Irish Fairy Tales, The Horned Women: a night of witches and a sieve of water

Tests: 3 of 13 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 15 of 17 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 1988 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 · ★ · wrong ✗

Did Tom get the gold, like, or was he just robbed?

1. Yeah, he grabbed some gold, pretty sweet, innit — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Nah, every bush had one, so he was stuck — no support
3. Yeah, got the gold — score 4
4. Nah, every boliaun had a garter, he was gutted — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 1784, line 1: «A young man asks the emperor for his only daughter, and the emperor sets him a hard task: tame three wild horses and bring gold as a gift.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «young man» (+3); the same thing acted on «gold» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · right ✓

Yo, how many witches were sat round the fire by the end?

1. Twelve, sure, all with horns — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. Twelve, sure, all with horns, and the mistress was frozen in the doorway by then — score -4
3. Seven, sure, all lying down — no support
4. Twelve, sure, all with horns, and they were singing a rhyme the whole time round the fire — score -3

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1316, line 2: «Sitting by the camp fire in the frost, the children beg him for a story about Brittany.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «sit» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · right ✓

Why did the mistress not just shout for help, like?

1. Cos the spell had her frozen solid — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. No idea, mate — no support
3. Cos the witches had her locked up — score 2
4. Cos she was scared — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). 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 1609, line 13: «The Princess cries "Don't chase me!" because if she runs "I may fall down and break myself."», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «princess» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Was the sieve any use, or what?

1. Aye, once she plastered the whole thing with clay and moss and rushes, it finally held water — score 4
2. Aye, once she plastered it thick with yellow clay and moss, it held the water fine — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. Aye, once she plastered it with clay, it held — ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Nah, it kept leaking till she sealed it with moss — score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1151, line 7: «What: the sieve must hold water, but "not a drop would remaining in the sieve" until she fills it with ashes.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hold» (+4); the same doer «sieve» (+3); the same thing acted on «water» (+1). The right option, 3, scored 7. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

What did the feet-water say, the sound thing?

1. "I'm scattered on the ground, my path's to the Lough" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. I'm poured out, my road runs to the Lough — score 2
3. I'm scattered on the floor, my way's to the sea — score 3
4. Something about water — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1832, line 2: «explain: Gangazara sprinkles water on them all, and they rise as if from sleep, the princess too.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «sprinkle» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «water» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Who's the spirit that sorted the whole plan?

1. The Lepracaun — no support
2. The old Lady of the Glen — score 6
3. The Spirit of the Well — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The Spirit of the Well that lies beneath the great field by the mountain — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 941, line 3: «An evil spirit makes a false maiden from bubbles, lying songs, and rouge to fool the world.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «lie» (+4); the same doer «evil spirit» (+3). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Wait, how did the witches get in at first?

1. The mistress unbolted it, thinking a friend called — ← Mova's choice · score 3
2. They knocked, and the cook opened it at once — no support
3. The mistress opened the door, thinking it was a neighbour asking for help with a cow — score 3
4. The mistress opened the door, thinking it was a neighbour — ✓ the right answer · score -5

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1988, line 12: «She cries at the north angle: "The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «witch» (+3). The right option, 4, scored -5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

What's the deal with the red garter, bro?

1. Tom wanted a marker so he'd know the field — no support
2. He tied it on a bush to find it later — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Tom tied it round a boliaun so he'd find it again — ✓ the right answer · score -5
4. To mark the gold — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 3, against -5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1660, line 14: «why: The king takes up the bundle meekly because he feels that her words "had a great deal of truth in them."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «great deal» (+1). The right option, 3, scored -5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗

How long did the mantle hang about, like?

1. Forever, like, mad — no support
2. Five hundred years, mad, through every king and every flood in the country — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Seven hundred years, mad — score 3
4. Five hundred years, mad — ✓ the right answer · score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1895, line 20: «Old word: "benefactress" meant a woman who does good to someone, and "mantle" is an old word for a cloak; "insolence" then meant rudeness, what we would call c…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «mantle» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Yo, was the cake any good after all that?

1. Nah, it was smashed to bits and had blood in it, so the witches binned it all — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Yeah, grand — no support
3. Nah, it got smashed and it was all bloody — no support
4. Nah, it was smashed and had blood in it — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1554, line 2: «She dresses the shaking Blanchette, feeds her cake and wine, and leads her safely home.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «grandmother» (+3); the same thing acted on «cake» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗

Conall's lad said what to the wife, like?

1. Why didn't you let the king have what he wanted — ← Mova's choice · score 2
2. Why didn't you just let the king get his way — score 2
3. Why didn't you let the king do what he wanted — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. Why didn't you let the king do what he wanted, and why'd you go and bring the lads along — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. 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 1959, line 7: «WHAT: Jack says "Let him come! I have a tool to pick his teeth", which shows he is brave and enjoys teasing the giant.», reached through what was said in the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «let» (+7). Against it: it fills the role the question asks for (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

How'd Conall's crew get to Lochlann?

1. A magic wind took them across — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. They ran — no support
3. They tore through ocean, no stopping — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. By boat — 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 13 · ★ · wrong ✗

Did the king's son, like, get to live?

1. Yeah, Conall's lot spared him, sure — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Nah, Conall's children had killed him — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yeah, grand — no support
4. Nah, Conall's boys had done him in — 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 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

What became of the sieve the mistress used to carry the water?

1. It was sealed with yellow clay and moss so that it would hold — ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. It was sealed with yellow clay and moss and rushes so that it would hold the water all the way home — ← Mova's choice · score 10
3. It was plastered with mud so it held the water well — score 10
4. It was sealed with yellow clay and moss so that it would hold, and then she carried it to the house — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 10, tied with another option at 10 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1823, line 19: «Old word: a "chattee" is a large pot of baked clay used to hold water, and the six chattees are piled one above another.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «hold» (+7); the same thing acted on «water» (+3). The right option, 1, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

By what means did the mistress obtain release from the enchantment of the witches?

1. By the instruction of the Spirit of the Well, who directed her to cry aloud at the north angle of the house before the witches woke, and to do it in the Irish tongue — score 8
2. Through the warning of a dream, which told her to pray and then call at the east door — score 6
3. By the instruction of the Spirit of the Well, who directed her to cry aloud at the north angle — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. By the instruction of the Spirit of the Well, who directed her to cry aloud at the north angle of the house and the field beyond it — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1988, line 12: «She cries at the north angle: "The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cry» (+7); the same place «north angle» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following describes the parting of Tom Fitzpatrick from the Lepracaun?

1. The Lepracaun was thanked civilly and dismissed, and Tom went home for a spade — ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. The Lepracaun was thanked civilly and dismissed, and Tom went home for a spade to dig up the gold he had been promised by the creature in the field — score 2
3. After a long and courteous talk, the Lepracaun was thanked civilly and dismissed, and Tom went home at once for a spade and a sack — score 1
4. Tom shook hands with the Lepracaun and left him by the hedge to go home for a spade — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 240, line 16: «Tom is so frightened that he "could only stand there shaking all over", and staring at the imp.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «shake» (+7). Against it: the same doer «tom» (-1). The right option, 1, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

What is the final circumstance recorded concerning the mantle left by the witches?

1. It was preserved by the family for five hundred years — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It was preserved by the family for five hundred years and then given to the museum in Dublin — no support
3. The family hid it under the hearth for centuries — ← Mova's choice · score 0
4. It was given to the church by the family in the end — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1988, line 20: «The mantle the witch dropped was kept by the family "from generation to generation for five hundred years after".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «mantle» (+1). Against it: the same doer «family» (-1); a different action (counts against) (-2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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