- The full story of how a young thief robs his kind employer and then quietly puts the money back, stage by stage
- Who Hari Singh and Anil are, and how sharply they differ
- The thief’s own “study of faces” and why Anil’s reaction worries him most
- The themes: trust, the pull of education, conscience, and kindness that changes a person
- The book’s five glossary words, and short answers to every “Read and find out”, “Think about it” and “Talk about it” question
1The Author and the Narrator
The story ends with the name RUSKIN BOND. As general knowledge (not stated in the book), Ruskin Bond is an Indian writer in English, much loved for simple, warm stories about ordinary people in small towns and the hills of north India.
The story is told in the first person. The “I” is a boy of only 15 who is already a thief, and who calls himself Hari Singh. That is not his real name: he takes a new name every month to stay ahead of the police and of the people he worked for (and robbed) before. The book’s opening note asks the question the whole story answers: Anil trusts this boy completely; will the boy betray that trust?
The narrator calls himself “an experienced and fairly successful hand”. A “hand” here means a skilled worker, so he means he is a skilled, practised thief who has usually got away with it.
2The Story, Step by Step
The story moves in one clear arc: a thief wins a kind man’s trust, steals from him, cannot run away, and comes back a changed boy.
2.1 Meeting Anil at the Wrestling Match
The thief says he “hadn’t had much luck of late”. He spots Anil watching a wrestling match. Anil is about 25, tall and lean, and looks easy-going, kind and simple: in the thief’s eyes, an easy target. To win his confidence, the boy uses flattery (insincere praise): “You look a bit of a wrestler yourself.” Anil cheerfully says the same back, which puzzles the boy, who is quite thin. He “modestly” claims he wrestles a bit and gives his name as Hari Singh, a lie.
When Anil walks off, Hari follows him casually, smiles his “most appealing smile” and asks for work.
| Hari says | Anil replies | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| “I want to work for you.” | “But I can’t pay you.” | Anil is honest and not rich. |
| “Can you feed me?” | “Can you cook?” | Hari only wants a foothold; Anil makes a fair bargain. |
| “I can cook.” (a lie) | “If you can cook, then may be I can feed you.” | Hari lies easily; Anil takes him at his word. |
2.2 A Home over the Jumna Sweet Shop
Anil takes Hari to his room above the Jumna Sweet Shop and lets him sleep on the balcony. Hari’s first meal is so bad that Anil gives it to a stray dog and tells him to go away. But Hari just hangs about, smiling, until Anil cannot help laughing. Anil pats him on the head and says he will teach him to cook.
Anil does more: he teaches Hari to write his name and promises to teach him to write whole sentences and to add numbers. Hari is grateful, because he believes that once he can write like an educated man, “there would be no limit to what I could achieve”.
At this point Hari values education only as a tool: it will help him “achieve” more, perhaps even as a thief. Later in the story his reason changes. Keep this contrast in mind; the book asks about it.
2.3 Life with Anil
- Hari makes the tea in the morning and takes his time buying the day’s supplies.
- He cheats a little on the shopping, making about a rupee a day. Anil probably knows, but does not seem to mind.
- Anil makes money “by fits and starts”, that is, irregularly: he borrows one week and lends the next. He worries about his next cheque and, when it comes, goes out to celebrate.
- Anil writes for magazines, which Hari thinks is “a queer way to make a living”.
2.4 The Bundle of Notes and the Thief’s Logic
One evening Anil comes home with a small bundle of notes: he has sold a book to a publisher. That night Hari sees him tuck the money under the mattress.
Hari has worked for Anil for almost a month. Apart from the shopping, he has not stolen anything, though he has had every chance: Anil has even given him a key and lets him come and go as he likes. Hari calls him “the most trusting person I had ever met”.
Easy to rob
- A greedy man
- He can afford to lose money
Hard to rob
- A careless, trusting man like Anil
- He may not even notice, which takes the pleasure out of the theft
Hari then argues himself into the theft with three excuses: he is out of practice; if he does not take the money, Anil will only waste it on his friends; and anyway, Anil does not pay him.
2.5 The Theft
2.6 The Missed Train
At the station Hari does not stop at the ticket office, since he has never bought a ticket in his life. The Lucknow Express is just moving out, slowly enough to jump into. Yet he hesitates, “for some reason I can’t explain”, and the train leaves without him.
He is alone on a deserted platform. He has no friends, because he believes friends are more trouble than help. He does not want to make anyone curious by staying in a small hotel near the station. The only person he really knows well is the man he has just robbed.
From experience, Hari says people react to being robbed in different ways: the greedy man shows fear; the rich man shows anger; the poor man shows acceptance. Anil, he knows, would show only a touch of sadness, not for the lost money but for the loss of trust.
| Person robbed | Reaction |
|---|---|
| Greedy man | Fear |
| Rich man | Anger |
| Poor man | Acceptance |
| Anil | A touch of sadness, for the loss of trust |
2.7 A Night in the Rain
Hari sits on a bench in the maidan (an open ground). It is early November, chilly, and a drizzle turns into heavy rain; his shirt and pyjamas stick to his skin. He moves to the shelter of the clock tower in the bazaar. The clock shows midnight, and the notes at his waist are damp.
Here his thinking changes. In the morning Anil might have given him two or three rupees for the cinema; now he has all the money, but he can no longer cook for Anil, run to the bazaar, or learn to write whole sentences. He realises that whole sentences could one day bring him far more than a few hundred rupees. Stealing is simple, and so is being caught; but becoming “a really big man, a clever and respected man” is something else. He decides to go back to Anil, “if only to learn to read and write”.
Hari returns because he understands that education, not stolen money, can make him “a clever and respected man”. Underneath this, his conscience has been woken by Anil’s trust: he cannot bear the thought of Anil’s sad face over a broken trust.
2.8 Putting the Money Back
He hurries back, very nervous, because “it is much easier to steal something than to return it undetected”. In clouded moonlight he finds Anil still asleep. He creeps to the bed, feels Anil’s breath on his hand, waits still for a minute, and then slips the notes back under the mattress.
2.9 The Morning: Anil Knows
Hari wakes late. Anil has already made the tea (normally Hari’s job). Anil holds out a fifty-rupee note; Hari’s heart sinks, thinking he has been found out. Anil says, “I made some money yesterday. Now you’ll be paid regularly.” Hari’s spirits rise, until he sees the note is still wet from the night’s rain.
“Today we’ll start writing sentences,” says Anil. He knew, but neither his lips nor his eyes showed anything. Hari smiles his “most appealing” smile, and this time the smile came by itself, without any effort.
The wet note proves Anil found out about the theft. Instead of shouting or calling the police, he forgives silently, starts paying Hari, and begins the writing lessons. Hari’s natural, effortless smile shows his change: his old smile was a trick to win trust, his new smile is honest.
3The Characters
3.1 Hari Singh and Anil
Hari Singh (the narrator)
A 15-year-old thief, clever and street-smart. He flatters, lies (his name, his cooking) and cheats on shopping. He judges people quickly and has his own “theory” of how victims react. Yet he is not heartless: he hesitates at the train, feels the pull of Anil’s trust and of education, and returns the money. By the end he is ready to change.
Anil
A struggling young writer of about 25 who earns irregularly from magazines. He is kind, simple, generous and trusting: he shelters a stranger, teaches him to write, gives him a key, ignores the small cheating. He is wise as well: he understands the theft and the return, and answers with forgiveness and silence, not punishment.
3.2 Side by Side
| Point | Hari Singh | Anil |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 15 | about 25 |
| Way of life | Thief, changes name every month | Writer for magazines, money by fits and starts |
| Towards others | Trusts no one, keeps no friends | Trusts completely, celebrates with friends |
| Main trait | Cunning, but with a conscience | Kind, trusting, forgiving |
| At the end | Returns the money; smiles honestly | Knows, says nothing, pays him and teaches him |
4Themes and Message
4.1 Four Big Ideas
Trust
Anil’s complete trust makes the theft hard and, in the end, makes Hari return. Hari fears Anil’s sadness at the “loss of trust” more than any punishment.
The value of education
Learning to read and write pulls Hari back. He sees that whole sentences can earn him more than stolen money and make him respected.
Conscience
Hari’s unexplained hesitation at the train is his conscience at work. Even a practised thief can feel guilt.
Kindness reforms
Anil reforms Hari without a word of blame. Forgiveness, not punishment, changes him.
Trust, kindness and education can change even a thief. Anil’s silent forgiveness and the promise of learning turn Hari Singh away from crime.
4.2 Key Lines and What They Mean
| Line from the book | Meaning |
|---|---|
| “A little flattery helps in making friends.” | Hari’s trick: praise people to win their confidence. |
| “I took a new name every month.” | He hides his identity to escape the police and past employers. |
| “He was the most trusting person I had ever met.” | Anil’s trust is what makes him so hard to rob. |
| “I could live like an oil-rich Arab for a week or two.” | An exaggeration: to a poor boy, ₹600 feels like great wealth. |
| “Not for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.” | Anil would be hurt by the betrayal, not the money. |
| “it is much easier to steal something than to return it undetected.” | Returning the money takes more courage than stealing it. |
| “And the smile came by itself, without any effort.” | Hari’s smile is now honest; he has changed. |
5Words to Know (Book’s Glossary)
6The Book’s Questions, Answered Briefly
6.1 Read and Find Out
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Who does “I” refer to? | The narrator, a 15-year-old thief who calls himself Hari Singh. |
| What is he “a fairly successful hand” at? | Stealing; he is a practised thief. |
| What does he get from Anil for his work? | Food, a place to sleep, and lessons in writing and numbers; no wages at first. |
| How does he think Anil will react to the theft? | With only a touch of sadness, for the loss of trust, not the money. |
| What does he say about people’s reactions when robbed? | The greedy show fear, the rich anger, the poor acceptance. |
| Does Anil realise he has been robbed? | Yes. The fifty-rupee note he gives Hari is still wet from the rain, yet he shows nothing. |
6.2 Think About It
- Hari and education: at first he wants to write only because it will let him “achieve” more, a selfish, practical aim. In the rain he sees that education can make him “a clever and respected man”, which matters more than stolen money. This hope, together with Anil’s trust, makes him return.
- Why no police? Anil sees that Hari has returned the money by himself and wants to change. He chooses to reform him with kindness. Most employers would have handed a thief to the police or thrown him out; Anil instead pays him and starts his lessons.
6.3 Talk About It (points to discuss)
- Such people exist in real life: trusting, generous people, and children pushed into crime who can still change.
- Yes. As a struggling writer, Anil knows what it is to be short of money, is careless about it, and understands people well. This helps explain his trust and forgiveness.
- Poverty, no family or home, no schooling and bad company can turn a 15-year-old into a thief.
- The names (Anil, Hari Singh, Jumna Sweet Shop, Lucknow, maidan) point to a town in north India, probably in Uttar Pradesh, where Hindi and Urdu are spoken. The characters most likely spoke Hindi; Bond writes their talk in English.
- Narrator: 15-year-old thief, false name Hari Singh, “a fairly successful hand”; author Ruskin Bond
- Anil: about 25, met at a wrestling match; writer for magazines; money “by fits and starts”
- Deal: no pay, only food; Hari lies he can cook; meal given to a stray dog
- Room over the Jumna Sweet Shop; Hari sleeps on the balcony; profit of a rupee a day on shopping
- Lessons: write his name, then whole sentences and adding numbers
- Theft: notes from a sold book, under the mattress; ₹600 in fifties; plan: 10.30 Express to Lucknow
- Misses the train by hesitating; study of faces: greedy fear, rich anger, poor acceptance, Anil sadness
- Maidan, early November rain, clock tower at midnight; decides to return to learn to read and write
- Morning: wet fifty-rupee note, “Now you’ll be paid regularly”, “Today we’ll start writing sentences”
- Can I explain why Anil was hard to rob?
- Can I give the thief’s four types of reaction to being robbed?
- Can I explain how Hari’s view of education changes?
- Can I prove from the story that Anil knew about the theft?
- Can I explain the meaning of the last line about the smile?