Class 12 English · Original EZT practice
The Rattrap - Selma Lagerlof (Class 12 English, Flamingo, Chapter 4)
The Rattrap is Chapter 4 of Class 12 Flamingo (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 32-44), Selma Lagerlof's Swedish tale of a wandering peddler who sells small wire rattraps and decides the whole world is one big trap, baited with 'riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing'. When he steals an old crofter's thirty kronor, the trap seems to close on him - until an ironmaster's mistake and his daughter Edla's Christmas kindness give one 'rat' the power to clear himself. This page gives a full summary, characters, theme, word meanings and fresh practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - the bait, the theft, the Christmas kindness
A man goes around selling small wire rattraps, but the business is not profitable, so he must beg and steal 'to keep body and soul together'; his clothes are in rags and 'hunger gleamed in his eyes'. One day the thought strikes him that the whole world 'was nothing but a big rattrap', offering 'riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing' like cheese and pork in a trap; since the world had never been kind to him, thinking ill of it gives him 'unwonted joy'. One dark evening he knocks at a little gray cottage. The old crofter, happy for company, gives him supper, tobacco and a game of 'mjolis', and confides that his cow paid him 'all of thirty kronor' last month - showing the guest the three wrinkled ten-kronor bills from the leather pouch by the window. The next morning the peddler returns half an hour after they part, smashes a window pane, takes the money, and carefully hangs the pouch back in its place. Avoiding the highway, he loses himself in a big confusing forest, walking in circles until he recalls his rattrap idea: 'Now his own turn had come.' Sinking down in despair, he hears 'a hard regular thumping' - the hammer strokes of an iron mill - and staggers toward the sound. At the Ramsjö forge the master blacksmith 'nodded a haughty consent' to let him stay. The ironmaster, on his nightly round, peers at the stranger and cries, 'But of course it is you, Nils Olof!' The peddler does not undeceive him, hoping for a few kronor - but refuses the invitation to the manor, thinking of the stolen money: it would be 'throwing himself voluntarily into the lion's den'. The ironmaster sends his daughter. Edla Willmansson notices the man is afraid but promises, 'You may be sure, Captain, that you will be allowed to leave us just as freely as you came.' Won by her friendly manner, the peddler follows her - with 'evil forebodings'. Next morning, washed and dressed in the ironmaster's suit, the stranger is recognised in 'broad daylight' as no captain at all. He answers, 'I never pretended to be anything but a poor trader', and warns that the whole world is a rattrap whose baits drag a poor fellow into trouble. The ironmaster laughs and orders him out. Edla closes the door and intercedes: the stranger walks the whole year unwelcome everywhere, and she wants him to 'enjoy a day of peace with us here - just one in the whole year'. The ironmaster gives in: 'You do preach worse than a parson.' The peddler sleeps through Christmas Eve, woken only for the Christmas fare and the lighted tree; Edla tells him the suit is a Christmas present and he will be welcomed back next year. On Christmas morning the church congregation learns a rattrap peddler robbed an old crofter. But the valet reports the guest has taken nothing - he has left a little package for Edla: a small rattrap holding the three wrinkled ten-kronor notes and a letter asking her to return the money 'to the old man on the roadside'. It is signed 'Captain von Stahle' - 'a rat who would have been caught in this world's rattrap if he had not been raised to captain, because in that way he got power to clear himself.'
2. Characters
The rattrap peddler: a homeless vagabond who makes wire rattraps 'at odd moments' and resorts to begging and petty thievery; his pet idea is that the whole world is a big rattrap, and his own theft puts him inside it. The old crofter of Ramsjö Ironworks: a lonely, childless host who shares porridge, tobacco, cards and confidences - including the leather pouch with his thirty kronor - and is robbed for his trust. The ironmaster: owner of the Ramsjö mill, whose 'greatest ambition was to ship out good iron'; he mistakes the tramp for an old regimental comrade, Captain von Stahle, and will not take no for an answer. Edla Willmansson: the ironmaster's eldest daughter, 'not at all pretty, but seemed modest and quite shy'; she suspects the stranger yet persuades him to come, and insists on keeping him even after the truth is known. The master blacksmith and his helper, the valet, the sheriff (mentioned): the forge-world and law that frame the peddler's Christmas Eve.
3. Theme and word meanings
The world as rattrap: riches, joys, shelter and food are the bait; the peddler's philosophy is tested when he himself is 'fooled by a bait' - and disproved by kindness freely given. Essential goodness awakened by love: Edla's trust, not the ironmaster's charity, raises the 'rat' to a captain - understanding and love, the author's universal theme, redeem him. Loneliness and human bond: the crofter's talkativeness, the ironmaster's wish for Christmas company, and Edla's wish to give one unwelcome man 'a day of peace' all answer the same hunger. Textbook-flagged expressions, explained: keep body and soul together - to earn just enough to stay alive; plod - to walk slowly and heavily, as if weary; hunger gleamed in his eyes - his eyes shone with a hungry look; unwonted joy - an unusual, unaccustomed happiness; nodded a haughty consent - agreed with a proud, condescending nod; fallen into a line of thought - begun following a particular train of thought.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Weigh the peddler's life
Choose the method: Traps made at odd moments.
EZT practice question
How did the peddler make his rattraps, and what was his daily life like?
Show the worked solution
- He made the small wire rattraps himself, 'at odd moments', from material he begged in stores or at farms.
- The trade was not profitable - so begging and petty thievery sat beside it.
- His condition shows it: clothes in rags, cheeks sunken, and 'hunger gleamed in his eyes'.
Answer: He made them himself 'at odd moments' from material begged in stores or at farms; the trade was not profitable, so he resorted to begging and petty thievery; his clothes were in rags, his cheeks sunken, and 'hunger gleamed in his eyes'.
Check: The making (odd moments, begged material), the failing trade, and the visible hunger.
Watch for this: Do not call him a professional thief - thievery is a fallback of the failed trade, which is what makes the rattrap idea tempting.
Now try it yourself
What thought about the world strikes the peddler one day?
Check your answer
That the whole world 'was nothing but a big rattrap', baited with 'riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing.'
His own hunger writes the philosophy - and the philosophy licenses the theft.
Trace the forest turn
Choose the method: The trapper trapped.
EZT practice question
Lost in the forest after the theft, how does the peddler escape his despair?
Show the worked solution
- Avoiding the highway with the stolen kronor, he turns into a big, confusing forest and walks in circles.
- His own idea returns against him: the world is a rattrap, the thirty kronor the bait - 'Now his own turn had come.'
- As he sinks down thinking his last moment has come, he hears 'a hard regular thumping' - hammer strokes from an iron mill - and staggers toward the sound of people.
Answer: As he sinks down thinking his last moment has come, he hears 'a hard regular thumping' - the hammer strokes from an iron mill - gathers his strength, and staggers toward the sound of people.
Check: The circles, the rattrap idea turned on himself, the hammer strokes that lead him out.
Watch for this: Do not make the forest a real prison - he is lost by his own choice of hiding, which is the point of the metaphor.
Now try it yourself
Why does the peddler avoid the public highway after the theft?
Check your answer
He knows the theft will be discovered and does not want to be caught - so he turns into the forest, where he loses his way.
The escape route becomes the trap.
Read the forge welcome
Choose the method: A nod, not a word.
EZT practice question
How is the peddler received at the Ramsjö forge?
Show the worked solution
- Vagabonds often came to the forge to warm themselves - so his arrival is nothing new.
- The blacksmiths glance at him 'casually and indifferently'.
- The master blacksmith 'nodded a haughty consent without honouring him with a single word' - permission, but no welcome.
Answer: The blacksmiths glance at him 'casually and indifferently' - poor vagabonds often came to warm themselves - and the master blacksmith 'nodded a haughty consent without honouring him with a single word'.
Check: The routine of warming vagabonds, the indifferent glances, the haughty nod.
Watch for this: Do not confuse the blacksmiths' indifference with the ironmaster's warmth - the contrast between forge and manor is where the story turns.
Now try it yourself
What does the ironmaster cry when he peers at the stranger?
Check your answer
'But of course it is you, Nils Olof!' - he mistakes the peddler for an old regimental comrade, Captain von Stahle.
The mistake opens the door the peddler is afraid to walk through.
Explain the silence
Choose the method: A few kronor's worth of pretending.
EZT practice question
When the ironmaster mistakes him for an old comrade, why does the peddler not correct him at once?
Show the worked solution
- He had never met the ironmaster and is no captain - but the mistake might pay.
- His reasoning: if the fine gentleman thinks him an old acquaintance, 'he might perhaps throw him a couple of kronor'.
- So he plays along: 'Yes, God knows things have gone downhill with me' - yet refuses the manor invitation, since with stolen money on him it would be 'throwing himself voluntarily into the lion's den'.
Answer: It occurs to him that if the fine gentleman thinks he is an old acquaintance, 'he might perhaps throw him a couple of kronor' - so he plays along: 'Yes, God knows things have gone downhill with me.'
Check: The hoped-for kronor, the played-along reply, and the refused invitation with its lion's-den reason.
Watch for this: Do not say he embraces the fraud fully - he takes the small lie but refuses the big room; fear still rules him.
Now try it yourself
Who finally persuades the peddler to come to the manor, and how?
Check your answer
Edla Willmansson - she notices his fear and promises he may leave 'just as freely as you came.'
Only a promise of freedom wins the trapped man.
Account for Christmas Eve
Choose the method: Sleep, food, a lighted tree.
EZT practice question
How does the peddler spend Christmas Eve day at the manor?
Show the worked solution
- He does nothing but sleep - 'for many years he had not been able to sleep as quietly and safely as here at Ramsjö'.
- He is woken only for the Christmas fare, then for the lighted Christmas tree, and again in the evening for fish and porridge.
- He also learns that the ironmaster's suit he wears is a Christmas present - and that he will be welcomed back next Christmas.
Answer: He does nothing but sleep - 'for many years he had not been able to sleep as quietly and safely as here at Ramsjö' - woken only for the Christmas fare, the lighted tree, and the evening fish and porridge; he learns the suit he wears is a Christmas present.
Check: The deep safe sleep, the three wakings, the gift of the suit.
Watch for this: Do not turn Christmas Eve into a conversation - its gift is precisely unearned rest, which is what the theft never gave him.
Now try it yourself
What does Edla tell him about next year?
Check your answer
That he will be welcomed back to spend next Christmas Eve with them.
The promise of a place next year is the dignity he takes away with him.
Open the package
Choose the method: A rattrap for a gift.
EZT practice question
What does the valet report on Christmas morning, and what is in the package left for Edla?
Show the worked solution
- The valet reports the guest has gone - and has taken nothing with him.
- He left a small, badly wrapped package for Edla.
- Inside: a little rattrap holding the three wrinkled ten-kronor notes, and a letter asking her to give the money back 'to the old man on the roadside' - signed 'Captain von Stahle'.
Answer: The stranger has gone and taken nothing; he left a small, badly wrapped package - a rattrap holding the three wrinkled ten-kronor notes and a letter asking her to give the money back 'to the old man on the roadside', signed 'Captain von Stahle'.
Check: Nothing taken, the package, the rattrap with the notes and the signature.
Watch for this: Do not say the peddler returns the money himself - he entrusts the return to Edla, whose kindness made the return possible.
Now try it yourself
How does the letter explain the signature 'Captain von Stahle'?
Check your answer
He was 'a rat who would have been caught in this world's rattrap if he had not been raised to captain, because in that way he got power to clear himself.'
The borrowed rank becomes real in the only way that matters.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. The peddler's philosophy?
Show answer and reason
The whole world is a big rattrap, baited with 'riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing.'
His own hunger writes the metaphor.
2. What leads him out of the forest?
Show answer and reason
'A hard regular thumping' - the hammer strokes of the Ramsjö iron mill.
The sound of people pulls him out of despair.
3. Why doesn't he correct the ironmaster?
Show answer and reason
He hopes the fine gentleman 'might perhaps throw him a couple of kronor.'
A small lie for small money.
4. The package for Edla?
Show answer and reason
A rattrap with the three ten-kronor notes and a letter signed 'Captain von Stahle.'
Raised to captain, he gained power to clear himself.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Explain in two sentences how the rattrap idea turns against the peddler in the forest.
- Contrast the reception at the forge with the reception at the manor, quoting one phrase for each.
- List what Edla does that the ironmaster does not, and say in one line why it changes the peddler.
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Questions about this practice page
- Who wrote The Rattrap and what is it about?
- Selma Lagerlof (1858-1940), a Swedish writer; a rattrap peddler steals from a kind old crofter and is himself nearly trapped, until the kindness of Edla Willmansson lets him 'clear himself' - the author's theme that essential goodness can be awakened through understanding and love.
- What is the rattrap metaphor in the story?
- The peddler imagines 'the whole world with its lands and seas, its cities and villages' as 'nothing but a big rattrap', set with baits of 'riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing' - touch the bait, and the trap closes.
- Whom does the ironmaster mistake the peddler for?
- An old regimental comrade, Captain von Stahle ('Nils Olof'); only in 'broad daylight' the next morning, when the stranger stands washed and shaved, does the ironmaster see his mistake.
- How does The Rattrap end?
- The peddler leaves without taking anything; behind him stays a Christmas present for Edla - a rattrap containing the stolen thirty kronor and a letter signed 'Captain von Stahle', from 'a rat who would have been caught in this world's rattrap if he had not been raised to captain'.
- Where is The Rattrap in the Class 12 book?
- Chapter 4 of the Flamingo core-course textbook (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 32-44), by Selma Lagerlof.