Quiz The Narrow Road Between Desires Patrick Rothfuss

The Narrow Road Between Desires: Full Book Quiz

About This Quiz

This quiz covers the entire standalone novella The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss, set in the Kingkiller Chronicle world. Use it to test your recall of Bast’s day in Newarre, the bargains he strikes, and the deeper themes woven through the story. For more resources, see the main book page, the questions and answers, or the ending explained.

Questions

Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)

  1. (Multiple-choice) In which chapter does Bast first perform a ritual circling the lightning tree?
    A. Dawn: Artistry
    B. Morning: Embril
    C. Mid-Morning: The Narrow Road
    D. Noon: Obligation

  2. (Short-answer) What item does Bast realize he has forgotten to bring back to the inn at twilight?

  3. (Multiple-choice) What gift does Kostrel give to Bast in Chapter 5?
    A. A brass button
    B. A teardrop-shaped piece of metal
    C. A grey river stone with a hole
    D. A small folding knife

  4. (Short-answer) Name the boy who asks Bast to make his abusive father disappear.

  5. (Multiple-choice) In Chapter 8, what does Bast accidentally discover hidden in the woods?
    A. A still
    B. A hidden cave
    C. A faerie ring
    D. A dead body

  6. (Short-answer) What three tasks does Bast set for Rike after they seal their binding deal? (List all three.)

  7. (Multiple-choice) Who does Bast help by giving her a lie to cover a cut on her hand in exchange for an embril?
    A. Emberlee
    B. Brann
    C. Viette
    D. Nettie

  8. (Short-answer) In Chapter 10, what does Bast trade a riddle for from the boy Wilk?

Character Motivation (5 Questions)

  1. (Multiple-choice) Why does Bast agree to help Rike even though Rike previously betrayed him?
    A. He feels obligated by an unpaid debt
    B. He fears Rike will expose his secrets
    C. He wants to exact a more satisfying revenge later
    D. His master insists he must

  2. (Short-answer) Why does Bast initially refuse to accept gifts from Kostrel?

  3. (Multiple-choice) What is Viette’s payment to Bast for helping her keep her kitten?
    A. A copper penny
    B. Secrets and a favor
    C. A lock of her hair
    D. A promise to tend the lightning tree

  4. (Short-answer) Why does Rike decide he wants his father gone but not dead?

  5. (Multiple-choice) What does the innkeeper (Kote) ask Bast to buy at the beginning of the book?
    A. Eggs and carrots
    B. Bread and milk
    C. Carrots and onions
    D. Fish and apples

Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)

  1. (Multiple-choice) What does the lightning tree primarily symbolize in the story?
    A. Bast’s desire for revenge
    B. The boundary between the mortal world and the Fae
    C. The town’s pride and resilience
    D. Kvothe’s forgotten past

  2. (Short-answer) What do the embrils that Bast casts represent in terms of the story’s themes?

  3. (Multiple-choice) According to Bast’s explanation, grammarie is the art of:
    A. Making something appear other than it is
    B. Changing a thing into something entirely different
    C. Making something more of what it already is
    D. Hiding one’s true nature

  4. (Short-answer) In Chapter 9, what does the beekeeper Nettie’s lost hives symbolize?

Synthesis (3 Questions)

  1. (Multiple-choice) Bast’s conversation with Kostrel in Chapter 5 best reflects which central tension of the novella?
    A. The importance of trading secrets fairly
    B. The conflict between the desire to share knowledge and the need for secrecy
    C. The superiority of Fae magic over mortal understanding
    D. The inevitability of betrayal between friends

  2. (Short-answer) How does Bast’s midnight ritual with Rike in Chapter 14 combine magical binding with emotional healing?

  3. (Multiple-choice) Based on Rothfuss’s Author’s Foreword, how has Bast’s character evolved from his appearance in the earlier story “The Lightning Tree”?
    A. He has learned to prioritize his own desires above all
    B. He has become more restrained and thoughtful
    C. He has abandoned all interaction with mortals
    D. He has gained full mastery of grammarie

Answer Key

  1. B. Morning: Embril – The outline specifies that Bast circles the lightning tree at dawn in Chapter 4, titled “Morning: Embril.”
  2. Carrots – Chapter 12 (“Twilight: Carrots”) ends with Bast realizing he has no idea where his carrots are.
  3. B. A teardrop-shaped piece of metal – The evidence in Chapter 5 describes Kostrel giving Bast a “tiny teardrop” of metal that strikes Bast like an anvil.
  4. Rike – Rike is the boy who confesses he took Bast’s book and begs for help against his father Jessom.
  5. A. A still – In Chapter 8, Bast discovers Martin’s hidden still and tastes the liquor.
  6. Find Kostrel, retrieve a river stone with a hole, and return. – The outline lists these three tasks Bast gives Rike after their deal.
  7. B. Brann – In Chapter 4, Bast helps the baker’s daughter Brann by giving her a lie to cover a cut.
  8. A favor – Bast trades a riddle for a favor from Wilk; then demands another favor for the answer.
  9. A. He feels obligated by an unpaid debt – In Chapter 7, Bast reflects that his “unresolved debt to the boy was like a thorn straight through his tongue.”
  10. To avoid being bound by obligation. – Bast tells Kostrel he has “not the least desire to be bound” by a gift, fearing even a thimbleful of obligation.
  11. B. Secrets and a favor – Outline states Viette pays with secrets and a favor in exchange for Bast’s help.
  12. Because if his father were dead he would always worry he might come back; he wants assurance he will stay away forever. – Evidence from Chapter 7: “If he was just gone, I’d never sleep again for worry he’d come back.”
  13. A. Eggs and carrots – Chapter 3 (“Dawn: Artistry”) mentions the innkeeper asking Bast to buy eggs and carrots.
  14. B. The boundary between the mortal world and the Fae – The lightning tree is the location where Bast meets children, conducts magic, and makes bargains—a liminal space.
  15. Fate, choice, and the uncertainty of outcomes; they are used for divination and reflect the theme of obligation. – Bast casts embrils to read signs, and their interpretations drive his decisions.
  16. C. Making something more of what it already is – Bast explains grammarie as shifting a thing to be “more of what it already is,” like making a knife the best knife for anyone.
  17. The value of sweetness and the effort required to preserve it; or the fragility of joy and the patience needed to cultivate goodness. – Bast tells Nettie that “a little sweetness is always worth the work, even if it takes effort.”
  18. B. The conflict between the desire to share knowledge and the need for secrecy – Bast struggles with revealing too much to Kostrel, fearing it will endanger his master’s hidden identity.
  19. Bast walks widdershins to claim Rike’s negative self-perceptions (the part of his father, the fear, the self-hatred) and deasil to affirm his worth, using ritual binding to reframe Rike’s identity and heal his trauma. – Evidence from Chapter 14 details the widdershins and deasil turns.
  20. B. He has become more restrained and thoughtful – In the foreword, Rothfuss notes the story deepens Bast’s character; in the narrative, Bast chooses to thwart his desire for revenge, showing newfound restraint.