The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a young prince who desired nothing more than to find a true princess to be his wife. His parents, the king and queen, wanted the same, and they spared no effort in helping him search for the perfect bride. But there was one problem—how could they be certain that any princess they found was a real princess, one with the grace, nobility, and refinement that true royalty possesses?

The prince traveled to many lands, meeting princesses from different kingdoms. Some were beautiful, some were charming, but each time, something felt off. One was too loud, another too vain, and none seemed to possess the delicate spirit and sensitivity that marked a true princess. After months of searching, the prince returned home, disheartened and convinced that he might never find the princess of his dreams.

Then, one night, a terrible storm struck the kingdom. The wind howled, the rain poured down in torrents, and thunder roared through the sky. It was the kind of storm that made even the bravest of men seek shelter. As the storm raged, the royal family gathered by the fire in their grand hall, listening to the sound of the storm crashing against the castle walls.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the castle door. The old king, surprised that anyone would be out on such a night, opened the door to find a young woman standing there, drenched from head to toe. Her hair was wet, her dress clung to her in the rain, and she shivered from the cold. But even in her disheveled state, she stood with a quiet dignity.

“I am a princess,” the young woman declared, her voice trembling as she tried to compose herself. “I have been traveling, and the storm has left me lost. May I please have shelter for the night?”

The king, kind and gentle, welcomed her inside at once, but the queen was skeptical. Could this bedraggled young woman truly be a princess? She knew that appearances could be deceiving, so she devised a clever test to discover the truth.

The queen led the young woman to a guest room where a bed had been prepared. But before the princess entered, the queen, unnoticed by anyone, slipped a tiny pea beneath the bottom mattress. She then ordered twenty soft mattresses to be stacked on top of it, followed by twenty featherbeds, making the bed so high that a ladder was needed to reach it. It looked incredibly luxurious, but there was a secret—a true princess, with skin so delicate and sensitive, would feel the slightest discomfort, even through all the layers of bedding.

The princess, exhausted from her journey, thanked the queen and climbed up the ladder to reach the top of the towering bed. She was sure she would finally have a good night’s sleep after the long, stormy night. But as soon as she lay down, something felt wrong. No matter how she turned or positioned herself, there was something hard beneath her that pressed into her back. She tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable spot, but it was no use. The bed, which should have been soft and luxurious, felt like it had rocks hidden inside it. The princess barely slept a wink.

In the morning, the queen eagerly asked the princess how she had slept. The princess, looking pale and tired, replied, “I’m afraid it was a terrible night. I don’t know what was in that bed, but something hard was pressing into me all night. I feel bruised from head to toe.”

The queen smiled in triumph, for she knew that only a true princess, with skin as delicate as silk, could have felt a tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds. The prince, upon hearing this, was overjoyed. At last, he had found his true princess, one who was not only beautiful and kind but possessed the unmistakable sensitivity that only true royalty could have.

The prince and the princess were married in a grand celebration, and the tiny pea was placed in a special display in the royal museum, where it was kept for generations to come as proof of the prince’s remarkable bride. And so, the prince and the princess lived happily ever after, with the knowledge that they had found in each other the one thing they had always longed for—a true heart.