The
Princess
and
the
Pea
.
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
princesses
enough
,
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
he
came
home
again
and
was
sad
,
for
he
would
have
liked
very
much
to
have
a
real
princess
.
One
evening
a
terrible
storm
came
on
;
there
was
thunder
and
lightning
,
and
the
rain
poured
down
in
torrents
.
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.
But,
good
gracious!
what
a
sight
the
rain
and
the
wind
had
made
her
look.
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
bed-room,
took
all
the
bedding
off
the
bedstead,
and
laid
a
pea
on
the
bottom;
then
she
took
twenty
mattresses
and
laid
them
on
the
pea,
and
then
twenty
eider-down
beds
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
eider-down
beds
.
Nobody
but
a
real
princess
could
be
as
sensitive
as
that
.
So
the
prince
took
her
for
his
wife,
for
now
he
knew
that
he
had
a
real
princess
;
and
the
pea
was
put
in
the
museum
,
where
it
may
still
be
seen
,
if
no
one
has
stolen
it
.
There
,
that
is
a
true
story
.