Case based questions
📌 Case 1: The Peddler’s Belief about the World
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“The peddler went around selling small rattraps. He had no real home or money. He often had to resort to petty thievery and begging. He had an idea that the whole world was a big rattrap. It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing, just as the rattrap offered cheese and pork. As soon as someone was tempted, they would get trapped in the same way as a rat does in a rattrap.”
Q1. What does the peddler compare the world to?
A) A prison
B) A battlefield
C) A rattrap
D) A jungle
✅ Answer: C) A rattrap
Q2. According to the peddler, what tempts people into the ‘trap’?
A) Money and comforts
B) Hard work and honesty
C) Knowledge and wisdom
D) Fear and punishment
✅ Answer: A) Money and comforts
Q3. Why does the peddler think the world is a rattrap?
A) Because he is jealous of rich people
B) Because he believes life is full of suffering
C) Because people are lured by material things and get trapped
D) Because he loves selling rattraps
✅ Answer: C) Because people are lured by material things and get trapped
📌 Case 2: The Peddler’s Encounter with the Crofter
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“One evening, the peddler knocked at the door of a little gray cottage by the roadside. The owner, a crofter, was an old man without a family. He welcomed the peddler, gave him food, and even showed him the thirty kronor he had earned. The next morning, the peddler stole the money and ran away. But soon, he found himself lost in the forest, feeling that he had been caught in a trap.”
Q4. Why did the crofter welcome the peddler into his home?
A) He wanted to arrest him
B) He was feeling lonely and wanted company
C) He wanted to sell him a rattrap
D) He mistook him for a friend
✅ Answer: B) He was feeling lonely and wanted company
Q5. What mistake did the crofter make that led to the theft?
A) He kept his door unlocked
B) He trusted the peddler too much and showed him the money
C) He forced the peddler to stay
D) He left the peddler alone in the house
✅ Answer: B) He trusted the peddler too much and showed him the money
Q6. How did the peddler feel after stealing the money?
A) Happy and satisfied
B) Guilty but excited
C) Trapped and scared
D) Proud of his cleverness
✅ Answer: C) Trapped and scared
📌 Case 3: The Ironmaster and Edla’s Hospitality
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“The ironmaster and his daughter Edla Willmansson found the peddler at their mill. The ironmaster mistook him for an old acquaintance and insisted that he come home with them. The peddler refused at first, but when Edla kindly persuaded him, he agreed. Unlike her father, Edla saw something unusual in the man—his sadness, fear, and hesitation.”
Q7. Why did the ironmaster invite the peddler to his home?
A) He wanted to help the peddler find a job
B) He mistook him for an old friend
C) He wanted to get rid of him
D) He knew he was a thief
✅ Answer: B) He mistook him for an old friend
Q8. How did Edla’s treatment differ from her father’s?
A) She treated the peddler with kindness and respect
B) She ignored the peddler completely
C) She was suspicious and rude
D) She asked him to leave immediately
✅ Answer: A) She treated the peddler with kindness and respect
Q9. Why did the peddler agree to go to the ironmaster’s house?
A) He was tired and hungry
B) He wanted to steal from them
C) He was afraid of being caught by the police
D) Edla’s kindness made him feel safe
✅ Answer: D) Edla’s kindness made him feel safe
📌 Case 4: The Peddler’s Transformation
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“The next morning, the peddler dressed in borrowed clothes looked different. The ironmaster realized his mistake and angrily asked him to leave. However, Edla, unlike her father, insisted that he stay for Christmas. Touched by her kindness, the peddler later left a small rattrap as a gift along with a note and the stolen money, proving that kindness had transformed him.”
Q10. How did the ironmaster react after realizing his mistake?
A) He became furious and wanted to call the police
B) He laughed and let the peddler stay
C) He forgave the peddler and offered him a job
D) He forced the peddler to leave immediately
✅ Answer: A) He became furious and wanted to call the police
Q11. What did the peddler leave behind before leaving the house?
A) A letter and a rattrap with the stolen money inside
B) A thank-you note for the ironmaster
C) A letter apologizing for his crimes
D) A map of his journey
✅ Answer: A) A letter and a rattrap with the stolen money inside
Q12. What message did the peddler’s letter convey?
A) That he was sorry for stealing and had changed
B) That he would return soon
C) That he wanted to work for the ironmaster
D) That he would never come back
✅ Answer: A) That he was sorry for stealing and had changed
📌 Case 5: The Peddler’s Life and His Philosophy
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“The peddler went around selling small rattraps made of wire. His business was not profitable, so he resorted to begging and petty thievery. He lived a lonely life with no one to care for him. During his wanderings, he developed a philosophy that the world itself was a rattrap. It lured people with riches and joys, just as a real rattrap lured rats with cheese. Those who were tempted by worldly pleasures got caught and could never escape.”
Q13. What does the peddler’s philosophy about the world reveal about his character?
A) He is wise and knowledgeable
B) He is cynical and distrustful
C) He is kind and generous
D) He is happy and content
✅ Answer: B) He is cynical and distrustful
✔ The peddler sees the world as a trap because of his own struggles.
✔ His philosophy shows that he has a negative and mistrustful outlook on life.
Q14. What does the peddler mean when he says the world is a rattrap?
A) People fall into poverty easily
B) People are deceived by materialistic temptations
C) People are treated like rats in society
D) The world is full of criminals
✅ Answer: B) People are deceived by materialistic temptations
✔ The peddler believes that wealth, luxury, and comforts attract people into a trap of endless desires and struggles.
Q15. How does the peddler survive in his daily life?
A) By working honestly
B) By selling rattraps, begging, and stealing
C) By receiving charity from kind strangers
D) By working as a blacksmith
✅ Answer: B) By selling rattraps, begging, and stealing
✔ Since his business is not profitable, the peddler relies on stealing and begging to survive.
📌 Case 6: The Peddler’s Encounter with the Crofter
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“One evening, the peddler knocked on the door of a lonely crofter’s cottage. The crofter was an old man who lived alone. He was happy to have company and welcomed the peddler inside. They shared food, and the crofter proudly showed the peddler the thirty kronor he had earned by selling milk. The next morning, after the crofter had left for work, the peddler stole the money and fled.”
Q16. Why did the crofter welcome the peddler into his house?
A) He wanted to sell him a rattrap
B) He mistook him for an old friend
C) He was lonely and wanted someone to talk to
D) He wanted to report him to the police
✅ Answer: C) He was lonely and wanted someone to talk to
✔ The crofter was living alone and was desperate for company.
Q17. How did the peddler betray the crofter’s trust?
A) He insulted the crofter before leaving
B) He stole the crofter’s 30 kronor and ran away
C) He refused to eat the food given by the crofter
D) He spread rumors about the crofter in the village
✅ Answer: B) He stole the crofter’s 30 kronor and ran away
✔ The crofter trusted the peddler and showed him his money, but the peddler betrayed him by stealing it.
Q18. How did the peddler feel after stealing the crofter’s money?
A) He felt proud of himself
B) He felt trapped and scared
C) He felt excited and wanted to steal more
D) He felt nothing and moved on
✅ Answer: B) He felt trapped and scared
✔ The peddler soon realized that he was lost in the forest and felt that he had fallen into his own metaphorical rattrap.
📌 Case 7: The Ironmaster and Edla’s Kindness
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“The ironmaster saw the peddler at his mill and mistook him for an old friend. He invited him to stay at his house, but the peddler refused. Later, the ironmaster’s daughter, Edla, convinced him to come home. She treated him with kindness, which made him feel safe for the first time in his life.”
Q19. Why did the ironmaster invite the peddler to his house?
A) He wanted to give him a job
B) He thought the peddler was an old army friend
C) He recognized the peddler as a thief
D) He wanted to help the poor
✅ Answer: B) He thought the peddler was an old army friend
✔ The ironmaster mistook the peddler for an old acquaintance and invited him home.
Q20. Why did the peddler refuse to go with the ironmaster at first?
A) He was scared of being caught as a thief
B) He did not want to leave the mill
C) He wanted to steal more before leaving
D) He did not like the ironmaster
✅ Answer: A) He was scared of being caught as a thief
✔ The peddler knew he had stolen money and was afraid he might be caught if he went to the ironmaster’s house.
Q21. How did Edla’s kindness affect the peddler?
A) It made him trust people again and change his ways
B) It made him leave immediately
C) It made him angry at himself
D) It made him steal from Edla
✅ Answer: A) It made him trust people again and change his ways
✔ Edla’s kindness and compassion transformed the peddler, making him return the stolen money.
📌 Case 8: The Peddler’s Redemption
📜 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
“On Christmas morning, Edla and her father discovered that the peddler had left. However, instead of stealing anything, he left a small rattrap as a gift. Inside it was a letter and the stolen money from the crofter. In the letter, he thanked Edla for her kindness and wrote that he had escaped the ‘rattrap’ of life.”
Q22. What did the peddler leave behind before leaving?
A) A thank-you letter and a rattrap with the stolen money inside
B) A note apologizing for deceiving them
C) A letter requesting to stay longer
D) A new rattrap as a gift for Edla
✅ Answer: A) A thank-you letter and a rattrap with the stolen money inside
✔ The peddler proved that he had changed by returning the stolen money and thanking Edla.
Q23. What does the peddler’s final action symbolize?
A) The power of education
B) The importance of wealth
C) The impact of kindness and second chances
D) The dangers of trusting strangers
✅ Answer: C) The impact of kindness and second chances
✔ The peddler’s transformation shows that kindness and compassion can change even the most lost individuals.
Q24 Why did the peddler call himself “Captain von Stahle” in the letter?
A) He wanted to joke with Edla
B) He wanted to mock the ironmaster
C) He felt respected and valued for the first time
D) He was trying to deceive them again
✅ Answer: C) He felt respected and valued for the first time
✔ Edla’s kindness made him feel like an honorable person, so he gave himself a noble identity.
