Question -
Answer -
Despite the Crofter treating the Peddler with hospitality, the Peddler robbed him and was quite pleased with his smartness. However, the fear of getting caught haunted him. So, he avoided the public highway and turned into the woods. It was a big and confusing forest, and due to the approaching darkness, the Peddler lost his way. He got exhausted moving around the same place, and was filled with despair.
He began to feel that the forest was like a big rattrap and the thirty kronor he had stolen were like a bait set to tempt him. He felt helpless like a rat who had no way out of the trap in which the had fallen. His reaction reveals that he was feeling guilty for having stolen the Crofter’s money. His heart was filled with remorse and self-loathing for his act of weakness.