The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea
Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess. But not just any princess. She had to be a real princess.
He travelled all over the world looking for one. He found many princesses, yes, but there was always something that did not quite fit. Something small. Hard to explain.
So he returned home, sad, wishing with all his heart to find a genuine princess.
One night, while a storm shook the sky and the rain fell without stopping, someone knocked at the palace door.
The old king went to open it.
There, beneath the rain, stood a drenched young woman. Water ran down her hair, her clothes, her shoes... And even so, she said in a calm voice:
“I am a princess.”
The old queen watched her in silence. She said nothing. She only thought:
“We shall see about that.”
The queen went to prepare the room. On the bed, she placed twenty mattresses... and on top of them, twenty feather duvets. But beneath that whole mountain of cotton, she placed a tiny pea.
That was where the princess would have to sleep that night.
The princess entered the bedroom, so covered in mattresses and duvets that it looked like a cloud. The room was calm. The storm had passed.
At last, everything invited her to rest.
She carefully settled into bed and closed her eyes. Everything seemed to be in order.
But suddenly, something made her uncomfortable.
“How strange...”
It was not a loud noise. Nor a sudden fright. It was only a tiny presence. Almost impossible to notice.
The princess turned over. She searched for a more comfortable position. She closed her eyes... and breathed slowly.
“I must be imagining it.”
For a moment, she thought she had managed it. Sleep was just about to come.
But no.
Something was still there.
She turned over again. Very, very slowly. As if sleep itself might break.
“It is not uncomfortable... but...”
She tried to relax. She opened the window.
She lay down again.
She listened to the breeze.
The gentle flutter of the curtains.
A distant owl’s call.
At times, it seemed to be working.
But there was always something. Something small. Something that should not have been there.
“How strange...”
When dawn finally came, the princess rose, tired.
“How did you sleep?”
“Terribly. I could hardly sleep at all. I have been lying on something hard... and my whole body aches.”
Then the queen smiled.
She had felt the pea through the twenty mattresses and the twenty feather duvets. Only a real princess could be so delicate.
When the prince heard this, he was overjoyed. At last, he had found a genuine princess.
They were married soon after. And the pea was kept in the cabinet of curiosities.
And so they knew she was a true princess.
And that is all... for the moment.
Til the next tale.