'The Last Unicorn' by Peter Beagle Quiz

Answer: Lilac

'The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless colour of sea foam, but rather the colour of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.'

Answer: Schmendrick

'The unicorn looked at him out of dark, endless eyes, and he smiled nervously and looked at his hands. "It's a rare man who is taken for what he truly is," he said. "There is much misjudgement in the world. Now, I knew you for a unicorn when I first saw you, and I know that I am your friend."...
"I think you are my friend," she said. "Will you help me?"
"If not you, no one," the magician answered. "You are my last chance."'

Answer: A Harpy

'The unicorn said quietly, "This one is real. This is the harpy Celaeno."
Schmendrick's face had gone the colour of oatmeal. "The old woman caught her by chance," he whispered, "asleep as she took you. But it was an ill fortune, and they both know it."'

Answer: All of them

Because all three of them are real, not one of Mommy Fortuna's illusions, and as Schmendrick says "The truth melts her magic, always, but she cannot keep from trying to make it serve her. But this time-"

Answer: False

'He followed her, never once looking back, even when he heard the desperate scrambling and skidding of heavy feet, the boom of bronze wings, and Rukh's interuppted scream. "He ran," the unicorn said. "You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention." Her voice was gentle, and without pity. "Never run," she said. "Walk slowly, and pretend to be thinking about something else. Sing a song, say a poem, do your tricks, but walk slowly and she may not follow. Walk very slowly, magician."'

Answer: Willie Gentle

'"They sing a ballard of you in my country," he began. "I forget how it goes-" Captain Cully spun like a cat ambushing its own tail. "Which one?" he demanded. "I don't know," Schmendrick answered, taken aback, "Are there more than one?" "Aye, indeed!" Cully cried, glowing and growing, as though pregnant with his pride. "Willie Gentle! Willie Gentle! Where is the lad?"
A lank-haired youth with a lute and pimples shambled up. "Sing one of my exploits for the gentleman," Captain Cully ordered him. "Sing the one about how you joined my band. I've not heard it since Tuesday last."'

Answer: A forest

'Suddenly he shouted, "What is the matter with your eyes? They are full of green leaves, crowded with trees and streams and small animals. Where am I? Why can I not see myself in your eyes?"'

Answer: Cat

'The cat licked a front paw reflectively. "It was the sight of her that made me feel like talking," he said at length, "and let us leave it at that. So that is a unicorn. She is very beautiful."
"How do you know she is a unicorn?" Molly demanded. "And why were you afraid to let her touch you? I saw you. You were afraid of her."
"I doubt that I will feel like talking for very long," the cat replied without rancor. "I would not waste time with foolishness if I were you. As for your first question, no cat out of its first fur can ever be deceived by appearances. Unlike human beings, who enjoy them."'

Answer: The unicorns

'"I like to watch them. They fill me with joy." The childish voice was all but singing. "I am sure it was joy. The first time I felt it, I thought I was going to die. There were two of them in the early morning shadows. One was drinking from a stream, and the other was resting her head on his back. I thought I was going to die. I said to the Red Bull, 'I must have that. I must have all of it, all there is, for my need is very great.' So the Bull caught them, one by one.

It was all the same to the Bull."'

Answer: False

'"The others have gone," she said. "They are scattered to the woods they came from, no two together, and men will not catch sight of them much more easily than if they were still in the sea. I will go back to my forest too, but I do not know if I will live contentedly there, or anywhere. I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, though I cannot weep, and I want for nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I do, I regret."
Schmendrick hid his face like a child, though he was a great magician. "I am sorry, I am sorry," he mumbled into his wrist. "I have done you evil, as Nikos did to the other unicorn, with the same good will, and I can no more undo it than he could. Mommy Fortuna and King Haggard and the Red Bull together were kinder to you than I."
But she answered him gently, saying, "My people are in the world again. No sorrow will live in me as long as that joy-save one, and I thank you for that, too. Farewell, good magician. I will try to go home."'