Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | The Thief's Story Solutions Chapter 2
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. How did Hari Singh happen to stay with Anil? How did
he stay with Anil before he tried to rob him?
Ans. Though Hari Singh was only fifteen years old yet he was
a seasoned and successful thief. He met Anil at a wrestling match.
He decided to rob him. He got himself introduced to Anil. He lied
that he could cook. Anil allowed Hari Singh to stay with him. He
would not pay but feed him. Anil did not turn him away though he
cooked hopeless food. Anil promised to teach Hari Singh to cook
as well as to write. Due to lack of a regular income, Anil did not pay
him any money. Hari Singh prepared the morning tea. He cheated
Anil on the shopping and made about a rupee a day. Anil trusted
him completely though he knew everything. It was quite difficult
to rob Anil, a trusting and careless person. Anyhow he tried to rob
him because his thievish nature urged him to do so.
Q. 2. Why did Hari Singh steal Anil's money? Why did he
decide to return it?
Ans. Anil was a trusting and careless person. It was difficult
to rob him because he wouldn't even notice he has been robbed.
Moreover, Anil had given him the key to the door. He was free to
come and go as he pleased. He had every opportunity to rob Anil.
However, such a robbery would not provide him any pleasure.
One day Anil put rupees six hundred under his mattress. Hari
Singh couldn't resist the temptation. He thought, Anil would waste
the entire money on his friends. Moreover, Anil didn't pay him any
cash. It urged him to steal the money, He could board the slow
moving train easily. His conscience prícked him for betraying Anil's
trust. Above all, his craze to become a respectable person made
him decide to return the stolen money.
Q. 3. Who was Anil? Give his character sketch.
[2007 (A), JAC 2009(S)]
Ans. Anil was a writer. He was an easy going and careless
man. He spent whatever he earned by writing for magazines. He
lived in the present and did not care a pin for future.
He was a simple and kind-hearted person. He was trusting
and generous. He agreed to feed Hari Singh when he said that he
could cook. However, he did not turn him out of his house when he
proved a hopeless cook. Rather he decided to teach him both to
cook and to read and write. Though he knew that Hari Singh made
money from daily purchases yet he did not mind it. Rather he
trusted Hari Singh fully. He gave him every opportunity to mend or
reform himself.
Anil was a noble-minded person. He chose not to expose Hari
Singh's attempted theft. He was Hari Singh's reformer. He turned a
thief into a respectable person.
Q. 4. Give a character sketch of Hari Singh.
Or, Write the character sketch of the thief. [JAC, 2004 (A) 2006 A]
Ans. Hari Singh had become a thief at an early age. He had
become an experienced, seasoned and successful thief at the age
of fifteen. He stole from his employers and escaped every time. He
changed his name occasionally to avoid being caught by the police
or his previous employers. He started working for Anil, a writer. He
made profit from the daily supplies.
He got many opportunity to rob Anil. However, he did not like
to rob a careless fellow who would fail to notice his skill. One day,
he made off with Anil's money and reached the station. He did not
board the slow-moving train intentionally.
Hari Singh was a dramatic figure. He could show false smile
on his face to exploit the situation. He was a man of noble
conscience. He was a grateful person. He was not a betrayer. He
was career-conscious.
Q.5. How did Anil earn his livelihood? What made the narrator
state that it was difficult to rob Anil?
Ans. Anil was a freelance writer. He wrote for the magazines.
So his income was not regular. He kept on waiting to receive his
cheques. But when he would get them, he would go out and spend
the money with a free heart. The narrator had been working for Anil
for a month. He had been cheating a rupee a day in shopping for
Anil. But he had not stolen anything as he had won the trust of
Anil. Anil had given him the key easy to rob a greedy man. But it
was difficult to rob a trusting man as there was no romance of
robbing in that. Then Anil was careless of his money also. So he
didn't rob Anil.
Q.6. Why did the thief make friends with Anil? Why did he
steal Anil's money? Why did he come back and put Anil's money
back?
Ans. The thief made friends with Anil because he wanted a
place to live in. He also wanted to work for Anil. Anil took him to
his room and kept him with him. But the thief was a thief. One day
Anil brought a small bundle of notes. This attracted the thief. Ani
slept on a mattress and put the money under it. The thief stole this
money to go to Lucknow. But there came a change in his heart. He
wanted to be an educated man. He returned to Anil's room. He
placed the money back under the mattress.
Q. 7. How was the narrator a changed person in the end of the
story?
or, What kind of boy was the narrator in the beginning? What
change did come on him at the end of the story. [JAC 2004A]
Ans. The narator of the story is a thief in the beginning. He
passes his time in stealing or working at different places. He makes
friends with Anil. He works for Anil. He buys things for Anil from
the market. He makes a rupee a day from this. But the company of
Anil brings a little change in his mind in the beginning. Anil teaches
him also. The thief steals a small bundle of notes from under Anil's
mattress. Anil is sleeping. The narrator wants to go to Lucknow.
He finds his heart completely changed. He wants to be an educated
person. He wants to earn money honourably. He comes back to
Anil's room. He puts the money back.
Q. 8. How did the narrator find Anil as a man and as an
employer?
Ans. Anil finally agreed to let the narrator work for him if he
knew cooking. When he cooked, Anil gave the cooked meal to a
stray dog. Anil asked him to get away but later he agreed to let him
live in the room. Anil told him that he would teach him how to cook.
He also taught him to write his name. Soon Anil would teach him to
write full sentences and to add numbers. The narrator found Anil
to be a kind-hearted and generous person. He also found him a
trusting person he had ever met. That's why, he told that it was
very difficult to rob a trusting person.
Q.9. What made the narrator steal Anil's six hundred rupees?
What did he do after doing so?
Ans. Anil had got six hundred rupees. The narrator saw him
putting that money under his mattress. So he couldn't resist the
temptation of stealing such an amount. Then he thought that Anil
would waste this money on his friends. These reasons made him
steal the money.
After stealing, he went to the railway station. The Lucknow
Express was just moving out. He could jump into one of its
compartments. But he knowingly missed it.He had no idea where
to spend the night. Then he sat down in a park. It started raining.
He took shelter under the clock tower.
Q. 10. How and why did the narrator return to Anil's room
even though he had stolen the money and escaped?
Ans. The narrator was able to steal Anil's six hundred rupees.
Then he sat in a park. Soon it started raining. He took shelter under
the clock tower. Then he realized that Anil was teaching him. If he
read and wrote, he would eam more money than Anil's six hundred
rupees. It commanded respect. A thief could be caught. A
respectable man led an easy and carefree life. So he returned to
Anil's room. He placed the damp notes under Anil's mattress.
Q. 11. What are Hari Singh's reactions to the prospect of
receiving an education? Do they change over time?
Ans. Hari Singh's reactions to the prospect of receiving an
education undergo a change. In the beginning he thinks that if he
wrote like an educated man he could achieve limitless success (or
money). His later thoughts prove this change. Later he feels that if
he wrote whole sentences, they could bring him more than a few
hundred rupees. Money doesn't hold much attraction for him now
What he wants from education is to become a big man, a clever and
respected man. May be Anil is his idol in that. This makes him
return to Anil because only Anil could teach him as he wants.
Q.12. 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. I feel that Anil is a large-hearted person. First, he does
realise that he has been robbed. But he reviews the whole situation.
He thinks that if he hands the thief over to the police, he will or may
be a hardened criminal.He decides to reform the thief differently by
showing grace, kindness and sympathy.
Most people could not do so like Anil. They could have handed
Over such persons to the police after beating them themselves. Anil
is different because he decides to reform the thief through kindness
and sympathy.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. How did the thief persuade Anil to employ him?
Ans. The thief threw an appealing smile and said to Anil that
he wanted to work for him. Besides, he added that he knew how to
cook. He agreed to work for him if he could only feed him. Anil was
not in a position to pay. However, he agreed to employ the thiefon
this terms and at his persuasion.
Q. 2. What was Hari Singh's daily routine at Anil's house?
Or, What work did the thief (Hari Singh) do for Anil?
[JAC 2004(A); 2007(A); 2014(A); 2016 (A); 2018 (A)]
Ans. Hari Singh made tea every morning. He would go
shopping every day. He made his daily profit of about one rupee.
It was in Anil's knowledge but he did not seem to mind it. Thus Hari
Singh passed his days happily there.
Q. 3. (i) Why was the thief grateful to Anil? [JAC 2004(A)]
(ii) Why did he want to become an educated man?
Ans. (i) Anil patted on Hari Singh's head when he cooked
hopeless food and said, "Never mind. I shall teach you to cook." Anil
also taught him to write his name. He also told him that he would
soon teach him to write whole sentences and to add numbers.
Therefore, the thief felt grateful to Anil.
(ii) Hari Singh knew that there would be no limit to what he
could achieve if he could write. Therefore, he wanted to become an
educated man.
Q. 4. What was Anil's job? What did he usually do with the
money he earned?
Ans. Anil's job was to write for magazines. His income was not
regular. As soon as he got some money he would go out and make
merry. He wasted his money in leading an easy-going and care-free
life.
Q.5. What made him come back to Anil? [JACM.Q. 2006-07]
Ans. Hari singh decided to come back to Anil because his
conscience pricked him for robbing the man who had trusted him.
Moreover, he did not want to lose the chance of learning to read and
write and thereby becoming a really good man.
Q. 6. Why did the thief smile without any effort towards the end
of the story?
Ans. Anil found that his rupees were wet. He must have known
what he (the thief) had done at night. But he (Anil) did not show any
sign of it. It made the shame-faced thief smile without any effort
towards the end of the story. He was feeling guilty conscience.
Q. 7. How did the narrator befriend Anil? And where?
Ans. The narrator met Anil at a wrestling match. Both were
watching it. Anil looked easy-going, simple and kindhearted. The
narrator thought it would be easy to rob nim. He tried to flatter Anil
that he looked like a wrestler.
Q. 8. Why didn't the narrator, i.e., the thief, tell his name
correctly to Anil?
Ans. The narrator, i.e., the thief, was indeed, a cunning person
He didn't tell Anil his real name. He did so to avoid being caught by
the police. He told Anil that his name was Hari Singh. He changed
his name every month.
Q.9. How did the thief win the heart of Anil? [JAC 2005 S]
Ans. The thieftold Anil that he wanted to work for him. Anil told
him that he couldn't pay him. Then the thief asked him if he could feed
him. Anil told him that ifhe could cook, he could feed him. Anil let the
thief work for him as he told him that he could cook.
Q. 10. What kind of meal did the thief cook? How did Anil react
to it?
Ans. The thief told a lie that he could cook well, although he
could not cook at all. So he cooked a very bad meal. No one could
eat it. So Anil gave it to a stray dog.
Q. 11. What did Anil say he would teach the narrator?
Ans. Anil told the narrator that he would teach him how to cook.
He would also teach him to write his name. He told the thief that he
would soon teach him to write full sentences and to do small
mathematical calculations.
Q. 12. What kind of a person did the thief ſind Anil? Why
didn't he steal anything? [JAC 2010(C)]
Ans. The thief had now worked for a month. He found Anil to
be a trusting person. So he found it difficult to steal from such a man
as there was no charm in robbing him. The thief had won Anil's heart
as he had the key of Anil's room.
Q. 13. What did the thief do after stealing Anil's six hundred
rupees?
Ans. The narrator was, indeed, a thief. So when he looked at
Anil's six hundred rupees, he stole them when he got a chance. After
stealing he went to the railway station. He roamed in the bazaar. He
sat in a park. He took shelter under a clock tower when it started
raining.
Q14. What made the thief return to Anil's room even though
he had stolen Anil's money and escaped?
Or, How did the thief know that Anil had forgiven him. [JAC 2004 (S)]
Ans. The thief thought that six hundred rupees were nothing.
He wanted to lead a respectable life. He would become educated in
the company of Anil. So he didn't go away with that money.
Therefore he returned to Anil's room. He put the money back under
Anil's mattress. He was sure that Anil would forgive him.'
Q. 15. Who is the 'T' in this story?
Ans. 'I' in this story is the narrator.
Q. 16. What is he 'a fairly successful hand' at?
Ans. He is 'a fairly successful hand' at stealing things because
he is a thief).
Q.17. What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Ans. He gets from Anil in return for his work a place to sleep or
live and food to eat.
Q. 18. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Ans. The theif thinks that Anil would be sad when he would
discover the theft.
Q.19. What does he say about the different reactions of people
when they are robbed?
Ans. He says that a greedy man shows fear. A rich man shows
anger. A poor man shows acceptance. There are different reactions
of people when they are robbed.
Q. 20. Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?
Ans. I think Anil does realise that he has been robbed. Persons
like Anil have a large heart. They do not attach importance to money.
Anil reviews the situation and decides to overlook Hari Singh's, theft.
Q.21. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found
only in fiction, or are there such people in real life?
Ans. I think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found in real life
also. But their number is very very small.
Q.22. Do you think it a significant details in the story that Anil
is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?
Ans. It is a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling
writer. His getting little money and getting that too from time to time
shows this. Then he has a heart of gold as is found in many writers.
When they writers get money, they become liberal and spend it
lavishly. Anil is in fact, the gems of humanity.
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