Once there was a Prince who lived in a wealthy kingdom. When he had reached the
proper age his mother the queen decided the time was right to find a bride. The
prince however was determined not to marry just any girl, and decided that only a
"real" princess would do for his future wife.
Therefore he set off to travel through all the world to find her, and although he
searched in all the kingdoms and met with all the princesses it didn’t quite go right.
There were many Princesses, but how was he to know whether they were real?
There was something not quite right about them all.
Eventually he came home again unsatisfied and unhappy, because he wanted to have
a real Princess so much.
Then one night a terrible storm blew in. The rain poured down and the lightning was
so bright that it lit up the palace as though it were daytime and the thunder was so
loud that it set all the palace dogs to howling. In the middle of the storm there was a
knocking at the palace door. The old King went to open it, and who should be there
but a girl claiming to be a true Princess. She was a terrible sight with water dripping
down through her long hair, her clothes were soaking wet and dripping all over the
place, she was shivering and very sad looking, but she was invited in to stay for the
night.
The old Queen didn’t believe for a minute that she was a real Princess and so she
decided to test the young girl's claim. Without saying a word to anyone she went into
the guest bedroom, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a single pea on
the bottom;
then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then she laid
twenty eiderdown quilts on top of the mattresses.
On this the Princess had to sleep all night. The next morning when the girl woke up,
the Queen asked how she had slept.
"Oh, very poorly!" she said. "I scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows
what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, and now I am black and blue
all over my body. It's horrible!"
They could see she was a real Princess without a single doubt because only a true
Princess could have such delicate skin as to feel a pea through twenty mattresses
and twenty more quilts.
So the Prince decided to marry her immediately, because he knew he had found a
real Princess.
The End.....
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proper age his mother the queen decided the time was right to find a bride. The
prince however was determined not to marry just any girl, and decided that only a
"real" princess would do for his future wife.
Therefore he set off to travel through all the world to find her, and although he
searched in all the kingdoms and met with all the princesses it didn’t quite go right.
There were many Princesses, but how was he to know whether they were real?
There was something not quite right about them all.
Eventually he came home again unsatisfied and unhappy, because he wanted to have
a real Princess so much.
Then one night a terrible storm blew in. The rain poured down and the lightning was
so bright that it lit up the palace as though it were daytime and the thunder was so
loud that it set all the palace dogs to howling. In the middle of the storm there was a
knocking at the palace door. The old King went to open it, and who should be there
but a girl claiming to be a true Princess. She was a terrible sight with water dripping
down through her long hair, her clothes were soaking wet and dripping all over the
place, she was shivering and very sad looking, but she was invited in to stay for the
night.
The old Queen didn’t believe for a minute that she was a real Princess and so she
decided to test the young girl's claim. Without saying a word to anyone she went into
the guest bedroom, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a single pea on
the bottom;
then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then she laid
twenty eiderdown quilts on top of the mattresses.
On this the Princess had to sleep all night. The next morning when the girl woke up,
the Queen asked how she had slept.
"Oh, very poorly!" she said. "I scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows
what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, and now I am black and blue
all over my body. It's horrible!"
They could see she was a real Princess without a single doubt because only a true
Princess could have such delicate skin as to feel a pea through twenty mattresses
and twenty more quilts.
So the Prince decided to marry her immediately, because he knew he had found a
real Princess.
The End.....
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Back to List of Stories
The Princess and the Pea
