John had seen some beautiful little radios in a shop window. He wanted one very much, but he didn't have enough money to buy it, so he decided to steal it. He went into the shop one day after his lessons, when it was full of schoolboys and schoolgirls, took the radio which he wanted, put it under his overcoat and walked out. He thought that he had been very clever, but the owner of the shop quickly realized that the radio had gone, and remembered that he had seen a boy who was wearing a big, thick overcoat, although the weather was quite hot. He telephoned to the police and told them what John looked like.
The result was that, a few hours later, before he had been able to enjoy the radio at all, the police knocked at the door of his house, arrested him and took him to the police station. There they put him in a room with another thief, and older man.
This man looked at John and said, 'Why have they brought you here, boy?' 'I stole a small radio,' said John. The man laughed rudely at John because he had stolen something so small. 'A small radio!' he said. 'You should steal something which is worth a lot if you want to be a thief. What's a radio? It's nothing! You ought to steal something really valuable, which you can be proud of, so that your name's put in the newspapers. Go and steal a lot of money from a bank next time!'
John thought for a few seconds and then said, 'I can't do that.'
'Why can't you?' said the older man. 'Are you afraid?'
'No,' said John, 'I'm not afraid, but the banks all close at three o'clock, and my lessons don't finish till four.'