The Princess and the Pea, by Hans Christian Andersen
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There was once
hunk
of a prince who was a
VIP
in his land.
He wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess.

He
cruised around the world to find one,
and searched with a
fine-toothed comb.

There were plenty of princesses,
but whether they were real princesses he had no way of knowing if they were real princesses. When he went home again
he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so badly.
One evening there was a terrible storm thunder and lightning and the rain poured down.
In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the old King
himself
went to open it.
The King was a
flake
because what King answers his own door.
When he opened the door he said,
"
Huh,
who is this at my door."

It
was a princess who was trying to
get home when the storm caught her outdoors.
She stood there with a
blank look
and said that she had
rugged up
before she went out, but she was in a
terrible state from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her clothes, but she said that she was a real princess.
Now the Queen had gone to a
think tank
to find out how do you tell if someone is a real princess.
They told her
what to do.

She said, "
Well we shall soon see if that is true."
She
bit
her tongue
and said nothing to the prince.

She went into the bedroom, took all the bed clothes off and laid a pea on the bedstead, then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning
the Queen asked if there was
any word
on how the princess had slept. "
Oh terribly bad!"

said the princess. "
I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night!
Heaven knows what was in the bed.
Those mattresses just couldn't
cut it.

I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning
. It is terrible!"
At least
they saw at once that she must be a real princess because when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds
the mattresses
couldn't stand up
to the princesses demands.

You
see,
nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin. So the prince
married her, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea
was put into the Museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.
Moral of the story:
If you are looking for a princess, find
someone for who even the best can't
cut it.
Idioms in this story:
cruise
flake
get home
huh
think tank
blank look
fine-toothed comb
VIP
cut it
can't stand up
any word?
bite your tongue
hunk
rug up
see
at least