English (Footprints Without Feet) · CBSE Class 10 · Supplementary Reader · Ruskin Bond · 25 Quiz
The Thief’s Story — Summary, Author, Theme & Glossary
About the Author
Ruskin Bond (b. 1934) is a well-loved Indian writer of English, famous for his simple, warm stories often set in the hills and small towns of India.
Theme
The story shows the transforming power of trust, kindness and love. A hardened young thief is reformed not by punishment but by the quiet trust and generosity of the man he robs — proving that faith in a person can change them more than fear of the law.
Summary
The narrator is Hari Singh, a 15-year-old but ‘experienced and fairly successful’ thief (he changes his name every month to dodge the police). He befriends Anil, an easy-going, kind young man of about 25 who writes for magazines and makes money ‘by fits and starts’. Using flattery, Hari gets Anil to employ him. Anil cannot pay him but gives him food and shelter, and begins to teach him to cook, to write his name and whole sentences, and to add numbers. Hari even cheats a little on the daily shopping, and Anil, though he knows, does not mind.
Anil is ‘the most trusting person’ Hari has ever met — which makes him hard to rob. One night Anil brings home 600 rupees from selling a book and tucks it under his mattress. Hari steals the money and runs to the station to catch the Lucknow Express — but at the last moment he hesitates and lets the train go.
Standing alone in the cold, drizzling night, Hari realises something more important than money: Anil had been teaching him to read and write, and that could one day make him ‘a big and respected man’. He also knows that when Anil discovers the theft, his face will show not anger but only sadness — for the loss of trust. Hari returns and quietly slips the wet notes back under the mattress. Next morning Anil gives him a fifty-rupee note and says he will now be paid regularly and that they will ‘start writing sentences’ that day. The note is still damp from the rain — showing that Anil knew about the theft all along, but forgave him in silence. Hari smiles, truly reformed.
Glossary
flattery = insincere praise; modestly = humbly, without boasting; grunting = making low sounds; appealing = attractive; unlined = (of a face) showing no worry; by fits and starts = irregularly; maidan = an open ground; deserted = empty.
NCERT Textbook Solutions (The Thief’s Story)
RF1-1Read and Find Out: Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
‘I’ refers to the narrator, a 15-year-old thief who calls himself Hari Singh (though he changes his name every month to keep ahead of the police).
RF1-2What is he ‘a fairly successful hand’ at?
He is ‘a fairly successful hand’ at stealing / thieving — despite being only fifteen, he is already an experienced and skilled thief.
RF1-3What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Anil cannot pay him money, but gives him food and a place to sleep (the balcony). More importantly, Anil teaches him to cook, to write his name and whole sentences, and to add numbers.
RF2-1Read and Find Out: How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Hari thinks that when Anil discovers the theft, his face will show not anger but only a touch of sadness — not for the loss of the money, but for the loss of trust.
RF2-2What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?
From studying men’s faces, Hari says: the greedy man showed fear, the rich man showed anger, and the poor man showed acceptance — but Anil’s face would show only sadness for the lost trust.
RF2-3Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?
Yes, Anil does realise he has been robbed. When he hands Hari the fifty-rupee note, it is still damp from the night’s rain — proving he knew the notes had been taken and returned. But he says nothing and forgives Hari in silence.
TI-1Think about it: What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of education? Do they change? What makes him return to Anil?
At first Hari views education selfishly — ‘once I could write like an educated man there would be no limit to what I could achieve’, thinking it would help him gain more (even through crime). Later his attitude deepens and matures: he realises that writing whole sentences could one day bring him more than ‘a few hundred rupees’, and that becoming ‘a really big man, a clever and respected man’ is far better than stealing. What makes him return to Anil is this new desire to learn to read and write and lead an honest, respectable life — and Anil’s trust and kindness.
TI-2Why does Anil not hand the thief over to the police? How is he different from such employers?
Anil does not hand Hari to the police because he is kind, understanding and forgiving, and wishes to reform the boy through trust and education rather than punishment. Most ordinary employers would certainly have reported the theft and had the boy arrested. Anil is different — he is compassionate and large-hearted, believing in giving the boy a second chance and winning him over with love, not fear.
TA-1Talk about it: Are people like Anil and Hari Singh found only in fiction, or in real life too?
(Sample) Such people exist in real life too, not just in fiction. There are genuinely kind, forgiving people like Anil who help others selflessly, and there are desperate, misguided youngsters like Hari Singh who turn to crime due to poverty or lack of guidance — and who can be reformed by trust and compassion.
TA-2Is it significant that Anil is a struggling writer? Does it explain his behaviour?
(Sample) Yes, it is significant. As a struggling writer, Anil is himself poor, easy-going and sensitive, earning money irregularly ‘by fits and starts’. This explains his carefree, generous and understanding nature — he is not attached to money, so he can forgive the theft and value the boy’s reform over the lost rupees.
TA-3Where is the story set? Which language(s) are spoken? Did the characters speak in English?
(Sample) The story is set in India — clear from names like Hari Singh and Anil and places like the Jumna Sweet Shop, Lucknow and the maidan. The languages spoken there would be Hindi / Urdu. The characters most probably spoke to each other in Hindi, not English; the author has narrated their conversation in English for the reader.