Comprehension Questions – Deltora Quest #2 The Lake of Tears

The Lake of Tears

By Emily Rodda

Grades 3-7; Genre - Fantasy; GRL S; AR pts: 4.0

Lief, Barda and Jasmine are on their next mission trying to find another gem to fit inside the belt of Deltora.  They find a Ralad man and save him from the Grey Guards and he in turn is willing to sacrifice himself to the monster of the Lake of Tears.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Where do the companions need to go to find the next gem?  Lake of Tears   p. 149
  2. How does Jasmine feel about the way they are going to the Lake of Tears?  Doesn’t like it   p. 148
  3. Why?  She doesn’t want the witch, Thaegan to know of their coming until the end of their journey  p. 149
  4. Who was at the bridge, barring the way across?  A dark skinned man holding a sword  p. 151

Chapter 2

  1. How were the companions supposed to get across the bridge?  Answer a riddle   p. 153
  2. What if they didn’t answer the riddle correctly?  He would kill them   p. 153
  3. Who answered their riddles correctly?  Jasmine and Barda   p. 155
  4. What had Lief missed on his question?  He didn’t mention the living raven that Thaegan would eat  p. 157

Chapter 3

  1. How did Lief free himself from the guardian of the bridge?  He tricked him with a statement that in the end could not be true nor false   p. 160
  2. Who else did Lief free?  The guardian of the bridge  p. 160
  3. What was the guardian of the bridge?  A huge bird   p. 160
  4. Why was Jasmine so worried about Kree?  Thaegan eats birds   p. 165

Chapter 4

  1. Where did the companions hide when the Grey Guards came upon them?  In a tree   p. 167
  2. Who did the Grey Guards hold captive?   A Ralad   p. 168
  3. What did Jasmine feed the Ralad man?  Stem of dried berries   p. 171
  4. How did the companions sneak away with the Ralad man? Wrapped him in a cloak p. 172

Chapter 5

  1. What do the Grey Guards use as ammunition in their slings?  Poisonous bubbles, blisters  p. 174
  2. Where were the companions able to hide from the Grey Guards?  In sweetplum bushes   p. 177
  3. What kind of condition was the Ralad man in after being carried in the cloak?  Unconscious   p. 179
  4. What did the companions find when they rang the bell and ran for the little house?  Quicksand   p. 183

Chapter 6

  1. Who came and saved the companions from the quicksand? Old woman & old man p. 187
  2. What did the sign say when the companions put the words together?  Warning! Ring of Quicksand do not Enter   p. 188
  3. How was Jasmine feeling about leaving the Ralad man and going into the house?  Leary   p. 191

Chapter 7

  1. Where did Nij and Doj want the companions to rest?  In a sitting room   p. 192
  2. What opened Lief’s eyes to the evilness of Jin and Jod?  the topaz   p. 195
  3. Who are Jin and Jod?  Thaegan’s children   p. 198
  4. Who drank half his drink from Jin and Jod?  Barda   p. 198

Chapter 8

  1. What were Jin and Jod planning on doing with the companions?  Eating them   p. 201
  2. What type of room were the companions really in?  a prison cell   p. 202
  3. What was in the storeroom they found?  Possessions of the travelers that had been caught and killed by Jin and Jod   p. 203
  4. What took Jin and Jod away from the house?  Another victim who’d fallen into the quicksand   p. 205

Chapter 9

  1. Who did the companions think died in the quicksand?  The Ralad man   p. 210
  2. How did the Ralad man know how to get across the path of rocks and quicksand?  He had been held prisoner here   p. 211
  3. What was the correct path to get across the quicksand?  Step in the spaces without the leaves   p. 214
  4. What did Lief land on when he stepped in between the leaves?  Rocks under the surface   p. 215

Chapter 10

  1. What did Lief and Barda use to pull Jasmine out of the quicksand?  Lief’s cloak   p. 218
  2. Who attacked Jin and Jod as they tried to pull her out?  Kree   p. 218
  3. Why did Jin and Jod fall into the quicksand as they charged across the moat?  Jasmine had rearranged the leaves   p. 221
  4. What’s the name of the Ralad man?  Manus   p. 223

Chapter 11

  1. How long did Manus live as a prisoner of Jin and Jod?  5 years   p. 227
  2. When Lief was fearful about Thaegan finding them, what did he do to help him feel better?  Touch the topaz   p. 228
  3. What does the “V” symbol mean that Manus showed them?  A Ralad sign for bird and freedom.  It was a mark of those who’d sworn to resist the Shadow Lord.  P. 230
  4. What did the companions find when they got to Manus’ village?  It was vacant   p. 234

Chapter 12

  1. What did Manus find by the fountain in his village?  A flute   p. 236
  2. What happened when he played it?  Hid people came out of hiding   p. 237
  3. Why had the Ralads hollow the cavern?  To escape the Shadow Lord and the Grey Guards   p. 239
  4. How do the Ralad people react when the companions tell them they’re going to the Lake of Tears?  Try to stop them, horrified   p. 241

Chapter 13

  1. Why is Thaegan impossible to kill?  She’s armored by magic   p. 244
  2. Why did Manus go with the companions to the Lake of Tears?  He owed them his life for saving him   p. 246
  3. What does the Lake of Tears look like?  Murky lake with mud, worm holes, slimy, nothing growing  p. 247
  4. Who is Soldeen?  The lake’s monster   p. 251

Chapter 14

  1. What did Soldeen spit back at Lief when he threw the bags into his mouth?  Sword   p. 253
  2. What did Lief ask Manus to do to help lift the hopelessness they were feeling?  Play his flute  p. 255
  3. Who appeared when Manus played the flute?  Soldeen   p. 256
  4. Soldeen said he’d give the gem to Lief, but what did he want as payment?  Manus   p. 258

Chapter 15

  1. What touched Soldeen and made him remember feelings from long ago?  The topaz   p. 261
  2. When Soldeen remembered those feelings, what did he agree to do with Manus?  Let him go free   p. 262
  3. What color was the gem when Soldeen took Lief to the gem?  Pink   p. 263
  4. Why was the ruby pink instead of red?  The paleness of the gem meant evil was near   p. 264

Chapter 16

  1. What was the evil that made the ruby turn pink?  Thaegan   p. 268
  2. What did Kree do to hurt the witch?  Stabbed her finger with his beak   p. 269
  3. Why wasn’t there magic covering the witch’s finger?  So she could cast her magic  p. 270
  4. Who did Soldeen turn back into?  Nanion, a chief of D’Or   p. 272
  5. Where did the companions return after retrieving the second gem?  Raladin   p. 274