MAIN CHARACTERS
1. RATTRAP SELLER /PEDDLER
2. OLD CROFTER ( a person who rents and works a small farm, especially in Scotland or northern England. )
3. MASTER SMITH ( HELPER IN RAMSJO IRON MILL)
4. IRON MASTER ( OWNER OF IRON MILL)
5. EDLA Daughter Of Iron Master
Summary
A Man Went Round Selling Small Rattraps Of Wire. His Business Was Not Profitable. He Had To Take Begging Or Small Thieving Sometimes. His Clothes Were In Rags Cheeks Were Sunken Hungry Eyes
One Day He Began To Think That The Whole World Was Just A Big Rattrap. Riches , Joys, Foods, Cloths And Shelter Are Just Baits.
One Day He Knocked On The Door Of A Cottage To Take Night Shelter There. Old Man Without Wife Or Child. Happy To Get Someone To Talk To In His Loneliness.
The Old Man Greeted Him And Offered Him Shelter And Supper. Then They Both Played Mjolis.Serves Porridge Tells Peddler About His Prosperous Past.The Old Man Got Up And Went To The Window.He Took Down A Leather Pouch And Stuffed Three Wrinkled Ten Kronor.
Next Morning Both Of Them Left The Cottage At The Same Time. But After Half An Hour The Peddler Came Back To The Cottage. He Smashed The Pane Of Window And Took Out Thirty Kronors From The Pouch.
In Order To Escape Being Caught, The Peddler Took His Way Through A Forest. But It Was A Confusing Forest. By Evening, He Found That He Had Been Roaming About The Same Place From Where He Had Started. He Was Feeling Dead Tired. The Peddler Recalled The Thirty Kronor In His Pocket.
He Thought About The World As A Rattrap. Now He Thought That His Own Turn Had Come. Time Of Late December Evening. Getting Dark And He Was Afraid. Suddenly, He Heard The Sound Of Hammer Strokes Coming From An Iron Mill. He Got Up And Walked In The Direction Of The Sound.
It Was A Forge Of The Ramsjo Ironworks. The Master Smith Allowed Him To Stay There And Warm Himself. He Was In Wet Rags And Had A Long Beard. Ironmaster Came On His Nightly Inspection.
When He Looked At The Stranger Closely, He Took Him For An Old Regimental Acquaintance. "Captain Von Stahle" He Pressed Him Hard To Go With Him To His House. But The Peddler Felt Embarrassed And He Refused Him. At The End Ironmaster Went Away.
A Carriage Stopped At The Forge Door. It Was The Ironmaster's Daughter Who Had Been Sent By Her Father To Fetch The Peddler. She Was Kind And Friendly She Was Able To Win The Peddler's Confidence. She Wanted Him To Give Them Company On The Christmas Eve.
The Peddler Was Given Bath. A Servant Cut His Hair And Shaved Him. He Was Wearing Ironmaster's Clothes. The Ironmaster Looked At Him In The Broad Daylight. He Realized His Mistake. Iron Master Became Angry Ordered Him To Get Out. The ironmaster's daughter told her father -That she wanted the peddler to enjoy the day of peace with them.There was not a single place in country where he was welcomed and here, she wanted to have him in their house. In the evening Christmas tree was lighted and peddler was served Christmas fish and porridge.
The Next Morning Ironmaster And His Daughter Went To Church. Peddler Was Still Asleep And They Didn't Disturb Him. At The Church They Heard A News That An Old Crofter Had Been Robbed By A Man Selling Rattraps. They Returned Home And Thought That Peddler Must Have Run Away With Their Money.The Iron Master Asked The Servant If The Peddler Was Still There Or Not? The Peddler Had Gone But Not Taken Anything With Him.
The Iron Master Asked The Servant If The Peddler Was Still There Or Not? The Peddler Had Gone But Not Taken Anything With Him. Instead He Had Left A Small Packet For The Edla As A Christmas Present. She Found A Small Rattrap And Three Wrinkled Ten Kronors And A Letter In It.
The Letter Said,
"Since You Have Been So Nice To Me All Day Long, I Want To Be Nice To You. You Can Give Back The Money To The Oldman On The Roadside. The Rattrap Is A Christmas Present From A Rat Who Would Have Been Caught In The World's Rattrap. He signs the letter as “Captain von Stahle,” embracing the identity that Edla had helped him believe in. By signing the letter as “Captain von Stahle,” the peddler symbolically adopts a new identity—one of honor and integrity.
This new identity represents the peddler’s transformation from a cynical, downtrodden man into someone capable of change and redemption.
