Chapter 2 — The Thief's Story

Hari Singh is a 15-year-old thief and the narrator of the story. He is experienced and fairly successful at theft. He changes his name every month to stay ahead of the police and his former employers. He meets Anil and becomes his cook and assistant.

Anil is a tall, lean, kind, and simple 25-year-old man who is a struggling writer. He employs Hari Singh as his cook and teaches him to write his name, cook meals, and learn sentences and numbers. He is the most trusting person Hari has ever met.

After working for Anil for almost a month, Hari convinces himself that it is time to do 'real work' again because he is out of practice. He reasons that Anil will only waste the money on his friends and doesn't even pay him wages. He steals 600 rupees from under the mattress one night.

At the train station, Hari hesitates to board the Lucknow Express for unexplained reasons and misses the train. Sitting alone on the platform, he reflects that Anil's face would show only sadness for the loss of trust, not money. He realizes that whole sentences could bring him more than a few hundred rupees and that becoming a 'clever and respected man' requires education, not theft. He returns the notes under the mattress.

The main theme is redemption and the transformative power of trust and education. The story shows how trust can change a person more effectively than punishment, and how Hari values learning and respect over theft. It also explores themes of human goodness and the possibility of reform.

Yes, Anil knows. The next morning, he hands Hari a fifty-rupee note that is still wet from the night's rain—the same rain that soaked the stolen notes. Despite knowing, Anil doesn't punish Hari or hand him to the police. Instead, he simply says they will start writing sentences and continues to educate him.

Anil teaches Hari to cook, to write his name, and promises to teach him whole sentences and to add numbers. Hari realizes that being able to write like an educated man would open unlimited opportunities for him. He becomes grateful for this education.

Hari explains that it is easy to rob a greedy man because he can afford to be robbed, but it is difficult to rob a careless (trusting) man because he might not notice he has been robbed, which takes all the pleasure out of the work. Anil's trust makes the theft morally and psychologically difficult.

In his experience as a thief, Hari has observed that the greedy man shows fear when robbed, the rich man shows anger, and the poor man shows acceptance. He knows that Anil would show only sadness—not for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

The story is set in India, near the Jumna (Yamuna) River. Anil's room is above the Jumna Sweet Shop. The place names (Lucknow, the bazaar, the maidan, the clock tower) and the mention of rupees indicate an Indian setting.

Hari makes tea in the morning and buys the day's supplies. He admits to making a profit of about a rupee a day during shopping, which Anil knows about but does not mind. He lives on Anil's balcony and learns to cook, though his first meal was so bad that Anil gave it to a stray dog.

Yes, the NCERT Class 10 English textbook including 'The Thief's Story' is available free to download on CBSE PrepMaster without requiring any sign-up or payment. NCERT textbooks are free public resources provided by the government.