The Rattrap

Ans. The mistaken identity gave him the power to clear his conscience and become a better person. It brought out his later goodness. It gave him a chance at elevating himself from being a thief. The experience gave him the opportunity to behave in the way expected of a Captain.

Ans. Edla’s kind and caring behaviour finally changed the peddler. She had treated him with love and respect befitting a captain, even after realising that he was a poor peddler. The trust that Edla showed in him made him live a life with dignity and respect.

Ans. In the world which is “nothing but a big rattrap”, the tramp who makes rattrap himself got caught in one. One night, he took shelter in the house of an old and lonely crofter who was very generous. He gave the peddler a meal, talked to him and even showed him the thirty kronors, he had earned because of his cow. Tempted by the money, the peddler stole the money from the crofter and headed towards a forest. The dense forest was like a maze and he soon got lost, realising that the money was a bait and now he himself was trapped in a rattrap.

Ans. If peddler is a rat; the ironmaster is a larger rat running after larger pieces of cheese/pork.

Edla is the rescuer, the life changer who rescue the rat.

Ans. Despite his philosophical insights, the vagabond fails to resist temptations simply because of his humanness. The vagabond is a poor and a deprived man who is treated unkindly by the social world around him. Just like every other individual, he is also vulnerable to the baits of food, shelter, luxury, etc.

Hence, the bait comes to him when the old crofter shows him his money. Blinded by the bait, he also falls in the rattrap.

Ans. Yes, because the world is full of cheats and one must not trust strangers blindly.

No. because he was a good man who believed everyone was good. He trusted the peddler and could not have imagined to be treated with such deception.

Ans. The crofter was very lonely and lived alone in a cottage. He did not have a wife or a child. He felt happy when the peddler knocked on his door as he thought that the peddler would gave him company.

Ans. He got the idea that the whole world was only a bigtrap. It sets baits for people exactly as the rattrap offered cheese and pork. It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing as baits. It closed on the person who let himself be tempted to touch the bait. Then everything came to an end.

Ans. When the ironmaster saw a stranger in rags lying close to the furnace, he went near him and removed his slouch hat to get a better view of his face. He mistook him to be Nils Olof, an old acquaintance of his regiment and was delighted to see him and invited him home for Christmas.

Ans. Peddler left a rattrap as a Christmas present from a rat – who could have been caught in the world’s rattrap. The present consisted of small rattrap and three wrinkled ten kronor notes and wrote a letter of gratitude – heartfelt thanks and a promise of transformation. Edla had honoured and treated the peddler like a captain inspite of knowing the truth. So he signed himself as Captain von Stahle to show that he wanted to retain the dignity and respect accorded to him.

Ans. Value points – Next day valet bathed the peddler – cut his hair – shaved him – gave new clothes – at the breakfast table – ironmaster felt deceived – in recognizing the person.

Ans. He made rattraps of wire and went around selling them. He got material for making them by begging in the big stores or at big farms. Since his business was not quite profitable, he would beg or steal in order to survive.

Ans. The old crofter served the peddler hot porridge for supper and gave him tobacco for his pipe. He entertained his guest by playing cards with him. He also informed him about his prosperous past life and how his cow supported him in his old age now.

Ans. The cold December night – death of morals (rattrap peddler robs the crofter);

The dense forest with its branches – a prison (peddler trapped);

Stormy night at iron mill – the undesired happens again (peddler falls for the lure);

Christmas night – redemption/Saved Free from Sins.

Ans. The peddler interprets the acts of kindness and hospitality shown by the crofter, the iron master and his daughter differently.

The peddler was a man who went around selling his self-made small rattraps of wire. He was leading a hard, monotonous, dull and lonely life of a vagabond.

While moving along the road, it became dark. So he knocked at the door of the cottage of a crofter who showered all possible hospitality over the peddler. He gave him porridge, bed, lodging and played Majolis till bed time. He even proudly displayed the thirty kroner that he had got as payment for the cow’s milk and put them in his leather pouch.

This tempted the peddler to steal away his money. In a way he betrayed the confidence reposed in him by the crofter. On the other hand, later he was given place to stay by the ironmaster and his daughter.

Though she was suspicious of him, they promised him Christmas cheer. When his truth was discovered, Edla fought with her father for the peddler.

She not only requested her father to let the peddler stay for Christmas, but also treated him like a real captain. Touched by Edla’s kindness peddler changed his ways. This shows that goodness is latent in the human heart which can be brought out by love, care and understanding.

Ans. Value points:

Yes, world is indeed a rattrap. The peddler’s philosophy was that the whole world is a rattrap with several baits in it. The whole world is nothing but a big rattrap. All riches, joys, food and shelter are just baits. These baits make people restless, helpless and powerless. The moment anyone touches the bait; the rattrap closes in one him. Then everything comes to an end.

Ans. Edla had a kind and sympathetic heart that was pained by the plight of the poor peddler. She requested her father to allow him to spend one day with them in peace as a respite from the struggle he had to endure round the year. Her principles did not allow her to throw this man out of her house on the Christmas Eve especially when they had already promised him a “Christmas cheer”.

Moreover, she had been in high spirits that morning thinking of the ways in which she could help the tramp. Therefore, even after knowing the truth, Edla wanted to entertain the peddler.

The story also focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others.

Ans. In this story, the author tells us that as normal human beings, we always like to share something with others, be it joy or sorrow. It means that humans do not want to be lonely and they want company of others.

In this story, first the peddler is lonely and to overcome this, he sells rattraps. The crofter is lonely, so he welcomes the peddler to have a conversion with him. The ironmaster and his daughter are also lonely.

They are rich and have big house, but they do not have anybody to give them company.

Hence, they request the peddler to spend Christmas eve with them. The author has very subtly focused on the loneliness of humans and how they strive hard to get a good companion.

Ans. The crofter was kind to the peddler. He offered him shelter in his cottage, gave him porridge for supper. Then he cut a big slice from the tobacco roll which was sufficient for both of them and offered it to him. He also confided in the peddler and shared his secrets.

Ans. The crofter lived all alone and wanted someone to talk to. When he saw the peddler, he was happy to get company. He was a generous host and served the peddler porridge, tobacco and also played a card game with him. He even shared his secrets with the peddler.

Ans. The rattrap seller believes that the worldly pleasures are like a bait in the rattrap. They attract us. The one who gets attracted towards the bait, gets trapped. He has to commit all types of misdeeds in order to achieve the worldly pleasures. This marks the end for him.

Ans. The ironmaster mistook the peddler for an old comrade. He was happy that he had found his comrade with whom he could spend the Christmas eve. He was lonely and so he was desperate to invite the man home. Despite opposition from the peddler, the ironmaster and his daughter convinced him to spend the Christmas eve with them. He was eager to take the man home because of the miserable condition which he had found him in.

Ans. The peddler was amused when he saw other people getting trapped in the metaphorical rattrap. The thought of other people being trapped, because of the temptations amused him. He was happy because he remained free from the rattrap. He felt joyous to think ill of the world in this way.

Ans. The peddler wrote that since she had treated him like a captain, he wanted to be nice to her in return. He did not want to embarrass her with the thought that she had invited a thief over a Christmas. He returned the thirty kroners of the crofter and requested her to return the stolen money. The letter read that the rattrap was a Christmas present from a rat who would have been caught in the world’s rattrap if he had not been raised to the status of a captain which motivated him to reform himself.

Ans. The crofter had been hospitable towards the peddler. Despite this the peddler was ungrateful and betrayed him. The crofter welcomed him in his house when he asked for shelter. He took good care of him, served him supper, shared his tobacco, and played a card game ‘mjolis’ with him until bedtime.

He was also generous with his confidence and told the peddler that he had been a crofter at the Ramjso iron works and now he had earned 30 kroners by selling the milk of his cow. The crofter did all this because he had been lonely and became happy when he got company of the peddler. However, the peddler stole the 30 kroners from the crofter’s house. Soon thereafter he felt guilty of cheating the nice man. He felt that the money was a bait that had lured him into committing theft.

Ans. Man is a social animal and he cannot live in isolation. In every field of life, we interact with humans. In case a person does not socialize and shirks the company of friends, he becomes a recluse. The story ‘The Rattrap’ highlights this fact.

Initially we come to know that the rattrap seller was a lonely man who used to make rattraps and was left to his own meditations. One day when he knocks on a cottage, he meets a crofter who welcomes him and entertains him. The crofter is also a lonely man is glad to get the company of the peddler. Then we also find that the ironmaster and his daughter are lonely. They live in a big house but have nobody else for company, so, they insist that the peddler should spend the Christmas eve with them.

Ans. Edla believed that the peddler was her father’s comrade from the Army. She treated him like a gentleman.  She gave him a lot of respect and spoke with kindness. She wanted the peddler to stay with them for Christmas and share the Christmas cheer.

Even when they came to know that the peddler was not the person that Edla’s father had mistaken him to be, Edla’s behaviour towards him remained unchanged. All this moved the peddler. He became a true gentleman and gave up the wrong ways of life. He was thankful to Edla for being so good to him and for transforming him into a true gentleman.

Ans. The peddler gets tempted and trapped when he gets easy access to the crofter’s money. He realises that he is caught in the trap when he loses his way in the forest, with the few kroners in his pocket. He gets caught in the trap another time, when Edla assures him Christmas cheer.

He knows also that the ironmaster is mistaking him for someone else but does not clarify this because he is lured by the attraction of the Christmas cheer. He repeatedly surrenders to the worldly temptations and realises that the world is a rattrap and riches, joys and shelters are worldly temptations.

Ans. The rattrap seller was a habitual thief. Despite the kindness of the crofter, the peddler betrayed him. He stole the money from his house. In order to prevent being caught, he avoided the highway and went into the woods. He got confused and his way.

He seemed to move in a circle as the paths seemed to twist back and forth. When he was trapped in the woods he realised that the 30 kroners were a bait. He felt that the forest was closing upon him like a prison and he had been trapped.

Ans. The peddler met the ironmaster’s daughter for the first time at the forge. She had come to request him to come over their house as her father had mistaken him to be an old acquaintance, a captain. She was able to convince him and took him home. At home, when her father realized that they had made a mistake and he was not the captain, the daughter was very polite and kept him at home as it was Christmas. The rattrap seller was greatly influenced by the ironmaster’s daughter. In fact, it was because of her that he had turned over a new leaf and returned the money that he had stolen from an old man. It was the kind nature of the girl that changed him.

Ans. Christmas is a time of celebration and forgiveness. Also, Christmas is the time to amend one’s ways. The story is setup in the background of the Christmas as the ironmaster and his daughter show charity to the peddler. The predominant theme of the story is that of redemption through the gift of charity and peace. The rat trap seller is mistaken for an old friend of the ironmaster and taken home for Christmas festivities. There, even though his true identity of vagabond and petty thief is disclosed, he is given peaceful rest, plenteous good food, and the gift of a suit of clothes.

In response to being treated as an elevated person, he delves inward and acts like an elevated person. We aren’t told what he continues to do, but we are told that he now thanks the ironmaster’s daughter for her courteousness and generosity and gives her the money to return to the crofter, a tenant farmer, from whom he stole it after receiving the crofter’s hospitality of supper, conversation, a bed, and breakfast. This theme and these redemptive acts surely mark this as a Christmas story.

Ans. In the story, the peddler used rattraps, sold by him, as a metaphor for the world. According to him, the world was a big rattrap because it was full of temptations. Like a rattrap, it offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing. When someone was tempted to touch them, it would close on him and everything came to an end.

Ans. The crofter was talkative and friendly with the peddler. He was more than happy when he saw him standing at his door because he led a lonely life. He had no family and he lived there alone. He felt elated to have some company and someone to share his things and to confide in. Being a generous host, he offered porridge and tobacco to his guest and played mjolis with him.

Ans. The crofter treated him kindly. He offered him shelter in his cottage, gave him porridge for supper. Then he cut a big slice from the tobacco roll which was sufficient for both of them and offered it to him. The crofter played Mjolis, a card game with him. He also confided in him and shared his secret with him.

Ans. The crofter was generous and happy when the peddler knocked at the door because he used to stay there alone. He was happy to have some company and someone to share his things and achievements with. He was happy to share his confidence of getting thirty kronors by selling the milk of his cow.

Ans. The crofter had a cow which he was proud of because it gave him enough milk to support him. Since, he never had any guests and lived alone in his house, he was happy to share his confidence of getting thirty kronors by selling the milk of his cow. However, when he saw that the peddler was not convinced, he got up and took out the three ten-kronor bills and showed them to the peddler

Ans. Edla pleaded with her father not to send the vagabond away because she wanted him to stay there for the Christmas celebration. She understood how hard it must have been for him to wander from place to place and being homeless, she wanted him to stay and enjoy at least one day of peace, comfort and solace. Moreover, it was Christmas Eve and Edla wanted to keep the spirit of the Christmas alive. She told her father that they had invited him as a guest for Christmas, so they must keep their promise and not turn him away

Ans. The peddler had left a gift for Edla. This showed Edla that her care and kind gesture had transformed the peddler. Her trust was not broken by the peddler and her goodness had been paid off. This also saved Edla from her father’s criticism of trying to help a thief. Rather, she would have a high image of transforming a thief into a compassionate person.

Ans. Man is a social animal. He cannot live alone. In every field of life, he needs the help of someone or the other. However, there are a few people who do not live to socialize with others. They stay away from their fellow beings. They shirk the company of their friends and become recluses. They are overpowered by negative feelings. The themes of human loneliness and the need to have someone to share one’s joys and sorrows with, runs throughout the story. To begin with, the reader’s attention is drawn to the peddler who is lonely and in his loneliness, he makes rattraps and is left to his own meditation. When he knocks at the cottage, the crofter welcomes him and entertains him. It is because the crofter is lonely. He wants someone to talk to. He finds in peddler a good companion and tells him a lot about himself and his cow, even though the peddler is a complete stranger to him. Then, we find that the ironmaster and his daughter are also lonely. They live in a big house and have nobody else for company. Therefore, they insisted that the peddler should spend the Christmas Eve with them.

Ans. The crofter was a lonely man. He was more than happy when the peddler knocked at his door. He shared his confidence with him and told him that he had thirty kronors in a leather pouch. The peddler stole thirty kronors from the crofter’s house, but he realized that he could dare not continue on the public highway, and must turn off the road into the woods. During the first few hours, this caused him no difficulty. Later in the day, it became worse, for it was a big and confusing forest which he had gotten into. He tried to be sure to walk in a definite direction, but the paths twisted back and forth so strangely that he walked on, without coming to the end of the forest and realised that he had been caught in a rattrap. He was no more a free person. He had to be cautious. On hearing the sound of the hammer, he moved towards it and reached an iron mill. The master’s daughter Edla took him home for Christmas Eve. She showed kindness and humane feelings towards him, which changed him, altogether. He returned the thirty kronors to Edla and became a reformed man as he had been risen to the status of a captain.

Ans. After the peddler stole thirty kronors from the crofter’s house, he realized that he could not continue on the public highway, but must turn off the road into the woods. During the first few hours, this caused him no difficulty. Later in the day, it became worse, for it was a big and confusing forest which he had gotten into. He tried to be sure to walk in a definite direction, but the paths twisted back and forth so strangely. He walked on, without coming to the end of the wood and finally, he realized that he had only been walking around in the same part of the forest. All at once, he recalled his thoughts about the world and the rattrap. Now his own turn had come. He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught. The whole forest, with its trunks and branches, its thickets and fallen logs, closed on him like an impenetrable prison from which he could never escape.

Ans. This view of life was true for the peddler because when he was offered food and shelter at the crofter’s house, which is like ‘bait’ for a rat, he took it, and stole the crofter’s money. He then tried to run away from being caught, but got lost in the forest as it was big and confusing. Thus, he considered the world as a big rattrap in which he had fallen and the crofter’s money was the bait.

Now his own turn had come as he had let himself be fooled by the bait and had been caught in the trap. He knew that ironmaster had mistaken him for someone else, yet he went with him. The peddler was thus deprived of shelter, and got easily trapped by the temptations.

The other characters in the story, the crofter, the ironmaster and his daughter have human values of love, compassion, and understanding of love, and for them, the world is not a rattrap. They looked upon the world as a happy place to live and share the happiness with others. Thus, the Peddler’s view about the world as a rattrap is true for him only as he got caught into the traps for food, shelter, and money whereas, the others were not tempted.