The Thief’s Story NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 2
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The Thief’s Story NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers
The Thief’s Story Read and Find out
Question 1.
Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Answer:
‘I’ is Hari Singh, the thief
Question 2.
What is he ‘a fairly successful hand’ at?
Answer:
He is “a fairly successful hand” at stealing things from the houses, without being caught.
Question 3.
What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Answer:
He gets his food from Anil.
Question 4.
How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Answer:
The thief thinks that Anil will be sad at the loss of trust.
Question 5.
What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?
Answer:
He had studied all kinds of people who had been robbed off by him. The greedy men showed fear, the rich men showed anger, the poor men showed acceptance.
Question 6.
Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?
Answer:
Anil realises that he has been robbed because the next morning he gives the same wet notes to Hari Singh.
The Thief’s Story Think About It
Question 1.
What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education? Do they change over time?
Answer:
Hari Singh is very intelligent. He knows that his ability to read and write would give him an extra edge. He would also become a reputed person. Even when he leaves Anil’s house, he gives a lot of importance to his education. This love for education brings him back to Anil’s house.
Question 2.
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?
Answer:
Anil does not hand over the thief to the police. Most of the people would have given the thief to the police so as to get rid of a thief and to safeguard their household goods. Anil is different from such employers. He knows about the theft, yet he does not want to tell Hari Singh about it. He realises his own mistake of not giving regular salary to Hari Singh. He gives some of the wet notes to Hari Singh. Thus, he gives him a chance to improve his ways of living.
The Thief’s Story Extra Questions and Answers
The Thief’s Story Short Answer Questions
Question 1.
How did the thief (Hari Singh) realise that Anil knew that his money had been stolen?
Answer:
The thief realised that Anil knew he had stolen his money because he found some of the notes still wet, as if they were taken out in the rain. He gave a fifty-rupee-note to Hari Singh the next morning, and he promised to give him more money, though he did not have any contract for giving any money.
Question 2.
How did Hari Singh know that Anil had forgiven him?
Answer:
Hari Singh realised that Anil knew about the theft because he found some of the notes still wet. He gave him a fifty-rupee-note and did not mention anything about the theft. This made him feel that Anil had forgiven him.
Question 3.
Who is ‘I’ in this story? Why did he change his name every month?
Answer:
‘I’ in this story is a 15 year old boy who is an experienced and successful thief. He changes his name every month to hide his real identity from his new employer and the police.
Question 4.
Why, according to Hari Singh, is it easier to rob a greedy man than a careless person like Anil?
Answer:
Hari Singh has correlated theft with the sense of satisfaction, a thief gets pleasure when a person comes to know that he has been robbed. Hari Singh says that a greedy man can afford to be robbed too whereas a careless man at times may never come to know that he has lost something or he has been robbed. This carelessness, on the part of a person robbed, deprives a thief of the pleasure which he gets out of theft.
Question 5.
What was the thief s immediate reaction when he stole Anil’s money?
Answer:
Hari Singh stole six hundred rupees and crawled out of the room. When he was on the road, he started running. He kept the notes in his waist held there by the string of his pyjama. He felt as if he was an oil rich Arab for a week or two.
Question 6.
What made the thief come back to Anil?
Answer:
Hari Singh came back to Anil because Anil trusted him. He did not want to miss the chance of being educated. Education could certainly make him a better man. He was fed up with the life of a thief, i.e. stealing and being caught and beaten.
Question 7.
What was Anil’s job? What did he usually do with the money he earned?
Answer:
Anil was a writer. He used to write articles for magazines. He was a spendthrift and used to spend money on his friends. He did not bother to save money for his future.
Question 8.
What does the thief say about the reactions of different types of people when they were robbed? How did he think Anil would react when he discovered the theft?
Answer:
The thief had robbed all kinds of people. According to him, the greedy men were scared of being robbed. The rich men showed anger. The poor men accepted their fate after being robbed. He thought that Anil would show only a touch of sadness. He would not be sad for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.
Question 9.
What made him a successful thief?
Answer:
He always changed his name after stealing. He even managed to change the place. He tried his best to appear pleasing and innocent so the employers never suspected him to be a thief.
Question 10.
Why was he about to be dismissed? What made Anil reinstate him?
Answer:
He cooked very terrible meal which infuriated Anil. He gave the food to the stray dog and asked him to be off. But he got his job back by flattering Anil who was a simple and large-hearted man.
Question 11.
What made Hari Singh follow Anil after watching the wrestling match?
Answer:
Hari Singh knew by his experience that Anil was an easy-going and simple man who could trust even a stranger. He decided to rob him as it was quite easy. Therefore, he followed Anil to win his confidence and get a job there.
Question 12.
Why did Hari not make friends?
Answer:
Hari Singh was a thief. He did not believe in making friends as they were more trouble than help. He did not stay at one place for a long time so he could not make friends.
Question 13.
Where and how did Anil meet Hari Singh?
Answer:
Anil met Hari Singh when he was watching a wrestling match. Hari Singh flattered him by saying that Anil looked like a wrestler himself.
Question 14.
How do you know that Hari Singh lied about his cooking abilities?
Answer:
He lied about cooking because the meal that he cooked was terrible and Anil could not eat it. He gave it to a stray dog.
Question 15.
Why did Hari Singh feel that writing books was a queer way to make a living?
Answer:
Hari Singh was not an educated person, so he could not understand what Anil wrote. He was surprised to know that people paid him for writing books.
Question 16.
Why did Anil forgive Hari Singh?
Answer:
Anil was a large-hearted man. He knew that Hari Singh was a thief. But he forgave him because he wanted to give him another chance.
The Thief’s Story Long Answer Questions
Question 1.
“He was the most trusting person I had ever met,’ remarked Hari Singh. Hari Singh took undue advantage of Anil’s trust. Do you think trusting a servant blindly, like Anil, is wise or do we need to be careful?
Answer:
Hari Singh is justified in saying that Anil was the most trusting person he had ever met. But he took undue advantage of his trust. He was a thief and could not be expected to be honest with Anil. Anil had a blind faith in human nature. He employed him just out of sympathy and compassion for him. He trusted him and ignored his misdeed. He handed over all the financial transactions without verification.
He was so sympathetic towards Hari Singh that he did not ask him to leave the job when he was unable to cook. He trusted a stranger and gave him every chance to improve. When Hari Singh stole money and came back, Anil knew his act but said nothing. He knew he was guilty but rather gave him a fifty rupee note. I think such a blind faith in a stranger is not prudent, one should be kind but not careless.
Question 2.
Hari Singh decided to return the stolen money to Anil. It shows that everyone has some inner conscience which they do not put in practice. Do you agree? Was it the awakening of his conscience that made him return the money?
Answer:
Hari Singh’s conscience pricked him. He had a guilty conscience. He didn’t want to hurt him. Hari stole money because of his compulsive habit, but now he wanted to reform himself. He wanted to become a reputed member of the society. He vowed never to repeat the mistake again. It shows that everyone has inner conscience. It becomes dormant when we do not put them to practice or our circumstances don’t allow them to be put to practice. Yes, it was the awakening of Hari Singh’s conscience that made him return the stolen money.
Question 3.
Love is the basic human attribute that can transform evil into goodness. How did this attribute of Anil changed Hari Singh?
Answer:
Love and sympathy are positive qualities. If we have love and sympathy for a person, that person will try to win our trust and confidence. He will curb his baser instincts and try to prove worthy of our confidence in him. It was the love of Anil that transformed Hari Singh. He treated him kindly, reposed his faith in him and Hari Singh became an honest man.
Hari Singh was tempted once. He ran away with money. But when he recalled the faith, love, compassion and kindness of Anil, his heart changed. He decided to come back and return the stolen money. Anil knew that Hari Singh had stolen money. He could have handed him over to the police but he showed sympathy and kindness. This transformed Hari Singh. He gave up stealing and decided to become a good person.
Question 4.
Give a brief character Sketch of Hari Singh highlighting the positive aspects of his life.
Answer:
Hari Singh, a boy of 15, was an experienced and successful thief. He was successful because of his cleverness and intelligence. He planned everything meticulously before choosing his victims. He went to places where he would meet an unsuspecting victim. He would then win his confidence to get a job. After sometime he used to run away after stealing money from there.
Then-he used to change his name to be fool the police and his former employers. He was a liar. He got a job as a cook, though he could not cook well. He was a greedy boy. He was cruel enough to rob a simple and trusting man like Anil. He was able to steal six hundred rupees from his house. But, there is transformation in the end of the story, when he decides to come back to Anil and keep his trust alive. This shows that there is goodness concealed even in the worst of men.
Question 5.
If you had been Anil, what would you have done with Hari Singh? Do you think thieves can be transformed through love and compassion?
Answer:
I would have also forgiven Hari Singh. Hari Singh was no doubt a thief, but by coming back and returning the money, he had proved that he wanted to lead a respectable life. He was trying to change his habits. Secondly, even his master was really guilty of inviting his temptation by being careless. Therefore, the question of punishing him did not arise. A man should always be given a chance to improve.
That is why there are rehabilitation centres in prisons too. Nobody wants to become a criminal. Everyone is a victim of circumstances. In my opinion if one is given a chance and good environment, one can be transformed. Love, sympathy and right opportunity can transform the thieves too. Everyone wants to lead a life full of respect and dignity.
Question 6.
Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or, are there such people in real life? Do you think presence of such people can free the society from day-to-day crime?
Answer:
People like Anil and Hari Singh are the real characters. There are hundreds of thieves like Hari Singh who master the art of stealing from a very young age and win the trust and confidence of their employers. Then they rob them of their wealth and leave cities one after the other. In the same way, people like Anil are also real who are very generous and have faith even in the strangers.
I agree that if there are people like Anil who have a positive approach to life, there will be less crime in our society. He transformed a thief by his love, sympathy and compassion for him. If he had handed him over to the police, Hari Singh would have become a hardcore criminal and a threat to society.
Question 7.
Do you think it a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?
Answer:
Anil is a struggling writer; therefore, he is not getting regular work. He writes articles for magazines now and then to be able to earn his living. He believed in ‘today’ without bothering for ‘tomorrow’. His compassionate nature made him believe even the strangers. He became tool in transforming a thief into a useful member of the society. That makes him have trust in others, as he does not have much to lose. He also understands the problems of other people, who are not earning well.
Question 8.
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?
Answer:
I have never met anyone like Hari Singh. It is the miserable circumstances which compel a fifteen year old boy to be a thief. When either the parents are dead or are not in a position to take a good care of their children, the children have to live on their own. In order to earn their livelihood, they steal things and sell. In the beginning, these innocent children request people to help them, but when nobody helps them, they start stealing as a revenge from their own parents and society. Empathy and trust can help them in changing their lives.
Question 9.
Give a brief character sketch of Anil highlighting his qualities.
Answer:
Anil was a young man of 25 years. He was a tall, lean and thin fellow. He was an easy-going, kind and simple man. He was a writer and wrote books as well as contributed to magazines. His income was not regular. He did not give any importance to materialism. He was an extravagant man, who would spend money lavishly on his friends.
He was sympathetic towards Hari Singh and did not throw him out of his house, when he could not cook well. He trusted a stranger and gave him the keys. He finally became a saint by giving Hari Singh a chance to improve. He did not say anything to Hari Singh on knowing about his guilt, rather gave him a fifty rupee note with a promise to give him regularly.
Conclusion
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