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60 pages 2 hours read

Cornelia Funke

The Thief Lord

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000

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Chapters 8-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary: “Scipio’s Answer”

At the Star-Palace, Riccio and Prosper show an amazed Bo, Hornet, and Mosca the large sum of money and the pastries. Riccio informs Hornet he won the bet about Barbarossa’s beard. A couple of hours later Scipio shows up. He is shocked at the sizeable payment but isn’t surprised that the sugar tongs caught Barbarossa’s eye. He sends Riccio for olives, sausage, and chocolates to celebrate. Upon his return, Hornet toasts the score and Prosper’s negotiation skills. Scipio names Prosper his chief loot seller and announces a break from stealing so they don’t get caught. Riccio brings up Barbarossa’s client. Prosper tries to convince Scipio not to take the job, but Bo expresses faith in Scipio and offers to help him steal the mystery item. Prosper forbids this, so Bo pouts. Hornet agrees with Prosper, insulting Scipio’s grown-up persona. This makes Scipio so angry that he takes the job. Scipio tells Riccio to inform Barbarossa of his decision in the morning. Scipio leaves, promising he’ll be late tomorrow.

Chapter 9 Summary: “Everybody Is Small at Night”

In the middle of the night, Prosper creeps out of the Star-Palace and sits on the steps outside that lead to the canal. He thinks about having to run away from the detective but doesn’t want to leave Venice because it feels like home. The detective’s presence endangers the other children because he might discover their hideout. Prosper decides he must tell the others (minus Bo) about the detective. He wakes Hornet up and tells her. Hornet assures him that the detective won’t find them. She offers to disguise the brothers by cutting Prosper’s hair short and dying Bo’s hair black. She says that Scipio will be excited to learn that a detective is after him and that Prosper and Bo shouldn’t leave because they are a family. Prosper goes back to sleep but is still worried.

Chapter 10 Summary: “The Message”

The next morning, Riccio goes to Barbarossa’s shop and tells him that Scipio agreed to the job. Barbarossa is pleased and promises to inform his client. Three days later, Barbarossa tells Riccio that his client, the Conte, wants to meet the Thief Lord tomorrow at three o’clock in the first confessional on the left in the Basilica San Marco. Riccio is nervous about telling Scipio that he must come in person, but Barbarossa insists: The Conte wants to meet the Thief Lord to judge his skill. Barbarossa notes that the Conte has been vague even with him about the job. Riccio leaves.

Chapter 11 Summary: “Victor Waits”

Victor sits at a café in St. Mark’s Square, looking for Prosper and Bo. He is disguised as a tourist with a camera. Just when he’s about to give up, he sees six children on the far side of the square hurrying toward the Basilica. Victor gets closer and recognizes Prosper and Bo despite their disguises. Victor takes a picture of the two brothers, glad his patience and hunch to come to St. Mark’s Square paid off.

Chapter 12 Summary: “Meeting in the Confessional”

As usual, Prosper has to drag Bo away from the four massive golden horses in St. Mark’s Square. They catch up to the others, and Bo is embarrassed when Scipio asks whether he was staring at the horses. Scipio announces that Prosper and Mosca are coming with him and that the others will wait outside. Bo and Riccio are upset, and Hornet scathingly notes that Scipio believes their presence would make the Thief Lord look foolish. Prosper and Mosca hesitate to follow Scipio but go when Hornet prompts them. Bo sobs, so Prosper runs back to comfort him. Scipio angrily calls for Prosper, who reluctantly follows him inside.

Scipio puts his mask on and leads Prosper and Mosca into the confessional. The aged Conte is surprised at Scipio’s youth but is won over by his cocky attitude. The Conte says the mark is in Campo Santa Margherita, the home of Signora Ida Spavento. The Conte will leave behind an envelope containing a floor plan and a photograph of the wooden item he wants. He promises five million lire on delivery. The Conte wants the object as quickly as possible because it has been his lifelong quest. Scipio agrees to the deal. The Conte instructs the boys to count to 50 when he leaves and then retrieve the items left behind. The man tells them the exchange point directly rather than go through the nosy Barbarossa: Sacca della Misericordia, a small bay to the north of Venice. He wishes them luck and departs. Mosca counts to 50 before Scipio sends Prosper to the other side of the confessional. Prosper finds a sealed envelope and an animal in a basket. Prosper brings it to Scipio, who finds a pigeon inside.

Chapter 13 Summary: “Pumping for Information”

Victor hopes Scipio, Mosca, and Prosper aren’t pickpocketing inside the Basilica, as he would then have to tell the police. Victor thinks of taking Bo but decides there are too many people around; furthermore, he doesn’t want to do that to Prosper. He scatters birdseed from his pocket to attract the pigeons. The pigeons land all over Victor, who hates it but smiles to get Bo’s attention as Hornet reads a book. Bo notices Victor and comes over. Victor peppers Bo with questions and confirms his identity, but he gives his own name away in return. When Hornet realizes Bo is gone, Victor tells Bo to wave to her. Hornet watches closely. Bo tells Victor that he lives in a movie theater with his friends. Victor wonders if this is true. He asks if Bo wants ice cream, making Bo suspicious. Victor takes a quick picture of Bo as Prosper runs toward them. Victor ruffles Bo’s hair to confirm it’s dyed and then disappears into the crowd, hoping Prosper doesn’t recognize him. He quickly changes disguises and circles back, determined not to lose track of them despite not knowing what he’ll do when he finds their hideout.

Chapters 8-13 Analysis

The second section continues to develop the themes of Coming of Age Versus Wanting to Grow Up and Found Family and Home. Prosper wants to grow up, but his motivations are different than Scipio’s. He is less interested in independence for its own sake but simply wants to avoid being separated from Bo. Riccio, who enjoys the freedom of childhood, is shocked Prosper would want to grow up because (he says) adults don’t understand children. He quotes Scipio to explain: “Children are caterpillars and adults are butterflies. No butterfly ever remembers what it felt like being a caterpillar” (53). Riccio feels that children have all the fun and that adults can’t remember that sense of childlike wonder. Prosper, who has Bo to take think of, sees childhood not as freeing but as restrictive; children don’t have the responsibilities of adulthood, but this also limits what they can do for those they love. 

When Riccio quotes Scipio about adults being butterflies, he doesn’t understand that Scipio himself longs to be grown-up and says this to make himself feel better. In fact, Scipio only takes the job with the Conte because Hornet questions his maturity: “[W]hen Barbarossa sees you in your high heels with all your grown-up playacting, he’ll just laugh at you” (61). Her insinuation that others won’t take the Thief Lord seriously cuts deep, as the persona is Scipio’s attempt to escape the powerlessness of childhood. In his desperation to prove Hornet wrong, Scipio foolishly accepts the job.

If the Thief Lord persona in general reflects Scipio’s desire to grow up, the mask particularly symbolizes his feelings. He puts it on when he wants to feel older and becomes the Thief Lord. When he takes it off, he returns to being Scipio. For example, when the crew is about to meet the Conte in the Basilica, Scipio has doubts and takes off the mask and “fiddl[es] with it anxiously” (75). Though nervous about maintaining the role of Thief Lord in front of an adult, he pulls himself together and goes in, donning his mask once again: “He pushed the mask back onto his face and led the way as purposefully as one of the Basilica’s tourist guides” (77). With his mask on, Scipio can boldly counter claims the Conte makes about his age because he feels grown-up.

The theme of Found Family and Home is also prevalent in this section, as Prosper considers running away with Bo when he discovers Victor is looking for them. He doesn’t want to leave Venice, which feels like home, but he also doesn’t want to put the other children at risk after all they’ve done for him and Bo. His conversation with Hornet shows that they are now a family. When Prosper brings up the possibility of leaving, she says, “Why should you? The police have been looking for Riccio forever, and have we thrown him out? No. And what about Scipio? Doesn’t he put us in danger, with his evermore crazy raids?” (67). Hornet reminds Prosper that even when one family member does something that puts the others in danger, they stick together: That is what family is.

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