The Master and Margarita, Chapter 12: Black Magic and Its Exposure quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why is Rimsky partly glad when he finds his telephone dead at ten o'clock?

   • Correct answer: It spares him the call he has been dreading to make
   • It gives him a reason to cancel the evening's show
   • It keeps reporters from asking him about Likhodeev
   • It means the foreign artiste cannot reach him either

   Rimsky has been unable to force himself to call the place Varenukha went; with the phones out, the need to call falls away.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Fagott pull from behind the cat's ear in the dressing room?

   • A deck of cards with Rimsky's name on each one
   • Correct answer: Rimsky's own gold watch and chain
   • The signed contract for the evening's performance
   • A packet of ten-rouble bills from Rimsky's desk

   He produces Rimsky's gold watch, which Rimsky had been wearing in his waistcoat pocket under his buttoned coat.

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Fagott, where in Parchevsky's wallet is the deck of cards?

   • Folded inside a letter from his wife in Saratov
   • Behind a photograph and two theatre tickets
   • Correct answer: Between a three-rouble bill and a court summons
   • Under a receipt from a restaurant on Clean Ponds

   Fagott says the deck sits between a three-rouble bill and a summons to court over alimony to citizen Zeikova, embarrassing Parchevsky before the whole theatre.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Who first suggests tearing off Bengalsky's head?

   • Woland, speaking quietly from his armchair
   • Fagott, without any prompting from anyone
   • Behemoth, in a human voice from the footlights
   • Correct answer: Someone up in the gallery, speaking severely

   A voice from the gallery says 'Tear his head off!' and Fagott seizes on the idea and sends Behemoth.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What happens to the blood on Bengalsky's tailcoat and shirt-front after his head is restored?

   • Correct answer: The cat brushes it off with his paws
   • Woland makes it vanish with a snap of his fingers
   • Fagott orders it washed out backstage
   • It stays there, the only proof of the trick

   Behemoth plants the head back without a scar and brushes the clothes with his paws until all traces of blood disappear.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does the man whose wife has the flu receive from the ladies' shop?

   • A Parisian evening gown and a perfume case
   • A silk dressing-gown covered in bouquets
   • Correct answer: Two pairs of silk stockings and a lipstick
   • A lilac pair of shoes in his wife's size

   Fagott says he believes him even without his passport and hands him two pairs of silk stockings; the cat adds a little tube of lipstick.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Where does Fagott say Sempleyarov really went the previous evening?

   • To Griboedov's to dine with other officials
   • Correct answer: To Yelokhovskaya Street to visit an actress
   • To the Acoustics Commission for a long meeting
   • To a card game at a friend's apartment

   Fagott says the meeting was not even scheduled and that Sempleyarov dismissed his chauffeur and went by bus to visit an actress of the regional itinerant theatre.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does the séance end?

   • Woland bows and thanks the audience for coming
   • Bengalsky returns to close the show with a joke
   • The police arrest Fagott on stage before he can flee
   • Correct answer: The cat declares it over and the orchestra hacks out a march

   Behemoth barks in a human voice that the séance is over, the half-crazed conductor waves his baton and the orchestra hacks out a brash march, and in the uproar Fagott and the cat melt into air.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happen in the first half of the séance?

   • Woland shakes Rimsky's hand when they meet backstage.

     Didn't happen

     There is no handshake: Rimsky bows to the silent magician, and the checkered assistant introduces himself instead.

   • A policeman leads someone away after a fight over money in the dress circle.

     Happened

     During the rain of money a quarrel breaks out in the dress circle, a policeman's helmet appears there, and someone from the dress circle is led away.

   • The cat swallows the deck of cards card by card.

     Didn't happen

     Fagott, not the cat, opens his mouth and swallows the deck card by card; the cat only sends the cards back to him and bows.

   • A citizen in the gallery finds a packet marked 'One thousand roubles' in his pocket.

     Happened

     After Fagott tells a doubter in the gallery that the deck is now in his pocket, a bewildered citizen in the gallery finds in his pocket a bank-wrapped packet of ten-rouble bills marked as one thousand roubles.

   • Bengalsky leaves the stage calmly after his head is restored.

     Didn't happen

     Bengalsky staggers off looking around senselessly, feels sick at the fire post, begs for his head back and has to be taken away by ambulance.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually happen during the ladies' shop and the exposure of Sempleyarov?

    • A brunette from the tenth row is the first customer to climb on stage.

      Happened

      A brunette from the tenth row of the stalls is the first to climb on stage, and Fagott greets her as the first customer.

    • Woland himself kneels to fit the women's shoes.

      Didn't happen

      Woland has already disappeared from the stage with his armchair; it is Fagott who kneels with a metal shoehorn while the cat carries purses and shoes.

    • Sempleyarov's young relation hits him on the head with her umbrella.

      Happened

      After Fagott's exposure, the young relation from Saratov strikes Sempleyarov on the head with her short, fat violet umbrella, and then does it a second time.

    • Sempleyarov admits his visit and apologizes to his wife.

      Didn't happen

      Sempleyarov says nothing in reply; his wife defends him and his young relation laughs and strikes him, and he never admits or apologizes.

    • Sempleyarov's wife shouts for the police to seize the young relation.

      Happened

      After the second blow of the umbrella, Sempleyarov's wife shouts for the police to seize the young relation.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'nascent' mean in: 'as if sensing the nascent alarm'?

    • Spreading wildly
    • Correct answer: Just beginning
    • Long forgotten
    • Falsely raised

    Nascent means just coming into existence; Woland senses the unease in the wings starting to grow and changes the subject.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'entreaty' mean in: 'but rather an expression of entreaty'?

    • Correct answer: Desperate pleading
    • Cold contempt
    • Quiet triumph
    • Sudden confusion

    An entreaty is an earnest request; Bengalsky's smile is confident, but his eyes are begging the audience and Woland to go along with him.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'proprietary' mean in: 'smiling a proprietary smile by the display windows'?

    • Like a servant
    • Like a prisoner
    • Correct answer: Like an owner
    • Like a stranger

    Proprietary means relating to an owner; the red-headed girl smiles as if the shop and its goods belong to her.

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