NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 2 The Thiefs Story

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 10th

aglase .co

Class : 10th
Subject : English-2
Chapter : 2
Chapter Name : The Thief's Story

Q1 Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?

Answer. In this story, ‘I’ refers to the thief.

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Q2 What is he “a fairly successful hand” at?

Answer. He was “a fairly successful hand” at stealing and robbing people.

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Q3 What does he get from Anil in return for his work?

Answer. When Hari asked Anil if he could work for him, Anil said that he could not pay him.
Finally, the agreement was that if he would cook, then Anil would feed him. However, Anil soon
found out that he did not know how to cook. Therefore, he taught him how to cook and later,
how to write his name. He promised he would teach him how to write whole sentences and how
to add numbers. Apart from this, when Hari went out to buy the day’s supplies, he would make a
pro t of a rupee a day.

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Q4 How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?

Answer. The thief thought that on discovering the theft, Anil’s face would show a touch of
sadness. The sadness would not be for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

Q5 What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?

Answer. In his short career as a thief, he had made a study of men’s faces when they lost their
goods. He said that the greedy men showed fear; the rich men showed anger and the poor men
showed acceptance.

Q6 Does Anil realise that he has been robbed?

Answer. Yes, Anil had realized that he had been robbed. He knew this probably because all the
notes were wet and damp from the rain. However, he did not say anything to the thief and
behaved normally.

Q1 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 him return to Anil?

Answer. Initially, when Anil offered to educate him, he thought of it as a bright prospect for
himself. He knew that once he could write such as an educated man, there would be no limit to
what he could achieve in his eld. For him, the motivation behind getting educated was robbing
people. However, later, when he had stolen Anil’s money and then missed his train in which he
would have escaped, he realized that he had completely forgotten about the whole sentences
that Anil had promised to teach him to write. He thought about getting educated in a different
light. He thought that it was a simple matter to steal and be caught, but to be a really big, clever
and respected man was something else. He was inspired by the trusting and simple nature of
Anil. This motivation to earn someone’s trust and be respectable made him return to Anil.

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Q2 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

Answer. Anil does not hand over the thief to the police because he realized that Hari had learnt
his lesson and had changed for the better. Otherwise, he would never have come back and kept
the money at the same place from where he had stolen it. Anil even knew how Hari cheated him
of a rupee a day while buying the day’s supplies. But he never said anything to him. This is such
a case where most people would have handed him over to the police. Anil was different from
such employers because he was a modest and trusting man. He had offered to teach Hari how to
cook and also to educate him. When he found out that Hari had stolen the money, but had kept it
back, he knew that it was Hari’s conscience that had made him do so. Hari could have easily run
off with the money, but he did not. This made Anil give him another chance and build him into a
better person that he could already see him becoming.

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Q1 Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in ction, or are there such
people in real life?

Answer. No, I don't think that people like Anil and Hari Singh are found in ction. there are such
in real life also. Although such people are in todavs society. If one is caught stealing. people will
rst beat him severely. Then he will be harded over to the police. It should be realized that a
human being is bound to commit error. One chance for reforming oneself must given. This is the
only way to bring anyone to right path. Punishing severely is not the solution. Strictness make
them absolute criminal,

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Q2 Do you think it a signi cant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this
explain his behaviour in any way?

Answer. Hari Singh's observation about Anil getting irregular income and Statement his sale of a
book to a publisher indicates that he is a struggling writer. He lives life according to the ow of
money he gets at a given time. When he gets the money he enjoys eating out with his friends.
When he is having less money then he even doesn't accept paying salary to Hari Singh.

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Q3 Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? Can you think and imagine the circumstances that can
turn a fteen-year-old boy into a thief?

Answer. DIY

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