The Princess and the Pea - Danish

Hello, my dears. I am the Queen, and I live in a grand castle with my wonderful son, the Prince. He was kind and brave, but he had one very big problem. He wanted to marry a princess, but it had to be a real princess. He searched high and low, traveling across wide oceans and over tall mountains to find one. He met princesses who could sing like nightingales and princesses who could paint beautiful pictures, but every time, something just wasn't quite right. One wasn't gentle enough, another wasn't thoughtful enough. My son returned home feeling very gloomy, with his shoulders slumped and a long face. His sadness was like a gray cloud over our happy castle, so I knew I had to help him solve this royal puzzle. This is the story of how we found a true princess, a tale you might know as The Princess and the Pea.

One evening, a frightful storm raged outside our castle walls. Thunder clapped so loudly it shook the windows, and lightning zigzagged across the dark sky like fiery cracks. The rain didn't just fall; it poured down in buckets, making puddles as big as ponds. Suddenly, through the noise of the storm, we heard a knock at the giant castle gate. My son went to open it, and there stood a young woman, looking like she had been for a swim in all her clothes. Water streamed from her long hair and dripped from her nose, running in little rivers from the tips of her soggy shoes. She was a mess, but she looked the Prince in the eye and said, “I am a real princess.” I had my doubts, but I am a polite Queen, so I smiled and said, “Well, we’ll soon find that out.” I had a clever idea, a secret test. I went to prepare her room and took one tiny, little green pea. I placed it right in the middle of the bedstead. Then, I had my servants help me pile twenty thick mattresses on top of that pea. And on top of the mattresses, we piled twenty of the softest, fluffiest featherbeds you have ever seen.

The next morning, I found our guest in the dining hall and asked her how she had slept. “Oh, dreadfully.” she said with a big yawn. “I hardly closed my eyes all night. Goodness knows what was in that bed, but I was lying on something so hard that I am black and blue all over my back. It was simply horrible.” As soon as I heard this, my heart did a little jump for joy. I knew she was a real princess. Only a person with skin so delicate and a spirit so truly sensitive could have felt one tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds. It was an astonishing thing. My son was overjoyed when I told him. His sad, gray cloud disappeared, and his face lit up like the morning sun. He had finally found his true princess. They were married right away, and everyone in the kingdom celebrated. And as for that troublesome little pea, we put it in the royal museum on a velvet pillow, where you might still see it today, if no one has taken it.

A Story That Lives On
This special story was written down many years ago, on October 16th, 1835, by a wonderful storyteller from a country called Denmark. His name was Hans Christian Andersen, and he heard tales like this when he was a boy and wanted to share their magic with everyone. Our story is more than just a funny tale about a pea and a very tall bed. It reminds us that sometimes, a person's most important qualities, like kindness and sensitivity, are hidden on the inside. It teaches us to look past what we see on the outside, because being aware of little things is a special gift. Today, this little fairy tale still makes children and grown-ups smile and wonder. It inspires us to think about the secret, wonderful things that make each of us truly one-of-a-kind.