Chapter XV. Tom as King. Practice Quiz — The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter XV. Tom as King.
What does Tom do when foreign ambassadors visit at the start of Chapter 15?
He receives them while throned in state, repeating the words Hertford feeds him, but manages only a "tolerable success" before growing weary and homesick.
How does Tom describe the time he spends on royal duties?
He considers it "wasted" time. Even the two hours devoted to princely pastimes feel like a burden because they are fettered by restrictions and ceremonious observances.
What is the one bright spot in Tom's daily routine?
His private hour with his whipping-boy, from whom he gets both entertainment and useful information about court life.
What event does Tom dread most on the fourth day of his kingship?
Dining in public — he fears the multitude of curious eyes watching him eat and whispering about any mistakes he might make.
What does Tom see from the window of the audience chamber?
A hooting, shouting mob of men, women, and children of the lowest degree, following a man, a woman, and a young girl to execution.
What crime has the male prisoner been convicted of?
Taking the life of a subject by poison.
What punishment does English law prescribe for poisoners in this period?
Being boiled alive. The prisoner begs to be hanged instead, calling the sentence more than he can bear.
What does the Earl of Hertford add about the punishment of poisoners in Germany?
In Germany, coiners are boiled to death in oil — not cast in suddenly, but lowered slowly by a rope, feet first, then legs, then the rest of the body.
How does Tom recognize the male prisoner?
Tom remembers him as the stranger who pulled Giles Witt out of the Thames and saved his life on a windy, bitter New Year's Day.
How can Tom date his memory of the rescue so precisely?
An hour after the rescue, Tom received a severe beating from Gammer Canty upon the stroke of eleven, making the day and hour unforgettable.
What evidence was used to convict the prisoner of poisoning?
Three witnesses placed him in the sick man's house in Islington; the victim died within the hour of spasms and retchings; doctors said such symptoms only come from poison; and a witch had foretold a brown-haired stranger would give poison.
What alibi does the prisoner offer in his own defense?
He claims he was at Wapping Old Stairs at the time of the alleged crime, more than a league from Islington, and was saving a drowning boy rather than taking a life.
What two commands does Tom give regarding the poisoner case?
He frees the prisoner ("Let the prisoner go free — it is the King's will!") and orders that the law allowing prisoners to be boiled alive be changed.
What crime are the woman and her nine-year-old daughter charged with?
Selling themselves to the devil at a midnight meeting in a ruined church in December.
What supposed proof of the witchcraft charge exists?
Witnesses saw them going to the church, and afterward a destructive storm swept the region. Over forty witnesses testified to the storm's devastation.
How does Tom use the storm as evidence of innocence rather than guilt?
He reasons that the woman's own home was destroyed by the storm, so she would have been cheated paying even a farthing for such power — let alone her soul. If she is mad enough to make such a deal, she cannot know what she does and therefore does not sin.
What legal argument does Tom make about the nine-year-old child?
He asks whether English law allows a child to enter into a contract. When told it does not, he points out the absurdity that the devil may buy a child but an Englishman may not.
How does Tom test whether the woman truly has the power of witchcraft?
He promises her a pardon and asks her to pull off her stockings and conjure a storm. When she tries and nothing happens, Tom declares her innocent.
What is Tom's final humorous request to the freed woman?
"Go thy way in peace; and if it return to thee at any time, forget me not, but fetch me a storm."
How do the courtiers react to Tom's handling of the cases?
They admire his intelligence and spirit, murmuring "This is no mad king — he hath his wits sound" and saying he bears himself "like to his own father."
What is the dramatic irony in the courtiers' praise of Tom?
They believe the king's "madness" is lifting and he is returning to his natural self, when in reality he is not Edward at all — he is Tom Canty, a pauper from Offal Court.
What is the Earl of Hertford's role in Chapter 15?
He serves as Tom's handler and advisor, feeding him words during formal audiences. He also facilitates Tom's commands (ordering the mob halted) and shows gratification at Tom's order to abolish the boiling punishment.
What does Tom mean when he says being king "hath its compensations and conveniences"?
He discovers the pleasure of having his commands instantly obeyed — ordering the mob halted and brought before him gives him a thrill of power he had only imagined while reading the old priest's tales.
How does this chapter illustrate Twain's critique of sixteenth-century English law?
Twain exposes laws that prescribe boiling alive for poisoners and execution for alleged witchcraft based on superstitious evidence, using Tom's common-sense questions to reveal these practices as absurd and barbaric.
How does Tom's transformation in this chapter differ from the beginning?
He goes from passively repeating Hertford's words to independently issuing commands, questioning proceedings, pardoning prisoners, and abolishing a cruel law — all without guidance.