What Did They Do? Struwwelpeter Edition Quiz

Answer: "Ugh! Disgusting Struwwelpeter!"

"Struwwel" is thought to be derived from the German word "strubbelig", meaning unkempt. Peter lets his hair and nails grow to such long lengths that everyone hates him. Some adaptations have him change his ways and become cleaner, but the original just leaves it at that.

Answer: Cake, sausage, and wine

None of these foods are actually appropriate for dogs to eat, but it's a fictional poem. Before being bitten by the dog, Friederich attacks all sorts of animals, such as cats, birds, and even a woman he knows named Gretchen. It is unknown whether or not he stops doing such cruel things after getting the bite.

Answer: Shouted pitifully for help, but to no avail

Paulinchen is left at home alone with just the cats, finds the matches, and plays with them, leading to her igniting herself and burning to death. Perhaps the poor cats' brains were just in the wrong time zone, given that they do cry over Paulinchen's ashes after she's already burned up.

There is at least one adaptation where the cats do indeed save her by crying a flood of tears on her, though.

Answer: Picked them up and dunked them into his inkwell

A few say that Nikolas is actually St. Nicholas (whose assistants have been known to carry a switch in German culture), but I highly doubt it. Many adaptations rename him to "Agrippa". After the boys get pulled out of the inkwell, they still won't stop teasing the dark-skinned kid. I honestly think they should have gotten a much worse punishment.

Answer: Jumped down a well

A lot goes on in this crazy story. A hunter leaves his house to go hunting for hares, but while he takes a nap, one particularly intelligent hare steals his gun. The hare shoots at the hunter, but misses, and the bullet breaks the hunter's wife's coffee cup, causing coffee to spill all over the hare's own child.

The aftermath of those events is not known, but some adaptations have made follow-up stories.

Answer: Cut both thumbs off with his huge scissors

This is probably the most infamous story in the book due to the extreme form of punishment. I honestly agree that getting thumbs cut off is totally disproportionate for just thumb-sucking. Some adaptations, however, have Konrad get out of losing his thumbs or even have the thumbs return in some way.

Answer: Nothing - she just let him starve

This story is more ambiguous than some others in the book. Some say that Kaspar just didn't want to eat soup, and others say that he didn't want to eat any food at all. A few adaptations of Kaspar's story have taken different paths to rescue him. In the original version where he does die, a bowl of soup is placed atop his grave.

A token of love or insult to injury? We don't know, but I think it's the former.

Answer: Just sat and watched

Some believe that the child in this poem may actually have ADHD. We don't know what happens to Philip after he pulls down the tablecloth. Again, many adaptations have been made that elaborate on what may have happened afterward. Still, I feel pretty bad for him. I wouldn't want to have a bunch of dishes and cutlery land on me just because I liked to fidget. Would you?

Answer: Laughed at him

Hans is a boy who won't stop looking at the sky as he walks. He is actually rescued before he can drown in the river, but he still gets laughed at by the rude fish, as well as his schoolbag floating far away. While fish have been known to make sounds, I'm pretty sure they can't actually laugh - the only animals known to truly laugh are rats, dogs and apes.

Answer: Shouted, but no one heard him

It's rather confusing to me what the moral of this story is, other than "don't go outside in a big storm". Robert goes outside in a storm, gets picked up by the wind, and is carried away to parts unknown. We don't know what happens to Robert after he flies into the distance- it's all left up to our imaginations. I like to think he survived, though.