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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whom does Pahom accuse of stripping his trees?
(a) The head of the commune.
(b) His brother-in-law.
(c) Simon.
(d) The innkeeper.

2. Which character says that "Loss and gain are brothers twain"?
(a) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(b) Pahom.
(c) Pahom's wife.
(d) The local landowner.

3. What is a steward?
(a) A shop owner.
(b) Someone who takes care of someone else's property.
(c) Someone who rents the land that they farm or graze animals on.
(d) An innkeeper.

4. What does Pahom do when the court rules against him?
(a) He quits the commune in protest.
(b) He accuses the judges of taking bribes.
(c) He tries to appeal the case.
(d) He strips someone else's trees in revenge.

5. What bothers Pahom the most about the stripping of bark from his trees?
(a) He hates the idea of a stranger being on his land.
(b) He hates the idea of trees being wasted in this way.
(c) Whoever did it also let his cows out of their pen.
(d) Whoever did it cut down a whole clump of trees.

Short Answer Questions

1. How far does Pahom walk in order to get to the new settlement?

2. What problem does the new steward create for the local peasants?

3. What does Pahom's wife say may happen to a man in town?

4. What does the stranger staying at Pahom's house overnight tell Pahom?

5. What does the expression "racked his brains" mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what two ways is Pahom's first decision to buy land different from his later decisions?

2. What sequence of events with Simon follows Pahom's discovery of the stripped trees?

3. Pahom is most angry at the neighbor who has cut down his trees because whoever it was did not just take one or two trees but instead cut down a whole clump of trees. Why does this make Pahom angry, and what is ironic about his anger?

4. How does Pahom's relationship with his community change, and what are two specific pieces of evidence for this change?

5. What changes the relationship between the woman who owns land near the village and the peasants, and how does the relationship change?

6. What sacrifices do Pahom and his family make for the first plot of land that they buy?

7. In Chapter I, what is ironic about the conversation between the two sisters?

8. What prevents the peasants from buying the nearby landowner's land as a group instead of as individuals?

9. When the devil overhears Pahom's thoughts, what does he vow to do?

10. In Chapter I, what is ironic about where Pahom is while he listens to his wife and her sister talk?

(see the answer keys)

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