NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English - The Thief's Story

Read and Find Out (Page 8)

Q1: Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Ans: In the story, ‘I’ refers to the narrator of the story Hari Singh, who was a fifteen-year-old thief.

Q2: What is he “a fairly successful hand” at?
Ans: He is “a fairly successful hand” at stealing and robbing people. This means he is an experienced thief who is quick and skillful in his work, managing to rob without getting caught.

Q3: What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Ans: When Hari asked Anil if he could work for him, Anil said that he could not pay him. Finally, the agreement was that if he would cook, then Anil would feed him. However, Anil soon found out that he did not know how to cook. Therefore, he taught him how to cook and later, how to write his name. He promised he would teach him how to write whole sentences and how to add numbers. Apart from this, when Hari went out to buy the day’s supplies, he would make a profit of a rupee a day.

Read and Find Out (Page 10)

Q1. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Ans: The thief thought that on discovering the theft, Anil’s face would show a touch of sadness. The sadness would not be for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

Q2. What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?
Ans: During his brief time as a thief, Hari learned how different people reacted when they were robbed. He noticed that a greedy person would be afraid, a rich person would get angry, and a poor person would accept it calmly.

Q3. Does Anil realize that he has been robbed?
Ans: Yes, Anil realized that Hari had robbed him. He likely figured it out from the wet money, which got damp in the rain the night before. However, Anil didn't say anything about it and instead gave Hari a fifty-rupee note, promising to pay him regularly.

Think about It (Page 13)

Q1. What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education? Do they change over time? (Hint: compare, for example, the thought: “I knew that once I could write like an educated man there would be no limit to what I could achieve” with these later thoughts: ‘Whole sentences, I knew, cloud one day bring me more than a few hundred rupees. It was a simple matter to steal − and sometimes just as simple to be caught. But to be a really big man, a clever and respected man, was something else.”) What makes him return to Anil?

Ans: Hari Singh, though a fifteen-year-old boy, was an expert thief. Hari Singh was not his real name. He took a new name every month to prevent getting caught which clearly shows his cleverness and wit. He was quite pleased with the idea of Anil teaching him to read and write his name, sentences and add numbers. Writing like an educated man, he felt, would open the doors of success in his life and get him a life beyond his dreams.

One day, when Anil returned home with a bundle of notes, Hari’s inner thief made him forget all the good that Anil had done to him and the advantage the education would bring to him, and he stole the money and ran away. However, his conscience stopped him from onboarding a train and made him analyse his act, which made him feel guilty, and he returned to Anil’s place.

Q2. Why does not Anil hand the thief over to the police? Do you think most people would have done so? In what ways is Anil different from such employers?

Ans: Anil realised that his money had been stolen the previous night since the notes were wet when he woke up, and it had rained the previous night, which made it clear that the notes had been out in the weather. However, he did not say anything to Hari. Neither did he hand him over to the police.
There can be many reasons behind Anil's decision. One, he was a good man, and he knew how difficult it was to live in poverty since he himself made money by fits and starts. His profession (a writer) signifies a sound and mature mind, which can differentiate between a criminal at heart and a criminal by circumstances. Since Hari had returned, Anil knew that he had realised his mistake, which was, probably, enough for him to learn a life lesson.

On the contrary, many other people would have taken an opposite decision and would have handed Hari to the police.

The fact that Anil fed Hari meals, taught him, did not say anything to him despite knowing that he made some money when he went to the market for some purchases, and did not hand him over to the police, makes him very different from the other people.

Talk about It

Q1. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or are there such people in real life?
Ans: People like Anil and Hari Singh are not merely fictional, but they exist as well. However, with changing times, there are not many people willing to help anyone like Anil did in the story. Similarly, people like Hari are also getting rare who would realise their mistakes and return to their employers.

Anil has been portrayed as a very simple and honest man with a kind heart. He wrote for a magazine but made money by fits and starts. He understood the circumstances of others well. Not only did he give Hari Singh shelter, but he also taught him and ignored his little thefts of making a rupee or so from his daily purchases.

On the other hand, Hari Singh, a boy of fifteen, was an expert thief. He was not a thief by heart but a thief by circumstances. When he got respect and affection by Anil, his heart changed and his conscience made him return from the station and put the bundle of notes under the mattress.

Q2. Do you think it is a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?
Ans: Yes, it’s clear from the story that Anil was a struggling writer. He led a simple life with an irregular income, spending money only when he could afford it. Anil made money occasionally—sometimes borrowing one week and lending the next. He often worried about when his next cheque would come, but once it arrived, he would celebrate with friends. Hari noticed that Anil couldn’t pay him a salary because he didn’t have a steady income. Despite earning little, Anil never mistreated Hari and was always kind and considerate towards him.

Q3. Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? Can you think and imagine the circumstances that can turn a fifteen-year-old boy into a thief?

Ans: No, I haven’t met anyone like Hari Singh but such kind of people do exist in the world. Many a time, a fifteen-year-old boy may be forced under unavoidable circumstances to become a robber. Most people commit a crime to feed themselves or their families, or sometimes to satisfy their urge or addiction, to maintain health or to fulfil their demands to lead a luxurious life and so on.

Q4. Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it.) Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the story spoke to each other in English?

Ans: It seems that the story is set in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state. We can get precise clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it. For example, the name of the train,  the Lucknow Express and the Jamuna Sweet Shop.
The Jamuna Sweet Shop further shows that this place might be in a rural area. Both these clues are very important to find out the place.
If the story is set in U.P., the language must be Hindi. The characters in the story, evidently, did not speak to each other in English. As the basic language of the place is Hindi and Hari Singh didn’t even know how to read and write, there is no possibility of them talking to each other in English.