The Twelve Dancing Princesses quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary categories best describe The Twelve Dancing Princesses?

   • Historical Fiction, Real Kings & Real Wars
   • Fable, Talking Animals & a Stated Moral
   • Correct answer: Fairy Tale, Magic Cloak & a Pattern of Three
   • Science Fiction, Inventions & Future Worlds
   • Tall Tale, Frontier Hero & Big Boasts

   Fairy Tale, Magic Cloak & a Pattern of Three is the best fit. The Grimms collected it as a fairy tale. It has a King and princesses, a cloak that makes the soldier invisible, a bed that sinks into the earth, and many threes: three days and nights, three avenues of trees, three twigs and three o'clock.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What puzzles the King about his twelve daughters?

   • He hides their shoes in his room, yet they turn up muddy by morning
   • He gives them new shoes each night, yet the shoes are lost by morning
   • He sits by their door all night, yet their shoes are wet by morning
   • Correct answer: He locks and bolts their door, yet their shoes are worn out by morning

   Every night "the King locked the door, and bolted it." But in the morning "he saw that their shoes were worn out with dancing, and no one could find out how that had come to pass." The mystery is not whether they dance. It is how they get out, and where they go.

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3. 3

   Question 3. The King's proclamation offers a prize and warns of a price. Which answer gives both?

   • Prize: the youngest daughter as his wife. Price: being sent out of the land
   • Prize: a chest of gold and a castle. Price: three years in the King's prison
   • Correct answer: Prize: choose a wife and be King later. Price: his life if he fails in time
   • Prize: choose a wife and be King later. Price: all he owns if he fails in time

   Whoever discovers where they dance "should choose one of them for his wife and be King after his death." But whoever has not found out "within three days and nights, should have forfeited his life." Notice that the winner gets to choose which daughter. No daughter is promised ahead of time.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What happens to the King's son who tries first?

   • He follows them down the stairs, gets lost, and is never seen again
   • Correct answer: He falls asleep all three nights, and then his head is struck off
   • He finds the secret on the second night, but the King breaks his word
   • He gives up after one night and quietly rides back to his own home

   On the first night "the eyelids of the prince grew heavy as lead, and he fell asleep." In the morning the shoes have holes in them again. "On the second and third nights it fell out just the same, and then his head was struck off without mercy." After him, "Many others came after this and undertook the enterprise, but all forfeited their lives."

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5. 5

   Question 5. What two pieces of advice does the old woman give the soldier?

   • Correct answer: Do not drink the wine they bring you, and pretend to be sound asleep
   • Hide under the eldest's bed, and follow the twelve when they all leave
   • Tie a sponge under your chin, and snore loudly so that they feel safe
   • Stay awake by humming softly, and count the twelve as they go out

   She tells him, "you must not drink the wine which will be brought to you at night, and must pretend to be sound asleep." Then she gives him a little cloak: "If you put on that, you will be invisible, and then you can steal after the twelve." The sponge is not her idea. The soldier thinks of that trick himself.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Match the term to its meaning in the tale: "whosoever came forward and had not discovered it within three days and nights, should have forfeited his life."

   • Won as a prize for doing well
   • Correct answer: Lost as a penalty for failing
   • Risked once and then got back
   • Gave up a game before it was over

   To forfeit something is to lose it as a penalty. A man who fails to find the secret in time loses his life. In sports, a team that forfeits gives up a game, but here the word means a penalty that cannot be undone.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does the soldier keep from drinking the wine the eldest brings him?

   • He pours it out of the window while the eldest looks the other way
   • Correct answer: He lets it run into a sponge that he has tied under his chin
   • He swaps cups with the eldest, so that she drinks it herself
   • He hides it under his bed and tells her he drank every drop

   "He had tied a sponge under his chin, and let the wine run down into it, without drinking a drop." Then he pretends to snore. Later the eldest says, "I had hardly any need to give the soldier a sleeping-draught," which shows the wine was meant to put him to sleep.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does the eldest open the way down to the dance?

   • She says a secret word, and the wall swings open
   • She lifts a trapdoor hidden under the rug
   • She turns a key at the back of the wardrobe
   • Correct answer: She taps her bed, and it sinks into the earth

   "The eldest then went to her bed and tapped it; it immediately sank into the earth," and they all went down through the opening, the eldest first. The soldier put on his little cloak "and went down last with the youngest."

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9. 9

   Question 9. In the bedroom the youngest says she feels very strange and fears trouble. How does the eldest answer her?

   • Correct answer: She calls her a goose who is always frightened
   • She agrees, and says they must all stay home
   • She tells her to go and wake the King at once
   • She says the soldier has already gone away

   The youngest says, "some misfortune is certainly about to befall us." The eldest answers, "Thou art a goose, who art always frightened," and adds, "Hast thou forgotten how many Kings' sons have already come here in vain?" Again and again the youngest senses that something is wrong, and the eldest brushes her aside.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Match the term to its meaning in the tale: "I must carry a token away with me,"

    • A small gift given to say thank you
    • A coin used to pay for a ride or game
    • Correct answer: A thing kept as proof of what happened
    • A charm carried to bring good luck

    Here a token is something kept as proof. The soldier breaks off twigs so he can show the King he was really there. In the tale, "the tree cracked with a loud report," and the youngest is frightened by the noise.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What are the leaves made of in the three avenues of trees, in the order the soldier walks through them?

    • Correct answer: Silver, then gold, then diamonds
    • Gold, then silver, then diamonds
    • Silver, then diamonds, then gold
    • Diamonds, then silver, then gold

    First the leaves are silver and shine and glisten. Then "they came into an avenue where all the leaves were of gold, and lastly into a third where they were of bright diamonds." The soldier breaks a twig from each one and keeps all three as tokens.

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12. 12

    Question 12. The youngest's prince says the boat is much heavier. What is the real reason?

    • Correct answer: The invisible soldier is sitting beside her
    • The warm weather, just as the youngest says
    • Her prince is worn out from rowing the night before
    • She has a cup from the castle in her lap

    On the way over, "the soldier seated himself by the youngest." Her prince says, "I can't tell why the boat is so much heavier to-day." The youngest explains it away: "What should cause that," she says, "but the warm weather? I feel very warm too."

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13. 13

    Question 13. Match the term to its meaning in the tale: "The soldier, who had watched everything, tarried no longer, put on his little cloak"

    • Correct answer: Waited or stayed behind
    • Rushed ahead in a hurry
    • Got covered in sticky tar
    • Crept off to hide away

    To tarry is to wait or delay. So tarried no longer means he stopped waiting and moved at once. He put on his little cloak and followed the twelve down the steps. The word has nothing to do with tar.

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14. 14

    Question 14. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • The soldier steps on the youngest princess's dress on the stairs.

      Happened

      "Half-way down the steps, he just trod a little on her dress." She cries out, "What is that? who is pulling my dress?" The eldest tells her she has caught it on a nail.

    • The hero of the tale is a young King's son.

      Didn't happen

      The hero is "a poor soldier, who had a wound, and could serve no longer." At the end he even says, "I am no longer young." Nobody in the tale has a name.

    • At the castle the soldier drinks from the princesses' cups, so the cups are empty.

      Happened

      "When one of them had a cup of wine in her hand he drank it up, so that the cup was empty when she carried it to her mouth." The youngest is alarmed, but the eldest makes her be silent.

    • The old woman gives the soldier a sleeping potion to use on the princesses.

      Didn't happen

      She gives him advice and a little cloak, nothing to drink. The only sleeping-draught in the tale is the one the eldest meant for the soldier: "I had hardly any need to give the soldier a sleeping-draught."

    • The princesses dance at the castle till three o'clock in the morning.

      Happened

      "They danced there till three o'clock in the morning when all the shoes were danced into holes." Then the princes row them back across the lake.

    • The soldier tells the King the secret the morning after the first night.

      Didn't happen

      "Next morning the soldier was resolved not to speak." He goes with the twelve again, and he takes a cup on the third night. Only then does he give the King his answer.

    • On the way home, the soldier runs ahead and is snoring when the twelve come up.

      Happened

      "When they reached the stairs the soldier ran on in front and lay down in his bed." He snores so loudly that they say, "So far as he is concerned, we are safe."

    • The soldier breaks a curse that forced the princesses to dance.

      Didn't happen

      The tale never mentions a curse on the princesses. They dress up, laugh and "rejoiced at the prospect of the dance." The soldier's job is only to find out where they go.

    • The twelve princesses listen behind the door while the soldier gives his answer.

      Happened

      The soldier goes to the King with his tokens, "but the twelve stood behind the door, and listened for what he was going to say."

    • The soldier chooses the youngest princess to be his wife.

      Didn't happen

      He says, "I am no longer young, so give me the eldest." In this tale he chooses the eldest.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does the soldier bring to the King to prove his answer?

    • One worn-out dancing shoe and a ribbon from a dress
    • Correct answer: Three twigs from the trees and a cup from the castle
    • A ring from a prince and a little oar from one of the boats
    • A silver leaf and a note in the eldest's handwriting

    "But the third time he took a cup away with him as a token." When it is time to answer, "he took the three twigs and the cup, and went to the King." He says, "In an underground castle with twelve princes," and brings out the tokens. Because "falsehood would be of no avail," the princesses "were obliged to confess all."

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16. 16

    Question 16. Which princess does the soldier choose as his wife, and what reason does he give?

    • The youngest, because she sensed the danger all along
    • The eldest, because she will one day be Queen anyway
    • The youngest, because she was kind to him on the stairs
    • Correct answer: The eldest, because he says that he is no longer young

    He answers, "I am no longer young, so give me the eldest." That is the only reason the tale gives. "Then the wedding was celebrated on the self-same day," and he is promised the kingdom after the King's death. Many readers are surprised, since the youngest was the one who sensed danger.

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17. 17

    Question 17. The soldier wins with a sponge, a pretended snore and a cloak from the old woman, where many Kings' sons failed. Which lesson does this best support?

    • Royal birth matters more than anything else does
    • It is always wiser to act alone than to take advice
    • Correct answer: Cleverness and patience can beat rank and strength
    • Fast action beats careful watching every time

    The tale never states a moral, but this lesson rests on what happens. Kings' sons fall asleep and lose their lives. A poor soldier follows good advice, uses a sponge and a pretended snore, and watches patiently for three nights before he speaks. Royal birth does not help the Kings' sons, and the soldier wins by taking the old woman's advice, not by ignoring it.

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18. 18

    Question 18. What does the last sentence of the tale say about the twelve princes?

    • They were set free and went back home to their own lands
    • They married the other eleven princesses on the same day
    • Correct answer: They were bewitched for as many days as they had danced nights
    • They were sent to the King's prison for their part in the secret

    The tale ends: "But the princes were bewitched for as many days as they had danced nights with the twelve." That is all it says about them. It does not say who bewitched them or what happens next. Some readers see it as a punishment; others see it as a sign the princes belong to that magical world.

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