He's an old cobbler （修鞋匠） with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: "I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street; he'll fix them for you right away．"
But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman (手艺人). "No," I replied, "The other fellow can't do it well."
