THERE was once a Prince who wished to marry a Princess; but then she must be a real Princess.1 He travelled all over the world in hopes of finding such a lady; but there was always something wrong. Princesses he found in plenty; but whether they were real Princesses it was impossible for him to decide, for now one thing, now another, seemed to him not quite right about the ladies.2 At last he returned to his palace quite cast down, because he wished so much to have a real Princess for his wife.

One evening a fearful tempest3 arose, it thundered and lightened, and the rain poured down from the sky in torrents¹: besides, it was as dark as pitch. All at once there was heard a violent knocking at the door, and the old King, the Prince's father, went out himself to open it.

It was a Princess who was standing² outside the door. What with the rain and the wind, she was in a sad condition; the water trickled³ down from her hair, and her clothes clung to her body. She said she was a real Princess.

"Ah! we shall soon see that!" thought the old Queen-mother;4 however, she said not a word of what she was going to do; but went quietly into the bedroom, took all the bed-clothes off the bed, and put three little peas5 on the bedstead. She then laid twenty mattresses6 one upon another over the three peas, and put twenty feather beds7 over the mattresses⁴.

Upon this bed the Princess was to pass the night.

The next morning she was asked how she had slept. "Oh, very badly indeed!"8 she replied. "I have scarcely closed my eyes the whole night through. I do not know what was in my bed, but I had something hard under me, and am all over black and blue.9 It has hurt me so much!"

Now it was plain that the lady must be a real Princess, since she had been able to feel the three little peas through the twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. None but a real Princess could have had such a delicate sense of feeling.10

The Prince accordingly made her his wife; being now convinced that he had found a real Princess. The three peas were however put into the cabinet of curiosities, where they are still to be seen, provided they are not lost.11

Wasn't this a lady of real delicacy⁶?

1. Real Princess: Andersen implies that real princesses are different from any other person with their sheer physical sensitivity in his story. Delicacy in women was assumed and appreciated in women during Andersen's lifetime.
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2. Not quite right about the ladies: As one of the shortest fairy tales, one is always left to wonder what isn't "quite right" about the other women. Details are not given in the traditional tales although modern interpretations⁸ have given various reasons, from lack of physical beauty to lack of sensitivity.

An Italian version of the tale, "The Most Sensitive Woman," offers three highly sensitive women, but the prince chooses the one with the highest sensitivity. The first has suffered agonies from the pulling of one single hair from her head while brushing it. The second is in pain from sleeping on a wrinkle in her sheets. The third and final woman, the most sensitive, has a serious injury from a jasmine petal⁹ falling onto her foot.
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3. Fearful tempest: It is a dark and stormy night when the princess arrives, a harbinger of change and climax¹⁰ in this short tale.

While the first reading of the story might lead one to believe the princess is passive and delicate. She in fact is not passive, but braves a storm and finds her future mate during her travels, a feat⁵ the prince has failed to do in his previous searches.
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4. Queen-mother: It is interesting that the Queen-mother devises and administers the test. The implication is that the prince is unaware¹¹ of the test until the next morning. While his inability to find a wife and produce an heir is probably frustrating¹² to the parents, they seem to support his search for a true princess through their actions. The father allows the princess admittance into their home. The mother tests the princess' sensitivity.
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5. Three little peas: In the more familiar versions of the tale, Andersen uses only one pea. The three peas were introduced by Charles Boner in his English translation of the tale found in A Danish Story-Book (1846) upon which this version of the tale is based (Opie 1974).
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6. Twenty mattresses: The number of mattresses varies with versions of the story, but Andersen used the combination of twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. The most popular other number used is seven instead of the twenty.
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7. Twenty feather beds: The enormous bed with its mound¹³ of bedding is a favorite image of illustrators. While all of the 40 pieces of bedding are not usually included in the illustrations, the bed is often accompanied by a high ladder for the princess to climb to the top. An example of some illustrations can be found in the Princess and the Pea Illustration Gallery.
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8. "Oh, very badly indeed!": Most versions of the tale previous to and after Andersen's version have a woman of low rank pretending to have slept badly to prove she is a princess. Often an animal helper has warned her of the test so she is able to provide an appropriate response in the morning. In other stories, the princess sleeps soundly despite her status and simply pretends a bad night's rest after being warned by her helper.

Andersen, on the other hand, wanted to believe in the "real princess" and adapted his story accordingly. His instincts were great since his version is the best-known today.
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9. Black and blue: The idea that the princess has actually been bruised¹⁴ by the pea(s) is a haunting image of her sensitivity. Some modern writers have explored the sado-masochist possibilities of this story element, wondering why the prince would want to marry a woman with such physical sensitivity.
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10. None but a real Princess could have had such a delicate sense of feeling: While the modern implication of such a princess would be a "high maintenance" woman, another possible interpretation⁷ is that the woman is full of compassion¹⁵.

Also note that this princess must prove her nobility through her physical sensitivity, not through her ability to fit a ring or slipper¹⁶ like her Donkeyskin and Cinderella counterparts. The test is a physical one, but quite unlike the other well-known tests of fitting into articles of clothing.
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11. The three peas were however put into the cabinet of curiosities, where they are still to be seen, provided they are not lost: The voice of Andersen's storyteller is playful throughout the story, but this last line gives the story an air of truth and whimsy¹⁷.
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