Toinette and the Elves quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary categories best describe Toinette and the Elves?

   • Fable, Talking Animals & a Short Moral
   • Correct answer: Christmas Fairy Tale, Elves & a Lesson
   • Tall Tale, Frontier Hero & Big Boasts
   • Historical Fiction, Real Towns & Real Dates
   • Science Fiction, Inventions & Future Worlds

   Christmas Fairy Tale, Elves & a Lesson is the best fit. Susan Coolidge wrote it for the children's magazine St. Nicholas, which printed it with the subtitle A Christmas Story. It takes place on two Christmases, it has elves and magic fern-seed, and it says its lesson out loud: "Good temper is good luck".

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2. 2

   Question 2. What is Toinette doing at the Wishing Well just before she hears the sob?

   • Saying the well's rhyme and bowing to the East to make her wish
   • Correct answer: Dreaming of wishes and forgetting that her mother needs the water
   • Hurrying to fill her pitcher so she can get home before dark
   • Hiding from her brothers and sisters after a fight at home

   People believed a wish made at the well would come true, but "nobody knew exactly what the rhyme should be." Toinette stands dreaming instead: "She would be beautiful, rich, good—oh, so good!" Meanwhile "mother at home was waiting for the water, but Toinette forgot that."

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Toinette free the elf from the rose-thorn?

   • Correct answer: She breaks off the thorn and gently draws it out of his robe
   • She cuts around the thorn with a little knife from her pocket
   • She pulls the elf free fast, tearing a hole in his green suit
   • She asks him for a magic word, and the thorn drops away

   "She broke off the thorn as she spoke, and gently drew it out." The elf checks his Christmas suit, and only a tiny hole shows. He says, "You're a good child," and "I'll do as much for you some day, perhaps."

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4. 4

   Question 4. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "He stamped with vexation at the thought."

   • Great joy and delight
   • Calm, quiet patience
   • Sudden fear or terror
   • Correct answer: Annoyance and upset

   Vexation means feeling annoyed and upset. The elf is worried that a hole in his new suit will mean that "Peascod will tickle me," so he stamps his foot. Toinette warns him that if he stamps, he may tear it himself.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Toinette asks to borrow the elf's cap so she can be invisible too. Why won't it work for her?

   • Its magic only works on Christmas Eve, which is nearly over
   • Its magic was spoiled when the thorn made a hole in it
   • Correct answer: It is so small it would not stay on the tip of her ear
   • It belongs to Peascod, so the elf may not lend it out

   The elf laughs: "Why, it wouldn't stay on the very tip of your ear, it's so small." Instead he tells her that "the only way for mortal people to be invisible is to gather the fern-seed and put it in their shoes."

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6. 6

   Question 6. When Thistle puts the fern-seed in her shoes, what does he say about how long the charm will last?

   • Correct answer: It lasts until sunset, unless she shakes the seeds from her shoes
   • It lasts a whole year, until the next Christmas Eve comes around
   • It lasts until midnight, unless she says the elf's name out loud
   • It lasts until she tells someone in her family about the elves

   Thistle says, "The charm will end at sunset." He adds that "if you want to end it sooner, shake the seeds from the shoes". Toinette is sure she will not: "Oh, I shan't want to".

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7. 7

   Question 7. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "Toinette took no notice, and the little one crept away disconsolately."

   • Happily, with a big smile
   • Correct answer: Sadly, without any comfort
   • Sleepily, ready for her bed
   • Angrily, with stamping feet

   Disconsolately means very sadly, in a way nobody is there to comfort. Baby Jeanneton asked for a story, and Toinette said, "Oh, not to-night!" With Mother busy, Jeanneton has no one, so she creeps away unhappy.

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8. 8

   Question 8. At breakfast Pierre wonders if a wolf has eaten Toinette. What does Marc answer?

   • He will go out into the woods with Pierre to look for her
   • He hopes she comes home soon, because he misses her already
   • He thinks she went to the little chapel without the others
   • Correct answer: He will ask Mother to let him have her room for his own

   Pierre whispers, "Perhaps a wolf has eaten her up". Marc answers, "If he has, I shall ask mother to let me have her room for my own!" Toinette, standing there unseen, feels her "cheeks burnt and her eyes filled with tears at this."

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9. 9

   Question 9. Later that morning, what does Marc say about Toinette being gone?

   • It is lonely, because nobody tells stories as well as she does
   • It is worrying, because the woods may be full of wolves today
   • Correct answer: It is pleasanter, because she almost always scolds when she is there
   • It is unfair, because now he must do all of her chores for Mother

   Marc says, "If she were here," "she'd only scold and interfere. Toinette almost always scolds. I like to have her go away. It makes it pleasanter." Marie agrees, "It is rather pleasanter," but adds, "only I'd like her to be having a nice time somewhere else."

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10. 10

    Question 10. When Toinette laughs and a drop of porridge falls on Marie's nose, what does Marie think it is?

    • Correct answer: Hot water
    • A raindrop
    • A spark from the fire
    • Melted snow

    Marie cries, "Hot water! Right in my face!" Marc corrects her: "It's porridge." Their mother thinks Marie spattered it herself and tells her, "Eat more carefully, my child."

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11. 11

    Question 11. Hiding under a rose-bush, Toinette hears a little voice within her. What does it ask, and how does she answer?

    • Should she run away from home? She says no, she loves them all dearly
    • Did the elf trick her on purpose? She says yes, and gets angry
    • Will she tell her mother? She says no, it must stay a secret
    • Correct answer: Could she be kinder if she tried? She says she could, and will

    The narrator names the voice: "We call it conscience." It asks, "But you could be better and kinder if you tried, couldn't you?" Toinette clasps her hands and says out loud, "I could. Yes—and I will."

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12. 12

    Question 12. Match the term to its meaning in the story: "When she failed, and her old fractious temper got the better of her"

    • Calm and easy to please
    • Correct answer: Cranky and quick to quarrel
    • Broken into small pieces
    • Shy and afraid of others

    Fractious means cranky and quick to quarrel. Toinette's temper still gets the better of her sometimes, but now she is sorry and begs "every one's pardon so humbly that they could not but forgive." The word looks a little like fraction, but here it describes a temper, not pieces of something.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Toinette tells her mother everything that happened. What does her mother think, and what does she do?

    • She scolds her for being away all day and gives her extra chores
    • She calls the other children in so that Toinette can say sorry
    • Correct answer: She thinks Toinette has a fever and makes her a warm herb tea
    • She goes to the Wishing Well to thank the elf for his lesson

    The mother sends the other children away and listens. "Saints protect us," she says, and then, "Thou hast a fever." She makes a tisane, an herb tea, and puts Toinette to bed. Toinette sleeps and wakes up "herself again, bright and well."

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14. 14

    Question 14. The narrator says, "Nobody changes from bad to better in a minute." What does Toinette's next year show?

    • Correct answer: Change takes time and effort, and she keeps trying when she fails
    • One day of magic changes her, and after that she never makes a mistake
    • She stays the same until the elves give her a second magic gift
    • Her brothers and sisters change, so she no longer has to try

    "It takes time for that, time and effort, and a long struggle with evil habits and tempers." Toinette "began to fight with herself, to watch her faults and try to conquer them." It was hard, and she sometimes failed, but "she kept on." Slowly the children "learned to love Toinette as never before."

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15. 15

    Question 15. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • Toinette says the secret rhyme at the Wishing Well and makes her wish.

      Didn't happen

      The people believed in a rhyme, but "nobody knew exactly what the rhyme should be. Toinette did not". She only dreams about what she would wish for.

    • On Christmas Eve, Toinette will not tell baby Jeanneton a story.

      Happened

      Jeanneton asks for a story, but Toinette's head is full of the elf. She says, "Oh, not to-night!" and Jeanneton creeps away.

    • Thistle lets Toinette wear his magic cap.

      Didn't happen

      His cap is far too small: "it wouldn't stay on the very tip of your ear". He gives her fern-seed for her shoes instead.

    • An elf named Peascod tweaks Toinette's ear, and Thistle hits him for it.

      Happened

      Thistle cries, "Hands off, you bad Peascod!" and "This is my girl. She shan't be pinched." Then he deals Peascod a blow with his tiny hand.

    • While she is invisible, Toinette eats porridge from the bowl at breakfast.

      Happened

      She slips a spoon off the table and dips it into the bowl. "The porridge disappeared rapidly," and her mother thinks the children have eaten fast.

    • Baby Jeanneton misses Toinette while she is gone.

      Happened

      The other children play happily, but Jeanneton keeps saying, "Poor Toinette gone—not here—all gone!"

    • Toinette's mother punishes her for staying away all day.

      Didn't happen

      Her mother holds her, rocks her and comforts her "as though Toinette had been again a little baby." Then she thinks Toinette has a fever and puts her to bed.

    • When she runs home, Toinette tells the whole story to her brothers and sisters.

      Didn't happen

      The children follow, whispering and peeping, but the mother sends them away. Then Toinette tells her mother "all from the very beginning, keeping not a single thing back."

    • On the second Christmas Eve, Toinette first tells Thistle she does not want the fern-seeds.

      Happened

      She shrinks back and says, "Don't give me any fern-seeds. They frighten me." Thistle answers, "Take my advice, and try it. You'll not be sorry."

    • The elves leave a wooden ship on Toinette's plate as a Christmas gift.

      Didn't happen

      "Marc had made the ship," and the children wait to see Toinette surprised. The elves bring her only fern-seed.

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16. 16

    Question 16. On the second Christmas morning, unseen again, what does Toinette hear?

    • Her brothers and sisters saying that home is nicer without her
    • Her mother telling the children that Toinette has run away
    • Marc and Pierre arguing about which of them gets her room
    • Correct answer: Her brothers and sisters praising her and wishing she'd come

    Pierre says, "I wish she'd hurry," Marc says, "Our Toinette is ever so pretty," and Pierre adds, "She's as good to play with as—as—a boy!" Jeanneton cries, "Oh, I wish my Toinette would come!" Toinette "sped up-stairs with glad tears in her eyes" and soon came down "visible this time."

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17. 17

    Question 17. Why can't the elves cook fern-seed broth for themselves?

    • They have no bowls small enough to cook it
    • Only a person can find the honey dew they need
    • Correct answer: They fear their wings will scorch near a fire
    • Their magic stops working inside a house

    Thistle explains that the broth "has to be cooked over a real fire, and we dare not go near fire, you know, lest our wings scorch." Peascod gives the recipe: "only seed and honey dew, stirred from left to right with a sprig of fennel."

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18. 18

    Question 18. Before the elves fly away, Thistle blesses the house. What does he tell Toinette about luck?

    • Luck comes to those who learn the right rhyme at the Wishing Well
    • Correct answer: Good temper is good luck, and peace in the heart is a fine fortune
    • Good luck will stay with her only as long as she keeps the fern-seed
    • The house will be lucky only as long as the elves are fed each year

    Thistle says, "Be lucky, house," "for you have received and entertained the luck-bringers." Then he tells Toinette, "Good temper is good luck, and sweet words and kind looks and peace in the heart are the fairest of fortunes. See that you never lose them again, my girl."

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