Bizarre 'Pineapple And The Hare' Question Appears On NY State Test, Baffling Students, Educators

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - There's considerable confusion over a question on the eighth grade ELA reading exam.

The Daily News reports the question is baffling educators and students alike.

Test takers were asked to read a nonsensical story by Daniel Pinkwater and then answer comprehension questions about it.

The story is about a pineapple who challenges a hare to a race. As in most fables, they both speak, but the pineapple is still just as immobile as it is in real life. In the story, the hare wins the race, and the pineapple gets eaten.

The story and questions have reportedly appeared on several state exams since 2006.

The bizarre story even has its own Facebook fan page, with more than 11,000 "likes."

Pinkwater purportedly said he didn't even remember writing the story. On his blog, Pinkwater wrote "There are these companies that make up tests and various reading materials, and sell them to state departments of education for vast sums of money. One of the things they do is purchase rights from authors to use excerpts from books. For these they pay the authors non-vast sums of money. Then they edit the passages according to….I have no idea what perceived requirements."

Pinkwater wrote that the story - in a slightly different version - first appeared in his novel "Borgel."

Here's the story that appeared on the test:

In the olden times, animals could speak English, just like you and me. There was a lovely enchanted forest that flourished with a bunch of these magical animals. One day, a hare was relaxing by a tree. All of a sudden, he noticed a pineapple sitting near him.

The hare, being magical and all, told the pineapple, "Um, hi." The pineapple could speak English too.

"I challenge you to a race! Whoever makes it across the forest and back first wins a ninja! And a lifetime's supply of toothpaste!" The hare looked at the pineapple strangely, but agreed to the race.

The next day, the competition was coming into play. All the animals in the forest (but not the pineapples, for pineapples are immobile) arranged a finish/start line in between two trees. The coyote placed the pineapple in front of the starting line, and the hare was on his way.

Everyone on the sidelines was bustling about and chatting about the obvious prediction that the hare was going to claim the victory (and the ninja and the toothpaste). Suddenly, the crow had a revolutionary realization.

"AAAAIEEH! Friends! I have an idea to share! The pineapple has not challenged our good companion, the hare, to just a simple race! Surely the pineapple must know that he CANNOT MOVE! He obviously has a trick up his sleeve!" exclaimed the crow.

The moose spoke up.

"Pineapples don't have sleeves."

"You fool! You know what I mean! I think that the pineapple knows we're cheering for the hare, so he is planning to pull a trick on us, so we look foolish when he wins! Let's sink the pineapple's intentions, and let's cheer for the stupid fruit!" the crow passionately proclaimed. The other animals cheered, and started chanting, "FOIL THE PLAN! FOIL THE PLAN! FOIL THE PLAN!"

A few minutes later, the hare arrived. He got into place next to the pineapple, who sat there contently. The monkey blew the tree-bark whistle, and the race began! The hare took off, sprinting through the forest, and the pineapple ...

It sat there.

The animals glanced at each other blankly, and then started to realize how dumb they were. The pineapple did not have a trick up its sleeve. It wanted an honest race — but it knew it couldn't walk (let alone run)!

About a few hours later, the hare came into sight again. It flew right across the finish line, still as fast as it was when it first took off. The hare had won, but the pineapple still sat at his starting point, and had not even budged.

The animals ate the pineapple.

Test takers were then asked why the animals ate the pineapple, and which of the animals was the wisest. Both answers were multiple choice.

What do you make of the story and questions appearing on the test? Sound off in our comments section below.