What word in line sixteen of the story means without bumps

How do the thieves respond when jonathans family begins to yell in the story civil peace by chinua achebe

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?

Choose the matching analogy plague: contagious a: confident: trustworthy b: loyal: companion c: nature: random d gather: congregate