3 times 3 is 6

Today she is 75 years old, Pippi Longstocking, the eternal nine-year-old girl who lifts horses with one hand and chases crooks onto the roof. A girl with the motto: ‘I've never done it before, so I think I can’ should be cherished. Therefore, today the big Pippi Longstocking quiz.

1. What is Pippi's full name?

a.   Filippa the pirate's daughter Rozemarijne Pancake Lina Longstocking
b.   Pipilotta Victualia Rolgordijna Kruizemuntina Efraïmsdochter Longstocking
c.   Phileine Marguerita Annabella Efraïmsdochter Longstocking

2. Pippi has two best friends: Tommy and Annika.
Annika now runs a bed & breakfast in Spain, but what happened to the actor who played Tommy?

a.   Pippi Longstocking was the kickoff for a beautiful career on stage. He performs with a renowned company in Stockholm.
b.   He found playing in Pippi fantastic, but acting was not his calling. He became a Swedish teacher at a high school in Malmö.
c.   The last we know of Pär Sundberg, his real name, is that he was a manager of a company in Malmö.

3. Pippi has some rather unusual rituals.
For example, she sleeps with her shoes on, mops the floor by tying cleaning brushes to her feet and swirling around the room. But how does she eat her pasta?

a.   She cuts it into pieces of a millimeter and spoons it in.
b.   She puts one end of the strand in the mouth of her monkey Mr. Nielson and slurps on the other end until they meet and give each other a kiss.
c.   She cuts off the piece that she can't stuff in her mouth with a large pair of scissors.

4. Inger Nilsson, the woman who played Pippi, suffered from the Pippi effect for many years.
She was so merged with the character Pippi that, despite completing drama school, she couldn't get a role. How did it end for her?

a.   She completely turned her back on acting and now works as a secretary in Stockholm.
b.   She became a director; this way she could enjoy the profession without experiencing the downsides of fame.
c.   After working as a secretary for a long time, she was asked for a film again thirty years after Pippi and has been acting a lot since then.

Now a little about the statement ‘I've never done it before, so I think I can.’ She, sorry, never actually said that. Here's how it went.

Pippi tells Tommy that they are going to buy a piano, to which Tommy asks if she can play the piano. Pippi responds indignantly. ‘How can I know that if I've never done it before?’

A few more fun Pippi quotes to never forget:

• At the circus: ‘Can I get in for half price if I promise to look with just one eye?’
• To the overprotective aunt Pastellia: ‘Pastellia, it was nice that you were here, it's even nicer that you're leaving.’
• When Pippi finally goes to school: ‘I'm here because I want Christmas vacation too.’

Happy birthday, Pippi Longstocking, and love to all the Pippis out there.

Answers:
Question 1 answer: B
Question 2 answer: C
Question 3 answer: C
Question 4 answer: C