The Master and Margarita, Chapter 26: The Burial quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Aphranius send out of the palace barracks soon after leaving Pilate?

   • A squad of soldiers to arrest Judas at the high priest's palace
   • A messenger riding to Caesarea with a report for the legate
   • Two spies ordered to follow Matthew Levi out of the city gates
   • Correct answer: Three carts with digging tools, a water barrel and a mounted escort

   Three carts loaded with entrenching tools and a barrel of water leave under an escort of fifteen horsemen, heading for the place of execution to carry out the burial.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What reason does Niza give Judas for changing their plans for the evening?

   • Correct answer: She is bored and wants to go out of town to hear the nightingales
   • She has promised to spend the feast with her friend Enanta
   • Her husband has come home early from his trip to Caesarea
   • She has heard that Judas was seen going into Kaifa's palace

   Niza says she was bored and did not want to sit listening to him sigh, so she decided to go out of town and listen to the nightingales, which draws Judas to Gethsemane.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does the first killer demand of Judas in the garden of Gethsemane?

   • That he name the disciples of Yeshua still hiding in the city
   • Correct answer: That he tell them how much money he has just been given
   • That he lead them to the grotto where Niza is waiting
   • That he swear never to return to Kaifa's palace again

   The man asks how much he has just received, Judas offers the thirty tetradrachmas in exchange for his life, and the killers take the purse and stab him anyway.

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4. 4

   Question 4. In Pilate's dream, how does he answer Yeshua's remark about cowardice?

   • He admits he has never once been afraid in all his life
   • He insists that cruelty is a far worse vice than fear
   • Correct answer: He says that cowardice is the most terrible vice of all
   • He says courage matters little to a man who serves Caesar

   Yeshua calls cowardice one of the most terrible vices, and Pilate disagrees only to go further: it is the most terrible vice; in the same dream he admits that in the morning he still would not have ruined his career to save him.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Aphranius, how did the bloody purse reach Kaifa's palace?

   • Correct answer: The avengers threw it over a fence behind the palace
   • Niza delivered it by hand to the high priest himself
   • A servant of the high priest found it at the Hebron gate
   • Matthew Levi carried it there and left it at the door

   Aphranius explains that the avengers came from behind Kaifa's palace, where the lane is higher than the yard, and threw the packet with its note over the fence.

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6. 6

   Question 6. How did the burial detail make sure the three bodies could be told apart?

   • They wrote each man's name on a strip of parchment in the grave
   • They dressed each man in a chiton of a different color for burial
   • Correct answer: They placed rings with one, two or three notches on their fingers
   • They buried each man in a separate grave marked by a stone

   Yeshua was given a ring with one notch, Dysmas two and Gestas three, and all three were buried in one deep hole whose landmark is known to Tolmai.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What makes Aphranius's claim that "there was no woman in this affair" hard for the reader to accept?

   • Pilate already knows that Matthew Levi is the true killer
   • Correct answer: The reader has just seen Niza lure Judas to the grotto
   • Kaifa's servants have told Pilate all about the woman
   • The guards saw Judas leave the city alone with his money

   Aphranius called on Niza earlier that evening, and the reader watched Niza send Judas to the grotto at Gethsemane, where two men waited for him instead of her.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is the one gift Matthew Levi finally accepts from Pilate?

   • A seal ring to remember the procurator by
   • A place in Pilate's library at Caesarea
   • A purse of money to live on during the feast
   • Correct answer: A piece of clean parchment to write on

   After Pilate tells him that Judas has already been killed and says 'I did it,' Levi relents and asks only for a piece of clean parchment; the seal ring goes to Aphranius.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happen in Chapter 26?

   • Niza tells her serving-woman she is going to visit Enanta.

     Happened

     Before slipping out, Niza tells the old serving-woman to say she went to visit Enanta if anyone asks, and the woman grumbles that her husband forbade it.

   • Judas stops to pray at the temple before leaving the city.

     Didn't happen

     Judas does not stop to pray: after leaving Kaifa's palace he hastens back toward the Lower City, meets Niza, and once she sends him to Gethsemane hurries to the Gethsemane gate, barely noticing the Antonia Tower or the candlesticks above the temple.

   • The hooded man turns his cloak inside out and puts on a helmet.

     Happened

     Outside the city wall the man in the hood removes his cloak, turns it inside out and puts on a flat helmet without plumes, riding on as a military man.

   • Aphranius shows Pilate Judas's body in the palace garden.

     Didn't happen

     Aphranius brings Pilate only the purse stiff with Judas's blood; he says he does not know where the body is and will begin a search in the morning.

   • Judas offers his killers thirty tetradrachmas for his life.

     Happened

     When the first killer demands to know how much he just got, Judas cries out that he has thirty tetradrachmas with him and begs for his life.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these happen during Pilate's meeting with Matthew Levi?

    • Levi sits on the floor beside the armchair instead of in it.

      Happened

      Levi gives the gilded armrests a timorous glance and sits on the floor beside the armchair, saying he is dirty and would soil it.

    • Levi eats the meal Pilate has brought for him.

      Didn't happen

      Levi refuses food, saying he does not want to eat, even when Pilate points out that he has not eaten for the whole day.

    • Pilate reads the word 'cowardice' on Levi's parchment.

      Happened

      In the last lines of Levi's parchment Pilate makes out words about a greater vice and cowardice, and gives a start.

    • Levi agrees to work in Pilate's library in Caesarea.

      Didn't happen

      Pilate offers Levi work looking after the papyri in his big library at Caesarea, but Levi stands up and refuses.

    • Pilate tells Levi that Judas has already been killed.

      Happened

      When Levi vows to kill Judas of Kiriath, Pilate tells him he will not manage it, because Judas has already been killed this night.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'capriciously' mean as used in: 'she pouted her lower lip capriciously'?

    • In a shy, nervous way
    • In a sad and tearful way
    • Correct answer: In a fickle, whimsical way
    • In a cold and angry way

    Capriciously means in a sudden, changeable way driven by whim, which fits Niza's show of playful moodiness as she toys with Judas.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'erroneous' mean as used in: 'Alas, it is erroneous, Procurator.'?

    • Clever but unproven
    • Correct answer: Mistaken or incorrect
    • Dangerous to say aloud
    • Rude or disrespectful

    Erroneous means mistaken; Aphranius calls Pilate's guess that a woman was involved wrong, though the reader knows it was right.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'inimical' mean as used in: 'smiled such an inimical smile that his face became completely ugly'?

    • Weak and very uncertain
    • Warm and grateful
    • Sly and secretive
    • Correct answer: Hostile and unfriendly

    Inimical means hostile; Levi's smile shows his hatred for Pilate when asked to show his parchment.

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