Once upon a time in a kingdom far away, there lived a King and a Queen and their son, the Prince. It was time for the Prince to choose a bride, but he wanted to marry only a real princess.
He was determined to find a real princess, so he rode off on his horse to search the world for one. But no matter where he searched and whom he met, he could not find a real princess. Whenever he felt he had found the right one, something or the other turned up to show that she was not a real princess. Finally he returned home, dejected because there seemed to be no real princess at all.
One night as the old King and the Queen sat by the fireside talking to the Prince, a terrible storm broke out. Lightning and thunder shook the air, and the rain poured down in sheets.
Gradually, a sound could be heard over the roar of the rain and the thunder. Knock….knock….knock… Then it was repeated again. The three of them looked up.
“Father, someone is knocking at the castle door, I think,” said the Prince. “Are you sure? At this time and in this weather?” asked the Queen.
“He’s right,” said the King as he got up and went to open the door. The Queen and the Prince followed. When the King opened the door, the three of them looked in surprise at the person standing outside.
Shivering and wet, a young woman stood in the rain outside. What a sight she looked! The water was pouring down over her hair and face, her clothes were dripping, her feet were soaked even in her shoes! Altogether, she looked as if she had been pulled out of a river.
“Come in, come in, my child,” said the King, “Who are you?”
“I’m a princess,” replied the girl.
“A princess!” thought the Queen, “We’ll find out if she is!” But she welcomed the girl who stood in the hall with a puddle of water getting bigger and bigger around her.
The servants were called and she was taken to a chamber to wear dry clothes and given some hot soup to drink.
Meanwhile, the Queen ordered a special bed to be prepared for her. Twenty mattresses were piled up and then twenty feather quilts on them. Under the huge pile, the Queen had cleverly put a small pea. When the girl had finished her meal, the Queen led her to the chamber and helped her into bed.
The next morning, the Queen waited for the girl to awake and join them. She came to the breakfast table looking a little tired. The Queen asked, “Did you sleep well, child?”
“I’m afraid I had a terrible night!” she replied, “I couldn’t sleep at all. I kept tossing and turning because there was something hard in the bed. So, I am black and blue all over!”
The Queen looked triumphantly at the King and her son. This was a real princess! Only a real princess would have felt a lump caused by a pea under twenty mattresses and feather quilts!
The Prince’s search was over. He married the Princess and they lived happily ever after.
