Ten Terrific Tales Trivia Game | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This moving story describes a young couple who gave Christmas presents to each other. They wanted their gifts to be special and useful and, unknown to each other, they made great personal sacrifices to buy their gifts, only to find their sacrifices were futile. The plot of which short story by O. Henry has been described here?

Answer: The Gift Of The Magi

"The Gift Of The Magi", written by O. Henry, is often considered to be among the best short stories among written. The girl, Della, bought a beautiful platinum fob chain for her husband Jim's beautiful watch. She raised this money by cutting and selling her beautiful hair. Jim bought beautiful combs for her hair, but had sold his watch to collect the money.

Hence, their gifts became useless, but were a token of their love for each other.

2. In this beautifully-written story set in World War II, an English soldier named Robert was sent to rescue a key member of the French Resistance called Paul Renard. Robert was about to be captured himself, but was saved by a young girl named Jehane le Brun. With her help, Robert freed Renard and escaped from the Nazis. She stated that Robert would come back to Rouen when France gained independence and requested him to bring her some English roses. Which beautiful short story by Avery Taylor contains these elements?

Answer: Remember The Roses

"Remember The Roses" was written by Avery Taylor. This story can be called a mystery, a romance or even a ghost story. At the end of the story it is discovered that the girl who helped Robert couldn't have been anyone else but the legendary Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc, who fought for France in 1429. Finally, we see Robert returning to France and placing a bunch of roses at the feet of her only statue in Rouen.

The story concludes with Robert saying, "See, Jehane. I remembered the roses."

3. This story, written by Liam O'Flaherty, is set in Dublin where two conflicting groups are fighting to establish their control over the city. It describes the experiences of one of the snipers, who is dedicated to his cause, but does not realize that violence is often self-consuming. The sniper learns his lesson the hard way, while warning us about the consequences of war. Which short story am I talking about?

Answer: The Sniper

"The Sniper" was written by Liam O'Flaherty. It contains two main characters, a Republican sniper and another sniper who isfighting for the Free Staters. Neither of them can leave without killing the other. In a battle of nerve, patience and intelligence, the Republican sniper emerges victorious and kills the other sniper.

The climax of the story takes place when the Republican sniper learns the identity of the man he killed - it was his brother!

4. Time for a thriller. In this short story, a murder trial named the "Peckham Murder" seemed to be an open and shut case. The suspect was seen by four witnesses and was sure to be punished, but was saved when the defence lawyer brought his twin brother in front of the Court. He was acquitted, but still failed to escape justice. Which short story by Graham Greene has been described here?

Answer: The Case For The Defence

"The Case For The Defence" was written by Graham Greene, whose other successful works included "The Power and the Glory", "Brighton Rock", The Human Factor" and "The Quiet American".

The suspect and his twin brother insisted on leaving through the front door as one of them was heard boasting that he had been acquitted. The author states that he didn't know how it happened, but somehow one of them was pushed in front of a bus and was dead, his skull shattered just like that of Mrs Parker (the murdered woman). Nobody knew who died - the guilty brother or the innocent one, and whether it was a case of "divine vengeance" or not.

5. In this story by Rudyard Kipling we read about an English family who have just moved into the town of Segowlee. They find and rescue a young mongoose, who later saves the whole family from snakes. Which delightful fable is this, where the animals act like human beings?

Answer: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", by Rudyard Kipling, is an all-time popular classic. It brilliantly describes the characteristics of Indian fauna. The mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was very young, yet managed to fight and kill two cobras, protecting his new family and the whole garden. This story is sometimes included in Kipling's famous work, "The Jungle Book".

6. In this horror story, we find a Sergeant Major visiting the family of Mr White. He carried a talisman with him which granted three wishes of the possessor, but the wishes always came at an enormous cost. The first wish made by Mr White was for two-hundred pounds, which they received as a compensation money for their only son's death while at work. Which horror story is described here?

Answer: The Monkey's Paw

"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs is a story that tells us that fate rules over the life of all human beings, and only the foolish try to interfere with it. The second wish made by Mr White, on request of his wife, was that he wanted his son to be alive again.

This brought the son, Herbert, back to life, but before he could enter the house, Mr White used his third wish to return his son back to the grave. He had realised that Herbert had no room in the mortal world anymore after his death.

7. This humorous story is told from a child's perspective, which adds to the charm of its narration. In it, a mother and her little daughter are tricked into buying an expensive umbrella for a throwaway price; but they soon realise that not only is the seller not genuine, but he also has a very strange reason for selling the umbrella, and they have been cheated despite buying the umbrella at a very low cost. Which short story by Roald Dahl fits these descriptions?

Answer: The Umbrella Man

"The Umbrella Man" by Roald Dahl describes the methods of a trickster. He used to roam about on the streets on rainy nights, offering an umbrella to people without one, at a very cheap rate. The mother-daughter duo was one of those people. They, however, suspected him and followed him to a pub.

It was seen there that the man used up all the money he earned by selling that umbrella for a drink, and while departing he casually lifted one of the many wet umbrellas hanging from the coat-rack as if it was his own.

He was soon seen making the same deal with a thin fellow, but he went in the direction of another pub with the money. This was how he outwitted everyone - he never went to the same pub twice.

8. In this simple story, the author focuses on an issue subject to much discussion in many countries - inter-cultural marriages. It portrays the clash between young and old, and between traditional and modern attitudes, and shows how two people in love overcame social pressures. Which short story by Chinua Achebe am I talking about?

Answer: Marriage Is A Private Affair

The couple, Nnaemeka and Nene, had to face many troubles after their marriage, including the opposition of Nnaemeka's father, Okeke and the ladies belonging to Nnaemeka's village. However, Nene won over the heart of the girls by her patience and nice behaviour, and Okeke was mollified when he came to know about his two grandsons.

The battle in Okeke's mind between anger and love, reasoning and emotions has been portrayed beautifully by Achebe in this story by comparing it to a stormy and rainy weather.

9. This story by Leo Tolstoy is based on the theme that man's greed knows no bounds. In this story, we are told of how a man's desire to own more and more land ends in his death, warning us about the consequences of greed. Which story is it?

Answer: How Much Land Does a Man Require?

This story by Leo Tolstoy shows a peasant named Pakhom who was honest and contented, but made the mistake of challenging the Devil by stating that once given enough land, not even the Devil could take it away from him. Led by the Devil, he struck a deal with the Bashkirs.

It allowed him to gain as much land as he could encircle in one day for a thousand roubles, but failure to return to the starting point before sunset would result in the money being seized. Pakhom pressed himself so hard that he died from exhaustion, just as he reached the starting point.

He had gained much land, but it took only three Russian ells to bury him.

10. This short story by Frank R. Stockton tells about a king who practiced a barbaric tradition; any person considered guilty enough to interest the king is placed in an arena before two doors - one contains a starved tiger, while the other contains a beautiful maiden. If the accused chooses the door behind which the maiden is present, he must marry her immediately; and failing to do that leads in a rather painful death. Which popular story am I talking about?

Answer: The Lady, Or The Tiger?

The story reaches a tantalizing point when the king finds out that his daughter has fallen in love with a man far below their standards. That man is immediately sent to the arena. Even the king doesn't know which door has the tiger waiting behind it, but the princess finds out.

She makes a gesture to the right, which is followed by the youth without question. However, the dilemma of the princess could be easily understood, as she would have lost her love in both situations. So, the readers are presented with the question: did she point at the right door? We don't know what came out of the door - the lady, or the tiger.

Source: Author remote9

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Ten Terrific Tales Trivia Quiz

These following short stories have left an impact on the minds of millions. See if you can identify them. Spoilers are present.

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