Once upon a time, there was a handsome and wellbehaved Prince who wanted to marry a Princess. But she had to be a real Princess who was charming, beautiful and most importantly, sensitive.
He travelled to many places in search of a real Princess but he could not find one. So, he returned home, sad, wondering how he would find his real Princess.
One evening, a dreadful storm came on. There was thunder and lightning and heavy rain poured down. The Prince and his parents were dining. Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the castle door
“Who could it be? It is very late and there is such a storm outside,” wondered the Queen. The King opened the door.
There was a beautiful girl standing outside. She was wet and shivering. The King asked, “Who are you?” She said, “I am a Princess from a neighbouring kingdom.
I was passing through when the storm and lightning spooked the horses and they dragged my carriage into mud. My men are still trying to repair the carriage. Would you kindly help me?”
The King took her in. The Queen looked at her, as she stood there looking messy and drenched. ‘I must find out if she is truly a princess,’ the Queen thought. The Queen decided to put her to test.
The Queen went to prepare a bed for her. She took off all the bedding and laid a pea at the bottom. Then, she placed twenty soft mattresses on the pea, and on top of the mattresses, twenty feather beds.
The Princess slept on this bed. She climbed onto the ladder to reach the top. The Queen wished her good night and left.
But throughout the night, the Princess was restless, tossing and turning. ‘What is the problem?’ she wondered, but couldn’t find out what disturbed her.
The next morning, the Princess joined the Queen for breakfast. The Queen asked her how she had slept. “I
hope you must have slept comfortably, my dear,” asked the Queen.
“Oh, very badly!” the Princess groaned, “I barely closed my eyes all night. God only knows what was there in the bed, but there was something extremely hard and troublesome. Oh! It was completely awful!”
Now, the King and his Queen were certain that she was a real Princess because she felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Only the real Princess could be so sensitive.
Happily, the Queen hugged her. She was overjoyed to know that she was a real Princess and ran to give the news to the Prince. “We’ve found a real Princess!” she exclaimed
The Prince was delighted, for he had a real Princess. A grand wedding celebration was organised. The Prince
and the Princess got married and lived happily ever after.
And now you must be wondering what happened to that pea. It is kept in a Museum!
