prelude  Beds fashioned from bronze tubing, similar to the brass beds of a later era, were made in 8th-century Europe during the time of Charlemagne. During the 12th and 13th centuries, virtually all baronial mansions and castles were equipped with beds, but bedrooms as such did not come into existence until the 18th century. Until that time, in households rich and poor, beds simply stood in what was usually a living room, being used as couches by day. At night, they were curtained off to keep out the draught and to create a room within a room. They were made of carved wood with painted decoration, and the curtains were hung on a frame supported by four posts, one at each corner of the bed. During the Middle Ages, the bed hangings were an indication of status, and those of wealthy people were often elaborately embroidered. Beds steadily increased in size and luxury until, by the 15th century, they attained enormous proportions, particularly among royalty. In Germany, Holland and Sweden during the late 16th century, wealthy households had magnificently carved beds built into the structure of their houses. In the 18th century, during the reigns of the French Kings Louis XIV, who owned 413 beds of all types, and Louis XV, the art of fine bed construction reached a peak. Poor people, of course, had more basic sleeping arrangements, ranging from the floor to horsehair or straw mattresses. Children would often sleep on truckle beds, which were low beds on wheels that could be stored under large beds. E-mail your questions with answers at: only4_pol@yahoo.co.uk or post at: THE COLOSSEUM, Mosaic, Friday Supplement, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati-781003 or SMS at: 9864102417.

side screen  1) Picture Clue: In 1930, this novelist, whose works include Babbitt and Arrowsmith, became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Identify. (Dipankar Koushik, Guwahati)

harmonisers  2) In fine art, what is the technical name for a preparatory sketch of a painting called? 3) Stanley Baldwin used the phrase “power without responsibility” to describe the powers of the press barons like Beaverbrook and Rothermere.  However, this phrase was coined by a cousin of Baldwin. Who? 4) This compilation is supposed to have been ordered in the 5th century by a South Indian king for the edification of his sons. Attributed to Bidpai, these stories were translated into Persian and thereafter into European languages, where they served as inspiration for La Fontaine, among others. What are we talking about? 5) Which of Akbar’s ‘nine gems’ died at the Battle of the Malandarai Pass in 1586?

unities  6) Which Mel Gibson film is based on the life and times of William Wallace of Scotland? 7) What links Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and the Reese Witherspoon vehicle, Vanity Fair? 8) Which actress inspired Elton John’s Candle in the Wind, later rewritten for Princess Diana’s funeral?

do-re-me  9) Can you name the God whose name literally means ‘pile of stones marking something’ and who is used as the symbol by the post offices in Greece? (Maharnav Gogoi, Nakari, Lakhimpur) 10) In the Harry Potter series, what is the ancient study of the magical properties of numbers called? (Sonmani Das, Nalbari) 11) Which writer, born in Trinidad, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001? (Saurav Sarkar, Darrang College, Tezpur) 12) In 1928, what was banned in Soviet Union because it has references to the occult and spiritualism? 13) In the Navy, and as a part of international maritime law, coloured flags are used to send messages to and from the ships. Each flag represents a letter of the alphabet as well as a specific message. What message is represented by a yellow flag? 14) Which movie was advertised as ‘An adventure 65 million years in the making’? (Manjil P. Saikia, Tezpur)

crescendo  15) Hector, Achilles, Priam, Odysseus and Ajax were the active participants of which famous war? (Maharnav Gogoi, AEC, Guwahati)

answers  1) Sinclair Lewis 2) Cartoon 3) Rudyard Kipling 4) Panchatantra 5) Birbal 6) Braveheart 7) Both were based on stories by William Makepeace Thackeray 8) Marylyn Monroe 9) Hermes 10) Arithmancy 11) V. S. Naipaul 12) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes 13) ‘The ship does not need to be quarantined’ (The all-yellow flag represents the letter ‘Q’ and signifies that the ship is healthy and is ready to port) 14) Jurrasic Park 15) Trojan War.