and hero from the first scene. And the movie started with a stunt scene and the boy never missed the first part.
The theft occurred and he apprehended that his papa would be angry and though he had the portent the dad would be fierce, he could not foresee, the latter will hit him and this the dad did liberally. This was additionally because the gentleman had taken a loan on interest for the expansion of trade and was already at default for a couple of payments and was desperate. But in the evening he cooled down and bought the favourite sweets of the boy with an additional small bottle of sherry. But the lad was defiant and did not accept the sherry and the chocolates and instead advanced to the same movie once again. Readers- What do you think about the dad and the son? When I gave the initial draft to a few associates of mine, one man told me that such irresponsible boys should be beaten because they do not know the travails of their parents while bringing them up. A lady told, second shows in our family nobody goes for second shows, you are inviting the attentions of nocturnal beings by such an irresponsible action. One expert in bringing up children said that since the boy is not yet eighteen and a minor(he was just seventeen and two months) he should get permission to leave at such a time. He should be taught the basic manners at home at an early stage. One gentleman who was my classmate in school years, but whom I lost touch with him and had contacted recently and as he knew from somebody that I write some silly stories, he had asked me to send my drafts before publications. This gentleman was a frequent traveller, and when I asked his opinion he told me that the boy was perfectly right in his actions and in case he met the dad, he will punch his belly into pieces. Who is the hero, he asked later. And I told the name of the actor. Then he replied that the boy should go to that cinema and see the actor in performance and also, that the daddy can receive another advance and pay it leisurely since seeing the film at such a point in life is critical. And meanwhile, this cavalier was also the hero’s devotee. I wrote back in a side note that as a man I also thought likewise, though as a writer I must support all my characters no matter how wicked they are, and though I would like to estimate differently at a private level, to do so in my fiction will be quite naive and as a writer and as a human being, many of my present beliefs may be flawed and I am also in a learning process. “Are you Milton? “, he asked. I said that though I am not as great a poet as Milton, the attitude in this regard, the question of impartiality, is the same.
So this is some of the backgrounds of the story.
2
And I did not tell you about the second partner of the shoemaker and this order. His second spouse was most stunning and possibly fifteen years younger than him and he wedded her instantly after the separation. He already had a boy by her and this breach took place when these accounts appeared in the newspaper. The evening daily reporter made investigation reporting and discovered the (famous ) shoemaker’s secret life which cost him his matrimony. But the shoemaker was not discouraged. And took the other affair and got a breakup and espoused immediately.
The brick had put the offspring by his secondary wedlock in a leading college in the city and his intonation and lexicon are excellent. You may question how I grasped his articulation and diction. I happened to meet him once in the workshop when his sibling and dad had departed and it was a temporary office for him. I had gone there because a pair of footwear I purchased (I am his client ) from his store was hurting my toes severely because the sponge he used was of moderate quality.
Regularly when you wear his shoes you get the sensation of your caring companion holding your hand, but this was like your chief foe holding your hand in a bombastic decent way. So I went there to submit a question and he persuaded me that the shoe is indeed fine, and now and again your dispositions when you walk will influence the agony or joy you get while wearing the shoes. “Were you going for a meeting?” He asked. Indeed I was. I had stopped a job and was looking for another and I was truly wearing the shoes that day. “That is it!”, he told with an enthusiastic grin, “Honorable man”, he proceeded in his best compliment – ‘ ‘ There you are,” he said, “You should change your temperaments as opposed to changing your shoes. On the off chance that you are intrigued, I have an alliance program for that “. I said-”I will consider it” and returned home that day considering how to talk like him in the hardest of circumstances.
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SW 