“The Rattrap” by Selma Lagerlof is an important chapter of Class 12 English (Flamingo Book). This story beautifully conveys themes of kindness, redemption, and human compassion. Here, you will find important questions and answers, NCERT solutions, and a short summary to help you prepare for exams effectively.
The Rattrap – Class 12
By Selma Lagerlöf
Lesson Summary
“The Rattrap” by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf is a philosophical, heartwarming story highlighting the theme that essential human goodness can be awakened in anyone through love, empathy, and unconditional kindness.
The story follows an impoverished vagabond peddler who makes and sells small wire rattraps. Because his business is not profitable, he also resorts to petty begging and thievery. One day, he muses that the entire world is nothing but a giant rattrap. Riches, food, and shelter are tempting baits; once a person touches the bait, the trap snaps shut, bringing ruin.
One cold evening, an old crofter gives him food, shelter, and tobacco, and shows him thirty kronor saved from selling milk. Succumbing to temptation the next morning, the peddler returns and steals the money. To avoid the police, he flees into a dense forest, only to become completely disoriented in the freezing darkness—realizing he has walked straight into his own rattrap.
Exhausted, he finds refuge at the Ramsjö Ironworks. The ironmaster mistakes him for an old regimental comrade, Captain Nils Olof, and invites him home for Christmas Eve. When daylight reveals the mistake, the ironmaster threatens to call the sheriff, but his daughter, Edla Willmansson, intervenes with compassion and insists on hosting him. Touched by Edla’s profound trust, warmth, and respect, the peddler’s conscience awakens. Before departing, he leaves the stolen thirty kronor to be returned to the crofter, along with a small rattrap gift for Edla, signed as “Captain von Stahle.”
Characters
The Peddler (The Tramp)
A destitute wanderer dressed in rags who sells handmade wire rattraps. Hardened by poverty and rejection, he views humanity with cynical amusement. However, beneath his rough exterior lies a redeemable conscience that is revived when Edla treats him with dignity and honor.
Edla Willmansson
The compassionate, kind, and observant daughter of the ironmaster. She lacks striking physical beauty but possesses deep emotional warmth and grace. Her steadfast empathy and refusal to turn away a destitute stranger even after his true identity is exposed catalyze the peddler’s moral redemption.
The Ironmaster
The proud, impulsive owner of the Ramsjö Ironworks. He desires to run a respectable establishment and mistakes the tramp for an old army comrade. Unlike his daughter, his hospitality is conditional and built on status; when he learns of the deception, he turns harsh and threatens legal action.
The Old Crofter
A lonely, hospitable old man living in a roadside cottage. Without a wife or child, he craves human company and welcomes the peddler warmly, sharing his porridge, tobacco, and private financial secrets, which the peddler later exploits.
10 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Who wrote the story “The Rattrap”?
Correct Answer: C) Selma Lagerlöf
2. What philosophical metaphor did the peddler think of while walking along the road?
Correct Answer: B) The world is a giant rattrap
3. How much money did the peddler steal from the old crofter’s leather pouch?
Correct Answer: B) Thirty kronor
4. Why did the peddler avoid the public highway after the theft?
Correct Answer: B) He feared being spotted and caught by the police
5. Who did the ironmaster mistake the peddler for?
Correct Answer: C) Captain Nils Olof, an old regimental comrade
6. Why did the peddler initially decline the ironmaster’s invitation to the manor house?
Correct Answer: B) Going there felt like throwing himself voluntarily into the lion’s den
7. When did the ironmaster realize his mistake about the peddler’s identity?
Correct Answer: B) The next morning in broad daylight after the peddler was washed and shaved
8. What shocking news did Edla and her father hear at church on Christmas morning?
Correct Answer: B) A rattrap peddler had robbed the old crofter
9. What gift did the peddler leave behind for Edla Willmansson?
Correct Answer: B) A small rattrap with three ten-kronor notes and a letter
10. How did the peddler sign his farewell letter to Edla?
Correct Answer: C) Captain von Stahle
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)
Q1. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
Ans: While walking along the road thinking about his rattraps, the idea struck him that the entire world was nothing but a huge rattrap. It offered riches, joy, shelter, food, and clothing in the exact same manner that a rattrap baited cheese and pork. As soon as anyone let themselves be tempted to touch the bait, the trap snapped shut, bringing everything to an end.
Q2. Why was the peddler amused by this idea?
Ans: The world had always treated the peddler with cold cruelty and unkindness. Entertaining the thought of the world as a trap gave him malicious pleasure, letting him gloat over people he knew who were already caught in the snare, and others who were still circling around the tempting bait.
Q3. Why did the crofter welcome the peddler so warmly into his cottage?
Ans: The old crofter lived all alone without a wife, children, or company. Being terribly lonely, he was genuinely happy to find someone to talk to and break his silence. He gladly shared his porridge, tobacco pipe, and a game of ‘mjölis’ with his unexpected guest.
Q4. How did the peddler betray the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
Ans: The crofter had proudly shown the peddler thirty kronor notes taken from a leather pouch hanging near the window. Half an hour after parting ways, the peddler returned, smashed the window pane, snatched the thirty kronor, hung the leather pouch back, and walked away with the stolen money.
Q5. What happened to the peddler after he took refuge in the woods?
Ans: To avoid being arrested on the highway, the peddler walked through the woods. Soon he got lost in the labyrinth of pathways that twisted back and forth. Walking aimlessly in freezing cold and total exhaustion, he realized the forest had closed in on him like an impenetrable prison and that he had fallen into a rattrap himself.
Q6. Why did the ironmaster mistake the peddler for his old friend?
Ans: In the dim, flickering furnace light and black soot of the forge, the peddler looked haggard, bearded, and unkempt. The ironmaster peered closely into his face and mistook him for Captain Nils Olof, an old regimental comrade who had resigned from service long ago.
Q7. Why did Edla plead with her father to let the peddler stay for Christmas?
Ans: Edla understood how miserable and chased-away the poor wanderer was all year round. She pointed out that they had invited him with promises of Christmas cheer, and turning him out into the bitter cold on Christmas Eve merely because of a misunderstanding went against true human kindness and hospitality.
Q8. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation to stay?
Ans: Unlike her father, Edla spoke to him with genuine gentleness and deep compassion. She noticed the terror in his eyes and assured him that he was completely free to leave whenever he wished. Her sincerity and non-judgmental respect gave him confidence to accept her invitation.
Q9. What did the peddler leave in the rattrap package for Edla, and why?
Ans: He left a small rattrap containing the stolen thirty kronor to be returned to the crofter, along with a heartfelt letter thanking Edla. He explained that her elevated treatment of him as an honorable captain inspired him to behave with dignity, enabling him to escape the world’s rattrap without losing his soul.
Q10. Why did the peddler sign the letter as “Captain von Stahle”?
Ans: Edla had treated him with the dignity and respect befitting a true captain, even after learning he was a vagabond. To honor that faith and demonstrate that he had risen above petty thievery to live up to the highest standards of integrity, he signed his letter as Captain von Stahle.
Long Q1. How does the story ‘The Rattrap’ highlight the redemptive power of love and compassion?
Ans: Selma Lagerlöf’s “The Rattrap” demonstrates that love, trust, and unconditional kindness possess the power to reform even a hardened soul. The peddler lived a bitter existence, marginalized by society and forced into begging and petty theft. He expected hostility from everyone, and in return, harbored a cynical view of humanity. Although the crofter showed him hospitality, the peddler still succumbed to greed and robbed him. The ironmaster’s hospitality was superficial, based on mistaken identity, and vanished instantly upon learning the truth. However, Edla’s treatment of him was pure and altruistic. Even knowing his humble and dubious reality, she insisted on showing him warmth and dignity on Christmas Eve. Treated like an honorable captain rather than a criminal, the peddler felt compelled to honor her trust. Her unconditional compassion awakened his dormant conscience, driving him to return the stolen thirty kronor and walk out of life’s moral trap a reformed man.
Long Q2. Describe the peddler’s experience in the forest after stealing the crofter’s money. How did it validate his philosophical theory of the rattrap?
Ans: After pocketing the crofter’s thirty kronor, the peddler was initially quite pleased with his cleverness. However, aware that walking along the public highway invited immediate arrest, he diverted into the dense woods. Initially, the trek caused no trouble, but deeper inside, the forest became a terrifying maze of crisscrossing paths. He walked continuously without coming to the edge, realizing that he had merely been walking in circles within the same patch of woods. Darkness closed in, bringing cold and gloom. Utterly exhausted and sinking to the frozen ground, he recognized his bitter irony: he had let himself be baited by the thirty kronor, and now the great world-trap had snapped shut around him. The tangled trunks, branches, and thickets seemed like impenetrable iron bars from which there was no escape. This harrowing experience physically and emotionally validated his theory, proving that greed transforms the world into a lethal cage.
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