Just So Stories Quiz

Multiple Choice

1. Who wrote Just So Stories?
A) Rudyard Kipling
B) A shipwrecked Mariner
C) The Djinn of All Deserts
D) The 'Stute Fish

2. In "How the Whale Got His Throat," what did the Whale eat before he was hungry for Man?
A) Only crabs
B) All kinds of fish in the sea
C) Only the 'Stute Fish
D) Seaweed and coral

3. Where did the small 'Stute Fish tell the Whale he could find a Mariner to eat?
A) Latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West
B) The white-cliffs-of-Albion
C) The middle of the Howling Desert
D) The Door-sills of the Equator

4. What did the Mariner use to build a grating inside the Whale's throat?
A) His shirt and belt
B) His jack-knife and his suspenders
C) A fishing net
D) His blue canvas breeches

5. Why did the grating in the Whale's throat matter forever after?
A) It made the Whale sing
B) It let the Whale swim faster
C) It stopped the Whale from eating anything except very small fish
D) It made the Whale grow bigger

6. In "How the Camel Got His Hump," what was the only word the Camel would say when asked to work?
A) "No!"
B) "Humph!"
C) "Never!"
D) "Maybe!"

7. Which three animals came to ask the Camel to work?
A) The Horse, the Dog, and the Ox
B) The Whale, the Fish, and the Djinn
C) The Rhinoceros, the Parsee, and the Djinn
D) The Camel, the Mariner, and the Fish

8. Who gave the Camel his hump as punishment for being idle?
A) The Man
B) The 'Stute Fish
C) The Djinn in charge of All Deserts
D) The Horse

Short Answer

9. According to the poem at the end of "How the Camel Got His Hump," what does the poem say is the "cure" for getting the "hump" (feeling grumpy from idleness)?

10. Explain in your own words why the Whale could no longer swallow the Mariner once the grating was in place, and how this changed what whales eat "from that day on."

11. In "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin," where did the Parsee live, and who else was mentioned at the very beginning of the story (based on the text given)?

---

Answer Key

1. A) Rudyard Kipling
2. B) All kinds of fish in the sea
3. A) Latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West
4. B) His jack-knife and his suspenders
5. C) It stopped the Whale from eating anything except very small fish
6. B) "Humph!"
7. A) The Horse, the Dog, and the Ox
8. C) The Djinn in charge of All Deserts
9. The poem says the cure is not to sit still or read by the fire, but to take a hoe and shovel and dig until you perspire — being active gets rid of the "hump."
10. The grating got stuck in the Whale's throat so he could neither cough it up nor swallow it down; because of this, he could only eat very small fish that could fit through the grating, which is why whales never eat men, boys, or little girls anymore.
11. The Parsee lived on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea. (The text only introduces the Parsee at this point.)