CBSE X - THE THIEF'S STORY - ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE - QUESTIONS

 The Thief's Story

Answers to NCERT Questions

 

 

READ AND FIND OUT

1. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?

2. What is he “a fairly successful hand” at?

3. What does he get from Anil in return for his work?

4. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?

5. What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?

6. Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?

 

 

THINK ABOUT IT

1. What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education? Do they change over time? (Hint: Compare, for example, the thought: “I knew that once I could write like an educated man there would be no limit to what I could achieve” with these later thoughts: “Whole sentences, I knew, could one day bring me more than a few hundred rupees. It was a simple matter to steal — and sometimes just as simple to be caught. But to be a really big man, a clever and respected man, was something else.”) What makes his return to Anil?

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?

 

 

TALK ABOUT IT

1. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or are there such people in real life?

2. Do you think it a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?

3. Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? (You think and imagine the circumstances that can turn a fifteen-year-old boy into a thief?)

4. Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the persons and places mentioned in it.) Which language or languages are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the story spoke to each other in English?

 

 

 

Additional Questions

Short Answer Questions (30-40 words)

1. Why did Hari Singh not make many friends?

2. Why did Hari Singh decide to come back to Anil?

3. Why did Hari Singh choose Anil to be his next victim?

4. Why did Hari Singh not go to his friend’s house or a hotel just after he missed the train?

5. Why was it difficult for Hari Singh to rob Anil?

6. Why did Hari Singh tell a lie about cooking?

7. Why was the thief able to steal from Anil easily?

8. Why did Hari Singh tell a lie about cooking?

9. Why did Hari Singh feel bad after stealing the money?

10. What are the different reactions of the people when they are robbed?

11. Why did Anil decide to pay Hari Singh regularly?

12. Describe Hari Singh, the young and successful thief.

13. Why did Anil hire Hari Singh?

14. How did Hari Singh realise that Anil knew about his theft?

15. What was Anil’s job? What did he usually do with the money he earned?

16. What does the thief say about the reactions of different types of people when they were robbed?

17. How did he think Anil would react when he discovered the theft? Why did he think so?

18. What made him come back to Anil?

19. What did Anil give him in the morning? In what condition was it?

20. How did the thief realise that Anil knew that it had been stolen?

21. How did the thief know that Anil had forgiven him?

22. Why did the thief smile without any effort towards the end of the story?

23. Why, according to Hari, is it difficult to rob a careless man?

24. Why did Hari Singh think of doing some real work?

25. What made him think that he could live like an oil-rich Arab for some time?

26. Why should he find friends to be more trouble than help?

27. Why did he feel nervous about going back to Anil’s room?

28. How was Hari Singh’s ‘appealing smile’ at the end different from similar smiles of his on earlier occasions?

29. Who is ‘I’ in this story? Why did he change his name every month?

30. Why was the thief grateful to Anil?

31. Why did he want to become an educated man?

 

 

Long Answer Questions (100-150 words)

1. Anil plays a major role in the transformation of Hari Singh. Comment on the statement by highlighting the values possessed by Anil which touched Hari’s heart and made him return to his honest ways of earning his livelihood.

 

2. Hari Singh didn’t confess that he robbed Anil. Did he lack the courage to do so or he really wanted to maintain his relationship with Anil at any cost? Explain.

 

3. Hari Singh believed that it was difficult to rob a man like Anil. Do you think that he really appreciated kind people? Why do you think he found it difficult to cheat a man like Anil? Discuss.

 

4. “You look a bit of a wrestler yourself.” I said. A little flattery helps in making friends. Hari Singh believed that a little flattery can help in making friends. Did he lack love and empathy? Was his attitude towards friendship acceptable or not? Explain.

 

5. Write a character sketch of the thief boy.

 

6. Draw a character sketch of Anil.

 

7. How did Hari Singh rob Anil of his six-hundred rupees? What stopped him to rush away?

 

8. Why did Hari Singh decide to return the stolen money? What light does it throw on his character?

 

9. ‘The Thief’s Story’ is an in-depth study of the human mind. Discuss.

 

 

 

Self-Assessment Test

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Hari Singh smile in his most appealing way?

2. What did Hari Singh find strange about the way Anil made his living?

3. What kind of life was Hari Singh leading with Anil?

4. Why did Hari Singh’s heart sink when Anil met him in the morning?

5. Where did Anil meet Hari Singh? What did they talk about?

 

Long Answer Questions

1. What made the narrator steal Anil’s six-hundred rupees? What stopped him to rush away?

2. Who was Anil? How did he treat Hari Singh and how did it influence Hari’s life?

3. The story, ‘The Thief’s Story’ is the study of human mind. Comment.