Do you know your fairy tales? Here is a quiz. (answers at bottom)


1)     Behind the alias.

When the little girl known as Little Red Riding Hood first appeared in English in translation of a story by Charles Perrault, she was given a more conventional name. Her name was:
A) Pellifour
B) Biddy
C) Lucille
D) Sweet Myrtle

2)     Not that door sweetheart.

Before setting out on a journey, the evil husband in the story Bluebeard gives his wife the keys to all the rooms in his house. One room, though, he tells her she must not enter. Upon his return, what reveals his wife has disobeyed him?
A) A magic mirror that answers any question
B) A fan left by his wife in the forbidden room
C) Drops of blood clinging magically to the key
D) A black cat who spied on his wife in his absence

3)   These boots are made for...

In the well known fairy tale Puss -in -Boots, a cat is able to help it's master from poverty to riches through a series of clever ploys. What special function did the boots have for the cat?
A) They protected it's feet while walking out of doors
B) While wearing the boots, it could walk & talk like a man
C) They allowed it to travel at great speed & become invisable
D) They gave it a power of persuasion no listener could resist

4)   Kleptomania

In Jack & the Beanstalk, Jack makes three separate visits to the giant's castle in the clouds. On the first he steals a hen who lays golden eggs; on the second, a sack of shillings & a sack of guineas. What does Jack steal on his third visit?
A) An ax that can chop through anything
B) A mirror that foretells the future
C) Three sacks of jewels
D) A harp that plays music on command

5)   Career move.

In one brothers Grimm story, four animals- a donkey, a dog, a cat, & a rooster- learn that they have outlived their usefulness to their owners, & are to be killed. Rather than meekly accepting their fate, they set off to start a new life as:
A) Musicians
B) A theatrical troupe
C) Politicians
D) University professors

6)   Last hurdle.

After Hansel & Gretel have slain the witch in the Grimm's fairy tale & escaped from the gingerbread cottage, one final obstacle confronts them as they make their way home. What is it?
A) A solid wall of thorns which opens at the touch from the witch's wand
B) A gate guarded by an elf dwarf, who is slain by a huntsman
C) A deep ravine, over which a mighty wind blows them like leaves
D) A body of water, which they cross with help from a kindly duck

7)   Night hawks?

In one well known story from brothers Grimm, an old soldier is given the task of watching over a king's daughters each night. By feigning sleep he is able to learn that the girls:
A) Are nightly transformed into birds & fly to a neighboring kingdom
B) Spend each night dancing in an underground palace
C) Draw drops of blood from their forefingers into a diamond bottle
D) Are visited by an evil witch who forces them to sew for her

8)   Who's Rashin Coatie?

The folklore of many lands include the tale of a character variously known as Rashin Coatie (Scotland), Aschenputtel (Germany), Zezolla (Italy), & Yeh-hsien (China). To us, however, Rashin Coatie is known as:
A) Red Riding Hood
B) Pinocchio
C) Rumplelstiltskin
D) Cinderella

9)   That's no Godmother!

The role of fairy godmother in the story Cinderella was filled by a variety of magical agents in other versions of the tale, including all but one of the following. Which is it?
A) A dead calf
B) A lame badger
C) A little white bird
D) The bones of a giant fish

10)   Sisters in shame.

In the happy ending of the story Beauty & the Beast, Beauty settles down to a life of bliss with the now handsome prince & his household, including her father & three brothers. The fate of her two wicked sisters is less agreeable, for they are:
A) Transformed into living statues & set before the palace gate
B) Forced to serve as scullery maids in the palace kitchens
C) Changed into goshawks & fly away, never to be seen again
D) Chained to a rock on a deserted beach, & left to starve

11)   Acquisition.

In Hans Christian Anderson's The Tinder Box, the fortunes of an impoverished soldier take a turn for the better when he comes into possession of a magic tinder box:
A) By stealing it from the sleeve of an evil old woman
B) From a room hidden inside a tree
C) As a reward for helping the King of the Dwarfs to cross a river
D) From a tower whose door was visible only once in a hundred years

12)   Something wrong with picture.

Snow White's stepmother was driven to her wicked deeds by envy: her magic mirror told her that Snow White, not she, was "the fairest of them all". Oddly enough:
A) Snow White was only seven years old
B) The mirror was a gift from Snow White herself
C) Until then, the queen had been famed for her goodness & charity
D) She & Snow White were both rather plump

13)   Try, try again.

According to the Grimm story, before Snow White's wicked stepmother gave her the poisoned apple, she tried on two previous occasions to kill her, only to be foiled by the seven dwarfs. On the first occasion, the wicked queen laced Snow White's corset stays so tightly that the poor girl fell insensible & seemed dead. On the second occasion, (called snow drop in the Grimm version) by giving her:
A) An enchanted knife that would stab it's wielder
B) A covered basket containing an asp
C) A poisoned comb
D) A bouquet of sweet smelling but deadly flowers

14)   Multiple personality

Trit-a trot, Tom-tit-tot, Ricdin-ricdon, & Whuppity-stoorie, are all variant names for which well known fairy tale character?
A) Tom Thumb
B) The frog in The Frog Prince
C) Puss-in-boots
D) Rumplestiltskin

15) Evolution of character.

The character we know as the inquisitive little girl called Goldilocks was originally:
A) The lame son of a poor woodcutter
B) An inquisitive little girl called Silver-Hair
C) An impudent, bad old woman
D) A soldier returning from the war

Answers:
1)   (B) Bidder
2)   (C) Drops of blood clinging magically to the key
3)   (A) They protected it's feet while walking out of doors
4)   (D) A harp that plays music on command
5)   (A) Musicians
6)   (D) A body of water, which they cross with the help of a kindly duck
7)   (B) Spend each night dancing in an underground palace
8)   (D) Cinderella
9)   (B) A lame badger
10) (A) Transformed into living statues & set before the palace gate
11) (B) From a room hidden inside a tree
12) (A) Snow White was only seven years old
13) (C) A poisoned comb
14) (D) Rumplestiltskin
15) (C) An impudent, bad old woman

FYI: The Grimm brothers were linguists who proposed a principle now known as Grimm's Law.