WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: Assembly Line, by B. Traven 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:03.240 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:09.560 Book Club, book Club, book Club, book Club, book Club, 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:11.840 book Club, book Club. I wonder how long I can 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.760 do that for book Club book Club, No, I got bored. Hello, 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.840 and welcome to cools on Media book Club, your weekly 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.919 book club that I host. My name is Margaret Kiljoy, 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.480 and I host the cools On Media book Club, which 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.760 is what I had already said. And every week I 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.240 read you different stories. And it's the only book club 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:32.839 where you don't have to do the reading because I 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.640 do the reading for you. You might have other book 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:37.280 clubs like that, Well I wouldn't be me doing the 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:42.680 reading for you, although I do like reading anyway. Okay, 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.760 I've been on this kick where I've been reading old 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.839 stories written by radicals, and I have got for you 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:50.400 a story that I'm excited about. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.519 It is written by B. Traven. And if you've never 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.200 heard of B. Traven, that's understandable. And if you have 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.000 heard of B. Traven, you might be excited. B Traven 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:05.120 what was a really important Mexican pulp fiction writer. He 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:07.040 was writing in the twenties thirties. I actually don't know 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:08.800 when he stopped writing because I don't have his hoole biography. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.840 In front of me. But if he's famous today, there's 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:13.800 two old movies based on his books. One is called 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.000 The Death Ship and that's less known, and then there's 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:20.440 the Treasure of the Sierra Nevadas and that movie was 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.760 a big old hit before I or most of you 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.600 were born. But the thing that is really neat about 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.320 be Travan And one day he's actually going to be 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.080 a character on I'm going to do episodes about him 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.039 at some point on cool People who did cool stuff. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.200 So I don't have all the information right now. The 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.800 thing is is that no one knew who Betraven was 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.240 for so long, Like he would only meet people in 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:49.080 darkened rooms in order to do interviews and stuff like that. 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:53.640 He was completely anonymous as this very popular pulp fiction 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.000 writer in Mexico, and a lot of his work was 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.240 translating in English. And you know, two Hollywood movies were 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:03.000 made after his book books, and almost certainly I believe 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.400 people see this as a known fact now. He was 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.640 a German anarchist named Rhet Marut who was part of 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:12.880 this There was this whole wave Germany almost had a 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:14.760 revolution at the end of the nineteen tens, and I 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:16.919 haven't really covered this uncol people did cool stuff yet, 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:19.000 so I don't know a ton about it. Rosa Luxembourg 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.280 is a big famous person from all this whole thing. 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:26.839 And there was a bunch of anarchist artists who got 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.920 together and tried to create a Soviet and in the 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.560 Soviet sense of like a bottom up assembly organized society, 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:35.840 rather than what the Soviet Union became, which has nothing 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:40.760 to do with Soviets. I'm not bitter. Rhet Marut had 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:44.040 to flee Germany because of his role in this revolution, 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.399 but he was a fiction writer, and so he made 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.360 it to Mexico and he started writing, and he wrote 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.600 a lot of really popular stuff. And so I'm going 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.880 to read one of his short stories today. This story 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.320 is called assembly Line, and I've said this with a 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.160 couple episodes recently. It was written in nineteen twenty eight, 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.080 or it was published in nineteen twenty eight in English, 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.359 and it was probably translated into English by Betraven himself. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:14.000 But the way that people wrote about race and indigenity 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.880 was different. And I would also say that the way 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:24.200 that indigenity versus like radical leftist politics looks different in Mexico. Historically, 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.560 this is going to be a story about an indigenous 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.600 man in Ohaka. And I could not really tell you 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:36.560 about the relationship of Bee Traven to indigenity in terms 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:38.680 of writing and things like that, but I can tell 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.880 you that I have studied since like the eighteen forties 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:47.200 eighteen fifties, this overlap between European anarchist politics, learning from 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.760 and hanging out with and being part of Mexican radical culture, 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:57.320 including indigenous culture, and so I suspect I don't know 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.440 whatever I'm doing this thing where I'm like, hey, some 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.480 of the writing in this is like not the way 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.400 that someone would write it now, or things like that, 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.040 But I still find it a very interesting story. And 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.600 I also like reading these stories because of how they're 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:14.680 indicative of the way that radical fiction writers perceived of 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.800 their world and what they like to write about at 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.279 different times. And I think that there's a value also 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.720 in that. I also just like this story. This is 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.280 another example kind of like the Toll story stories I've 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:28.080 been reading where it is a skilled writer who is 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:32.080 writing these political parables, and I think that that skilled 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.280 writer is important. And I also have a particular love 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.400 like Tulsoi is fine. I have a particular love for 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.000 pulp fiction in adventure novels, and that's what B. Traven 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:42.040 is more known for. Although this is not as much 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:47.520 of an adventure story. Write the story assembly line B. 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:53.280 Travean nineteen twenty eight, mister E. L. Winthrop of New 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.000 York was on vacation in the Republic of Mexico. It 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.800 wasn't long before he realized that this strange and really 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.920 wild country had not yet been fully explored by rotarians 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:07.719 and lions, who are forever conscious of their glorious mission 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.200 on Earth. Therefore, he considered it his duty as a 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:15.760 good American citizen to play his part in correcting this oversight. 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.680 In search of opportunities to indulge in his new avocation, 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.919 he left the beaten track and ventured into regions not 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.719 especially mentioned and hence not recommended by travel agents to 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:30.120 foreign tourists. So it happened that one day he found 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.279 himself in a little quaint Indian village somewhere in the 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.800 state of Ojaka. Walking along the dusty main street of 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.760 this peblocito, which knew nothing of pavements, drainage, plumbing, or 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.520 any means of artificial light save candles or pine splinters, 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.560 he met with an Indian squatting on the earth and 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:52.719 floor front porch of a palm hut, a so called yaclito. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.720 The Indian was busy making little baskets from bast and 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.000 all kinds of fibers gathered by him in the immense 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.359 tropical bush which surrounded the village on all sides. The 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:05.080 material used had not only been well prepared for its purpose, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.000 but was also richly colored with dyes that the basket 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:12.039 maker himself extracted from various native plants, barks, roots, and 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.800 from certain insects by a process known only to him 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:19.400 and the members of his family. His principal business, however, 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.880 was not producing baskets. He was a peasant who lived 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.960 on what the small property he possessed less than fifteen 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.840 acres of not too fertile soil, would yield. After much 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.559 sweat and labor, and after constantly worrying over the most 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.919 wanted and best suited distribution of rain, sunshine, and wind, 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.440 and the changing balance of birds and insects beneficial or 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.359 harmful to his crops. Baskets he made when there was 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.719 nothing else for him to do in the fields, because 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.839 he was unable to dawdle after all the sale of 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.400 his baskets, though to a rather limited degree, only added 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.080 to the small income he received from his little farm. 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.200 In spite of being by profession just a plain peasant, 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.279 it was clearly seen from the small baskets he made 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:05.720 that at heart he was an artist, a true and 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.640 accomplished artist. Each basket looked as if covered all over 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:16.880 with the most beautiful, sometimes fantastic ornaments, flowers, butterflies, birds, squirrels, antelopes, tigers, 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:20.400 and a score of other animals of the wilds. Yet 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.120 the most amazing thing was that these decorations, all of 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.640 them symphonies of color, were not painted on the baskets, 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.840 but were instead actually part of the baskets themselves. Bast 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:33.560 and fibers dyed and dozens of different colors were so 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:39.240 cleverly one might actually say intrinsically interwoven, that those attractive 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.280 designs appeared on the inner part of the basket as 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:46.160 well as the outside, not by painting, but by weaving. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.960 Were those highly artistic designs achieved. This performance he accomplished 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.120 without ever looking at any sketch or pattern while working 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.520 on a basket. These designs came to light as if 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.920 by magic, and as long as the basket was not 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.560 entirely finished, one could not perceive what in this case 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.400 or that the decoration would be like. People in the 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.920 market town who bought these baskets would use them for 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.360 sewing baskets, or to decorate tables with or window sills, 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.360 or to hold little things to keep them from lying around. 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.239 Women put their jewelry in them, or flowers or little dolls. 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.320 There were, in fact a hundred and two ways they 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:24.720 might serve certain purposes in a household or in a 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.760 lady's own room. Whenever the Indian had finished about twenty 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.160 of the baskets, he took them to town on market day. 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.320 Sometimes he would already be on his way shortly after midnight, 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.240 because he owned only a burrow to ride on, and 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.640 if the borough had gone astray the day before, as 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.520 happened frequently, he would have to walk the whole way 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.160 into town and back again. At the market, he had 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.199 to pay twenty centavos and taxes to sell his wares. 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.760 Each basket cost him between twenty and thirty hours of 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.360 constant work, not counting the time spent gathering the bast 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:02.559 and fibers, preparing them, making die and coloring the bast all. 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.760 This meant extra time and work. The price he asked 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:09.680 for for each basket was fifty centavos, the equivalent of 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.240 about four cents. It seldom happened, however, that the buyer 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.040 paid outright the full fifty centavos asked, or for realis, 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.960 as the Indians called that money. The prospective buyer started bargaining, 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.000 telling the Indian he ought to be ashamed to ask 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.280 such a sinful price. Why the whole dirty thing is 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.040 nothing but dirty patate straw, which you find in heaps 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:31.120 wherever you may look for it. The jungle is packed 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.120 full of it. The buyer would argue, if I paid you, 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.959 you thief ten cent of vetos for it, you should 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.959 be grateful for it and kiss my hand. Well, it's 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.440 your lucky day. I'll be generous this time. I'll pay 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.760 you twenty and not one green centavo more. Take it 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:51.280 run along. So he sold finally for twenty five centavos. 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.560 But the buyer would say, and what do you think 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.720 of that? I've only got twenty centavos change on me? 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.400 What can you do about that? If you can change 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:00.640 me at twenty p payso bill? 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:01.120 All right? 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.240 You shall have your twenty five fieros. Of course, the 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.640 Indian could not change a twenty payso bill, and so 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.800 the basket went for twenty centavos. He had little, if 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.840 any knowledge of the outside world, or he would have 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.199 known that what happened to him was happening every hour 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.160 of every day to every artist all over the world. 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.640 That knowledge would have made him very proud, because he 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.000 would have realized that he belonged to the little army 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.360 which is the salt of the earth, and which keeps culture, urbanity, 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.440 and beauty for their own sakes from passing away. Often, 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.240 it was not possible for him to sell all the 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.880 baskets he had brought to market. For people here as 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.760 elsewhere in the world, preferred things made by the millions, 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.559 and each so much like the other that you were unable, 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.960 even with the help of a magnifying glass, to tell 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.319 which was which and where was the difference between two 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.560 of the same kind. Yet he, this craftsman, had in 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.040 his life, made several hundreds of these exquisite baskets, but 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.320 so far no two of them had ever turned out 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.440 alike in design. Each was an individual piece of art, 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.520 and as different from the other as a marion from 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.520 a Velasquez. Naturally, he did not want to take those baskets, 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:06.640 which he could not sell at the marketplace home with 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.280 him again if he could help it. In such a case, 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.559 he went peddling his products from door to door, where 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.640 he was treated partly as a beggar and partly as 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.160 a vagrant, apparently looking for an opportunity to steal, and 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.640 he frequently had to swallow all sorts of insults and 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:24.400 nasty remarks. Then, after a long run, perhaps a woman 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.000 would finally stop him, take one of the baskets and 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.520 offer ten centavos, which price, through talks and talks, would 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:34.000 perhaps go up to fifteen or even twenty. Nevertheless, in 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.520 many instances he would actually get no more than just 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.120 ten centavos, and the buyer, usually a woman, would grasp 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.280 that little marvel right before his eyes and throw it 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.080 carelessly on the nearest table, as if to say, while 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.520 I take that piece of nonsense only for charity's sake, 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.400 I know my money is wasted, but then after all, 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.679 I'm a Christian, and I can't see a poor Indian 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.720 die of hunger since he has come such a long 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.920 way from his village. This would remind her of something better, 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.840 and she would hold him and say, where you at home? Anyway? 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:05.400 In Dieto? Where's your pueblo? So from Huhutonoc? Now listen 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.160 here in Dieto. Can't you bring me next Saturday two 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.240 or three turkeys from Hutonoc? But they must be heavy 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.600 and fat and very very cheap, or I won't even 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.880 touch them if I wish to pay the regular price. 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.360 I don't need you to bring them, understand, hop along? 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.680 Now in Deeto, the Indian squatted on the earth and 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.680 floor of the portico in his hut, attended to his work, 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.320 and showed no special interest in the curiosity of mister 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.800 Winthrop watching him. He acted almost as if he ignored 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.800 the presence of the American altogether. How much is that 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.560 little basket, friend, mister Winthrop asked, when he felt he 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:38.480 had at least say something so as to not ap 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:44.520 peer idiotic fifty centavos patroncito, my good little lordie for Realez, 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.920 The Indian answered, politely, All right, sold, mister Winthrop blurted 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:50.880 out in a tone and with a gesture as if 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.760 he had just bought a whole railroad, and examining his 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.680 by he added, I already know who I'll give that 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.360 pretty little thing to. She'll kiss me for it. Sure, 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.480 I wonder what should you use it for? He had 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.439 expected to hear a price of three or even four pesos. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.199 The moment he realized that he had judged the value 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.040 six times too high, he saw right away what great 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.319 business possibilities this miserable Indian village might offer to a 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:19.040 dynamic promoter like himself. Without further delay, he started exploring 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.840 those possibilities. Suppose is my good friend, I buy ten 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:25.080 of these little baskets of yours, which I which I 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.800 might as well admit right here and now have practically 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.880 no real use whatsoever. Well, as I was saying, if 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.520 I buy ten, how much would you then charge a piece? 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:38.080 The Indian hesitated for a few seconds, as if making calculations. Finally, 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.400 he said, if you buy ten, I can let you 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:45.560 have them for forty five centavos each, Senorito, gentleman, All right, amigo, 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:48.160 And now let's suppose I buy from you straight away 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:52.600 one hundred of these absolutely useless baskets. How much will 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.600 each cost me? The Indian, never looking up to the 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.319 Americans standing before him, and hardly taking his eyes off 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.240 his work, said politely, with out the slightest trace of 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:04.400 enthusiasm in his voice. In such a case, I might 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.120 not be quite unwilling to sell each for forty cent 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:11.199 of vitos. Mister Winthrop bought sixteen baskets, which was all 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.240 the Indian had in stock. But you know who does 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:19.240 have more in stock? Well, whoever's advertising, They probably have 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.960 a bunch of stuff, and you could buy it if 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.920 you want. Or you could press the forward thirty second 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.480 spot in a couple times so you hear the theme 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:41.360 music again. You could do whatever you want, and we're back. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.480 After three weeks stay in the Republic, mister Winthrop was 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.640 convinced that he knew this country perfectly, that he had 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.520 seen everything and knew all about the inhabitants, their character, 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.600 and their way of life, and that there was nothing 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.120 left for him to explore. So he returned to good 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.080 old New York and felt happy to be once more 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:02.720 in a civilized country, rust it to himself. One day, 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.560 going out for lunch, he passed to confectioners, and looking 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:07.920 at the little display in the window, he suddenly remembered 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.160 the little baskets he had bought in that far away 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.680 Indian village. He hurried home and took all the baskets 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:15.320 he still had left to one of the best known 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.960 candy makers in the city. I can offer you here, 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.800 mister Winthrop, said to the confectioner, one of the most 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.560 artistic and at the same time most original of boxes, 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.320 if you wish to call them, that these little baskets 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.880 would be just right for the most expensive chocolates meant 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.640 for elegant and high priced gifts. Just have a good 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.800 look at them, sir, and let me listen. The confectioner 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.400 examined the baskets and found them extraordinarily well suited for 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.080 a certain line in his business. Never before had there 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.200 been anything like them, for originality, prettiness and good taste. 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.360 He however, avoided most carefully showing any sign of enthusiasm 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.680 for which there would be time enough. Once he knew 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.520 the price and whether he could get a whole load exclusively, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.200 he shrugged his shoulders and said, well, I don't know. 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.760 If you asked me, I say, it isn't quite what 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.600 I'm after. It depends, of course, on the price. In 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:05.480 our business, the package mustn't cost more than once in it, 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:09.800 Do I hear? An offer, mister Winthrop asked, why don't 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:11.480 you tell me in round figures how much you want 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.360 for them? I'm no good at guessing. Well, i'll tell you, 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.760 mister Kemple. Since I'm the smart guy who discovered these baskets, 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:19.640 and since I'm the only jack who knows where to 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.440 lay his hand on more, I'm selling to the highest 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.880 bidder on an exclusive basis. Of course, I'm positive you 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.040 can see it my way, mister Kemple. Quite so, and 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.840 may the best man win. The confectioner said, I'll talk 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.440 the matter over with my partners. See me tomorrow morning, 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.800 same time, please, and i'll let you know how far 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:40.040 we might be willing to go. Next day, when both 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.200 gentlemen met again, mister Kemple said, now, to be frank 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.280 with you, I know art on seeing it, no getting 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.880 around that. And these baskets are a little works of art. 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.120 They surely are. However, we are not art dealers. You 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.880 realize that, of course we've no other use for these 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:56.680 pretty little things except us fancy packing for our French 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.720 prelines made by us. We can't pay for them what 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:01.960 we meant I might pay considering them as pieces of art. 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.680 After all to us. They're only wrappings. Fine rappings perhaps, 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.440 but nevertheless rappings. You'll see it our way, I hope, 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:14.440 mister Oh yes, mister Winthrop. So here is our offer, 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:16.840 take it or leave it. A dollar and a quarter 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.280 apiece and not one cent more. Mister Winthrop made a 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.040 gesture as if he had been struck over the head. 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.840 The confectioner, misunderstanding this involuntary gesture of mister Winthrop, added quickly, 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.800 all right, all right, no reason to get excited, no 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.160 reason at all. Perhaps we can do a trifle better. 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:36.480 Let's say one fifty. Make it one seventy five, mister 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.800 Winthrop snapped, swallowing his breath while wiping his forehead. Sold 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.680 one seventy five apiece free at Port of New York. 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.840 We pay the customs and you pay the shipping. Right sold, 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.000 mister Winthrop also said, and the deal was closed. There is, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:55.160 of course, one condition, the confectioner explained, when mister Winthrop 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.760 was to leave one or two hundred won't do it 0:17:57.800 --> 0:17:59.960 for us. It wouldn't pay the trouble in the end 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.760 advertising I wouldn't consider less than ten thousand or one 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:07.159 thousand dozens, if that sounds better. In your ears, and 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.440 they must come in twelve different patterns. Well assorted, how 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:14.680 about that I can make it sixty different patterns or designs, 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.840 So much the better, And you're sure you can deliver 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:23.719 ten thousand, let's say early October. Absolutely, mister Winthrop vowed 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:28.600 and signed the contract. Practically all the way back to Mexico, 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:30.639 mister Winthrop had a notebook in his left hand and 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.800 a pencil in his right, and he was writing figures, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:34.840 long rows of them to find out exactly how much 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.239 richer he would be when his business had been put through. Now, 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.880 let's sum up the whole goddamn thing, he muttered to himself. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.439 Damn it, where is that cursed pencil again? I had 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.400 it right between my fingers. Ah, there it is ten thousand, 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.760 he ordered. Well, well, there we get a clean cut 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.480 profit of fifteen thousand, four hundred and forty genuine dollars 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:59.080 sweet smackers, fifteen grand right in a papa's pocket. Come 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.440 to think of it, that republic isn't so backward after all. 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.600 Buenos tardes, mi amigo, how are you whom he found 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:08.919 squatting in the porch of his jocolito as if he 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.359 had never moved from his place, since mister Winthrop had 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.800 left for New York. The Indian Rose took off his hat, 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:18.920 bowed politely, and said, in his soft voice, be welcome, Patronsito. 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:23.440 Thank you. I feel fine, Thank you, moebenos tards the house, 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.919 and all I have is at your kind disposal. He 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.240 bowed once more, moved his right hand in a gesture 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.399 of greeting, and sat down. But he excused himself for 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:34.879 doing so by saying, pardon me, Patrosito, I have to 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:36.959 take advantage of the daylight. Soon it will be night. 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.120 I've got big business for you, my friend, mister Winthrop. 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.200 Agan good to hear that. Signor. Mister Winthrop said to himself. 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.879 Now he'll jump up and go wild when he learns 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.280 what I've got for him, and aloud, he said, do 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.960 you think you can make one thousand of these little baskets? 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.320 Why not, Patronzito. If I can make sixteen, I can 0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:00.240 make one thousand also, that's right, my good man. Can 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.480 you also make five thousand? Of course, Signor, I can 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.360 make five thousand if I can make one thousand. Good Now, 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.400 if I should ask you to make me ten thousand, 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:11.639 what would you say? And what would be the price 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.199 of each You can make ten thousand, can't you? Of 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.159 course I can't signor I can make as many as 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:19.080 you wish. You see, I am an expert in this 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:20.879 sort of work. No one else in the whole state 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.520 can make them the way I do. That's what I thought, 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.080 and that's exactly why I came to you. Thank you 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.719 for the honor, Patroncito. Suppose I order you to make 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:31.720 ten thousand of these baskets, how much time do you 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.800 think you would need to deliver them? The Indian, without 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.159 interrupting his work, cocked his head to one side and 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:38.879 the other, as if you were counting the days or 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:41.119 weeks it would cost him to make all these baskets. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:44.040 After a few minutes, he said, in a slow voice, 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.080 it will take a good long time to make so 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.360 many baskets, Petroncito. You see, the bast and the fibers 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.200 must be very dry before they could be used properly. Then, 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:54.360 all during the time they are slowly drying, they must 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.399 be worked and handled in a very special way, so 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:58.480 that while drying they won't lose their softness and their 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.160 flexibility and their natural browks. Even when dry, they must 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.840 look fresh. They must never lose their natural property, so 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.119 they will look just as lifeless and dull as straw. 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:09.440 Then while they are drying, I got to go get 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:11.600 the plants and roots and barks and insects from which 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.919 I brew the dyes. That takes much time. Also, believe me, 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:17.760