---
title: Celtic Fairy Tales, Conall Yellowclaw, part 8: a theft from the king… — how Mova does on the tests · Books
description: Lesson 1989 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 4 of 12 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Celtic Fairy Tales, Conall Yellowclaw, part 8: a theft from the king's stable, then a tale of cats

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**Tests:** 4 of 12 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 11 of 16 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 1989 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.

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · right ✓ {#t1}

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Who got stuffed into sacks like a wee bag of spuds?

- **1.** His sons — score 7
- **2.** Conall and his sons — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8
- **3.** Conall — score 8
- **4.** The king and his men — score 8

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 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 1730, line 2: «Furious, Big Klaus stuffs Little Klaus into a sack and lugs him off toward the river to drown him.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «stuff» (+7); the same place «sack» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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How did the horse get his big racket going, ken?

- **1.** He stamped his hooves on the floor — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** He reared and bucked in the stall — no support
- **3.** He kicked and stamped in the stable — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** He neighed — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · right ✓ {#t3}

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Who was the sneaky bunch that came checking, mate?

- **1.** The king's gillies — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** The king's sneaky men — no support
- **3.** The stable lads — no support
- **4.** The king's gillies with their torches and dogs — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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Where did the lads bolt to, like, when the gillies came?

- **1.** Into their hiding holes beneath the floor boards — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Out of the stable door — no support
- **3.** Into their hiding holes — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Into their hiding holes in the wall — no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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What did the king say when he caught them, dead?

- **1.** "Is it you that are here?" — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Oh, is it you that are here, Conall, in my stable? — no support
- **3.** Are you the thief here? — no support
- **4.** Is it you that are here, Conall, with your sons hidden? — **← Mova's choice** · score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1928, line 12: «What did the old King do with the two men? He hid them in "a secret chamber," then called them out, and the wicked lady "fell on her knees and begged for mercy…», 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 (+3); the same action «hide» (+2); the same thing acted on «men» (+2). Against it: the same doer «king» (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t6}

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Why did Conall want the horse so bad, sound?

- **1.** For his sons — **← Mova's choice** · score 1
- **2.** Or his sons would be hanged — **✓ the right answer** · score 0
- **3.** Or his sons would be drowned — score 0
- **4.** To save them — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 1, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1513, line 9: «The old woman wants the horse because "now I, too, shall be able to ride to church."», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «halvor» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 0. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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What did the king want for the pardon, pal?

- **1.** A longer story — **← Mova's choice** · score 6
- **2.** A harder tale — **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **3.** A harder tale than the one he told — score 1
- **4.** A harder tale of hunger and war and loss — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1989, line 5: «The king spares them because Conall asks for mercy, then wants a tale of a harder fix, so Conall tells of the cats in the herd's bothy.», 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 (+3); the same action «want» (+2); the same thing acted on «tale» (+2). Against it: the same doer «king» (-1). The right option, 2, scored 6. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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Where did the cats have their big cronan, like?

- **1.** In the byre near the herd's bothy — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **2.** In the stable — score 3
- **3.** In the far end of the herd's bothy — score 3
- **4.** In the herd's bothy — **✓ the right answer** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask where. 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 1989, line 17: «The cats sing a cronan, then fight over the calf and the cow, and Conall is forced to climb a tree.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «cats» (+2); the same thing acted on «cronan» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · right ✓ {#t9}

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How many cats came in all together, mate?

- **1.** Eleven — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 1
- **2.** Two — score 1
- **3.** Nine — score 1
- **4.** Eight — score 1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 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 1152, line 14: «On the last trial the girl brings back "an armful of dirty, tangled wool", since no cats came to weave her a web.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «come» (+2). Against it: the same doer «cats» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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Who was in charge of the cats, mental?

- **1.** A one-eared ginger cat — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The one-eyed fox-coloured cat of the herd — no support
- **3.** The black tabby bard — no support
- **4.** A one-eyed fox-coloured cat — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · right ✓ {#t11}

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How did Conall get out of the bothy, sneaky?

- **1.** By the door — no support
- **2.** Up the chimney — no support
- **3.** Through a turf window — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **4.** By a broken shutter — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1989, line 5: «The king spares them because Conall asks for mercy, then wants a tale of a harder fix, so Conall tells of the cats in the herd's bothy.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «conall» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t11/)

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### Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t12}

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What did Conall do up the tree, honest?

- **1.** He shook the branch — no support
- **2.** He killed one cat with his sword and fell — no support
- **3.** He killed one cat that climbed to the top branch — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **4.** He killed one cat — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1989, line 17: «The cats sing a cronan, then fight over the calf and the cow, and Conall is forced to climb a tree.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/t12/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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On what grounds did Conall petition the king of Lochlann for mercy?

- **1.** On the grounds that his sons faced execution and his land was lost — no support
- **2.** On the grounds that his sons were innocent — no support
- **3.** On the grounds that his sons faced execution — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** On the grounds that his sons faced execution at the king's own command — **← Mova's choice** · score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 695, line 10: «The prince is given a baby, and the king is so pleased that "he commanded the ceremony to be performed without delay."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «command» (+7). Against it: the same doer «king» (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓ {#e2}

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By what means did the king establish that an intruder had entered the stable?

- **1.** By following the tracks of the men through the snow — score 10
- **2.** By following the tracks of the men — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 10
- **3.** By following the tracks of the men and the sacks left behind — score 10
- **4.** By counting the hoofprints outside — no support

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**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 1989, line 13: «The king is "a wary man" and follows the tracks until he finds the men.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «follow» (+7); the same thing acted on «tracks» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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What condition did the king impose upon Conall in exchange for the life of his youngest son?

- **1.** A recital of a tale of equal hardship — **✓ the right answer** · score 4
- **2.** A promise of a tale of equal woe — score 4
- **3.** A telling of a tale of equal sorrow — **← Mova's choice** · score 6
- **4.** A harder tale — score 6

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 6, tied with another option at 6 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1854, line 15: «Why: the fakir says the king must come, because he will tell his story "face to face".», 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 (+3); the same action «tell» (+2); the same thing acted on «story» (+2). Against it: the same doer «king» (-1). The right option, 1, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Which creature assumed command over the company of cats in Conall's narrative?

- **1.** The fox cat — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The head bard — no support
- **3.** The eldest one-eyed tabby cat — no support
- **4.** The one-eyed fox-coloured cat — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1989-pg7885-part8/e4/)

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