Ch 21The Thief's Story

The Thief's Story

Author: Ruskin Bond, the well-known Indian author of British descent

Introduction

"The Thief's Story" is narrated by a fifteen-year-old thief who calls himself Hari Singh. It is the story of how the trust, kindness and large-heartedness of a simple young man, Anil, transform a habitual thief. The story shows that human goodness can succeed where punishment fails, and that education can change the course of a person's life. It is a story about trust, temptation, conscience and redemption.

Detailed Summary

The narrator, a fifteen-year-old experienced thief, meets Anil while Anil is watching a wrestling match. Anil is about twenty-five — tall, lean, and looks easy-going, kind and simple enough for the boy's purpose. The thief, who changes his name every month to stay ahead of the police and his former employers, introduces himself as Hari Singh. Hoping to win Anil's confidence, he flatters him by saying he looks "a bit of a wrestler" himself, and the two fall into friendly conversation.

Hari asks Anil for work. Anil says he cannot pay him, as he makes money only in fits and starts — he writes for magazines, selling an article now and then. Finally they agree that if Hari can cook, Anil will feed him. Hari's first meal is so terrible that Anil gives it to a stray dog and tells the boy to be off; but Hari smiles his most appealing smile, and Anil, laughing, lets him stay and even promises to teach him to cook.

Anil turns out to be the most trusting person Hari has ever met. He teaches Hari to cook, to write his name, and promises to teach him to write whole sentences and to add numbers. Hari is grateful, for he knows that once he can write like an educated man there will be no limit to what he can achieve. While buying the day's supplies, Hari regularly makes a profit of about a rupee a day; he believes Anil knows this but does not seem to mind. Anil's own income is irregular — he borrows one week, lends the next, and when a book of his sells, he celebrates.

One evening Anil comes home with a bundle of notes — six hundred rupees he has earned by selling a book to a publisher. He tucks the money under his mattress. Hari, who has been working for Anil for almost a month without robbing him, feels that Anil's carelessness has made it his duty as a thief to act. That night, while Anil sleeps, Hari quietly slips his hand under the mattress, takes the notes and creeps out of the room. He runs to the railway station to catch the 10.30 Lucknow Express. The train is just moving out; Hari could easily have jumped into one of the carriages, but he hesitates — for a reason he himself cannot explain — and is left standing alone on the deserted platform.

Walking slowly through the bazaar in the drizzling November rain, Hari begins to think — not of the money, but of Anil. He remembers how sad Anil would look at the loss, not for the money but for the loss of trust. He realises that robbing a greedy rich man or a careless one is easy, but robbing a trusting man like Anil takes away all the pleasure of the game. He also realises what he is giving up: Anil had promised to teach him to write full sentences, which could one day help him earn more than a few hundred rupees. Being a clever, respected and educated man, he understands, is worth far more than money — real education adds to whatever else a man may become, even a thief.

By now the notes are damp from the rain. Hari hurries back to the room, and with great care slips the wet bundle back under the mattress while Anil still sleeps. The next morning Anil, cheerful as ever, hands Hari a fifty-rupee note, saying he has made some money and will now pay him regularly. The note is still damp from the night's rain — Hari knows at once that Anil knows everything. But Anil says nothing about the theft; he only says that today they will start writing whole sentences. Hari smiles at Anil in his most appealing way — and this time the smile comes by itself, without any effort.

Themes

• Trust and kindness can reform even a hardened wrongdoer.
• Education is the key to a better, more respectable life.
• The conflict between temptation and conscience.
• Forgiveness is more powerful than punishment.
• Basic human goodness exists even in a thief.

Character Sketches

Hari Singh (the narrator)

Hari Singh is a fifteen-year-old experienced and fairly successful thief who changes his name every month to escape the police and old employers. He is clever, observant and a good judge of faces — he chooses Anil as an easy target. Yet he is not entirely corrupt: Anil's trust awakens his conscience. When he steals the six hundred rupees, he cannot board the train; he realises that education and Anil's friendship are worth more than stolen money, and he returns it. His genuine, effortless smile at the end shows the beginning of his transformation into an honest human being.

Anil

Anil is a struggling twenty-five-year-old writer — tall, lean, easy-going, kind and simple. He earns money in fits and starts by writing for magazines, borrowing one week and lending the next. He is generous and completely trusting: he feeds Hari, teaches him to cook, to write his name and to add numbers, though he knows the boy cheats him of a rupee a day. Even when he discovers the attempted theft through the damp notes, he neither scolds nor punishes Hari; instead he quietly gives him a fifty-rupee note and continues his education. His silent forgiveness reforms the thief. Anil represents mature, understanding humanity.

Important Word Meanings