The princess and the Pea – Short story
The princess and the Pea is a one of the most famous short stories which has multiple origins dating back a 1000 years back to Aesop’s Fables. It was then popularized by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen by being included into his works. The story is about a prince who searches for a princess but is finding it very difficult. This all changes when one stormy night a woman walks in and claims to be a princess.
Table of contents – The princess and the Pea
- About the author
- The princess and the Pea
- Summary and Analysis – The princess and the Pea
- Questions and Answers – The princess and the Pea
- The princess and the Pea Short Story – Worksheets PDF
- The princess and the Pea Short Story –PDF
About the author – Hans Christian Anderson
Hans Christian Andersen is one of the legendary writers who has written most of the stories which have been adopted by Disney and this over a 100 years before Disney even existed. Surprised? Hans Christian Anderson, born in April 2 1805, was a Danish author and a prolific writer of plays, novels, poems, and fairy tales. Andersen’s fairy tales consists of a collection of 156 stories across nine volumes has been translated into more than 125 languages. His most famous fairy tales include “The Emperor’s New Clothes“, “The Little Mermaid“, “The Nightingale“, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier“, “The Red Shoes“, “The Snow Queen“, “The Ugly Duckling“, “The princess and the Pea“, and “Thumbelina“.
Other famous short stories which you can read
- Lamb to the slaughter
- The little match girl
- The goblin and the grocers
- The handsomest drowned man in the world
- Aesop Fables
- Tenali Raman
- Akbar and Birbal
- Out of the dust
The princess and the Pea
Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince who wanted to marry a true princess. He wanted only to marry and love a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he find what he searched for.
There were many princesses, short and tall, beautiful and ugly, young and old and even foolish or wise. But there were no true princess as they all lacked the true quality of a princess.
Simply put, there were princesses enough and plenty, 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 woman 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. She said that she was a real princess and no one would believe her as she was certainly a sight to wonder at and not one to be pleased by.
The pea
“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.
Summary and Analysis – The princess and the Pea
The princess and the Pea is a pretty tale of royalty and their oversensitivity to the elements of the world because of their privilege. It is one of the shortest of the classic fairy tales at only 700 words. Interestingly enough, it manages to be a very straightforward tale of how royalty is expected to be.
A prince spends years searching for a perfect princess but is never able to find one. One day a woman, drenched in rain seeks refuge and claims that she is a princess. The old mother of the prince decides to test her and went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off and puts a single pea on the bottom.
She lays twenty mattresses on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses. The princess is still not able to sleep that night for she is uncomfortable with the poor bedding provided. The prince and the prince mother is convinced that she is a real princess as only one who is of royalty can be that sensitive.
Moral of the princess and the pea:
The moral of the short story, the princess and the pea, is that one must never judge a person by their momentary appearance”. The princess was drenched in the rain due to unfortunate circumstance and did not look like one but her qualities of being royalty never leaves her.
Questions and Answers – The princess and the Pea –Set 1
- What is the story about the princess and the Pea?
- The story is about a prince who searches for a princess but is finding it very difficult. This all changes when one stormy night a woman walks in and claims to be a princess.
- What does the prince seek?
- He wanted only to marry and love a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he find what he searched for. There were many princesses, short and tall, beautiful and ugly, young and old and even foolish or wise. But there were no true princess as they all lacked the true quality of a princess.
- Who arrives in the middle of the night when it was raining?
- A woman was standing out there in front of the gate when it was raining heavily.
- What does the pea princess look like?
- The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. She said that she was a real princess and no one would believe her as she was certainly a sight to wonder at and not one to be pleased by.
- What test does the mother of the prince keep for the princes?
- The mother went into the her 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.
Questions and Answers – The princess and the Pea –Set 2
- How does the princess feel in the morning?
- She slept very badly as she was lying on something hard all night and was black and blue all over her body
- What happens to the pea in the end of the story?
- Everyone 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.
- What kind of message does the princess and the Pea story convey?
- The message that story conveys is that one must never judge a person by their momentary appearance.
- Explain is the moral lesson of the fairy tale, the princess and the Pea?
- The moral of the short story, the princess and the pea, is that one must never judge a person by their momentary appearance”. The princess was drenched in the rain due to unfortunate circumstance and did not look like one but her qualities of being royalty never leaves her.
The princess and the Pea – Short story –Worksheet PDF
You can download a free PDF copy of The princess and the Pea worksheet right below.
The princess and the Pea – Worksheet
Free PDF – The princess and the Pea – Short story
The princess and the Pea is one of the best known stories from the works of Hans Christian Anderson and is read by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. You can download a free PDF copy of The princess and the Pea story right below.
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