Portuguese Irregular Verbs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hedgehog

When Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria Von Igelfeld is introduced in the beginning of the story, we learn this interesting tidbit of information. According to the narrator, his last name technically means 'hedgehog field'. Of course, this isn't as embarrassing as the use of the word Amadeus in his colleague Professor Dr. Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer's name or the size of Unterholzer's nose.

The third character introduced to the reader at the beginning of the novel is Professor Dr. Florianus Prinzel. When they arrive in Zürich to talk about Von Igelfeld's book, "Portuguese Irregular Verbs", the three decide to play a tennis match, so they quickly go over a rule book (which was evidently invented before the term 'tie breaker' was coined) and they decide to play. Actually, Unterholzer decides to be the referee while the other two send failing attempts to lob the ball over the net. Since no one can get two games ahead of the other (after all, they just keep alternately winning games by not actually serving the ball over the net), no one actually wins the match.

Answer: Fencing

Back at the old school in Heidelberg, Germany, Von Igelfeld met Prinzel and instantly admired him. He always imagined a friend that could not only be a great scholar, but who could be a gifted athlete. While talking to some other scholars, Von Igelfeld organized a fencing duel between Prinzel and another student. Prinzel agreed to this, but during the duel, he couldn't even get a swipe in.

The other student had managed to quickly slice off the tip of Prinzel's nose. Luckily, he made it to the hospital in time where a doctor smelling of whiskey operated on him and mended his nose. Von Igelfeld always noticed that the tip of Prinzel's nose was placed back on upside-down.

Answer: Ireland

Von Igelfeld traveled to Munich to assist and study alongside the famous Professor Dr Vogelsang. Von Igelfeld disliked the fact that his new mentor would not make any note of his contributions in medical journals and such, but his housekeeper, Frau Hugendubel, sympathized for him. Finally, Von Igelfeld and Vogelsang took their first (and only) trip to Ireland in order to record 'Early Irish' which many do not know of. Dr. Patrick Fitzcarron O'Leary accompanied them upon their arrival and Von Igelfeld found his reception fairly odd.

When they found a man who spoke Early Irish, he spoke nearly complete gibberish to the Germans, but Von Igelfeld phonetically recorded the findings, and when he and Vogelsang returned to Munich, he began to decipher the work.

He left to get the paper and take a break, and when he returned, Frau kicked him out of the household. Von Igelfeld later realized that all that he had deciphered was left out on his desk, and much of the uncoded material was very crude.

In fact, Frau described it as 'Early Irish Pornography'. Vogelsang did not mind that Von Igelfeld was kicked out and simply told him to leave. He decided to start anew and he was invited to be the second assistant of Professor Schoeffer-Henschel at the University of Wiesbaden.

Answer: Shoelaces

While Unterholzer and Prinzel are still in Florence, Von Igelfeld decides to go to the Tuscany region of Italy and relax at a nice inn. The inn is beautiful and all, but the owner is famous amongst tourists for having a bad perspective of everyone in Europe; especially Germans. Signora Cossi once housed a German in her inn and he wouldn't stop eating, so she naturally assumed that all Germans are overeaters.

She gives Von Igelfeld a tiny bed (in fact, his calves are over the edge of the bed), and he decides to get revenge by pretending that he never really eats that much.

She gets angry at this and decides to serve him minute servings of food. Von Igelfeld gets hungry one day and goes to the village for food. When he finds a nice shop, he's about to order food, but Signora Cossi walks in, so he buys the shoelaces to fool her and throws them into the trash on his way out. On the day that Unterholzer and Prinzel are supposed to arrive, Von Igelfeld plans to tell them about it so that they can gang up on Signora Cossi, but he stops at a farm and relaxes with some farmers.

He forgets all about his colleagues and arrives at the hotel to find them stuffing their faces in front of Signora Cossi. She hands him his small salad and the shoelaces that he threw out, and Von Igelfeld knows that he's been beaten.

Answer: Ophelia

Von Igelfeld, Unterholzer, and Prinzel moved one by one to the city of Regensburg. Prinzel's wife, Ophelia, finally decided to move because she was tired of her job working as her father's secretary. Before this though, but after Unterholzer moved to Regnsburg, Von Igelfeld was concerned with the sales of his book, 'Portuguese Irregular Verbs'.

It had only managed to sell two hundred copies despite the fact that it was the leading resource in its field, leaving seven hundred and thirty-seven remaining copies in a Frankfurt warehouse. Von Igelfeld later got a call saying that a firm of interior decorators had decided to buy them all since they had a fine binding, but they wanted to change the name to 'Portuguese Irrigated Herbs'. Von Igelfeld felt depressed by this, but it was no use fighting.

He decided to figure out who owned a copy.

Answer: Two

In order to find out if Unterholzer owned a copy, Von Igelfeld asked if he should update his book, but this didn't reveal much. Von Igelfeld decided to go to Unterholzer's house on a rainy day (so that he would have no choice but to let him in) and search the house for the book.

He ends up going on a fair day and pretends that the rain is about to start and he is let inside. Unterholzer is surprised to see him but acts as a good host and goes for refreshments. Von Igelfeld takes the opportunity and doesn't find the book, so he insults Unterholzer's coffee and pictures before going to the washroom. On the way back from the washroom, Von Igelfeld looks at the bottom shelf of a large bookcase and finds not one, but two copies of his book. He goes back and says that he was just pretending that what he said was true and that it was all for fun.

Answer: A mosque

In the portion of the story regarding the trip to India, Von Igelfeld received a letter from his colleague, Professor J. G. K. L. Singh, who wrote the novel "Dravidian Verb Shifts". Despite the fact that both Von Igelfeld and Singh worked in the same field, Von Igelfeld didn't like Singh, but he felt obligated to visit India for the event in the letter.

When he arrived at the Hotel Lisboa early, he decided to tour the town that he's be staying in. He hired a rickshaw driver and visited a library full of dusty books (which Von Igelfeld regretted leaving behind) as well as a horrible prison.

The rickshaw driver suggested visiting the nearby municipal park, but Von Igelfeld had enough excitement and experiences for one day. At the hotel, he pondered the background of the man he noticed in prison, and explored his temporary residence.

Answer: A crocodile

In order to avoid the rickshaw driver on the way out of Hotel Lisboa, Von Igelfeld took a back door and came across a holy man in a beautiful garden. The holy man summoned Von Igelfeld to sit with him and they discussed people in general. Von Igelfeld was given a few fortunes as well.

The first dealt with a man coming to see him, but being surrounded by water and in possible danger. Later, Von Igelfeld found that Professor J. G. K. L. Singh never arrived at Hotel Lisboa because he was nearly eaten by a crocodile on his voyage to India.

The second fortune was entirely about Von Igelfeld. The holy man warned him that people were plotting against him back in Europe. Von Igelfeld went back to Europe the next day after the horrible convention and visited his local library.

When he saw the librarian begin to take his book, "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" into the back room, he stopped them and found that Prinzel and Unterholzer had planned to move his book while he was away. Von Igelfeld told the librarian to leave the book on the shelf in order to get back at his friends.

Answer: Dentist

When Von Igelfeld begins to have teeth pains, he decides to visit a nearby dentist's office. When he discovers that the one operating on his teeth will be a woman, he's a little nervous, but this changes when he finds her extremely beautiful. After his teeth are fixed, he tells Unterholzer about the great job on his teeth and he plans to ask her on a date.

He buys her a present (a copy of "Portuguese Irregular Verbs"), and she seems to be interested in it. When he later returns to ask her on a date, he notices it on the floor next to the dentist's chair and discovers that she used it like a step-stool instead of reading it. Von Igelfeld decides it's acceptable, but he doesn't ask the doctor out because she's not in. Later, when Von Igelfeld talks to Unterholzer, Unterholzer reveals that he's engaged to Dr. Von Brautheim.

Answer: Tadseuz

During Unterholzer's wedding, Von Igelfeld sits next to Prinzel and his wife Ophelia. He ends up telling them about the fact that he doomed a possible relationship with the dentist by recommending her to Unterholzer, and they feel sorry for him. They decide to invite him on a relaxing vacation to Venice to take his mind off things. Von Igelfeld sees the sites, but he keeps running into a Polish family.

A young boy in the family, Tadseuz, always seems to stare at Von Igelfeld, and Von Igelfeld keeps seeing men in white coats checking the water in the city.

When Von Igelfeld comes across an abandoned Geiger Counter, he begins randomly testing objects for radioactivity, he realizes that Venice's water could possibly be highly radioactive. He also discovers that Tadseuz is highly radioactive and warns the boy's mother.

The next day, Von Igelfeld heads back to Germany, but he gets a telegram from Unterholzer saying that he's been honoured by the Portuguese Government. In the end of the first of three novels, Prinzel and Von Igelfeld wonder who the message was actually referring to.