INTRODUCTION

The Rattrap was written by Swedish writer Selma Lagerlof. The story is interesting. It reads like a fairy tale. There are interesting incidents and dialogues. The rattrap seller is a homeless tramp. He stays for a night in the cottage of a crofter. The lonely crofter entertains his guest like a trusted friend. He tells him all. But in the morning the peddler comes back, smashes a window pane and steals the crofter’s money.

Later there is a turn in his fortune. The ironmaster mistakes him for an old comrade. The peddler is the ironmaster’s guest for about two days. But he once again leaves to pursue his usual professing of selling rattraps, begging and thievery.

There is a twist at the end of the story. The ironmaster mistakes him for an old comrade. The peddler is the iron master’s guest for about two days. But he once again leaves to pursue his usual profession of selling rattraps, begging and thievery.

There is a philosophical angle too to the story. The lonely tramp is a philosopher too. Not only does he make rattraps to sell, he thinks that the world too is a rattrap. As rats are lured by pork and cheese to enter the trap, so are men lured by lands, food, shelter, clothing, and so on. There are baits. Those who touch them are trapped. He knew a few persons who were already trapped and others who were trying to bite the bait and get trapped.

SUMMARY

THE RATTRAP PEDDLER

A rattrap peddler went around selling small rattraps. His clothes were in rags. His cheeks were hollow. He had the look of a starved man. He made wire traps. He begged the material from stores and big farms. Sometimes he resorted to begging and a little stealing to survive. The world had never been kind to him. He had no home, no shelter.

THE WORLD IS A RATTRAP

The peddler led a lonely life. He was given to meditation. One day while he was thinking about his rattraps an idea struck him. He thought that the world itself was a rattrap. Like pork and cheese serve  as baits in rat traps, the world offered lands, clothes, food, joys and riches to trap people. As soon as anybody touched them, the trap closed on them. He was amused to think of some people who were already trapped, and some others who were trying to reach the bait.

A NIGHT IN A CROFTER’S COTTAGE

It was a cold evening in December. He was a gray cottage on the roadside. He knocked at the door and asked for a night’s shelter. The owner of the cottage was a lonely old crofter. He wanted someone to talk to. He welcomed the peddler. He gave the peddler hot porridge to eat, and tobacco to smoke. Then they played cards. The crofter was generous as well as trustful. He told the peddler that he had a cow and sold her milk to a creamery. He also told him that he received thirty kronor as payment the previous month. Then he took down a pouch and showed him the money. Then he put the money back in the pouch, a hung it on a nail in the window frame. Next morning the peddler left. The crofter locked his cottage, and went away.

THE PEDDLER IS CAUGHT IN A RATTRAP

The peddler came back to the cottage. He had been tempted to steal the money that hung like a bait in the window frame. He smashed the pane and stole the money. Now he thought it was not safe to walk along the public highway. So he went into the woods. There he walked and walked but could not get out. He moved in circles. He was tired. He looked upon the forest as a rattrap in which he was caught. He thought his end was near. He lay down to die.

A SOUND OF HOPE

After a while he heard regular thumpings of a hammer’s strokes. He knew the sound was coming from Ramsjo Ironworks. He stood up and walked in the direction of the sound. He opened the gate of the works and went into the forge. The blacksmith and his apprentice were sitting there waiting for the pig-iron to be ready to put on the anvil.

IRONMASTER INVITES HIM

The blacksmith hardly took any notice of his presence. It was not unusual for a vagabond to come in for shelter and warmth. The owner of the Works was very particular about the quality of the iron he produced. On one of his visits he comes into the forge while the peddler lay in front of the furnace. The ironmaster looked intently at the peddler’s face. He felt sure that the peddler was one of his old regimental comrades, Captain von Stable who had fallen on evil days. He invited the peddler to go home with him for Christmas. But the peddler was alarmed. He though it was risky for him to accept the offer. He firmly declined it. The ironmaster went home.

THE PEDDLER ACCEPTS THE INVITATION

The ironmaster sent his daughter Edla to persuade the peddler to come home. She came in a carriage with a large fur coat. She could see that the peddler was unwilling to accept the invitation because he was afraid. Perhaps, she thought, he had stolen something or had escaped from jail. She spoke gently to him. She assured him that he would be free to leave when he pleased. They wanted his company only over Christmas eve. The peddler felt confidence in her. He agreed to go with her. On the way he was sorry to have stolen the crofter’s money that had put him in a trap.

IRONMASTER THINKS HE HAS MADE A MISTAKE

The ironmaster was happy to have his old regimental comrade under his roof. He planned to feed him well and give him some respectable work. The servant cut the peddler’s hair, shaved him ad bathed him. The peddler appeared wearing one  of the ironmaster’s fine suits. But when the ironmaster looked at him in daylight, he felt that he had made a mistake. The peddler was not captain von Stable. He thought that the man had deceived him. He even thought of handling him to the sheriff.

THE PEDDLER DEFENDS HIMSELF

The peddler said that he had not pretended to be what he was not. He had not been willing to go to the ironmaster’s house. Even then he was willing to put on his rags and leave. He also told the ironmaster that the world was a rattrap, and he himself might one day be tempted by a big bait and get caught in the trap. The ironmaster told him to leave at once.

EDLA STOPS THE PEDDLER

Edla did not like her father’s asking the poor peddler to leave. She thought it was unfair to turn away the man whom they had invited. She wanted to have the joy of entertaining a homeless wanderer on Christmas Eve. She stopped the peddler and her gather gave it.

PEDDLER IS GIVEN PRESENTS

Edla served food to the peddler. He was given Christmas presents which he thankfully received. Edla told him that her father’s suit that the peddler was wearing was also a Christmas present. She assured him that he would be welcomed again if he liked to spend the next Christmas Eve with them.

THE PEDDLER LEAVES

Next morning the ironmaster and his daughter went to church. There they learned that the peddler was a thief. He had robbed the crofter. The ironmaster was sure that the peddler must have made away with their silver. Edla was dejected. But when they reached home they learned that the peddler had left. But he had taken away nothing. On the other hand he had left a Christmas present for Edla.

THE SURPRISE

Edla opened the present. It was a tiny rattrap. Edla was happy to see that the peddler had left the crofter’s money behind. There was a letter also. It was addressed to Edla. He thanked her for her kindness. He wanted to repay her kindness. So he had left the crofter’s money and had requested her to return it to the crofter. He said he had been raised to captain. That was why he could come out of the rattrap in which he had been caught. He signed the letter Captain von Stable.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?

Ans. The peddler went around selling rattraps that he had made himself from wire he had begged or stolen. One day the thought occurred to him that the world was very much like a rattrap which

offered men shelter, food, clothing and other comforts for the sole purpose of entrapping them.

Q2. What was the peddler’s philosophy about rattrap? Why did it amuse him?

Ans. The peddler’s philosophy was that the whole world is a rattrap with several baits in it. As one is tempted to bait and touches it the door is closed and everything comes to an end like in a rattrap. The thought amused him because he has so far been selling rattrap; but not fallen in this world’s rattrap

Q3. What kind of host was the old crofter?

Ans. The old crofter was an affectionate and generous host. He warmly welcomed the peddler as he got someone to talk to in his loneliness. He served him porridge for his supper and offered a pipe with tobacco roll to smoke and finally played with him Mjolis till bedtime.

Q4. The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning? Is it justified? Give reasons.

Ans. The rattrap peddler draws reader’s sympathy because of his poverty. The author’s description of his clothes and appearance like –“his clothes are in rags, his cheeks are sunken and hunger gleams his eyes” and his resorting to begging and petty thievery to keep his body and soul together evoke reader’s sympathy.

Q5. Who do you think was at fault-the ironmaster or the peddler? Give two reasons.

Ans. I think the ironmaster was at fault because it was he who invited the tramp to his house for the Christmas thinking him to be his old acquaintance; but on knowing he was not his acquaintance he could not oppose his daughter’s decision to offer him Christmas cheer.

Q6. Why was the peddler grateful to the ironmaster and his daughter? 

Ans. The peddler was grateful to the ironmaster and his daughter as they empowered him to release himself from the world’s rattrap through their selfless hospitality, love, sympathy, compassion, and understanding.

 Q7. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?

Ans. The peddler was surprised that the crofter not only invited him into his cottage but also shared his porridge with him. He also talked to him, played cards with him and shared confidences with him.

Q8. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?

Ans. The crofter was alone, and had no wife or child and was perhaps lonely. He welcomed the idea of company and was thus talkative and friendly.

Q9. Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?

Ans. The crofter told the peddler that he was comfortable and had earned a reasonable sum of money from his extraordinary cow that gave a lot of milk and he had earned thirty kroner last month. The peddler expressed disbelief and thus the crofter showed him the money.

Q10. Did the pedder respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?

The peddler abused the crust reposed in him by the crofter because as soon as he could, he came back, opened the window of the cottage and stole the crofter’s hard-earned money.

Q11. What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?

Having stolen the crofter’s money, the peddler was forced to stay off the road and walk in the forest. When night fell, he could not see where he was headed to and seemed to be walking round and round the same spot. He was tired and in his frustration felt that he was caught in the trap.

Q12. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?

The ironmaster mistook the peddler to be an old acquaintance, Nils Olof, a comrade from the regiment. It appeared to the ironmaster that the man had fallen on bad days and so he invited him

to his home, especially as it was Christmas time.

Q13. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?

Ans. The peddler declined his invitation, as he was afraid of being detected as the thief. He felt that by accepting the invitation to go to the ironmaster’s house, he was voluntarily walking into the lion’s den.

Q14. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?

Ans. Edla Willmansson came to invite the peddler bringing with her a fur coat and a valet. She requested him to come home with such an apparent and genuine kindness that the peddler could not refuse. She instilled a certain confidence in him.

Q15. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?

Ans. Edla noticed that the peddler was afraid and she at once concluded that he was either a thief or had escaped from jail. She told her father that it was strange that his regimental comrade had fallen on such bad days and also that he had nothing about him to show that he had once been an educated man.

Q16. When did the ironmaster realise his mistake?

Ans. The ironmaster had first seen the tramp in the dim glow of the furnace. He had taken him to be his old regimental comrade, but when the tramp had come down cleanly shaven and dressed in a borrowed suit of the master, the ironmaster at once realized that it had been a case of mistaken identity. He had taken the tramp to be his old regimental comrade.

Q17. What did the peddler say in his defence when it was clear that he was not the person the ironmaster had thought he was?

Ans. The ironmaster realised his mistake when he saw the peddler after his bath, shave and haircut. He was clean and dressed in a fine suit that belonged to the ironmaster, and wore a white shirt with a starched collar, and yet did not look like his regimental comrade.

Q18. Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him?

Ans. Edla was a kind woman at heart and understood how difficult the peddler’s life had been. She realised how hard it must have been for him to be homeless and to have had to wander from place to place. She empathised with him and was thus kind to him even though she knew who he was.

Q19. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?

Ans. The ironmaster and Edla had expected that the peddler would have made away with all their silver and were indeed pleasantly surprised to find that he had not stolen anything but had left the thirty stolen kroners in a rattrap along with a letter. He requested that the stolen money be returned to its rightful owner and stated in his letter which he had addressed to Edla that having been treated with such dignity and having had his status elevated to that of a captain, he felt that he could not embarrass them.

Q20. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?

Ans. The pedellar was touched by the kind treatment Edla gave him. Edla, despite knowing his real identity, treated him like a captain. Now it was his turn to show her that the guest she had honoured was as honourable as the captain and not merely a petty thief. Latent goodness of his heart awakened, he behaved in a dignified manner. Signed himself as Captain von Stahle.