ONCE upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a

princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all

over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted.

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.

　 One evening a terrible storm came on; there was 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.

　 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 that

she was a real princess.

　 "Well, we'll soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she

said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the

bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty

mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds

on top of the mattresses.

　 On this the princess had to lie all night. 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!"

　 Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt

the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty

eider-down beds.

　 Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

　 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.



　 从前，有一位英俊的王子，他想找一位真正的公主。国王和王后为王子挑 许多公主，都不合王子的心意。

　　一天晚上，天空里一会儿打雷，一会儿闪电。大雨像泼水一样，风儿刮过来，打着门窗啪啪响。大家都说，今天的风大雨也大，还是早点休息，于是家家户户都准备睡觉了。国王和王后也准备睡觉了。这时，他们突然听到宫殿外有人敲门。

　　国王亲自去开门。

　　站在门外的是一位美丽的公主。这会儿，雨水顺着她的头发和衣服往下流，她告诉国王，她是一个真正的公主。

　　王后听了她的话，心想，是不是真正的公主，我们很快就会弄明白的。她马上走进专门为来访的公主准备的卧室。她把床上所有的被褥都拿掉，露出光溜溜的床板，然后从口袋里取出一粒小小的豌豆，轻轻放在床板上。她把所有的被褥重新铺好，又从大柜子里抱出20床垫子，她又取出20床美丽柔软的鸭绒被，再放到20床垫子上面。

　　于是王后走出来，把公主请到这间卧室里，让她睡在这长老厚老厚的大床上。

　　早晨，王后问公主："你昨晚睡得好吗？"

　　公主说："这一夜我简直没办法睡觉。我总觉得床上有一颗什么硬东西在硌着我，弄得我又疼又痒，真是难受极啦。"

　　王后知道这回王子可要得到一位真正的公主了。你想一想，压在20床垫子、20床鸭绒被下面的一粒豌豆，她都能够感觉得出来，除了真正的公主以外，还有谁会有这么嫩的皮肤啊！

　　王子太高兴啦。他现在终于找到了一位真正的公主。据说。这粒豌豆还保存在一家博物馆里呢。