*Note that the original story has been slightly modified in terms of addressing contemporary narrative.
*This classic children’s story may contain mentions of death and/or contain scenes of violence. Parents are advised to read the story by themselves before reading to children.
The Princess and the Pea
by
Hans Christian Andersen
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were a lot of princesses around the world, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So, the prince came home again and was very sad because he wanted a real princess to be his wife happily ever after.
One evening a terrible storm came with the cloudy sky. The thunder and lightning raged across the sky, and the rain poured down. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. However, the bad weather didn’t do well to her beauty. The wild wind and the stubborn rain took all the grace the princess might have had. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
“Well, we’ll soon find that out,” thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bedroom, took all the sheets, mattress and pillows off the bed, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then added twenty beddings on top of the mattresses.
On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
“Oh, very badly!” said she. “I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible!”
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty beddings that the old queen had placed as a test for the said princess.
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
The prince was delighted and took her for his wife, as now he knew that he had a real princess. And the pea – the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
There you have a true story.
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Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen’s popularity is not limited to children: his stories express themes that transcend age and nationality.
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