Norse Tales, The Master Thief, part 16: the youth steals a man's ox with a shoe and a trick

Tests: 7 of 12 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 13 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 1519 of the books course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★ · right ✓

ok so the boy gets lost in a proper mad storm, yeah?

1. nah, it's dead calm, he just wandered off — score 1
2. yeah, thunder and hail, he's soaked through — no support
3. nah, it's a massive blizzard, all the trees are down and he's stuck in a ditch somewhere — no support
4. yeah, rain bucketing down, he can't see nothing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 899, line 1: «The boy carries the painter's box to the gallery, where he sees the Bronzino picture and watches the painter draw a faint chalk Saviour.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «bronzino picture» (+3); the same action «see» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · right ✓

wait, who lives in the creepy house?

1. a mad old lady and a crew of robbers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. a mad old lady, her dog, and a crew of robbers who hide their loot in the cellar — score -3
3. a mad old lady and a whole crew of nasty robbers who steal oxen from the village — score -4
4. a poor family of woodcutters — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 969, line 1: «Jurgen lives in merchant Bronne's house, but his mind is like a broken instrument with loose strings.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «live» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · right ✓

innit the old lady got nicked as a kid?

1. yeah, she was snatched from her farm at seven — score 4
2. nah, she was born like that — no support
3. yeah, the robbers took her when she was little — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. nah, she's been there since she was grown — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1327, line 18: «The ending: the lion "burst through the stones" and slew the youths, and Owen takes the lady to Arthur's court.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «lady» (+3); the same action «take» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

so why's he not kipping in the bed?

1. cos he's not tired — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. cos he's too scared to shut his eyes — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. cos he's got no blanket to use — no support
4. cos someone's shouting outside him — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

what's the lad's big plan to get in with them?

1. offer to be their servant and learn to nick — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score -6
2. tell them he's a great fighter and then steal all their horses while they sleep at night — no support
3. pretend he's a rich man's son — no support
4. offer to be their servant for a year and learn all the tricks of how to nick stuff — score -9

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -6, against -9 for the next best. Its support: lesson 846, line 5: «The ants offer a queen, which the mother refuses, so the gnats find a shy lady-snail far off, and she arrives after eight days for a quiet wedding.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); it fills the role the question asks for (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

bruv, how's he gonna prove he can nick stuff?

1. steal a sheep with a bell — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. nick an ox with a shoe trick — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. nick the man's ox by distracting him with a shoe and then cutting the rope tied to it — no support
4. nick an ox from the farmer's field using a shoe trick and a bit of luck — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · right ✓

what's the shoe with the silver buckle for?

1. to show the robbers he has stolen something from a rich traveller — no support
2. to lure the man off the road so the boy can steal his ox — score -1
3. to mark the path back home — no support
4. to lure the man off the road — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score -1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score -1, tied with another option at -1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1517, line 17: «Old word: "benighted" means caught out by night with nowhere to sleep; today we might say "stuck out in the dark".», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+1). Against it: the same thing acted on «old word» (-1); a different action (counts against) (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · right ✓

the man's wife, is she mint or proper grim?

1. mint, she's kind — no support
2. alright, she's quiet and kind — no support
3. proper grim, she batters him — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. grim — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1516, line 6: «Who: the Queen is "greatly incensed" when the hen-wife insults her, and she demands the reason or threatens her life.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «queen» (+3); the same doer «hen wife» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

when he sees the hanging dude, what does the man say?

1. that's a right mess, what a sight — no support
2. what a rough deal, that's so sad — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. what a dodgy lad, he's up — ← Mova's choice · score -4
4. what a rough deal, that's so sad, I'd better get the lad down now — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score -4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 585, line 9: «Mr. Man says "'you done change color, en you done got bigger'" when he sees the tied-up Fox.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. Against it: the same doer «man» (-2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · right ✓

the hanging trick, does the lad really hang?

1. nah, he ties a rope and hides nearby — score 1
2. yeah, he gets hung for real, no joke — no support
3. nah, he ties himself up then runs round again — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. nah, he ties himself up with a rope then sprints round the back and does it all again — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1409, line 17: «What is the sea's trick? When pulled up, the Donkey is a Marionette, and he says "It may be the effect of salt water."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «effect» (+3); the same doer «trick» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

so the man thinks it's a hobgoblin or what?

1. a hobgoblin or some kind of witchcraft from the old woman's house — no support
2. a hobgoblin or witchcraft or maybe a trick played by the robbers in the wood — ← Mova's choice · score -4
3. a troll or a bogeyman — no support
4. a hobgoblin or witchcraft — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score -4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 729, line 12: «The robbers fled because they thought "some frightful hobgoblin had broken in upon them."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. Against it: it fills the role the question asks for (-1); a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

and the last ox, does the man sell it?

1. nah, he's gonna keep it for ploughing — score -2
2. yeah, he's off to sell it at market — score -2
3. nah, he wants to keep it for himself and his wife to use on the farm — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. yeah, he wants to sell it for good money — ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 2, tied with another option at 2 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1101, line 14: «The poor brother's honest answer: "I didn't know that oxen needed water and food."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+1); the same doer «oxen» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which phrase best describes the place where the youngest son parted from his father?

1. a junction where three roads met — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. a junction in the forest where three roads met near a stone wall — no support
3. a crossroads where three long roads met, and the father waved goodbye — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. a clearing at the edge of the forest — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1408, line 8: «Why: the Little Man is a kind-faced trickster who makes his money by selling lazy boys who "hated books" and "wanted to run away from home."», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «lazy boys» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

What is the principal reason the youth declines to leave the house?

1. the storm is so violent that the road is flooded and no one could safely travel anywhere tonight — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. the weather is too severe for travel, and the robbers have offered him a bed — no support
3. the robbers have invited him in — no support
4. the weather is too severe for travel — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

According to the text, what did the robbers instruct the youth to accomplish before he could join them?

1. steal a cow without being seen — no support
2. steal an ox unobserved and unharmed — ✓ the right answer · score -3
3. steal a horse — score -3
4. pay them with a silver ring — ← Mova's choice · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 3, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 242, line 11: «Tom answers "What should I deliver?", teasing them with words before he fights.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3). The right option, 2, scored -3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which object did the youth deliberately leave upon the road to mislead the man?

1. a shoe fitted with a silver buckle and a bell so the man would hear it — ← Mova's choice · score -1
2. a shoe fitted with a silver buckle that he had taken from the old woman's chest — score -3
3. a shoe fitted with a silver buckle — ✓ the right answer · score -4
4. a boot decorated with copper studs — score -11

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -1, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1434, line 16: «The dead men "did not hear and let their rags go on burning," so he hangs them up again.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «dead men» (-2). The right option, 3, scored -4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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