The Master and Margarita, Chapter 23: The Great Ball at Satan's quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Who assists Hella in washing Margarita in the pool before the ball?

   • Correct answer: Natasha, Margarita's former maid
   • Abaddon, without his glasses
   • Azazello, with a sponge
   • Koroviev, with his lamp

   Hella douses Margarita with hot blood with the assistance of Natasha, who later wipes Margarita's knee during the reception.

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2. 2

   Question 2. At Koroviev's urging, what does Margarita call out to the conductor of the first orchestra?

   • Long live the great maestro!
   • Bravo to the orchestra's leader!
   • Play on for us until the dawn!
   • Correct answer: Greetings to you, waltz king!

   Koroviev says a wave is not enough, so Margarita cries out a greeting to the waltz king, Johann Strauss, who starts with happiness.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Which of these events happen as the ball begins and while Margarita receives the guests?

   • Behemoth gives the signal for the ball to begin.

     Happened

     As the ball begins, Behemoth whispers that he gives the signal and then shrieks out the start of the ball.

   • Margarita rests her foot on a cushion embroidered with a golden poodle.

     Happened

     A black man throws a pillow embroidered with a golden poodle under Margarita's feet, and she places her right foot on it.

   • Woland stands beside Margarita and greets each guest on the stairway.

     Didn't happen

     Koroviev and Azazello stand beside Margarita on the landing; Woland appears only at the last great appearance, after the reception is over.

   • Margarita sits down to drink champagne with Frieda.

     Didn't happen

     Margarita only asks Frieda whether she likes champagne and tells her to get drunk tonight; Koroviev and Behemoth then lead Frieda into the crowd.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why, according to Koroviev, did prison guards strangle Madame Tofana?

   • She refused to name the wives who had paid her
   • Correct answer: Some five hundred husbands had died of her water
   • She tried to poison the soup of the prison guards
   • She escaped twice from the prison in Palermo

   When the guards learned that some five hundred ill-chosen husbands had departed Naples and Palermo for ever, they strangled her in the heat of the moment.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What reason did Frieda give at her trial for killing her child?

   • She feared the chambermaid would tell
   • She had been forced to by the café owner
   • Correct answer: She had no way of feeding the child
   • She did not know the child was alive

   Koroviev reports that at the trial Frieda said she had no way of feeding the child.

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6. 6

   Question 6. How does Margarita stop Behemoth from interrupting her talk with Koroviev?

   • She has Azazello drag him off the landing at once
   • She threatens to tell Woland about him
   • Correct answer: She digs her left hand's nails into his ear
   • She steps hard on his furry tail

   Still smiling at the guests, Margarita digs the nails of her left hand into Behemoth's ear until he promises to be silent as a post.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does 'garrulous' mean as used in: 'picked up the garrulous cat'?

   • Correct answer: Very talkative
   • Quick-tempered
   • Easily frightened
   • Lazy and sleepy

   Garrulous means excessively talkative, which fits Behemoth, who keeps chiming in on Koroviev's remarks.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What principle does Woland apply to the fate of Berlioz?

   • Writers are judged by their readers
   • Correct answer: Each is given according to his faith
   • The dead must serve at Woland's ball
   • Every lie is punished with silence

   Woland says one theory holds that it will be given to each according to his faith, so Berlioz, who believed in non-being, goes into non-being.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What sound breaks the total silence after Azazello brings in the platter?

   • A cock crowing somewhere in the courtyard
   • The creak of a coffin lid on the stairs
   • The striking of a distant clock in the tower
   • Correct answer: The far-off ring of a doorbell in the front hall

   The silence is broken only once, by the far-off sound of a doorbell, coming as if from the front hall.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'sepulchral' mean as used in: 'In this sepulchral silence I can hear the creaking of his patent leather shoes'?

    • Correct answer: Deathly and gloomy, like a tomb
    • Sudden, total and complete
    • Tense and full of expectation
    • Respectful and very polite

    Sepulchral relates to a tomb; Koroviev uses the word just after Berlioz's head has become a skull.

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11. 11

    Question 11. According to Woland, why has Baron Meigel come to the ball?

    • To ask Woland for a foreign passport
    • To report on the jeweller's widow
    • To invite Woland to a Moscow theatre
    • Correct answer: To eavesdrop and spy out what he can

    Woland says the baron invited himself precisely with the purpose of eavesdropping and spying out whatever he can.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Which of these events happen at the climax of the ball?

    • Azazello brings Berlioz's severed head to Woland on a platter.

      Happened

      Azazello stands before Woland with a platter holding a man's severed head, which Woland addresses as Mikhail Alexandrovich.

    • Margarita recognizes Baron Meigel from Moscow theatres and restaurants.

      Happened

      Margarita recognizes Meigel, having come across him several times in Moscow theaters and restaurants.

    • Koroviev shoots Baron Meigel.

      Didn't happen

      Azazello is the one who fires: something flashes in his hand, and the baron falls with blood spurting from his chest.

    • Woland sits on the dais prepared for him opposite Margarita.

      Didn't happen

      Woland does not make use of the dais prepared for him; he stops at it, leaning on his bare sword like a cane.

    • Woland refuses to drink from the skull cup.

      Didn't happen

      Woland raises the cup Koroviev filled from the baron's wound, touches it to his lips, and then has Margarita drink from it.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'importunate' mean as used in: 'with somehow restless and importunate eyes'?

    • Wildly and openly frightened
    • Correct answer: Persistently demanding
    • Quietly and deeply sorrowful
    • Coldly and calmly indifferent

    Importunate means persistent in asking or demanding; Frieda's eyes plead with Margarita.

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