there was once a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she was to be a real princess. so he travelled about , all through the world , to find a real one , but everywhere there was something in the way. there were princesses enough, but whether they were real princesses he could not quite make out : there was always something that did not seem quite right. so he came home again, and was quite sad; for he wished so much to have a real princess.

one evening a terrible storm came on. it lightened and thundered, the rain streamed down; it was quite fearful! then there was a knocking at the town-gate, and the old king went out to open it .

it was a princess who stood outside the gate . but , mercy! how she looked, from the rain and the rough weather! the water ran down her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the points of her shoes, and out at the heels; and yet she declared that she was a real princess .

“yes , we will soon find that out , ” thought the old queen. but she said nothing, only went into the bedchamber, took all the bedding off, and put a pea on the bottom of the bedstead ; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them upon the pea, and then twenty eider-down quilts upon the mattresses . on this the princess had to lie all night . in the morning she was asked how she had slept .

“oh, miserably!” said the princess. “i scarcely closed my eyes all night long. goodness knows what was in my bed . i lay upon something hard , so that i am black and blue all over . it is quite dreadful ! ”

now they saw that she was a real princess, for through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down quilts she had felt the pea. no one but a real princess could be so tender-skinned.

so the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a true princess and the pea was put in the museum, and it is still to be seen there, unless somebody has carried it off .

look you , this is a true story .