THE PRINCESS ON THE PEA
ONCE UPON A TIME there was a prince. He wanted a
princess, but she had to be a real princess. He traveled all
around the world to find one, but there was always something wrong.
There were enough princesses, but he couldn’t quite find out if
they were real—there was always something that wasn’t quite right.
So he came home again and was very sad because he wanted a real
princess so very much.
One evening there was a terrible storm. There was
lightning and thunder. Rain was pouring down, and it was quite
frightening. Then someone knocked at the town gates, and the old
king went to open them.
There was a princess standing out there. But what a
sight she was in the rain and terrible weather! Water was streaming
from her hair and clothes, and it ran in at the toe of her shoes
and out at the heel. She said she was a real princess.
“Well, we will find out about that!” thought the
old queen, but she didn’t say anything. She went into the bedroom,
took off all the sheets and blankets, and placed a pea on the
bed-spring. Then she laid twenty mattresses on top of the pea, and
on the mattresses she placed twenty down comforters.
The princess was to sleep there for the
night.
In the morning they asked her how she had
slept.
“Oh, just terribly!” said the princess. “I almost
didn’t close my eyes the whole night! God knows what could have
been in the bed? I was lying on something hard, so I am completely
black and blue all over my body. It’s quite dreadful!”
So they knew that she was a real princess since she
had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty down
comforters. Only a real princess could have such sensitive
skin.
The prince married her because he knew that now he
had a real princess, and the pea was displayed in the art museum,
where it can still be seen if no one has taken it.
See, that was a real story!