from where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap

The peddler got the idea of the world being a rattrap while he was thinking about his own rattraps. He was struck by a thought that the whole world—its lands, seas, cities, and villages—was nothing but a big rattrap. Just as a rattrap uses bait like cheese or pork to catch rats, the world offers baits such as riches, joys, shelter, food, heat, and clothing to trap people. Once someone is tempted by these baits and "touches" them, they get trapped, much like a rat in a trap, and everything comes to an end for them. This idea amused the peddler because he was a poor man who had always faced hardship and felt the world was unkind to him, so thinking of the world as a rattrap provided him a cynical but somewhat comforting perspective.