The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess, a real princess. To find her, he traveled all over the world. He met many princesses, but he couldn’t find one that was truly authentic; each time, something was missing, something was suspicious. So he ended up going home very sad, because he was really determined to marry only a real princess.

One afternoon, a terrible storm broke out; lightning and thunder alternated without interruption, and it was raining hard; it was a real downpour. In the middle of this storm, someone knocked on the castle door, and the old king came to open it.

Behind the door he found a princess; what a surprise, but boy, how the rain and the bad weather had fixed her up! Water dripped down her hair and flattened clothes, and ran from her waist to her shoes and out through her heels; She looked terrible, but still, she came forward pretending to be a real princess.

“We’ll soon find out,” said the old queen after the king had brought the princess to her. And, without saying a word, she entered the guest’s room, lifted the bed and put a pea on the box spring; then she piled twenty mattresses on top of it, and again on top of it, as many quilts.

Everyone went to bed and the princess climbed onto her mountain of quilts to sleep.

The next morning the whole family asked her how she had slept.

“Horribly bad!” She replied. “I didn’t sleep all night! I don’t know what it is about this bed that hurts so much! I’m covered in bruises!”

Then they understood that she was really a princess for real, since, despite the twenty mattresses and twenty quilts, she had smelled the pea. Only a real princess could be so sensitive.

Satisfied and true to his purpose, the prince took her as his wife and the pea was exhibited in the museum, where it can still be seen, if no one has stolen it.

And this is a true authentic story!