The Rattrap Reading Comprehension Questions&Answers NCERT Solutions Class 12 English

Notice these expressions in the text of The Rattrap. Infer their meaning from the context.

Critical Analysis of Important phrases of The Rattrap will help you to understand the main theme, character, and the plot of the story of The Rattrap.

a man who went around selling small rattraps of wire.
the business was not especially profitable, so he had to resort to both begging and petty thievery to keep body and soul together:

Explanation: The man was a peddler who was selling small rattraps to manage his life, but unfortunately, the business was a total loss.

Even so, his clothes were in rags, his cheeks were sunken, and hunger gleamed in his eyes.

Explanation: The peddler was a poor man.

how sad and monotonous life can appear to such a vagabond, But one day this man had fallen into a line of thought, that seemed to him entertaining. He had naturally been thinking of his rattraps when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole world with its lands and seas, its cities and villages — was nothing but a big rattrap.

Explanation: The world is like a rattrap and we are all trapped in it.

“It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat
and clothing, exactly as the rattrap offered cheese and
pork, and as soon as anyone let himself be tempted to
touch the bait, it closed in on him, and then everything
came to an end.”

Explanation: Selma Lagerlof explains her idea that a bad man can be turned into a good human being if we treat the person with a human touch. The world is made for rich people who offer bait and poor people are caught in rattrap.

“The world had, of course, never been very kind to him,
so it gave him an unwonted joy to think ill of it in this way”

Explanation: The world never healthily treated the vagabond and therefore, he turned into a thief.

“One dark evening as he was trudging along the road
he caught sight of a little gray cottage by the roadside, and
he knocked on the door to ask for shelter for the night. Nor
was he refused. Instead of the sour faces which ordinarily
met him, the owner, who was an old man without a wife or
child, was happy to get someone to talk to in his loneliness.
Explanation: The crofter was living alone so, he wanted someone to talk to him. Therefore, he welcomed the peddler and offered him food and shelter.

“Yes, that bossy was
extraordinary. She could give milk for the creamery every
day, and last month he had received all of thirty kronor in
payment.”

Explanation: The cow was healthy and a source of income for the crofter.

“But half an hour later the
rattrap peddler stood again before
the door. He did not try to get in,
however. He only went up to the window, smashed a pane,
stuck it in his hand, and got hold of the pouch with the
thirty kronor. He took the money and thrust it into his
pocket.”

Explanation: The peddler came back and stole the money.

“He realized, of course,
that at first, he dared not continue on the public highway,
but must turn off the road, into the woods. During the
first hours, this caused him no difficulty” All at once he recalled