Quiz: Persian Letters

All 30 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. How large does Rhedi reckon the world’s present population compared with ancient times?

   Twice as large About half Hardly one-tenth The same
2. 2. Which town does Usbek call the only rich and powerful one between Tocat and Smyrna, and why?

   Erzeroum, for its pashas Tauris, because of the caravans from India Smyrna, because of the Europeans Tocat, because of its silk
3. 3. In the “Fragment of an Ancient Mythologist”, what does the son of Aeolus sell?

   Precious stones from the Indies Gold from the mines of Betica Winds enclosed in skins Oak leaves from the grove of Dodona
4. 4. How does the old Troglodyte respond when chosen king?

   He accepts gladly and at once drafts a written code of laws for the nation He insists on being elected for one year only, as in Athens He flees to a neighbouring country He weeps, saying they want laws so that virtue will no longer be needed
5. 5. What is Usbek’s argument about suicide in Letter LXXVI?

   Suicide is forbidden by the Koran but allowed by the Christians, so it depends on custom Suicide should be punished more severely, since it robs the prince of a subject Only kings may take their own lives Society rests on mutual advantage, so a man may leave it when it becomes a burden
6. 6. Why, according to Usbek, do men act unjustly?

   Because God has made them wicked Because it is in their interest to do so Because the laws of their country require it Because they cannot perceive what justice is
7. 7. How does the author of the introduction describe his role?

   As the Persians’ tutor in French, who corrected their letters before they were sent As a spy for the Persian court As a translator who copied letters the Persians showed him As a bookseller who bought the letters at an auction after the travellers left
8. 8. Why, according to Rica, do the women lead the rebellion against the papal “Constitution”?

   It forbids them to go to the theatre and the opera balls It forbids them to read the Christians’ holy book It bars them from inheriting property It obliges them to wear veils in church
9. 9. What would expelling the Armenians from Persia have done, according to Usbek’s letter on toleration?

   Doubled the revenue of the Shah within a few years Destroyed almost all the kingdom’s merchants and artisans Ended the long wars with the Turks on the frontier Strengthened the established faith
10. 10. What happens when Rica changes into European dress?

    Crowds follow him even more He is taken everywhere for an English milord He is arrested as a spy and questioned by the police He becomes a nonentity until someone says he is Persian
11. 11. In Rica’s account, what is one of the King of France’s “magic” powers?

    Making the Pope obey him Turning lead into gold in the royal laboratories Speaking every language spoken in his kingdom Persuading his subjects that a piece of paper is money
12. 12. What does Roxana tell Usbek in her last letter?

    That she will become a Christian and join him in Paris as his only wife That she always kept her freedom, deceived him, and is dying by poison That she is innocent of everything and begs him to return to Ispahan at once That Solim forced her to write this letter under threat of death in the seraglio
13. 13. How does Apheridon pay the ransom for his sister Astarte?

    He wins it at gaming He steals it from the eunuch’s strong-box while the house sleeps He sells himself and his daughter to an Armenian merchant He borrows the money from a Christian priest at high interest
14. 14. What are the three privileged classes Usbek names in France?

    The king, the nobles and the merchants The army, the navy and the Academy The church, the sword and the gown The clergy, the peasants and the bourgeois
15. 15. Which wars does Usbek consider just?

    Wars fought to spread the true religion among unbelieving peoples Wars to repel an attacking enemy or to aid an attacked ally Wars to avenge an insult offered to an ambassador or to the prince’s person Wars to win a disputed succession for the prince or his heirs
16. 16. Which government does Usbek call the most perfect?

    One that punishes most severely and so is most promptly and completely obeyed by all its subjects One governed by priests and dervishes One that attains its object with the least friction, following people’s inclinations One in which the prince is himself the law
17. 17. What does Usbek conclude about luxury in his reply to Rhedi?

    Only the arts needed for farming should be allowed Luxury makes peoples effeminate and cowardly, and should be banned by sumptuary laws A powerful prince needs subjects who live in luxury, for the arts sustain him Luxury matters only in Asia, not in Europe
18. 18. Why does Usbek say the Guinea coast must be depopulated?

    Plague, carried by ships from the Levant, has ravaged it The Turks conquered it and enslaved the coast Its chiefs have sold their subjects to Europeans for two centuries Its people emigrated to Barbary
19. 19. What did publishers do after the success of the Persian Letters?

    Refused to print any more novels written in the form of letters Sued Montesquieu for a share of the profits from the pirated editions Begged every author they met to write “Persian Letters” Commissioned a translation of the letters into Persian for the Shah
20. 20. In Rica’s coffee-house during Law’s System, what does one man call “abominable treachery”?

    A friend selling shares A friend leaving Paris A refused loan A friend repaying a loan
21. 21. According to “Some Reflections”, what happens to the seraglio as Usbek’s stay in Europe lengthens?

    It is moved to Smyrna It grows calmer and more obedient It is sold to pay his debts It becomes more disorderly
22. 22. What does the old dervish say a casuist’s art consists in?

    Distinguishing mortal from venial sins so people reach heaven cheaply Translating the Scriptures Collecting alms for the convent from the rich families of Paris Hearing the confessions of the dying and granting them absolution
23. 23. What dilemma does the point of honour create for a French gentleman who is insulted?

    He must either marry the offender’s sister or enter a monastery He must appeal either to the king or to the Pope He must either pay a heavy fine to the marshals of France or resign his commission in the army If he fights he dies on the scaffold; if not, he is shunned
24. 24. Where do Rica’s Quidnuncs hold their meetings?

    In the Palace of Versailles In the Sorbonne In the coffee-houses of the Rue Quincampoix In a splendid garden, the Tuileries
25. 25. What, according to Letter VIII, was the true motive of Usbek’s journey?

    To serve as the Shah’s ambassador to King Louis XIV To escape enemies his sincerity had made at court To buy new wives and slaves in the markets of Europe To make the pilgrimage to Mecca before returning to Ispahan
26. 26. After the first Troglodytes perished, from whom did the virtuous new nation descend?

    Two families of just men A foreign king and his court The physician who had cured them Shepherds from a neighbouring nation
27. 27. In the 1721 introduction, on what condition does the author say he will publish more letters?

    That the first letters sell out That the king grants a privilege That he remains unknown That the Persians return to Paris
28. 28. Why does Rhedi say the invention of bombs has cost Europe its freedom?

    It gave the clergy control of the arsenals and the powder magazines Princes used it as a pretext to keep large standing armies It made towns too expensive to build It allowed the Turks to conquer the frontier fortresses of Hungary and Austria
29. 29. How did the regent free himself from the limits set by Louis XIV’s will?

    He went to the parliament and had it set the will aside He had the will burned in public by the hangman He called the Estates-General He obtained a bull from the Pope annulling the will
30. 30. Which Christian rule does Usbek blame for fewer births among Christians?

    The ban on marriage between cousins The custom of late baptism The prohibition of polygamy alone The prohibition of divorce