The Rattrap
Class XII
Good season - early morning -
Thickets - bushes- झाड़ियाँ
Impenetrable - impossible to pass - अभेद्य
Thumping - beating sound - थपथपाने की ध्वनि
Staggered - walk unsteadily - अस्थिर रूप से चलना
Barges - boat - नौकाओं
Perspiration - sweating - पसीना
Shovelled - Coal moved with shovel- फावड़ा मे लेना
Eased his eye - move slowly - धीरे चलना
Slouch - hat - टोपी
Embarrassed - ashamed, shy - शर्मिंदा
Persuasion - To make someone agree - मनाना
Tramp manner - bad behaviour - बुरा आदत
Groomed - cleaned - साफ
Puckered brow - anger - गुस्सा
Dissimulate - pretend - बहाना करना
Sheriff - police
Mumbled - said silently - धीरे बोलना
Parson - church man - पादरी
Befall - happen bad - घटित होना
Dejectedly - sad - उदास
Wagon - vehicle -
Valet- servant - नौकर
Jagged- bad handwriting
[Link] did the peddler derive pleasure from his idea of the world as a rattrap?
Ans- The peddler derived pleasure from his idea of the world as a rattrap because people had never
been kind to the poor peddler. He thought that people ran behind bait would be trapped one-day. He
also thought to keep himself away from bait while wandering on road.
2 Why did the peddler knock on the cottage by the roadside? How was he treated by the owner of the
cottage?
Ans The peddler knocked on the cottage by the roadside to seek shelter for the night. The owner of the
cottage, a crofter, treated the peddler as a guest, giving him food, playing cards with him and putting
him up for the night.
3 What hospitality did the peddler receive from the crofter?
Ans- Unlike the indifferent attitude of the others towards him, the peddler was whole heartedly
welcomed by the crofter in his cottage. The crofter at once put the porridge pot on the fire and gave him
supper. He gave him a roll of tobacco for his pipe. He also played a game of cards with him.
4 What do we learn about the crofter's nature from the story, The rattrap?
Ans The crofter was a lonely person without wife or child. He was happy to get someone to talk to in his
loneliness. He was also generous and trusting person because he hosted the peddler for a night and
even showed him where he had kept his money.
5 Why did the crofter show the thirty kronor to the peddler?
Ans The crofter showed the thirty kronor to the peddler just to share his joy of earning thirty kronor in a
month and also because he suspected that his guest did not seem to believe him.
6 Who was the owner of Ramsjö iron mills? Why did he visit the mills at night?
Ans- The owner of the Ramsjö iron mills was an ambitious and prominent ironmaster. He insisted on
quality and was very particular about his reputation. He visited the mills at night to make sure that good
iron was shipped out from his mills to the market.
7 Why did the stranger not tell the ironmaster that he was not Nils Olof?
Ans -The stranger did not tell the ironmaster that he was not Nils Olof because he thought that if the
gentleman believed that he was an old friend or acquaintance of his. then he might take pity on him and
help him by giving him some money.
8 Edla sat and hung her head even more dejectedly than usual. Which two reasons forced her to
behave in that manner?
Ans-Edla had shown kindness to the peddler even after knowing that he was not a captain. This was the
reason why she felt all the more dejected when she came to know that the peddler was actually a thief
who had recently robbed a crofter. She felt that she had done wrong in offering shelter to a thief.
Secondly, she also felt bad because the peddler had not measured up to the faith which she had shown
in him.
9 What conclusion did the ironmaster reach when he heard that the crofter had been robbed by the
peddler?
Ans- When the ironmaster heard that the crofter had been robbed by the peddler, he concluded that
the peddler would probably steal all the silver cutlery in the ironmaster's home and run away.
10-What were the contents of the package left by the peddler as a Christmas gift for Edla
Willmansson?
Ans- The package left by the peddler as a Christmas gift for Edla Willmansson contained a rattrap, thirty
kronor in crumpled notes (robbed from the crofter) and a brief note for her explaining his conduct.
11 What was the content of the letter written by the paddler to Edla?
Ans -The contents of the letter written by the peddler to Edla were that, as he had been treated as if he
was a captain, he wanted to be nice to them in return. Thus he requested the crofter's money (left with
the note) to be returned to him. He wrote that he had left the rattrap as a Christmas present to her, as
she had inspired him to reform himself.