The Rat trap
There was a poor man who sold rat-traps and earned his livelihood. His income from the traps was not enough. So he also begged and stole petty things at times. He was not a born thief as no man is. Necessity compelled him in the petty thieving. He used to sleep at night in the houses of people if someone allowed him or some places like factories like Ramsjo Iron-Works. Once an idea struck him that the world is like a rat-trap full of temptations to trap men. If a man is tempted by the baits of wealth, power, etc. he is trapped like a rat in a rat trap. The man selling rat-traps lived a poor life without enough food or shelter. So he looked upon the world in the light of his own sufferings. Once he took shelter in the house of a man who was the crofter in Ramsjo Iron-Works. The man was lonely without any family. He welcomed the rat-trap man as he would get rid of his loneliness at least for a night.
The crofter told him about his life and showed him the thirty kronor that the crofter had kept near the window. Initially he was happy to get the money but very soon the rat trap began to work. He feared detection and avoided the highway. He walked through the forest and lost his way there. He then saw the forge of the Ramsjo Iron-Works and went there to spend the night near the forge. At that time, the iron-master, the owner of the factory, came in. The iron-master by mistake thought him to be his old friend, Nils Olof, with whom he had served in the regiment. To help his friend fallen on bad days, he invited the peddler to his house. The rat-trap man or peddler realized that the iron-master was making a mistake but he did not correct him in the hope that he might help him a little. But he did not like to go into his house as he feared that he might be exposed and detected. But the kind-hearted daughter of the iron-master Edla Willmansson was too compassionate and loving to be resisted. She suspected even that the man might have committed some crime. But she ignored that and thought that the man, always haunted by fear and security, must have lived a miserable life. She wanted to give him at least a night�s peace and security. She assured the peddler that in her house, he would be safe from ant interference and he would be free to leave anytime. She persuaded him to be her guest on the Christmas Eve. The genuine compassion of Edla gave the man a sense of peace and security. He slept all the while as if he wanted to make up for the sleepless nights he had spent throughout his life. He ate the Christmas delicacies. The daughter gave him the suit that he was given to wear and she invited him to the next Christmas and assured him of secrecy and security. The rat-trap man was overwhelmed. The next morning, he left the manor house. But before leaving, he left the packet containing the thirty kronor of the crofter. He wrote a letter to Edla asking her to return the money to the crofter. He wrote that she had treated him with respect as if he was a real captain. She had treated him as a man and not as a thief. That genuine regard had induced him to be a better man and giving up stealing. Thus, the genuine compassion and kindness of Edla changed the life of a thief and turned him to a better man. GENERAL DETAILS
Characters
There was a poor man who went selling rattraps that he made himself. He had no family. He was not educated. He led an indecent life. He even stole to survive. A new idea! Thinking about the rattraps once he caught glimpse of a new philosophy: The whole world is a rattrap and all the riches are the baits that attract the human rats into it. He loved this idea and watched the rich people getting into this rattrap of the world. First trap This was what had happened with him: One evening he knocked at the door of a house and the owner, an old man, welcomed him happily. The old man was once a crofter and had no family. He earned his living by selling his cow’s milk. The peddler and the crofter spent that night like friends but in the morning the peddler stole the crofter’s investments – thirty cronors – and left. Second trap On the way he decided to take the road through the forest to avoid police and lost his way in the confusing forest. He fell down and thought his end had come. He realized he too was in a rattrap. While lying down, the peddler heard the sounds from an iron mill. He got up with all his strength and walked to that direction. He reached an iron mill and took shelter near the fire inside the mill and soon fell asleep. Again Traps While the peddler was sleeping the owner of the mill happened to reach there. The Iron-master came close to him and noticed his face and suddenly misunderstood him to be his lost regimental friend Nils Olof, a captain in the army. The Iron-master woke him up and asked him to come home with him. Though this misunderstanding would have helped the peddler to get some money, he refused to go with the Iron-master out of fear and suspicion. The Iron-master gave up and went home and sent his daughter to persuade the peddler. The daughter, Edla Willmansson, came to the mill and with her innocent, loving words and manner, took the peddler home. False Identity Next morning the peddler was washed, shaved and dressed and brought to the presence of the Iron-master. To the Iron-master’s horror, he noticed that the peddler was not his friend and he realized his mistake. He asked the peddler to get out of his home. But the Iron-master’s daughter was a good person. She felt sympathy for the peddler and requested her father to allow him stay for Christmas that day. The Iron-master unwillingly complied to his daughter and the peddler was allowed to stay for Christmas. The whole day and night he ate and slept. He was never before so much happy, so much at peace, so much fed. He felt important. He distinguished between the dirty life of a peddler and the decent life of a respected captain. He wished to be a decent, respected man. Thief in the village! Next morning the Iron-master and his daughter went to the church, leaving the peddler at home with the servants. In the church they heard a bad news from the crofter that a peddler selling rattraps stole his hard earned 30 Cronors. Father and daughter immediately returned from the church and reached home fearing that the peddler would have robbed their house. Peddler becomes captain They reached home and saw that the peddler had gone. They were given no shock. They were greatly surprised to see that the peddler had not taken anything from their home and that he had left a rattrap as a gift for Edla and the money he had stolen from the crofter and a letter revealing his change. SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
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