---
title: Russian Tales, The Water Snake: a girl promises to marry a snake, an… — how Mova does on the tests · Books
description: Lesson 434 of the books course of Mova's primary school: 7 of 12 tests right, exam 4 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Russian Tales, The Water Snake: a girl promises to marry a snake, and her mother kills him

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**Tests:** 7 of 12 right · **Exam:** 4 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 9 of 16 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 434 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/434-pg22373-part26/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · right ✓ {#t1}

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Mate, the snake wants to wed her for her shift, yeah?

- **1.** Yep, he won't give it back till she says yes — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8
- **2.** Yep, he won't give it back till she says yes to marrying him — score 8
- **3.** Nah, she already said no — score 5
- **4.** Yep, he wants her to wed him — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 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 434, line 7: «What: a snake glides onto her shift and says, "If you'll marry me, I'll give you back your shift."», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «give back» (+4); the same thing acted on «shift» (+4). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Wait, her ma thought it was all pants talk, right?

- **1.** Yeah, she called it nonsense and binned it — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Nah, she was really worried, took it seriously and went to the dike — no support
- **3.** Yeah, she told her to shush off — no support
- **4.** Yeah, she called it nonsense and told the girl to stop talking — **← Mova's choice** · score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 12, line 14: «Alice asks "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?", and the Cat answers "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."; Alice…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «tell» (+4); the same receiver «alice» (+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/434-pg22373-part26/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · right ✓ {#t3}

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Bruv, how many snakes come piling up to the cottage?

- **1.** A proper huge troop — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **2.** A proper small group — score 5
- **3.** Like, a massive pile of them all crawling in together — no support
- **4.** A proper huge troop slithering in from everywhere — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 434, line 14: «Osip tells her what to call: "Osip, \[Joseph\] Osip, come here!" and he will come.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «come» (+3); the same doer «snake» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · right ✓ {#t4}

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How'd the snakes get in when the door was barred?

- **1.** They smashed the window, dead lively — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** They slid under the step, dead quick — no support
- **3.** They smashed the window, dead lively, right through the glass — score 6
- **4.** They pushed the door open slowly, dead lively, and slithered in — score -1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what something is like. 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 434, line 12: «The snakes roll into a ball, smash the window, and drag the girl out of doors to the pond.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «smash» (+3); the same thing acted on «window» (+2); the same doer «snakes» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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Where'd the girl bunk off to when they came?

- **1.** Behind the chest, bruv — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Up on the stove, innit — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** In the cellar, mate — no support
- **4.** Under the bed, innit — 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/434-pg22373-part26/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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Ages underwater, how long was she living down there?

- **1.** Three years, like proper ages — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Three years, like proper ages, long enough to forget home — no support
- **3.** Almost seven years, like proper ages, down in the water — no support
- **4.** Five years, like ages — 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/434-pg22373-part26/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · right ✓ {#t7}

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What's the secret word she has to shout to get Osip?

- **1.** "Osip, Osip, get up here!" — no support
- **2.** "Osip, Osip, come here!" — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **3.** "Osip, come!" — score 5
- **4.** "Osip, Osip, come here right now, mate!" — score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 434, line 14: «Osip tells her what to call: "Osip, \[Joseph\] Osip, come here!" and he will come.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «come» (+3); the same doer «osip» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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Did the daughter go to see her mum on her own?

- **1.** Nah, she took her two kids and her husband too — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **2.** Yeah, with her husband — no support
- **3.** Nah, with her mum — no support
- **4.** Nah, she took her two kids — **✓ the right answer** · score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 88, line 14: «Taffy says that if she saw «shu-ya» scratched on the wall in the morning, she would know to take her beaver-skin hood.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «take» (+5); the same doer «taffy» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 5. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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So what did the old woman grab to deal with Osip?

- **1.** A hoe, she oiled it — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** A knife, mate — no support
- **3.** A stick, innit — no support
- **4.** An axe, she sharpened it — **✓ 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/434-pg22373-part26/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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When Osip popped his head up, what happened, bruv?

- **1.** She drowned him, bruv — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** She chopped it right off — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** She chopped it right off with one swing of the axe — no support
- **4.** She threw him in, mate — 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/434-pg22373-part26/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · right ✓ {#t11}

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Wait, her mum sat her down and let her nap, yeah?

- **1.** Yeah, lie down and rest a bit — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Yeah, sit down by the fire — no support
- **3.** Yeah, lie down and rest a bit while I get the dinner ready — no support
- **4.** Nah, you need to go straight back to the water and rest there — 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/434-pg22373-part26/t11/)

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### Test 12 · ★ · right ✓ {#t12}

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Did the daughter reckon her life down there was rubbish?

- **1.** Nah, way better than Mum's here — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Nah, just as bad, mate — no support
- **3.** Yeah, worse than home — no support
- **4.** Nah, same as here — 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/434-pg22373-part26/t12/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Upon what condition did the serpent consent to restore the garment to the maiden?

- **1.** Upon her return home — no support
- **2.** Upon her promise to fetch water — no support
- **3.** Upon her agreeing to leave the village — no support
- **4.** Upon her agreement to become his wife — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 164, line 2: «To keep the family from disliking her, the maiden turned the old man's wife into a hind, a female deer.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «turn» (+3). Against it: the same thing acted on «wife» (-1); a different doer (counts against) (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/e1/)

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

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By what means did the mother ensure the destruction of Osip?

- **1.** By severing his head with an axe — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** By striking him with a stone — no support
- **3.** By drowning him — no support
- **4.** By burning him with fire — 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/434-pg22373-part26/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3}

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Into what forms did the serpents transform upon their descent beneath the water?

- **1.** Into men and women who swam away below the dike — score 3
- **2.** Into handsome men and women wearing silver garments — score 3
- **3.** Into men and women — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **4.** Into birds and dogs — score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 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 278, line 20: «Old word: "Herostratic" comes from Herostratus, who burned a famous temple only to be remembered, so it means done for fame.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same doer «word» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4}

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What mode of summons did the daughter employ to recall her husband from the water?

- **1.** A repeated call of "Osip, Osip, come here," at the water's edge — score 5
- **2.** A loud call of "Osip, Osip, come here!" across the water — score 5
- **3.** A song of "Osip, Osip, come home!" — no support
- **4.** A call of "Osip, Osip, come here!" — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 124, line 1: «The King's daughter cries, but her father gets cross and says the Frog helped her, so she must not look down on him.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «cry» (+3); the same doer «daughter» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/434-pg22373-part26/e4/)

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