One Thousand and One Nights

1. Which statement best describes most of the tales in the Thousand and One Nights?

A) They are riddles based on Persian logic.

B) They are embedded inside other stories.

C) They contain only monsters or demons.

D) They contain no endings but go on and on.

2. What three cultures contribute most of the stories? (short answer)

3. King Shahriyar and his brother, Shahzaman, share what experience in common?

A) Each lost a son in battle.

B) Each lost a daughter to illness.

C) Each marries an unfaithful wife.

D) Each marries a nagging wife.

4. Why does Shahriyar execute a young woman every morning?

A) His wife betrayed him.

B) A jinnee put a spell on him.

C) There are too many women in the kingdom

D) He has hated women since he was a child.

5. Why does Shahrazad marry King Shahriyar?

A) Her father, the Vizier, forces her to do so.

B) She wants to save other women from Shahriyar.

C) Shahriyar promises never to kill her.

D) She’s hopelessly in love with the king.

6. How does Shahrazad avoid execution?

A) by telling stories to the king

B) by giving the king a love potion

C) by sneaking away at dawn

D) by killing the king while he sleeps

7. On the day of the broker’s execution, what do the steward, the doctor, and the tailor each declare? (short answer)

8. Which is true of the barber’s tale?

A) It is nested inside the tailor’s tale.

B) It is the first story told by Shahrazad.

C) It is banned from the records.

D) It gets him hanged for lying.

9. What happens to each of the barber’s six brothers?

A) They receive gold from the caliph.

B) They’re blinded in the left eye.

C) They are abused and banished.

D) They lose their left ears.

10. When the barber first tells his story, what is the caliph’s reaction?

A) He laughs and banishes him.

B) He laughs and gives him gold.

C) He orders him arrested.

D) He makes him king of Basra.

11. How does the barber solves the mystery of the dead hunchback?

A) by confessing that he beat the hunchback to death

B) by proving the doctor killed the hunchback with poison

C) by proving the tailor killed the hunchback with a chicken bone

D) by removing a fish bone from the hunchback’s throat, reviving him

12. Fill in the blank: When the simpleton finds his donkey for sale in the marketplace, he rebukes the donkey for __________ and promises __________.

13. Which is true of the Tale of King Sindbad and the Falcon?

A) It’s a short sea adventure.

B) It’s told by Shahriyar’s Vizier.

C) It’s proven untrue by the caliph.

D) It’s a story within a story within a story.

14. The fisherman gives multi-colored fish to his king to eat, but they turn out to be what?

A) stolen from the king’s hatcheries

B) laced with a deadly poison

C) magically transformed humans

D) valuable fish with magic powers

15. The prince marries his niece, who does what?

A) runs away with her African master

B) turns his lower body to stone

C) bears him a son who betrays them

D) converts his gold coins to wood

16. A young woman seduces and imprisons a carpenter, judge, governor, vizier, and king for what reason? (short answer)

17. What happens to Sindbad the sailor on each of his seven voyages?

A) He’s betrayed by his crew.

B) He’s mistaken for King Sindbad.

C) He’s marooned on an island.

D) He’s betrayed by a jinnee.

18. What happens each time Sindbad tells the porter about one of his voyages?

A) He makes the porter promise never to retell the stories.

B) He begs to be forgiven for his adventurous sins.

C) He gives the porter 100 pieces of gold.

D) He beats the porter and chases him away.

19. What is the porter’s name?

A) Haroun al-Rashid

B) Sindbad

C) Mahrajan

D) Kut-al-Kulub 

20. What event on Abu Hasan’s wedding night caused him to flee to India?

A) He murdered his bride.

B) He stole his bride’s dowry.

C) He farted long and loud.

D) He set fire to the wedding tent.

21. What does a sorcerer lock Aladdin inside?

A) a giant castle in Morocco

B) a magic lamp in a cave

C) a treasure chest in the desert

D) a hidden chamber in the mountains

22. Fill in the blank: Aladdin can use a ___________ to summon a jinnee from its ___________.

23. What happens after the jinnee first makes Aladdin and his mother rich?

A) They continue to live modestly.

B) They begin to fight over the treasure.

C) His mother tries to kill Aladdin.

D) They renounce the treasure.

24. Once in possession of the lamp, what does the sorcerer do?

A) imprisons Aladdin in a cave in Morocco

B) maroons Aladdin on a desert island

C) magically transplants Aladdin’s castle to Morocco

D) overthrows the sultan and becomes the ruler

25. How does Aladdin’s wife helps him kill the sorcerer?

A) by getting him drunk and seducing him

B) by blinding him with a knife

C) by pretending to be dead

D) by shooting him with a poison dart

26. Kafur the eunuch begins his tale by stating that he is what? (short answer)

27. What does Kafur tell his master’s family has happened to his master?

A) He has been kidnapped.

B) He has run away with his fortune.

C) He has been murdered by pirates.

D) He has been crushed to death.

28. Though beaten and castrated, Kafur refuses to do what?

A) tell where the treasure is buried

B) stop his habit of telling lies

C) help the governor arrest the merchant

D) ask forgiveness for his crimes

29. At a large house in Baghdad, a young porter meets three dervishes. What’s similar about them?

A) They each have a mark on their foreheads.

B) They’re missing their left eyes.

C) They have a pronounced limp.

D) They wear rings identical to his own.

30. The caliph, Haroun al-Rashid, and his vizier and executioner have disguised themselves for what reason? (short answer)

31. The women in the large house threaten to kill the visiting men unless they do what?

A) tell their life stories

B) slice their hands with a knife

C) observe strict silence

D) fight each other to the death

32. After each dervish tells his story, what happens?

A) He’s freed and receives two gold coins.

B) He’s freed and promptly falls into a deep sleep.

C) He’s freed and receives one of the women as a concubine.

D) He’s freed and stays to hear the other stories.

33. The caliph orders everyone from the large house brought before him so that they can do what?

A) decide which dervish’s story is the best

B) hear the women’s stories

C) receive 100 gold pieces each

D) determine who among them must be executed

34. Why does the woman beat her two dogs each day? (short answer)

35. What does the caliph do?

A) orders the dogs killed

B) marries one of the sisters

C) never reveals who he is

D) banishes the dervishes

36. What does Khalifah the fisherman do to the caliph when he mistakes him for an ordinary citizen?

A) pushes him brusquely aside

B) refuses to speak to him

C) hires him to work as his assistant

D) beats him, thinking he’s a thief

37. What does Khalifah find inside the chest?

A) two talking apes

B) the caliph’s favorite concubine

C) a magic lamp and ring

D) one thousand and one gold coins

38. How does the impoverished man find his fortune after being beaten by the police? (short answer)

39. When Judar’s older brothers impoverish him and their mother, what is Judar’s response?

A) He forgives them.

B) He steals back the money.

C) He escapes with his mother to Egypt.

D) He has a sorcerer imprison them.

40. What does the jinnee in the sorcerer’s ring help Judar to do?

A) kill the Egyptian king

B) make a pilgrimage

C) enslave his brothers

D) steal the king’s treasury

41. As king, Judar appoints his brothers as viziers. How do they respond?

A) They become loyal and virtuous.

B) They squabble continuously.

C) They squander the treasury.

D) They kill him with poison.

42. What does Judar’s wife do with the ring? (short answer)

43. Which is true of Ma’aruf’s first wife?

A) She’s lovely beyond price.

B) She’s a subtle rogue.

C) She’s abusive to Ma’aruf.

D) She’s a Cairene jinnee.

44. When the princess learns that Ma’aruf lies about his wealth, what does she do?

A) tells the king, who arrests Ma’aruf

B) helps him escape

C) pushes him into a lake

D) kills him with a poisoned scimitar

45. What does the princess do after the vizier steals Ma’aruf’s magic ring?

A) steals it back and imprisons the vizier

B) marries the vizier, and they have a child

C) cuts off the vizier’s hand to get the ring

D) escapes to Cairo with Ma’aruf

46. While telling these tales to Shahriyar, Shahrazad does what?

A) bears him three sons

B) bears him a daughter, Jasmina

C) plots his death by poison

D) plans her escape after the last story

47. Shahrazad asks Shahriyar not to kill her. What is his reply? (short answer)