Back to: Karnataka Board Class 8th Notes & Solutions
Table of Contents
Introduction
The story “The broken Gate” is about an old man, named Twinkle who was in search for a boy to help him in his shop. He needed a boy who could drive Jenny, the pony, which dragged his cart. So, he put up a notice which said, “Wanted – Boy to help (after school hours)”.
He wanted a boy, who was loyal and brave enough to own up when things go wrong, and most importantly who could speak the truth. All the boys saw the notice and many of them wanted to try for the job. George, Henry, Peter and Harry went to see old man Twinkle. Jack was the smallest boy among the other boys. He hesitated to try for the job because of his poor condition.
The old man refused to take the interview when the boys approached him and he told them to play in the yard till he called them.. All the boys saw a yard gate swinging to and fro. They climbed up on the gate and pretended to be riding a horse. The old gate could not bear the weight of the five boys and as a result broke away at the hinges. The boys thought that Mr. Twinkle had not seen what had happened in the yard.
Jack said that one should own up things if any situation goes wrong so he requested his friends to inform the old man about the broken gate. The boys were afraid that the old man would not give the job to any of them if he came to know that they had broke the gate so they decided to keep quiet.
The interview
Mr. Twinkle interviewed them one by one and asked them if they knew anything about the gate. The boys pretended as if they did not know anything about it. Mr. Twinkle told the boys that he would make a choice that evening. Jack felt bad about the broken gate and went near the gate to see if he could repair it.
Mr. Twinkle saw Jack and called him in. He asked Jack if he had come for the job. Jack replied that he had not come for job because of his young age and poor condition. The old man Twinkle asked him if he knew anything about the broken gate. Jack,being loyal to his friends, wanted to safeguard them so he said he was swinging on the gate when it broke. When Mr. Twinkle further questioned him, Jack had to tell him the truth. Though he had asked them to tell, the truth to Mr. Twinkle, they had refused, and he did not want them to get into trouble.
Victory of Honesty
Old man Twinkle informed Jack that he knew all about the broken gate and his four friends. He had asked his friends during the interview if they knew anything about the gate but, none of them were honest and instead they had all pretended to be innocenct. Jack requested the old man to choose one of the boys as his helper even though they had not owned up their mistakes. Mr. Twinkle said that he had chosen Jack to be helper.
Jack was surprised and asked Mr. Twinkle the reason of choosing him over the other cleverer boys. Mr. Twinkle replied that he wanted a boy who was bold enough to accept the responsibility when things went wrong. And he was in search of a boy who was truthful and loyal. Since Jack was a truthful and loyal to his friends and he was sure Jack would be loyal to him also. Mr. Twinkle was happy that he had chosen the right boy.
Jack was given the job of a helper boy.He became the head of the shop because of his honesty and sincerity.
