The Princess and the Pea

Sam Zuppardi

My favorite fairy tale has always been 

The Princess and the Pea, by Hans Christian Andersen.

I'd like to share it with you, along with several artists' enchanting illustrations of that famous bed.

So fix yourself something warm to drink, cuddle up, and read yourself a story!

All the better if you can share it with a sweet Little One!

Kimberley Pope

Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He traveled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. 

yakkingyetis

There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.

Ashley Smith

One evening, a terrible storm came; there were thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly, a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.

Kate Anniss

It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! What a sight the rain and the wind had made her look! The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said she was a real princess.

Tasha Tudor

"Well, we'll soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bedroom, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the very bottom; then she took 20 mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then 20 eider-down beds on top of the mattresses. On this the princess had to lie all night. 

Margaret Tarrant

In the morning, she was asked how she had slept.

"Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"

Karen Watson

Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the 20 mattresses and the 20 eider-down beds. Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

Edmund Dulac

So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it. There, that is a true story.

Stasia Burrington

Thank you, Mr. Andersen, for this delightful tale that brought many smiles to my childhood!

I love it still!