The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time, there was a Prince who wanted to marry a Princess. But she couldn’t be just any princess; she had to be a real Princess.

The Prince traveled all over the world to find one. He visited kingdoms in the East and kingdoms in the West. He met many young ladies who called themselves princesses. Some were beautiful, some were witty, and some were rich. But with every single one, there was always something not quite right. One giggled too much, another was mean to her servants, and another didn’t know how to pour tea properly.

“Is it so hard to find a real Princess?” the Prince sighed, returning home to his castle, sad and alone.

One night, a terrible storm blew in. Lightning flashed like jagged cracks in the sky, thunder crashed and boomed, and the rain poured down in buckets. It was a fearful night to be outside.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the castle gate. Knock! Knock! Knock!

The old King went to open it. Standing there was a young woman. And oh, what a sight the rain and wind had made of her! Water streamed down from her hair and soaked her clothes. It ran in at the toes of her shoes and out at the heels. She looked like a drowned rat.

“I am a real Princess,” she claimed, shivering in the cold.

“We shall see about that,” thought the old Queen, though she said nothing.

She invited the girl in and gave her dry clothes and a warm drink. Then, the Queen went into the guest bedroom. She took all the bedding off the bedstead. In the very center of the bare wooden slats, she placed a single, tiny, dried green pea.

Then, she called for the servants. “Bring me twenty mattresses!” she commanded. They laid twenty thick mattresses on top of the pea. “Now, bring me twenty feather-beds!” They laid twenty soft feather-beds on top of the mattresses.

“This is where you shall sleep tonight,” the Queen told the Princess. The bed was so high the Princess had to use a ladder to climb up!

The next morning, the sun shone brightly. The King, Queen, and Prince gathered for breakfast. When the Princess came down, the Queen asked politely, “Did you sleep well, my dear?”

“Oh, terribly!” exclaimed the Princess. “I hardly closed my eyes all night. Heaven knows what was in that bed! It felt like I was lying on a rock. I am black and blue all over my back!”

The Queen clapped her hands in delight. “Only a real Princess could have such sensitive skin!” she declared. “Only a true Princess could feel a tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather-beds!”

The Prince was overjoyed. He had found his real Princess at last. They were married soon after in a grand wedding. And the pea? It was placed in the Royal Museum, where it can still be seen today, unless someone has taken it.

Moral of the Story: True quality is often found inside, not in appearances.