The Princess and the Pea
By: Hans Christian Anderson
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to find himself a princess. But, of course, she would have to be a real, genuine princess. So he went all over the world in search of one.
Goodness knows, there were plenty of princesses, but it was hard to tell whether they were the real thing or not. Each time he thought he’d found one, she would say or do something that made him suspect she might be a phony. At last he went back home again. He was very disappointed and discouraged, for he did so want to find himself a princess - that is, a real genuine one.
One night there was a dreadful storm. The thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and the rain came down in buckets. It was quite terrifying. Then, suddenly, there was a knock at the great gate of the town, and the old king himself went down to open it. And there, outside the gate, stood a princess. But, my goodness, what a sight she was! Her clothes were soaked right through, her hair was dripping wet, and the water poured in at the toes of her shoes and out at the heels. And yet she kept repeating that she was a princess.
“We’ll soon find out about that!” said the old queen. She didn’t say a word to anyone, but went straight into the guest room; there she took all the bedclothes off the bed and carefully placed a tiny pea under the mattress. She piled twenty mattresses in top of it, and on top of the twenty mattresses she piled twenty down comforters, and then she went back and told the princess that her bed was ready.
The next morning she asked the princess how she had slept. “Slept!” cried the princess. “I didn’t sleep a wink! I couldn’t close my eyes all night - heaven knows what was in that bed! I feel as though I’d been lying on a rock - I’m black and blue from head to foot. It’s awful!”
That was certainly proof enough. They all knew that she must be a real princess. Otherwise she could never have felt that tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty down comforters. Only real, genuine princess could be that sensitive.
So the prince took her for his wife and they lived happy ever after.
The pea was placed in a glass case in the art museum. It’s probably still there - that is, unless someone has stolen it.
How’s that for a story?