The rattrap
The story begins with a rattrap peddler who is in a rugged condition. He
is dressed in rags and is very frail and looks starved. We learn he has no
home and sometimes even begs and steals to survive in the world. He
leads a lonely life with no one to care about him. One fine day, it strikes
to him that this whole world is a rattrap itself. If we touch it, it will trap
us and never let us go. He goes on to think that there are people out
there who are already in this rattrap and reaching for the bait. On one
cold evening, he reaches at a cottage to ask for shelter. An old crofter
lived in that cottage who took in the peddler.
The crofter needed company so he welcomes the peddler. He gives him
hot food and even tobacco to smoke. They play cards and start talking.
The peddler learns that the crofter got thirty kronor for selling his cow
which he keeps in a pouch on the window frame. The peddler leaves the
next day but after seeing the crofter leave his cottage, he comes back to
steal the pouch of money.
After stealing it, he takes the woods to remain unsuspected. In the
wood, the peddler meets an ironmaster who mistakes him to be his old
comrade. He invites him over for Christmas but he refuses. After that,
the ironmaster’s daughter, Edla visits him and insists him to stay with
them. In between, he feels sorry for stealing the crofter’s money. They
help the peddler get a makeover and dress him in nice clothes and shave
his beard off. After this, the ironmaster realizes he has made a mistake;
the peddler was not his comrade.
The story begins with a rattrap peddler who is in a rugged condition. He
is dressed in rags and is very frail and looks starved. We learn he has no
home and sometimes even begs and steals to survive in the world. He
leads a lonely life with no one to care about him. One fine day, it strikes
to him that this whole world is a rattrap itself. If we touch it, it will trap
us and never let us go. He goes on to think that there are people out
there who are already in this rattrap and reaching for the bait. On one
cold evening, he reaches at a cottage to ask for shelter. An old crofter
lived in that cottage who took in the peddler.
The crofter needed company so he welcomes the peddler. He gives him
hot food and even tobacco to smoke. They play cards and start talking.
The peddler learns that the crofter got thirty kronor for selling his cow
which he keeps in a pouch on the window frame. The peddler leaves the
next day but after seeing the crofter leave his cottage, he comes back to
steal the pouch of money.
After stealing it, he takes the woods to remain unsuspected. In the
wood, the peddler meets an ironmaster who mistakes him to be his old
comrade. He invites him over for Christmas but he refuses. After that,
the ironmaster’s daughter, Edla visits him and insists him to stay with
them. In between, he feels sorry for stealing the crofter’s money. They
help the peddler get a makeover and dress him in nice clothes and shave
his beard off. After this, the ironmaster realizes he has made a mistake;
the peddler was not his comrade.
