Joan Aiken's "The Whispering Mountain" Quiz

Answer: 1968

"The Whispering Mountain" was first published in 1968; the German translation, four years later. It appears that the book is currently out of print (as of 2011), but if you happen to come across it in a bookstore, do buy it!

Answer: Pennygaff

Owen Bren was born and raised on his father's ship. His mother died of typhoid fever in China, and Owen was sent to Wales to live with his grandfather. His father's ship went missing, along with its captain. It took Owen's grandfather, the curator of the museum in Pennygaff, some time to believe that Owen actually was his grandson, but he reluctantly took him in.

Answer: Owen traveled with them from Southampton to Gloucester

When Owen arrived in England, he had no idea where to go. Tom Dando, a traveling barber and poet, and his gentle daughter, Arabis, picked him up on the road and let him travel with them for a while. Owen became very fond of the two and has been missing them, especially when his grandfather turned out to be a very gruff and greedy man.

He is overjoyed to meet Tom and Arabis again. They talk about the Golden Harp of Teirtu, and Arabis remembers an ancient prophecy that pertains to the harp.

QUIZMAKER'S NOTE: I have never read this book in English and cannot find the text of the prophecy anywhere online, so I will not be able to quote from it. Sorry about that!

Answer: The monks of the order of St. Ennodag

Count Malyn lives in a castle high up on a cliff. He is obsessed with all things golden, and a cruel and greedy man. We also find out that he was responsible for the death of Tom Dando's wife ten years ago, and that she cursed him before she died. Mr. Bren is relieved to find out that the count does not own the island, after all.

It appears that it belongs to the monks of the order of St. Ennodag, some of whom are still alive. They are therefore also the rightful owners of the harp, which was found on that island.

Answer: He uses extra poor spelling

Owen hopes his grandfather will get suspicious when he sees the badly spelled letter, since Owen is actually very intelligent and knows his letters well.
Since Owen's original note to his grandfather mentioned that he was sorry to take some of Mr. Bren's possessions (Owen had originally planned to take some money and provisions for the road), Bilk and Prigman's plan works. They take Owen with them and want to tell the same story to the count: that the harp was already gone when they arrived.

They take Owen to the slopes of the Whispering Mountain (thus named because the hot springs inside the mountain make a whispering sound), leave him bound and gagged in a deserted house in an avalanche-prone area, and leave.

Answer: Bilk and Prigman, Prigman alone, Bilk alone, the Seldshuk, Tom Dando, Owen

Arabis is waiting for the sun to rise when she spots Bilk and Prigman, who are busy hiding a bundle. Bilk leaves, and Prigman moves the bundle to another hiding place. But after Prigman has left, Bilk comes back and moves it yet again. Arabis gets curious, but when she wants to have a closer look, she meets the Seldshuk, a Turkish nobleman.

More or less forced to accompany him, she leaves with him. However, her falcon appears and brings a page from a little book that Owen always carries with him. Arabis quickly tells her father she will be late for breakfast, and is led by her falcon to the abandoned house where she finds the kidnapped Owen.

Answer: Brother Ianto

Brother Ianto is an old monk and hermit who lives by the mountain. He is one of the surviving monks of the order of St. Ennodag. Owen also finds out that he has spent time in China, where he met Owen's father, Captain Bren.

Brother Ianto makes new glasses for Owen, then Owen and Arabis set out to recover the harp. But when they arrive at the last hiding place, the bundle is gone.

Answer: Ebenezer Smith

Owen wants to go back and tell his grandfather the truth about the night the harp was stolen. On the way, he also turns out to be quite a skilled (and surprisingly cold-blooded) hunter.

Mr. Smith tells Owen that Prince David was supposed to go hunting in Wales and stay at Count Malyn's, but he never arrived there. Owen is worried but also relieved, because that means at least the prince can't have received the forged ransom note.

Answer: poetry, gold mines, and where to find Brother Ianto

Tom Dando is writing an epic poem at the moment and never pays good attention to people talking to him. Arabis can coax out some memories of the conversation, however; Tom says the Seldshuk talked about poetry, which he liked, asked about any abandoned gold mines in the area, and that he inquired about Brother Ianto. Arabis, who suspects the Seldshuk might be a friend (and perhaps a spy) of Count Malyn, is very relieved to hear that Tom did not mention Owen.

Answer: 2,000 years

Jehimelek says that they were brought here 100 generations ago, and with people having children at about 20, that makes 2,000 years. It must have been the Romans who took them, and when the Romans left, Jehimelek's people stayed behind because they did not know the way back home.

Arabis also learns that they are very skilled goldsmiths, known especially for their golden harps. Their only regret is that they lack the musical skills to play the instruments themselves.

Answer: Luggins

Luggins Cadwallader turns out to be quite a friendly, good-natured boy. He is the first to apologize to Owen and offer support. The others follow suit, but most of them are still waiting for a chance to make mincemeat of Owen. However, as things start to become difficult, three of them turn around and flee back to Pennygaff, and the other boys learn to stick together.

After a flash flood, they seek shelter on an island, where they find an injured man: the missing Prince of Wales.

Answer: Garble

Apart from being talkative and overly jovial, the Seldshuk is also too trusting and does not realize what kind of a man Count Malyn really is, even though he is annoyed by Garble's constant presence.

Bilk and Prigman already tried to sell their story to the count, but the count did not buy it. Now they have to set out to find the harp again, but neither of them knows by now where it is.

Answer: they died in a landslide

Bilk and Prigman returned to the house at the slopes where they left a bound and gagged Owen behind. A landslide hit the house while they were inside, and Mog and Dove think they died.

Answer: disguise as the Seldshuk's servant to gain access to the castle

Ribbaddi, the Seldshuk's footman, is ill, and Arabis takes his place. That is when she learns that the Seldshuk is actually looking for Jehimelek's people to finally bring them home.

Unfortunately, Garble has been eavesdropping and warns Count Malyn of the charade, which lands Arabis and the Seldshuk in the dungeons as well. They talk to Mr. Bren and Brother Ianto, who says that Mr. Bren's theory of the harp's ownership is wrong: The monks of St. Ennodag returned the Golden Harp to the last descendant of the first Teirtu, one Miss Tegwin-Jones. She is already dead, and no one knows who could have inherited the harp from her.

The count, having overheard everything, prepares immediately to leave: to stop Tom from talking to the prince, to look for Bilk and Prigman, and to track down Jehimelek's tribe.

Answer: Abipaal and the harp

Abipaal is one of Jehimelek's people, but he is something of a loner and sometimes ventures outside the mountain, where he found the harp that Bilk and Prigman hid.

Bilk and Prigman, who escaped the landslide through a secret passage into the mountain, turn up again. They chase Abipaal, take the harp away from him, and leave him to drown. Owen rescues him, meets Jehimelek, and learns where Arabis is. They travel to the castle. Owen climbs the cliff to the prisoners' cells and rescues them. The Seldshuk finally meets Jehimelek and tells the overjoyed tribe leader who he is and why he came. Then they all set off for Nant Agerddau to find Abipaal, who ran away with the harp once again.

Answer: Tom himself

Miss Tegwin-Jones, the last descendant of the first Teirtu to whom the harp was returned by the monks, was Tom's grandmother.

Tom and Prince David get along very well and soon start singing and reciting poems together. Abipaal, still on the run with the harp, overhears them and enters the scene. Soon he trusts Tom Dando enough to even give him the harp, and he enjoys the music and the singing.

Answer: Abipaal jumps over the abyss, Bilk falls in

Abipaal can free himself of Bilk's grip and jump over the abyss in the cave, but Bilk loses his balance and falls in. Prigman promptly slips on the chestnuts that Luggins left on the floor (after Hufa laughed at him for still playing conkers at his age), and also falls in. Garble runs after Abipaal, but now Arabis, Jehimelek, and the others appear, and the count gets nervous.

Answer: Tom Dando (taking the bullet for Prince David)

Count Malyn shoots at Prince David, but Tom Dando takes the bullet. When he tries to escape by jumping over the abyss, the count also falls in, fulfilling the prophecy about the harp.

Prince David promises Tom that he will publish Tom's poem and that he will have a state funeral. Tom tells Arabis that the harp now belongs to her but that he would like Abipaal to keep it, since he loves it so much. Then he dies a happy man.

Answer: Pennygaff, with Mr. Bren and Owen

The Seldshuk and Prince David both invite Arabis to join their respective courts but she refuses. However, she accepts Mr. Bren's apology and agrees to come with him and Owen to Pennygaff to live there and go to school. But in the summer, she will still travel the country and continue Tom Dando's little business.
Brother Ianto will also be in Pennygaff rebuilding the monastery of St. Ennodag.

Answer: He will organize a search operation for Owen's father

Prince David, who has enjoyed the adventure very much despite the loss of his newly-won friend, Tom Dando, promises Owen that he will put together a large search party and go looking for the missing Captain Bren.

There is no talk of a marriage between Owen and Arabis, but I think it's safe to say that no one would be surprised if they got married later.