Chapter: 4- The Rattrap

Questions and Answers:

1. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
The peddler lived a dull and monotonous life. He had no family, no money and no relatives. He
was a vagabond. So, being alone most of the time, he used to go on thinking. While thinking
about the rattrap, he suddenly got the idea of the world being a rattrap.
2. Why was the peddler amused by this idea?
The peddler had never been treated well by the world. So he felt happy thinking ill of the world.
That is why he was amused by the idea that the whole world around him was nothing but a big
rattrap.
3. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?
No, the peddler did not expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter. He was
always refused whenever he asked anyone for any kind of kindness. Thus, he had expected the
same, but, to his surprise, the crofter treated him very kindly and gave him food and shelter.
4. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
The crofter was a lonely man. He had no one in his house to give him company. He had no wife,
no children. So when he saw the peddler, he was very happy to get someone to talk to.
5. Why did he show the thirty kronor to the peddler?
The crofter narrated his story of living a comfortable life and having a reasonable income that he
made due to his extraordinary cow that gave a lot of milk. He told the peddler that he had earned
thirty kronor last month. Not the peddler expressed his disbelief. In order to make him believe,
the crofter opened the pouch and showed the tramp the money.
6. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
No, the peddler did not live up to the confidence reposed in him by the crofter. In fact, he abused
the trust of the crofter. He returned after some time, opened the window of the cottage and stole
the crofter’s hard-earned money.
7. What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
After stealing the crofter’s money, the peddler avoided the road and walked through the forest.
Soon the night fell and he could not find his way out. He walked and walked without coming to
the end of the wood. He finally realized that he was walking round and round the same spot. This
made him frustrated and tired. Now he realized that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap.
8. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
The ironmaster mistook the peddler to be his old acquaintance Nils Olof who was a captain and
had resigned from the regiment long back. The ironmaster thought that the man was going
through a bad phase in his life and so invited him home, especially as it was Christmas Eve.
9. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
The peddler declined the invitation, as he had stolen the money and was afraid of being caught.
Accepting the invitation would be like throwing oneself voluntarily into a lion’s den.
10. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
Edla Willmansson came to invite the peddler with her fur coat and a valet. She spoke in a very
friendly manner and he felt confidence in her. She persuaded him to come home and promised
him that he would be allowed to leave whenever he would like to.
11. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
Edla noticed that peddler was very scared. She thought he could either be a thief or an escape
from a prison.
12. When did the ironmaster realize his mistake?
When the peddler was given a bath, a haircut and had a shave, the ironmaster realized at the
breakfast table that the tramp did not look like his regimental comrade and that he had made a
mistake.
13. Why did Edla entertain the peddler even she came to know the truth about him?
Edla was a kind lady. She empathized with the poor peddler and understood how difficult his life
had been. She was able to understand his loneliness and poverty. She entertained him even
though she knew who he was. Moreover, it was Christmas Eve and she wanted to extend
Christmas cheer and goodwill to him.
14. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?
Edla was happy to see the gift left by the peddler because it was symbolic of the positive change
in the peddler. He had left the stolen thirty kronor in the rattrap along with a letter. He had
requested that the money be returned to the crofter. Edla was happy to know he had realized his
mistake and made amends.
15. Why did peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?
The peddler was accepted and welcomed to the house as Captain von Stahle. Edla gave the
peddler a kind treatment and in spite of knowing the reality, she treated him like a captain. This
awakened the latent goodness of his heart and he also behaved in a dignified manner and signed
himself as Captain von Stahle.
Summary
This story deals with a peddler who sells rattraps of wire that he begged for or had stolen. He is a
vagabond, has no home to live in and many times no food to eat. Life is very difficult for him.
One day it occurs to him that the entire world is a rattrap and shelter, food, clothing, comforts
and luxuries are like baits to entrap people. This idea amuses him and leaves him satisfied as he
is deprived of all these things.
One winter evening the peddler, on his rounds, finds a cottage by the roadside. In order to ask for
the night shelter, he knocks at the door. He is surprised to get a warm welcome from the host. He
is offered not only shelter but food and tobacco. The crofter entertains him with the game of
‘majolis’ and shares with him the secret of his earning of thirty kronor which he has collected by
selling milk.
Next day when they both leave the house, the peddler comes back and steals the money. He
decides to walk through the woods, instead of taking a road, so as to avoid being caught. But as
the night falls, he loses his way in the forest. He is completely exhausted, hungry and cold. He
then realizes that he is probably walking around the same spot. At this spot, he is reminded of the
rattrap and begins to feel that the dark forest with its trees, trunk and branches is like a rattrap in
which he is caught, having been lured by the thirty kronor that he has stolen.
Fortunately enough, the peddler hears the sound of hammer strokes from an iron mill. Following
the sound, he reaches ‘Ramsjo Ironworks’. He sleeps near the furnace. The owner of the mill
mistakes him for his old regimental comrade Nils Olof. He invites him to his house which he
refuses. But when the ironmaster’s daughter Edla Willmansson persuades him to come along
with her to their home and spend the Christmas Eve with them, he agrees to the same.
The peddler is given proper food and comfort at the ironmaster’s house. Though Edla is not
convinced that a captain from the army can fall to such a sorry state, her father says that after a
bath and change of clothes, he will emerge polished as a captain. But, on the contrary, when the
tramp is given a bath and a shave the next morning the ironmaster realizes his mistakes. He finds
that the peddler is not his old comrade. At this point, Edla allows him to stay and spend the
Christmas with them.
Next morning Edla and his father learn in the church that a tramp has robbed a crofter and
apprehended that this is the same man. They think that he would have taken away all their silver.
But when they reach home, they find that nothing has been stolen. The tramp has already gone.
He had left a rattrap as a Christmas present for Edla along with a note and thirty kronor. In his
note, he had requested that the stolen money was to be returned to the rightful owner. He told
Edla that having been treated with so much dignity and having had his status elevated to that of a
captain, he felt that he could not embarrass them. He signed himself as Captain von Stahle.