The Thief’s Story | CBSE Class 10 English Notes
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Who wrote "The Thief's Story," and what is it about?
"The Thief's Story" is written by Ruskin Bond and appears as the second chapter of the supplementary reader Footprints without Feet. The story is told in the first person by a fifteen-year-old thief who gives himself the false name Hari Singh.
The story opens at a wrestling match, where the narrator notices a young man called Anil and decides to try to win his trust. The chapter's own heading note describes the plot in brief: "A young boy makes friends with Anil. Anil trusts him completely and employs him."
The printed text given here covers the narrator's first meeting with Anil, how he talks his way into a job through flattery and lies, his disastrous first attempt at cooking, and the early days of living and working in Anil's room above the Jumna Sweet Shop.
Anil begins teaching the boy to cook, write his name, and (he promises) to write whole sentences and add numbers. The narrator, in turn, settles into a daily routine of making morning tea and buying supplies, during which he quietly skims a small daily profit.
The chapter's own "Read and find out" questions point to its central concerns: who the narrator is, what he is skilled at, and what he actually gains from working for Anil. These are the very questions the narrator himself seems to be working out as the story unfolds.
These questions frame the story as being about a boy who is good at deception but who, through Anil's casual kindness, is offered something more valuable than money: an education. The relationship between a trusting employer and a habitually dishonest employee lies at the heart of the opening of the story.
What happens in the story, part by part?
A thief sizes up his mark
The narrator tells us plainly: "I was still a thief when I met Anil." Though only 15, he describes himself as "an experienced and fairly successful hand" at thieving. He spots Anil watching a wrestling match.
Anil is about 25, "a tall, lean fellow" who looks "easy-going, kind and simple enough" for the narrator's purpose. The narrator admits he "hadn't had much luck of late" and hopes to win the young man's confidence.
Hari Singh talks his way into a job
The narrator opens with flattery: "You look a bit of a wrestler yourself." Anil replies, "So do you," which embarrasses the narrator because he is "rather thin" at the time.
When asked his name, he lies: "Hari Singh." He explains that he takes "a new name every month" to stay ahead of the police and his former employers.
After Anil walks away, the narrator follows and boldly says, "I want to work for you." Anil warns he cannot pay.
The narrator asks if Anil can at least feed him, and when Anil asks if he can cook, he lies again: "I can cook."
The first terrible meal
Anil takes the boy to his room above the Jumna Sweet Shop and lets him sleep on the balcony.
The meal the narrator cooks that night is so bad that Anil gives it to a stray dog and tells the boy to leave. The narrator simply "hung around, smiling in my most appealing way," until Anil cannot help laughing.
Anil teaches him to read and write
Anil relents, pats the boy on the head, and says he will teach him to cook.
He also begins teaching him to write his name, promising he will soon teach him "whole sentences" and "to add numbers." The narrator feels grateful, and reflects that once he can write like "an educated man," there will be "no limit" to what he can achieve.
A daily routine of small profits
Life with Anil settles into a routine: the narrator makes the morning tea and takes his time buying the day's supplies, usually skimming a profit of "about a rupee a day." He senses that Anil "knew I made a little money this way but he did not seem to mind," which shows the growing trust and tolerance between them even before the story's later events.
Who are the characters in "The Thief's Story"?
Hari Singh
The narrator is a 15-year-old thief who calls himself Hari Singh, though this is an alias he changes "every month" to avoid the police and previous employers. He describes himself, before meeting Anil, as "an experienced and fairly successful hand" at thieving.
He is street-smart, skilled at flattery, and willing to lie readily, claiming he can wrestle "a bit" and that he can cook, when in truth he can do neither. His opening line to Anil, "You look a bit of a wrestler yourself," is a calculated attempt to win confidence, which he himself describes as flattery that "helps in making friends."
He is also resourceful under pressure: when his terrible cooking nearly costs him the job, he does not argue or plead but simply "hung around, smiling in my most appealing way" until Anil's anger turns to laughter.
Yet underneath this practised deception, he is shown to value Anil's kindness and his lessons, feeling genuinely "grateful" for being taught to write, and hinting at a wish for a more honest, "educated" life in which there would be "no limit" to what he could achieve.
Anil
Anil is about 25, "a tall, lean fellow" who appears "easy-going, kind and simple" enough for the narrator's purpose. He is honest from the start, telling the narrator plainly, "I can't pay you," rather than making false promises.
He cannot pay the narrator but offers food and shelter instead, taking him to his room over the Jumna Sweet Shop and letting him sleep on the balcony, once the narrator claims he can cook.
Even after a disastrous first meal, which he feeds to a stray dog, Anil's patience wins out: he tells the boy to leave, but cannot help laughing when the boy keeps smiling, and he goes on to teach the boy to cook, write his name, and promises to teach him whole sentences and numbers.
His tolerance of the boy's small daily profiteering, about a rupee a day from the shopping, shows a generous, undemanding nature; the narrator believes Anil "knew" about this but "did not seem to mind."
What themes does "The Thief's Story" explore?
Trust and its risks
Anil extends trust to a stranger he barely knows, feeding and housing him and even letting him handle the household shopping money. The narrator, in turn, notices and exploits this trust by skimming a small profit, showing how trust can be both a kindness and a vulnerability.
Even Anil's willingness to feed and shelter the boy in exchange for work he cannot verify, since the boy claims to be able to cook without proof, shows how trust is often extended on the basis of appearance and manner rather than evidence.
The temptation and habit of dishonesty
Lying comes naturally to the narrator: he invents his name, claims skills he does not have, and quietly profits from his errands. His first words to Anil are flattery, which he openly calls a tactic: "A little flattery helps in making friends."
His habit of changing names "every month" to dodge "the police and my former employers" shows deception as a settled, practised way of life rather than a one-off act, something he has clearly done many times before meeting Anil.
Education as a path to change
Anil's decision to teach the boy to cook, write his name, and later write sentences and add numbers introduces the idea that learning can open doors that theft cannot.
The narrator's own reflection, that he could achieve "no limit" once educated "like an educated man," shows him beginning to value something other than quick money, suggesting a quiet shift in his priorities even while his small daily dishonesties continue.
Kindness and patience as quiet persuasion
Anil never lectures or punishes the narrator directly for his failures. Instead of anger, Anil responds to the ruined meal with laughter, and instead of refusing to teach an unskilled boy, he simply says he will teach him "to cook" himself.
This pattern of patient, undemanding kindness, rather than any dramatic confrontation, is what gradually works on the narrator and begins to earn his gratitude within the opening of the story.
What are the key quotations from "The Thief's Story"?
The quotations below are drawn directly from the opening of the story, where the narrator introduces himself, talks his way into a job with Anil, and begins to settle into his new life. Each is given with its speaker and the moment at which it occurs.
"I was still a thief when I met Anil." — Hari Singh, opening the story.
"You look a bit of a wrestler yourself." — Hari Singh, flattering Anil at the wrestling match.
"I want to work for you... But I can't pay you." — Hari Singh's offer, and Anil's honest reply.
"I knew that once I could write like an educated man there would be no limit to what I could achieve." — Hari Singh, reflecting on Anil's lessons.
"I think he knew I made a little money this way but he did not seem to mind." — Hari Singh, on his daily profit from shopping.
Together, these lines trace the arc of the opening: a confident thief sizing up a stranger, a blunt but kind employer who offers honesty instead of payment, and a narrator who, by the end of this portion of the story, is beginning to feel something beyond calculation, gratitude, and perhaps the first stirrings of a wish to change.
They also show the story's reliance on short, plain dialogue rather than long description to reveal character, a technique examined further elsewhere in this note.
What are the answers to the textbook questions?
Who does 'I' refer to in this story? The 'I' refers to the narrator, a fifteen-year-old thief who gives his name as Hari Singh, though this is a false name he changes every month to avoid the police and his former employers.
What is he "a fairly successful hand" at? He describes himself as an "experienced and fairly successful hand" at being a thief, meaning he was skilled and reasonably successful at stealing from people before meeting Anil.
What does he get from Anil in return for his work? In return for his work, which Anil cannot pay him for, the narrator receives food and a place to sleep on the balcony above the Jumna Sweet Shop.
He is also taught to cook and to write his name, with the promise of being taught to write whole sentences and add numbers, which he values as the start of becoming "educated." He reflects that this would give him "no limit" to what he could achieve.
Beyond these direct answers, the chapter also shows that the narrator gains something less tangible than food or shelter: a daily routine, a measure of trust, and his first experience of someone being patient with his failures rather than punishing them, which sets up the deeper questions the rest of the story goes on to explore.
Why does Hari Singh choose Anil as his target?
Hari Singh notices Anil while Anil is watching a wrestling match, and he deliberately studies him before approaching. Anil's appearance, "a tall, lean fellow" who looks "easy-going, kind and simple enough," convinces the narrator that this is a man he can win over, "for my purpose."
The narrator admits that he "hadn't had much luck of late," suggesting he is actively searching for a new opportunity. His approach is calculated: he opens with flattery about wrestling, watches how Anil reacts, and only after Anil walks away does he follow "casually" rather than chasing him outright.
This careful, patient approach reveals a practised thief's instinct for reading people. Hari Singh does not rush; he tests the ground with small comments and lies, adjusting his strategy once he senses that straightforward begging (asking to be paid) will not work with a man who openly says, "I can't pay you."
His choice of Anil therefore is not accidental but a deliberate judgement of character, based on appearance and manner, that turns out to be largely accurate: Anil is indeed kind and tolerant, even if the narrator's motives for choosing him are at first entirely self-serving.
How does Ruskin Bond use dialogue to build character?
The story is built heavily on short, natural exchanges of dialogue rather than lengthy description. When Hari Singh flatters Anil with "You look a bit of a wrestler yourself," Anil's quick reply, "So do you," immediately shows Anil as witty and unimpressed by flattery, while also embarrassing the thin narrator.
Anil's blunt honesty, "But I can't pay you," and his practical question, "Can you cook?", show a straightforward, no-nonsense character who nonetheless leaves room for the boy to offer something in return for food.
The narrator's lies, "Hari Singh" and "I can cook," are delivered in the same plain style, letting the contrast between the two characters' honesty levels emerge through speech alone.
This spare, conversational dialogue lets Bond reveal personality without directly telling the reader what to think, trusting small verbal exchanges, a joke, a blunt refusal, a patient laugh, to carry the emotional weight of the growing relationship between thief and victim.
What is the setting of "The Thief's Story"?
The story is set in and around a modest urban neighbourhood. The first meeting takes place at a wrestling match, where "well-oiled wrestlers" are "grunting, lifting and throwing each other about," giving the opening scene a lively, public, working-class atmosphere.
After Hari Singh is taken on, the setting narrows to Anil's small room above the Jumna Sweet Shop, where the narrator is given a spot to sleep on the balcony.
This domestic setting, a single rented room above a shop, suggests that Anil himself is not wealthy, which makes his generosity towards the boy more notable.
The daily routine described, making morning tea and going out to buy the day's supplies, places the story within an ordinary, everyday Indian street life, where small transactions and small dishonesties, like the narrator's rupee-a-day profit, can pass largely unnoticed.
What narrative point of view does the story use, and what effect does it create?
The story is narrated entirely in the first person by the thief himself, which means the reader experiences events only through his eyes and hears his private thoughts, such as his admission "I lied" or his private calculation that he has "misjudged my man."
This point of view creates an unusual effect: the reader is made complicit in the narrator's small deceptions, aware of each lie as it is told, while Anil, within the story, remains unaware.
The gap between what the reader knows and what Anil knows builds a quiet tension around whether Anil's trust will be repaid or betrayed.
It also allows Bond to show the narrator's inner shift in attitude directly, for instance his growing gratitude and his belief that there would be "no limit" to what he might achieve, feelings that an outside narrator could not report with the same immediacy.
Glossary
- Fairly successful hand — a person who is reasonably skilled and effective at a particular activity, here thieving.
- Flattery — excessive or insincere praise given to please someone or win them over.
- Easy-going — relaxed, tolerant and not easily upset or demanding.
- Modestly — in a manner that avoids boasting about oneself.
- Grunting — making low, rough sounds, here used of wrestlers exerting effort.
- Misjudged — formed a wrong opinion or assessment of someone or something.
- Confidence — trust placed in a person, or a secret shared in trust.
- Former employers — people the narrator has worked for, or stolen from, in the past.
- Appealing — attractive or likeable in a way that wins sympathy.
- Casually — in a relaxed, unhurried manner, without appearing eager.
- Profit — the extra money gained above the real cost, here skimmed from shopping.
- Stray dog — a dog with no owner or home, wandering freely.
- Balcony — a platform projecting from a building, here where the narrator sleeps.
- Educated — having received schooling or instruction in reading, writing and numbers.
Common errors and misconceptions
- Misconception: Hari Singh is the narrator's real name. Correct: it is a false name; he admits he takes "a new name every month" to avoid the police and former employers.
- Misconception: Anil agrees to pay the narrator a wage. Correct: Anil says clearly, "I can't pay you," and instead offers food and shelter.
- Misconception: the narrator genuinely knows how to cook when he takes the job. Correct: he lies, "I can cook," and his first meal is so bad that Anil feeds it to a stray dog.
- Misconception: Anil throws the narrator out after the bad meal. Correct: although Anil tells him to leave, the narrator stays, smiling, and Anil ends up laughing instead.
- Misconception: the narrator is 25 years old. Correct: the narrator is 15; it is Anil who is about 25.
- Misconception: the narrator's daily shopping profit goes unnoticed by Anil. Correct: the narrator believes Anil "knew" about the extra rupee but "did not seem to mind."
Exam-style questions with model answers
Q1. What age is the narrator, and what does he call himself when he meets Anil? [2 marks]
- The narrator is 15 years old.
- He calls himself Hari Singh, a false name he changes every month.
Q2. Why does the narrator approach Anil at the wrestling match? [2 marks]
- He has "hadn't had much luck of late" and is looking for a new opportunity.
- Anil looks "easy-going, kind and simple enough" for his purpose, so he decides to try to win his confidence.
Q3. Describe the conversation in which Hari Singh persuades Anil to take him on, including at least four points from the exchange. [4 marks]
- Hari Singh flatters Anil, saying "You look a bit of a wrestler yourself," and Anil replies, "So do you."
- When asked his name, Hari Singh lies, giving "Hari Singh" instead of his real name.
- He tells Anil, "I want to work for you," and Anil warns, "But I can't pay you."
- Hari Singh asks if Anil can feed him instead, and when Anil asks if he can cook, he lies again, "I can cook."
Q4. What happens on the first night, and how does Anil react? [4 marks]
- Anil takes the narrator to his room above the Jumna Sweet Shop and lets him sleep on the balcony.
- The meal the narrator cooks that night is so bad that Anil gives it to a stray dog.
- Anil tells the boy to leave, but the boy "hung around, smiling" in an appealing way.
- Anil cannot help laughing, and later pats him on the head, saying he will teach him to cook.
Q5. Describe the early days of Hari Singh's life with Anil, and explain what this reveals about Anil's character. Use at least six points. [6 marks]
- Hari Singh's first attempt at cooking is so poor that Anil feeds it to a stray dog.
- Anil tells him to leave, showing he has standards and is not easily fooled.
- He laughs when the boy keeps smiling and hanging around, showing patience and good humour.
- He pats the boy on the head and promises to teach him to cook, showing kindness.
- He teaches the boy to write his name, and promises sentences and sums, showing generosity with his time.
- He lets the boy keep a small daily profit from shopping without objecting, showing tolerance.
- Overall, this reveals Anil as an easy-going, patient, and generous man who gives a stranger a genuine chance.
Q6. What routine does the narrator settle into while working for Anil? [3 marks]
- He makes the morning tea.
- He takes his time buying the day's supplies.
- He usually makes a profit of about a rupee a day from this shopping.
Q7. What does the narrator hope to gain from Anil's lessons, beyond cooking? [2 marks]
- He hopes to learn to write whole sentences and to add numbers.
- He believes that once he can write "like an educated man," there will be "no limit" to what he can achieve.
Key takeaways
- The narrator is a 15-year-old thief who calls himself Hari Singh, a false name he changes monthly.
- Anil is about 25, "easy-going, kind and simple," and cannot pay the narrator but offers food and shelter.
- The narrator lies about being able to wrestle and cook to win Anil's trust.
- His first meal is so bad it is given to a stray dog, but Anil forgives him with laughter.
- Anil teaches the narrator to cook, write his name, and promises sentences and sums.
- The narrator values the promise of education as a route to achieving "no limit" in life.
- The narrator quietly profits about a rupee a day from daily shopping, which Anil seems to tolerate.
- The story's central tension is between Anil's trust and the narrator's practised habit of deception.
Test yourself
How old is the narrator when he meets Anil?
He is 15 years old, and already an "experienced and fairly successful" thief.
Why does the narrator change his name every month?
To stay ahead of the police and his former employers, who might otherwise recognise or track him down.
What does Anil say when the narrator asks to work for him?
The narrator says he wants to work for Anil, and Anil replies, "But I can't pay you."
What happens to the narrator's first cooked meal?
It is so bad that Anil gives it to a stray dog and tells the narrator to leave.
What does Anil teach the narrator besides cooking?
He teaches him to write his name, and promises to teach him to write whole sentences and add numbers.
What daily profit does the narrator make, and from what?
About a rupee a day, made by taking his time buying the day's supplies for Anil.
Where does the narrator sleep while working for Anil?
On the balcony of Anil's room, which is above the Jumna Sweet Shop.