The Thief's Story · Class 10 English · Footprints Without Feet: quick revision, 36 bites

Who 'I' Is

The thief is telling you this himself.

Takeaway. Because he admits the lies, we believe the rest.

How He Got the Job

Five moves, three of them lies.

Takeaway. The only true thing he says is that he wants the job.

Choosing the Victim

He picked Anil on purpose.

At the wrestling match Anil looked **easy-going, kind and simple enough** for what the boy had in mind.

Takeaway. The friendship begins as a professional judgement.

'Hari Singh' Is a Lie

He is never actually named.

He gives the name **Hari Singh** — and tells us in the next line that it was **not his**.

Takeaway. A favourite one-mark trap: the narrator has no name in this story.

A Room Over the Sweet Shop

The first meal went to a dog.

Takeaway. The smile that works here will work again at the very end.

What Anil Gave Him

No wages at all.

Takeaway. The textbook asks this directly: answer it in full.

Education as a Better Tool

Why he wanted to learn — at first.

He was **grateful** for the lessons — and his reason is entirely practical.

Takeaway. At this stage, literacy is simply a sharper instrument for the same trade.

The Comfortable Arrangement

A rupee a day, quietly.

Takeaway. Small dishonesty, tolerated: it tells us about both of them.

Anil and Money

A writer's income, seen by a thief.

Takeaway. Now the story has everything it needs.

The Hardest Man to Rob

A month, and not a single theft.

Takeaway. Trust turns out to be the best lock in the story.

Talking Himself Into It

Listen to the excuses.

Takeaway. The argument is with himself, which is the first sign of a conscience.

Answering on This Section

Three set questions live here.

Takeaway. Answer the third one in full: the ending depends on it.

Taking the Money

The theft goes perfectly.

Takeaway. Nothing goes wrong. That is the point.

Two Faces in the Moonlight

One line, two whole lives.

Anil’s sleeping face is **clear and unlined** — the glossary gives ‘unlined’ as **showing no sign of worry**.

Takeaway. At fifteen, the thief is the worn one.

Six Hundred in Fifties

Learn this figure.

Takeaway. A fortune that lasts a fortnight.

No Ticket, Ever

He walked straight past it.

At the station he did not stop at the **ticket office** — he had **never bought a ticket in his life** — and went straight to the **platform**.

Takeaway. A small line that tells you exactly how he has lived.

The Hesitation

The story turns here.

Takeaway. Whatever changed in him had changed before he knew it.

Alone on the Platform

Nowhere to go.

Takeaway. The theft has left him with exactly one relationship in the world.

Faces of the Robbed

He has studied this professionally.

Takeaway. The one face his experience cannot handle.

The Night in the Rain

Early November, and wet.

Takeaway. Remember the damp notes — they come back in Anil's hand.

What He Had Given Up

Now count what it cost.

In the morning Anil would probably have given him **two or three rupees for the cinema**. Now he had **all of it**.

Takeaway. He had forgotten the lessons in the excitement — which is how he managed to go through with it.

Two Kinds of Profit

A thief does a new sum.

Takeaway. The decision is still selfish. It is simply a better calculation.

Why This Section Matters

No chase, no policeman.

Nothing **outside** him stops the escape. There is no pursuit, no locked door, nobody who notices anything at all.

Takeaway. That is why the story is remembered.

Answering on This Section

Three set questions live here.

Takeaway. Quote the figure (600 in fifties) and the hesitation in any answer on this part.

Harder to Give Back

Now he is nervous.

He hurried back to the room **feeling very nervous** — something he never felt on the way out.

Takeaway. The skill he has is taking. Giving back is new.

Putting It Back

The nearest he comes to being caught.

Takeaway. The theft is undone, and nobody has said a word.

Anil Made the Tea

A small reversal.

The boy **woke late** to find that Anil had **already made the tea** — the boy’s own morning job.

Takeaway. The first quiet sign that the night did not pass unnoticed.

The Fifty-Rupee Note

His heart sank.

Takeaway. The theft is answered with a wage.

Still Wet

Then he looked at it.

The note in his hand was **still wet from the night’s rain**.

Takeaway. One detail, and the whole night is accounted for.

He Knew

Two words, and the story is over.

Takeaway. Two people know one thing, and neither says it.

It Came by Itself

The same smile — and not the same at all.

He smiled at Anil in his **most appealing way** — the very smile that had got him the job.

Takeaway. The whole change in the boy is in that one clause.

Silence as Forgiveness

Why not say a word?

Takeaway. Anil changes the terms instead of delivering a verdict.

Why Not the Police?

A set question, straight from the textbook.

Takeaway. He treats the boy as someone who can still change.

A Struggling Writer

Does it matter that he writes for a living?

Takeaway. The textbook asks this directly — answer it with the fits-and-starts detail.

Trust, and What It Buys

What the story is really about.

Hours earlier the boy predicted **sadness for the loss of trust**, not of money.

Takeaway. Six hundred rupees would have lasted a fortnight; the lessons brought him back through the rain.

An Honest Ending

Bond promises nothing.

Takeaway. Write what the story shows: two people, one secret, and a lesson beginning.