THE RATTRAP
SELMA LAGERLOF
• Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940) was a Swedish writer whose stories have
been translated into many languages. This story is set in the middle of
the mines of Sweden which are rich in iron ore. The story is narrated
in the manner of a fairy tale. It gives us the message that the emotions
of love and acceptance can reform others. When Selma Lagerlöf
(1858–1940) became the first woman to win the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1909
•
• The Rattrap is a story about a rattrap seller who leads a very poor life
as his earnings are very low. He has to resort to thievery and begging
to make both ends meet.
• He is alone in this whole world and leads a miserable life. So he starts
knitting up various kinds of thoughts. One of these thoughts is of
supposing the whole world as a big rattrap.
Every night, the peddler had to search for shelter as he has no home.
One evening he was offered shelter by an old crofter. The next
morning he stole the crofter’s money which he had earned by selling
his cow’s milk.
• To safeguard himself, the peddler chose the path through the forest which
was secluded, but soon found himself trapped in the forest as he wasn’t able
to find the way out of the dense forest. Later on, he finds a way to a forge
and takes shelter there. Something unusual happens. The ironmaster
mistakes him as an old friend and invites him to his house. The poor peddler
rejects the offer due to the fear of being caught. Soon he is invited by the
ironmaster‘s daughter. The next morning he is somehow stopped by the
ironmaster’s daughter for Christmas Eve even after being caught that he was
a peddler and not Captain Stalhe.
• The next day after Christmas, when the iron master and his daughter visit
the church, they come to know that the man is a thief who had stolen
money from the old crofter. The iron master and his daughter repent for
sheltering a thief and wonder at what all things he would have stolen by
that time. Here comes a twist as instead of stealing, the peddler gifts the
ironmaster’s daughter a rattrap. She finds a letter of thanks and the stolen
money inside the rattrap. The peddler thanks Edla for her kindness and
requests her to return the stolen money to the crofter. This story gives us
the message that goodness in a human being can be awakened at any time
with your own good deeds.
VOCABULARY
• mjolis: a game played with playing cards
• Bait: Food placed on a hook to trap a rat, here it is referred to the comforts of
life, which is offered to trap someone
• Vagabond: wanderer
Snare: trap
• Crofter: A person who works on a rented farm
• Kronor: Currency of Sweden
• Peddler: seller
Forge: A shop where metal is heated
• Barge: a long flat-bottomed boat for carrying freight on canals and rivers.
Scow: a flat-bottomed boat used for transporting cargo to and from ships in
harbor.
• Rolling mill: machine to roll metal into sheets
•
Anvil: a heavy iron block with a flat top and concave sides
Perspiration: sweat
• Sooty panes: window panes covered in soot ( black powder produced when
coal, wood etc is burned.
• Ragamuffin: A person in rags
• Slouch hat: hat bend on one side of the head.
• Manor house: A large country house
Comrade: A fellow soldier
Alarmed: Frighten
Inconspicuously: invisible or which is not noticeable
Valet: personal attendant
• Parson: Churchman
• Regiment: unit in the army or defence forces
MANOR HOUSE
PORRIDGE
PLAYING CARDS