In this article, we have provided The Thief’s Story Summary Class 10 for students. The story is included in the syllabus of class 10 English curriculum of the CBSE board. Students can go through the summary for a better understanding of the story and the theme of the story.
The Thief’s Story Summary Class 10
The thief’s story is written by Ruskin Bond. The author is famous for his short stories and poetry. This particular story is also a short story. As the name suggests, the story is of a thief who is a young boy of 15 years, and he used to change his name to conceal his true identity. This time he goes by the name of Hari Singh. The author, through this story, tries to give the message that sometimes because of the goodness of others, even a bad person can change. The story is from the viewpoint of Hari Singh only. He starts the story by telling the readers that he is a thief and was only 15 but still experienced in this field.
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He goes on to give an introduction to Anil who was a writer of around 25 years and he met him during a wrestling match. Hari approached Anil and started the conversation by saying that Anil seems a wrestler to him. This was all a facade just to know if Anil had money or not. To this Anil replies that Hari himself looks like a wrestler but both of them knew that he can’t be a wrestler because he was very thin. The conversation goes on and Hari asked Anil that can he give him some work to which Anil replies that he can’t pay him.
To this Hari offers to cook food for Anil although he does not know anything about cooking, to which Anil was ready to keep him and feed him but could not feed him. Anil took the boy to his house on Jumna Street and told him that he can sleep on the balcony. Hari prepared the food that night but it was not good he accepts that because Anil gave it all to the street dogs. Anil was a kind soul as instead of scolding him he patted him and told him that he will teach him cooking. Anil also promised him that he will teach him how to read and write and how to add up numbers. Hari was happy on hearing this.
Hari describes working for Anil as a good experience in the morning he would prepare tea for him and then fetch some day’s supplies. Hari would make some money in this process as he would never return the left rupees and Anil knew all about this but never said a word. Anil used to make money was selling articles to some magazines and when his cheque would come he would celebrate. One evening Anil came back with a small bundle of notes saying that he had just sold his book to a publisher.
Hari saw him tucking the money underneath the mattress. Hari describes that he was living with Anil now for a month and apart from taking money left from daily errands he has never done something big in his line of business. Anil even have given Hari a key to the house that much trust he had put in him. And Hari says that it is difficult to rob an honest and trusting man instead of that greedy man who can afford to get robbed but it is difficult to rob a careless man like Anil.
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Hari was determined to rob Anil and hatched a plan that if he stole his money and around 10.30 catch the Lucknow Express then no one will be able to catch him. Hari slipped his hands under the mattress and searched for the money and as soon as he found the bundle he drew them without any sound. Hari ran from the house onto the road and began to run. He counted the notes and they were 600 rupees in the fifties. This amount according to Hari will let him live like an Arab rich merchant for a week or two.
Hari reached the platform and the Lucknow Express was just picking up speed but for some reason and he was not able to board it. He did not know why he was not able to board it. He had no friends to spend the night and the only person he knew was Anil whom Hari have just robbed. He goes on to say that in his life as a thief, he has studied the faces of different men greedy men showing fear, the poor acceptance and the rich just anger. But Anil’s face upon discovering the theft will only be sadness and sadness not because of lost money but because of loss of trust. Hari was having all these thoughts when he came to the ground and it started raining in November which was chilly and now Hari was all wet including the notes.
He went back to the market and took shelter in the clock tower. Hari realises that in the morning Anil would have given him some rupees too and from now on he would not cook his meal and due to his excitement he just forget about the sentences he was learning. He realised that he reading, learning and writing would one day bring more money to him. It was a simple deed to rob someone but to be a great and respected man is of another level. He had a change in his consciousness and decided to go back to Anil. He went back to Anil’s room and felt that it was easy to steal something but difficult to return the same. He kept the money back in its original place which is under the mattress.
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The next morning Hari woke up late and at that time Anil had already made the tea and gave a fifty rupees note to Hari saying that he was paid yesterday and from now on Hari will be paid regularly. The note was still wet and Anil knew what must have happened to them but never said a word to Hari and asked to start sentences and the story ends.
