The Voyage of the Wee Red Cap quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary categories best describe The Voyage of the Wee Red Cap?

   • Historical Fiction, Real Dates & Real Battles
   • Fable, Talking Animals & a Stated Moral
   • Correct answer: Christmas Fairy Tale, Fairies & a Magic Cap
   • Science Fiction, Machines & Future Worlds
   • Tall Tale, Frontier Hero & Big Boasts

   Christmas Fairy Tale, Fairies & a Magic Cap is the best fit. It takes place on a holy night of the Christmas season, "the night of St. Stephen." The Good People troop into Teig's cabin, and a rhyme brings a wee red cap that carries him from land to land. Ruth Sawyer heard this tale in Ireland and brought it home.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Where does Teig keep his hidden gold?

   • Inside an old sock tucked under his straw bed
   • Correct answer: Under the loose clay in the corner of his cabin
   • In a tin box buried beneath the hearthstone
   • Behind a loose stone high up in the chimney

   Teig laughs, "Faith, there be more bits o' real gold hid undther the loose clay in the corner." Saving every coin is why his cupboard is empty: "it was the scraping and scrooching for the last piece that had left Teig's cupboard bare of a Christmas dinner." He even says, "Gold is betther nor eatin' an' dthrinkin'."

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3. 3

   Question 3. For twenty years, what has Teig done for old Barney every Christmas Eve, and what does he decide this year?

   • Brought him a basket of food; this year he will send less
   • Walked him over to church; this year Barney can go alone
   • Lent him a few coins; this year Teig wants the money back
   • Correct answer: Called him over for a sup; this year Barney can go without

   For "a score of years past Teig had stood on the doorstep every Christmas Eve" and called, "Hey, there, Barney, will ye come over for a sup?" Barney, who has "but one leg to him," would reach for his crutches and come. This year Teig says, "Barney can fast for the once," which means Barney can go without his dinner.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "for a score of years past Teig had stood on the doorstep every Christmas Eve"

   • Correct answer: A group of twenty
   • A group of twelve
   • The points in a game
   • A long, thin scratch

   A score is twenty, so a score of years is twenty years. That is how long Teig has called Barney over every Christmas Eve. In a game, a score means the points, but that sense does not fit here.

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5. 5

   Question 5. When the widow O'Donnelly knocks and asks for help, what does Teig do?

   • He shouts through the door that he has nothing to give her
   • He hands her a pinch of tea and quickly shuts the door
   • Correct answer: He sinks down in his chair in the shadow and says nothing
   • He tells her to go and knock at old Barney's cabin instead

   "Teig pulled himself down in his chair where the shadow would cover him, and held his tongue." The widow says "the childher are needin' food," but Teig never stirs until she goes on to the next cabin. Then he makes sure "the door was tight-barred."

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6. 6

   Question 6. The miller's wee Cassie sings a song as she runs past Teig's door. What does the first verse tell listeners to do?

   • Light a candle in the window so travelers can find their way
   • Correct answer: Open the door and welcome the stranger on this holy night
   • Leave an empty shoe outside the door for the gift-bringers
   • Sit close by the fire and keep warm through the cold night

   Cassie sings, "Open your door an' greet ye the stranger" because "the wee Lord had naught but a manger." The second verse adds, "Feed ye the hungry an' rest ye the weary." Teig has just done the opposite: he let the widow and the two strangers walk away. He puts "his fingers deep in his ears."

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why do the Good People come into Teig's cabin?

   • Correct answer: They need an empty hearth, and his is the only one nearby
   • They want to punish him for turning the hungry widow away
   • They have come to steal the gold hidden in his cabin corner
   • They are lost in the bitter wind and need a place to rest

   They laugh and say, "We are takin' the loan o' your cabin this night, Teig," and "Ye are the only man hereabout with an empty hearth, an' we're needin' one." The strangers had said that in the other cabins "not one but has its hearth crowded." Teig's hearth is empty because he has turned everyone away.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "The wind bites mortal sharp"

   • Deadly or fatal
   • Living and human
   • Gently or a little
   • Correct answer: Very or extremely

   Here mortal means very. The wind bites mortal sharp means the wind is very sharp and cold. Later Teig says his cap is one "that I'm mortal fond of," which means very fond. In other places mortal can mean human or deadly, but those senses do not fit here.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What do the Good People wear when they troop into Teig's cabin?

   • Wee red cloaks
   • Wee white cloaks
   • Correct answer: Wee green cloaks
   • Wee brown cloaks

   "Their wee green cloaks were folded close about them, and each carried a rush candle." The cloaks are green. It is the magic caps that are red.

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10. 10

    Question 10. In Spain, a crowd of beggars crouches on the steps of the cathedral. What are they waiting for?

    • The King's guards, who hand out bread to the poor at midnight
    • Correct answer: The people coming from mass, who give half of all they have
    • The fairies, who drop gold coins down from the high rooftops
    • The sweetmeat-sellers, who give away all the sweets they have left

    A fairy tells Teig, "They are waiting for those that are hearing mass. When they come out, they give half of what they have to those that have nothing, so on this night of all the year there shall be no hunger and no cold." Then a child's voice sings the start of Cassie's song, and Teig cries, "Curse it!"

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11. 11

    Question 11. In Holland, what does Teig see outside each door, and what does a fairy call this night?

    • A bowl of porridge; the Night of the Wee Creatures
    • A burning torch; the Night of the Frozen Ditches
    • A sheaf of grain; the Feast of the Harvest Moon
    • Correct answer: An empty wooden shoe; the Gift Night of the year

    "Outside each door stood a wee wooden shoe empty." The wee man tells Teig, "This is the Gift Night of the year, when every man gives to his neighbour." The bowls of porridge and sheaves of grain come later, in lands the story does not name.

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12. 12

    Question 12. In the King's hall, a wee girl sings part of the song as she goes out the door. What does Teig do, and what happens next?

    • He runs after her to the door, and the guards catch him on the way
    • He shouts at her to stop, and the King orders him out of the hall
    • Correct answer: He throws his cap after her, and then everyone in the hall sees him
    • He covers both his ears and hides, but the fairies point him out to all

    "Then the anger had Teig." He cries, "I'll stop your pestherin' tongue, once an' for all time!" and throws the cap after her. "No sooner was the cap gone than every soul in the hall saw him." Many readers take this to mean the cap had kept him unseen. The crowd drags him before the King, and soon the hall rings with "Aye, kill him, kill him!"

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13. 13

    Question 13. Teig whispers, "I have done evil to no one—no one!" What does the King ask him next?

    • Correct answer: Whether he has done good and given anything to anyone this night
    • Whether he has gold to pay for the food he took from the table
    • Whether he knows the fairies who brought him into the palace
    • Whether he will swear he never touched any of the King's jewels

    "Maybe," said the King; "but have ye done good? Come, tell us, have ye given aught to any one this night? If ye have, we will pardon ye." Teig cannot say a word, "for he was knowing full well there was no good to him that night." So the King tells him, "Then ye must die."

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14. 14

    Question 14. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "have ye given aught to any one this night?"

    • Nothing at all
    • Correct answer: Anything at all
    • Should or ought to
    • A great deal

    Aught means anything. The King asks whether Teig has given anything at all to anyone. Its opposite is naught, which means nothing: Teig has "naught in his cupboard." Aught sounds like ought, which means should, but they are different words.

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15. 15

    Question 15. As the guards carry Teig off, what last request does he make of the King?

    • To eat one last meal from the King's own table
    • To send one last message home to old Barney
    • To hear the wee girl's song just one more time
    • Correct answer: To be hanged with his wee red cap on his head

    Teig says, "There's a wee red cap that I'm mortal fond of" and "if I could be hung with it on, I would hang a deal more comfortable." The cap is brought, and he sings, "Clip, clap, clip, clap, for my wee red cap, I wish I was home." He flies "Up and over the heads of the dumfounded guard." He never tells the King what the cap can do.

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16. 16

    Question 16. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • Teig counts the golden cinders of his fire on his fingers.

      Happened

      "a handful of golden cinders left, just; and Teig took to counting them greedily on his fingers." He laughs, "There's one, two, three, an' four an' five," and thinks of his real gold.

    • Teig lets the two strangers in and gives them a bed for the night.

      Didn't happen

      He does not open the door. "But Teig sat on, a-holding his tongue; and the tramp of the strangers' feet passed down the road."

    • The bolt of Teig's door draws itself out before the fairies come in.

      Happened

      Wee lights dance outside the window, the clock hands chase each other, "and the bolt of the door drew itself out." Then the door opens "without a creak or a cringe."

    • Teig flies to France and spends the rest of the night there.

      Didn't happen

      He only passes over it on the way to Holland: "In one leap he was over France, and another over Belgium."

    • Teig sings the fairies' rhyme, and a wee cap drops out of the air for him.

      Happened

      "So he sang the fairies' rhyme and out of the air dropped a wee cap for him." He claps it on his head and cries, "Spain!"

    • In the King's hall, the poor must pay for their food with gold.

      Didn't happen

      The great doors are open for the poor to "feast from the King's table." Those who can give something back give "a bit of music," "a dance or a song," or most often "a wish, just, for good luck and safekeeping."

    • In the King's hall, the King serves hungry people with his own hands.

      Happened

      The great doors are open for the poor and the homeless, "And many a hungry soul did the King serve with his own hands."

    • The King's guards hang Teig outside the palace.

      Didn't happen

      Teig asks for his cap as a last request, sings the rhyme, and flies "Up and over the heads of the dumfounded guard." Then he is sitting by his own hearth at home.

    • When Teig gets home, a candle is burning in old Barney's cabin.

      Happened

      "the only bright thing was the candle burning in old Barney's cabin across the road."

    • At the end, Teig sends Cassie across the road to fetch old Barney.

      Didn't happen

      Teig sends Cassie to the widow and the store: "Take those to the widow O'Donnelly, do ye hear? And take the rest to the store." Then he calls Barney himself: "Hey there, Barney, will ye come over for a sup?"

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17. 17

    Question 17. Back home, Teig digs up some gold and gives it to the miller's wee Cassie. What does he tell her to do with it?

    • Correct answer: Take some to the widow O'Donnelly and the rest to the store for a feast
    • Take every coin of it to old Barney so he can buy himself new crutches
    • Take it to the church so the poor on the steps can have bread tonight
    • Keep it all for herself as a Christmas gift for singing him the song

    Teig tells Cassie, "Take those to the widow O'Donnelly, do ye hear? And take the rest to the store." Jamie at the store is to "bring up all that he has that is eatable an' dhrinkable," and the neighbors are to hear "Teig's keepin' the feast this night." Then Teig calls across the road to Barney, just as he used to.

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18. 18

    Question 18. Teig says he has done evil to no one, and the King answers, "Maybe," then asks, "but have ye done good?" Which lesson does this best support?

    • A king should never punish a man he doesn't know
    • Keeping quiet is wiser than speaking for yourself
    • People who live alone are always the most selfish
    • Correct answer: Doing no harm is not the same as doing good

    The story never states a moral, but many readers find its lesson here. Teig defends himself by saying he has done evil to no one. The King asks a different question: has he done any good, has he given anything to anyone? Teig has not, so he has no answer. At the end he does do good: he sends gold to the widow O'Donnelly and to the store, and he calls Barney over.

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