The Rattrap

The thirty kronor from the leather pouch

After leaving the cottage, the peddler returned, smashed a window pane, and stole the thirty kronor from the leather pouch that hung in the window frame.

He got lost and walked in circles, He felt trapped like in a rattrap, He was tired and despairing

In the forest, the peddler got lost and walked in circles, realized he was trapped like in his own rattrap metaphor, and became tired and despairing, thinking his last moment had come.

A prominent ironmaster

The story states that the Ramsjo iron mill was owned by a very prominent ironmaster whose greatest ambition was to ship out good iron to the market.

He mistook him for an old army comrade named Nils Olof

The ironmaster mistook the peddler for his old regimental comrade Nils Olof in the dim light of the forge, which led to the invitation to his home.