Caliph Stork — Questions and answers

Read the full story

What was the Caliph Chasid doing on his balcony in Baghdad on a hot afternoon?

Choices

  1. He was watching the rope-makers and coppersmiths in the bazaar.
  2. He was listening to a pedlar shouting in the street below.
  3. He was sitting with his Grand Vizier Mansor, doing nothing at all. ✓
  4. He was arguing about the price of melons with a hundred people.

Answer: He was sitting with his Grand Vizier Mansor, doing nothing at all.

From page 1

What did the Caliph Chasid buy from the pedlar?

Choices

  1. He bought a tin whistle and some old knives.
  2. He bought a tray of combs and beads.
  3. He bought a small silver snuff-box with black powder and parchment. ✓
  4. He bought a gold piece because he was bored.

Answer: He bought a small silver snuff-box with black powder and parchment.

From page 2

What was the rule for using the magic powder that Selim told the Caliph and Vizier?

Choices

  1. You must not laugh while you are an animal. ✓
  2. You must not eat while you are an animal.
  3. You must not look at the sun while you are an animal.
  4. You must not speak while you are an animal.

Answer: You must not laugh while you are an animal.

From page 3

What happened when the Caliph Chasid and Mansor took the black powder and said "Mutabor"?

Choices

  1. They turned into washerwomen beating cloth.
  2. They turned into storks with long necks and red legs. ✓
  3. They turned into a boy fishing by the pond.
  4. They turned into a herd of goats.

Answer: They turned into storks with long necks and red legs.

From page 4

What caused the Caliph Chasid and the Vizier Mansor to lose the magic word?

Choices

  1. They saw a young stork named Leaf-Foot trying to curtsey and laughed. ✓
  2. They heard a stork say something very rude about the mud.
  3. They started complaining about the weather like the other storks.
  4. They flew to the mudflats where the young storks were dancing.

Answer: They saw a young stork named Leaf-Foot trying to curtsey and laughed.

From page 5

Who was proclaimed the new Caliph of Baghdad after Chasid and Mansor were turned into storks?

Choices

  1. The sorcerer Kaschnur, who was the old pedlar.
  2. Mizra, the son of the sorcerer Kaschnur. ✓
  3. A crier who was changing the flags on the palace.
  4. Someone from the squares full of people.

Answer: Mizra, the son of the sorcerer Kaschnur.

From page 6

Who did the Caliph Chasid and Mansor meet in the ruined palace in the desert?

Choices

  1. They met the king of India, Lusa's father.
  2. They met the sorcerer Kaschnur in the empty rooms.
  3. They met a voice that was not a bird's voice, which belonged to an owl named Lusa. ✓
  4. They met a bird that was not an owl.

Answer: They met a voice that was not a bird's voice, which belonged to an owl named Lusa.

From page 7

How did the Caliph Chasid and Mansor learn the magic word again?

Choices

  1. They found a crack in the floor and read the word there.
  2. They kept still and listened to the dozen men in dark robes.
  3. They heard the owl Lusa say it when she was crying.
  4. They heard Kaschnur say the word out loud when he was bragging to other sorcerers. ✓

Answer: They heard Kaschnur say the word out loud when he was bragging to other sorcerers.

From page 8

What happened when the Caliph Chasid and Mansor said the magic word in the square outside the palace gate?

Choices

  1. The bread-sellers lit their ovens and the first carts came in.
  2. They turned back into men, and a young woman in a white veil appeared with them. ✓
  3. They bowed three times to the east, as Selim had told them.
  4. A market woman setting out her onions started shouting.

Answer: They turned back into men, and a young woman in a white veil appeared with them.

From page 9

What happened to Mizra after the Caliph Chasid returned?

Choices

  1. Mizra was put out of the city gate with Kaschnur.
  2. Mizra married Lusa and became good at ruling the country.
  3. Mizra was given the powder and turned into a stork, living in the palace garden. ✓
  4. Mizra lost his box and his place on the throne.

Answer: Mizra was given the powder and turned into a stork, living in the palace garden.

From page 10