Theme

The story is about an old disheartened peddler who is taken in and shown
generosity by a young woman. Her generosity and kindness changed his bitter
attitude towards life. The peddler is a man who has fallen upon misfortune and
now resorts to selling rat traps, begging, and thievery. He is very pessimistic
about the world around him and sees the world as merely a “rat trap”. He believes
that society tempts us with riches and fine things, and when we accept, we are
caught in the trap and are left with nothing.
The story conveys a universal message that the essential goodness in a human
being can be awakened through love, respect, kindness and understanding. It
highlights the human predicament. Material benefits are the traps that most
human beings are prone to fall into. Human beings do have a tendency to redeem
themselves from dishonest ways as does the peddler at the end of the story.

Setting
This story is set amidst the mines of Sweden, rich in iron ore which figure large in
the history of that country.

Gist of the lesson:

● The peddler was a vagabond who sold rat traps with a little thievery on the
side to make both ends meet. Had no worldly possession to call his own,
not even a name
● It amused him to think of the world as a rattrap.
● Takes shelter at a crofter’s cottage. The crofter welcomed him, gave him
dinner, shared his pipe, played Mjolis with him and also confided in him
about his income and showed him where he put it.
● Next morning, the Peddler steals the money and takes the back roads to
keep away from people and gets lost in the jungle at night. While he
wanders in the forest he realizes that he has also got caught in the rattrap
and that the money was the bait.
 ● Finally reaches Ramsjo ironworks, where he takes shelter for the night. The
blacksmith and his assistant ignore him but the master mistakes him to be
an old acquaintance and invites him home. Though the Peddler does not
correct the ironmaster, hoping to get some money out of him, he declines
his invitation.
● The ironmaster then sends his daughter who persuades him to go home
with her. She notices his uncouth appearance and thinks that either he has
stolen something or he has escaped from jail.
● The Peddler is scrubbed, bathed, given a haircut, a shave and a suit of old
clothes of the ironmaster. In the morning light, the iron master realizes he
is mistaken and that he is not the Captain. He wants to call the Sheriff. The
peddler is agitated and breaks out that the world is rattrap and he too is
sure to be caught in it. The ironmaster is amused but orders him out. The
compassionate Edla convinces her father that he should spend the
Christmas day with him.
● The Peddler spends the whole of Christmas Eve eating and sleeping. The
next day at church, Edla and her father come to know that the Peddler is a
thief who stole thirty kroners from the poor crofter.
● Back home, they found a letter addressed to Edla, signed as Captain Von
Stahl and a rattrap as a gift from the crofter. In the rattrap were the three
ten kroner notes of the crofter.

Questions and Answers

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

Ans. The peddler went around selling rat traps 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
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. The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning? Is it
justified? Give reasons.

Ans. The rattrap peddler draws the 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.

Q4. 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 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.

Q5. 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.

Q6. 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.

Q7. 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.
Therefore he became happy to get someone to talk to in his loneliness.

Q8. 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.

Q9. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?

Ans. The peddler abused the trust 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.

Q10. 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 realized how hard it must have been for him to be homeless and to have
had to wander from place to place. She empathized with him and was thus kind to him
even though she knew who he was.

Q11. 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 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.

Q12. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?

Ans. The peddler 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 honored was as honorable 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.

Q13. How does the peddler interpret the acts of kindness and hospitality shown
by the crofter, the ironmaster and his daughter?

Ans. The peddler feels absolutely no compunction about accepting the hospitality of
the crofter and then robbing him of his hard-earned kroner. He enjoys playing cards
with his host all evening and then makes away with his money the next morning.
When the ironmaster having mistaken him for a regimental comrade invites him to his
house to share his Christmas lunch, he feels a sense of entrapment, having the stolen
money on his person, and thus declines the invitation. He feels that to accept the
hospitality of the ironmaster would be like voluntarily throwing himself into the lion’s
den. However, he does not at the outset disclose his true identity because he hopes to
profit from the mistake thinking perhaps a few kroner would come his way but now
he only wants to rest near the forge at night and quietly slip away in the morning. The
kindness of the ironmaster’s daughter touches the tramp’s heart making him feel more
worthy. She makes him feel comfortable and raises his self-esteem. Even after his true
identity has been discovered, she feels sympathetic towards him and convinces her
father to let him stay and share Christmas cheer with them. She does not for a moment
doubt his integrity and the tramp repays this faith and kindness by leaving behind the
stolen kroner to be returned to the rightful owner along with one of his rat traps as a
present and a letter addressed to the daughter thanking her for elevating his status to
that of a captain and for the chance to redeem his mistake.

Q14. What are the instances in the story that show that the character of the
ironmaster is different from that of his daughter in many ways?

Ans. The ironmaster is a man of power whose ambition was to ensure that good iron
was shipped out. He believed in closely supervising the work at the ironworks to
make sure that all was in order. When he saw the tramp, he was not overcome with
sympathy. His arrogance came to the fore and he commenced to give him a piece of
his mind regarding his unwise decision of not resigning at the appropriate time. His
invitation to the tramp to come to his house stemmed more from a sense of superiority
rather than true philanthropy. He was most indignant to discover that the tramp had
deceived him regarding his true identity. The ironmaster’s daughter sensed something
amiss on her very first meeting with the tramp. She was not convinced that he had
ever been in the army and when she was proved right, her reaction was not one of
indignation but one of sympathy, understanding and kindness. She realized how he
must always have to contend with being turned away and not being made welcome
anywhere and decided that she would give him that opportunity of feeling secure and
welcome in their home. She had more faith in him than did her father and when the
tramp did nothing but eat and sleep, she was able to appreciate the fact that he had
probably never felt so secure in his life. She even convinced her father to gift him the
suit that was loaned to the tramp as a Christmas gift.
Q15. The story has many instances of unexpected reactions from the characters
to others’ behavior. Pick out instances of these surprises.

Ans. The peddler, walking along on a winter's evening, is able to avail the
unconditional warmth and hospitality of the owner of the cottage. The host shares his
food, his home and his confidences, showing the stranger the money that he had
made. The tramp, the next day, feels no remorse for stealing the money and walking
away. When he is seeking shelter from the cold and has the opportunity to spend the
night at the ironmaster’s house, he declines as he has the stolen money with him and
feels that he will be walking into the lion’s den. However, when the same invitation is
extended by the ironmaster through his daughter, the tramp accepts as her kindness
filters through. Left alone in the ironmaster’s house, the tramp has every opportunity
to make away with the valuables. On the contrary, the tramp goes away leaving
behind the stolen money to be returned to the rightful owner along with a rattrap as a
present for the ironmaster’s daughter.

Q16. What made the peddler finally change his ways?

Ans. The peddler had lived a life of privation and constant rejection. It had made him
cynical and embittered. Self-preservation had become his sole objective and he could
not sense the difference between right and wrong. He had lost his sense of self-worth,
having lived in penury with no home to call his own and not even a name to answer
to. He had to resort to begging and petty thieving to survive and life offered no
pleasure at all. The sadness and monotony of his life had convinced him of the fact
that life was like a huge rattrap and just as the cheese and pork in the traps that he
made were the bait, so also the riches, joys, shelter and the food that life offered were
the bait. As soon as anyone let himself be tempted, it closed in around him and all
came to an end. He took pleasure in thinking of all the acquaintances who had been
caught in this trap. However, the meeting with the ironmaster’s daughter was the
turning point in his life. The kindness, the concern and the understanding that she
showed him touched the core of his heart and transformed his way of thinking.

Q17. How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the human
predicament?

Ans. The tramp during his wanderings hit upon the thought that just as the cheese and
the pork are the bait in the rat traps that he makes, so also the joys, the warmth, the
shelter and the comforts that life offers are the bait to trap humans in the huge rattrap
of the world. It gave him immense pleasure to ruminate about all his acquaintances
who had fallen into the trap. Though these were the thoughts of an embittered man
who envied those whose lot was better than his, yet the metaphor of the trap holds
some truth when one thinks about life. The more one has, the more one wants and
sometimes the reasons for wanting those things become secondary to the wants
themselves. Jealousy and rivalry are the corollary of material acquisitions and the only
motivation to possess things is to outdo another. The rattrap of the world entraps us
and we are so occupied with chasing the state of fulfillment that ever evades us that
we are again engulfed in despair and discontentment.