The Master and Margarita, Epilogue quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does the narrator say he heard the story of two thousand theatregoers going home naked?

   • Correct answer: On a train to Feodosiya
   • In a dairy-store queue
   • At a Black Sea beach resort
   • In the Variety lobby

   The narrator says he personally heard the story on a train during a trip to Feodosiya.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What explanation of the events do Moscow's cultured people adopt?

   • A hoax staged by the Variety itself
   • A foreign spy ring using clever stage props
   • A mass hallucination caused by heat
   • Correct answer: A gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists

   They adopt the investigation's view that a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists with a superb command of their art was responsible.

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3. 3

   Question 3. In Armavir, what does the citizen use to tie the black cat's front paws?

   • His old leather belt
   • A length of clothesline
   • Correct answer: His own green necktie
   • A strip of his shirt

   He tears off his necktie to bind the cat and drags it to the police by its paws, bound with a green necktie.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Where is Styopa Likhodeev sent after eight days in the clinic?

   • To Kislovodsk, to run a theatre
   • Correct answer: To Rostov, to manage a food store
   • To Yalta, to run a large hotel
   • To Briansk, to manage a cannery

   Styopa is transferred to Rostov as manager of a large food store; it is Sempleyarov who goes to the Briansk mushroom cannery.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What post does Aloisy Mogarych hold years after Woland's visit?

   • Correct answer: Findirector of the Variety
   • Manager of Griboedov's
   • Head of a tenants' board
   • Editor of a literary paper

   Aloisy holds the post Rimsky gave up, findirector of the Variety, to Varenukha's torment.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Ivan's wife keep ready on the tablecloth on the night of the full moon?

   • A letter from the clinic
   • A bottle of valerian drops
   • A cold compress and a towel
   • Correct answer: A syringe and an ampoule

   She prepares a syringe in alcohol and an ampoule of liquid the colour of dark tea for when he wakes crying at dawn.

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7. 7

   Question 7. In Ivan's dream, what does Pilate's companion tell him about the execution?

   • Only the master can now undo it
   • It was needed, and he is forgiven
   • Correct answer: It never happened; he imagined it
   • It will repeat every full moon

   The companion replies, "Well, of course it never happened," adds that Pilate imagined it, and swears to it, which is all Pilate needs.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these happen in the part of the Epilogue about the investigation?

   • About a hundred black cats are shot or otherwise killed around the country.

     Happened

     The narrator reports that approximately a hundred black cats were shot or otherwise exterminated in various parts of the country after Woland left.

   • Woland is arrested at the border while trying to leave the country.

     Didn't happen

     The one calling himself Woland is never caught: he disappears with all his company and appears neither in Moscow nor anywhere else.

   • Men with names like Volodin and Korovin are briefly detained.

     Happened

     Wolman, Wolper, three Volodins and others are detained for a short time, and nine Korovins, four Korovkins and two Karavaevs are caught.

   • The investigation finally learns the master's real last name.

     Didn't happen

     The investigation never learns the abducted patient's last name, and he vanishes under the alias of number one-eighteen from the first building.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these happen on Ivan's night of the spring full moon?

   • Ivan sits on the same bench where he sat the evening Berlioz died.

     Happened

     Each spring full moon Ivan Nikolaevich sits down on the same bench on which he sat the evening Berlioz saw the moon breaking to pieces for the last time.

   • Ivan speaks with Nikolai Ivanovich across the garden fence.

     Didn't happen

     Ivan never speaks to Nikolai Ivanovich; he hides behind the fence, whispering to himself, until a female voice calls the man in to tea.

   • The master calls Ivan 'my disciple' in the dream.

     Happened

     In the dream Ivan recognizes number one-eighteen, his nocturnal guest, who answers him, "It ended with that, my disciple."

   • A woman of boundless beauty kisses Ivan on the forehead.

     Happened

     The woman of boundless beauty who leads the bearded man out to Ivan bends over him and kisses him on the forehead.

   • Ivan stays ill in bed for a week after the full moon.

     Didn't happen

     He wakes at dawn with a painful cry and is given the injection, sleeps till morning with a blissful face, and the next morning wakes up silent but perfectly calm and well.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'irrefutable' mean in: 'these explanations cannot but be acknowledged as sensible and irrefutable.'?

    • Hastily invented and careless
    • Correct answer: Impossible to disprove or deny
    • Extremely confusing and unclear
    • Officially approved by the state

    Irrefutable means impossible to disprove; the narrator says the investigation's explanations of all the gang's mischief cannot but be acknowledged as sensible and irrefutable.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'tenacious' mean in: 'the memory of black magic and its exposure proved very tenacious.'?

    • Exaggerated by frequent retelling
    • Painful and humiliating to recall
    • Correct answer: Persistent and hard to get rid of
    • Quickly fading and half forgotten

    Tenacious means holding on firmly; the public's memory of the show will not let Bengalsky go back to work.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'ingratiatingly' mean in: 'the man in the cloak asks ingratiatingly.'?

    • In a loud, commanding way
    • In a tone of open contempt
    • In a whisper full of fear
    • Correct answer: In a way meant to win favor

    Ingratiatingly means trying to win someone's favor; the haughty Pilate now pleads with his companion.

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