The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea

                                     By: Hans Christian Anderson

                                                                    Retold by: Olivia Kent

Have you ever wondered how you can find a real princess? Well this story is about a prince who once wondered the same thing. Once upon a time there was a handsome Prince who desperately wanted to marry a princess. But he was looking for a real princess. The prince traveled long and far. He met many wonderful princesses but there was always something wrong, and after meeting hundreds of princesses he felt that none of them were real princesses.  Disappointed and discouraged, the prince headed back to the castle.

  One gloomy evening a terrible storm broke out over the entire kingdom. Lighting flashed. Thunder rumbled. Rain poured. In the middle of the awful storm a knock sounded on the city gate. The king himself went to open it.  When he got there he unexpectedly found a beautiful girl . She had water soaking her hair, her clothes, and there were puddles in her shoes.  Claiming she was a real princess, they let her into the castle.

"Well we will see about that" thought the Queen, but she kept quite.  In a hurry she rushed to a spare room and took everything off the bed, and on it she placed a pea.  On top of the pea she placed twenty mattresses and twenty quilts.  That night the princess slept terribly. It was like she was sleeping on a rock.  In the morning when someone asked how she slept she replied, “oh awfully! I tiredly tossed and turned all night, who knows what was on that bed!"  

Because she felt that tiny pea underneath all the mattresses and quilts, everyone knew that she was a real princess.  Only a true princess could be sensitive enough to feel that.  Soon after, the prince and the princess were married and lived happily ever after.