The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Wonderful Events quiz

From The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann

Chapter 4 of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: at midnight the clock strikes, a seven-headed mouse rises, and Marie's wounded Nutcracker wakes to fight.

11 questions · about 12 minutes

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Questions and answers

  1. Question 1. What is kept on the upper shelves of the glass cupboard, out of the children's reach?

    • Louise's old dolls, put away since she was quite little
    • Papa's clocks and other delicate little instruments
    • Correct answer: The clever works of art made by Godpapa Drosselmeier
    • The family's best china and the Christmas candles

    Drosselmeier's works of art sit on the upper shelves, with the picture-books just below them and the children's two shelves at the bottom.

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  2. Question 2. What reason does Fritz give for going off to bed?

    • Correct answer: His hussars are tired, but none dares nod while he is there
    • He wants to be up early to drill his troops before breakfast
    • His mother has threatened to lock his soldiers in the cupboard
    • He is sulking because Marie has kept the Nutcracker to herself

    Fritz says his hussars are anxious to turn in for the night, but not one of them dares to nod while he is still watching.

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  3. Question 3. What does Marie do as soon as her mother leaves the room?

    • She wakes Miss Clara and asks her to guard the shelf all night
    • Correct answer: She unwraps the Nutcracker from the handkerchief and looks at his wounds
    • She relights the candles so she can see the cupboard more clearly
    • She moves Fritz's hussars down to stand guard around her dolls

    Marie had been holding the Nutcracker wrapped in a handkerchief, and once alone she lays him on the table and examines his wounds.

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  4. Question 4. What does Marie use to bind the Nutcracker's hurt shoulder?

    • A strip torn from the handkerchief he was wrapped in
    • A silk sash borrowed from one of Fritz's toy officers
    • The spangled girdle that belongs to her doll Miss Clara
    • Correct answer: Another pretty ribbon that she took from her own dress

    She wraps another ribbon from her own dress about his shoulder; it is the token he later wears into battle.

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  5. Question 5. What does the gilt owl on top of the clock do as midnight approaches?

    • It flies down from the clock and perches on the ledge of the glass cupboard
    • It opens its crooked beak and calls the mice out of the walls
    • Correct answer: It droops its wings over the clock and stretches its head forward
    • It turns its glowing eyes toward Marie and hoots a warning

    The owl's wings cover the whole clock, and its cat-like head with the crooked beak stretches a long way forward.

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  6. Question 6. To what does the narrator compare the way the mice gather?

    • Correct answer: Fritz's toy soldiers forming ranks during their drills
    • A crowd of townspeople hurrying to a Christmas fair
    • Bees swarming out of a hive on a warm summer afternoon
    • Waves rolling one after another onto a sandy beach

    The mice form regular troops and squadrons in good order, just as Fritz's toy soldiers do during their drills.

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  7. Question 7. Why would the leap to the lower shelf have been so dangerous for the Nutcracker?

    • He was still weak and dizzy from the nuts Fritz forced on him
    • Correct answer: His body was fragile and the drop was nearly two feet
    • The mice were already waiting at the foot of the cupboard
    • His heavy sword could have dragged him down headfirst

    The narrator says the drop was nearly two feet and the Nutcracker's body was as fragile as elm-wood, unlike his followers stuffed with cotton and sawdust.

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  8. Question 8. What does 'disdainful' mean as used in: 'Miss Clara, in her Christmas full dress, looked very grand and disdainful'?

    • Sleepy and unwilling to be disturbed at night
    • Correct answer: Scornful, as if others are beneath notice
    • Shy and too nervous to speak a word
    • Cheerful and eager to be helpful

    Disdainful means showing scorn; Clara's grand, silent look makes Marie think she is too proud to give up her bed.

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  9. Question 9. What does 'subterranean' mean as used in: 'as if impelled by some subterranean power, sand, and lime, and broken stone came bursting up'?

    • Correct answer: Coming from beneath the ground
    • Coming from somewhere far overhead
    • Coming from inside the walls
    • Coming from across the sea

    Subterranean means beneath the earth's surface, which fits the seven-headed mouse forcing its way up through the floor.

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  10. Question 10. What does 'cognizance' mean as used in: 'pressed it to his lips, put it on as a cognizance for the fight'?

    • A bandage to protect a wound in battle
    • A weapon carried as a spare in combat
    • A cloak worn to keep warm on a march
    • Correct answer: A badge showing whose side one fights on

    A cognizance is an emblem a knight wears; by wearing Marie's ribbon, the Nutcracker shows that he fights for her.

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  11. Question 11. Which of these events actually happen in this chapter?

    • Marie moves the Nutcracker's bed up to the shelf near Fritz's hussars.

      Happened

    • Fritz creeps back downstairs to watch over his soldiers at midnight.

      Didn't happen

    • Marie breaks a pane of the cupboard with her elbow.

      Happened

    • The mice gnaw through the cupboard door to reach the toys.

      Didn't happen

    • Miss Clara catches the Nutcracker when he leaps down.

      Happened

    • Godpapa Drosselmeier climbs down from the clock to comfort Marie.

      Didn't happen

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Next: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, The Battle