Once upon a time there lived a very unhappy queen.
She was unhappy because her son was not married.
Since he was a prince, he could only marry a princess.
It was so hard to find the perfect princess for her son.
Young women from all over the world came to the castle to see if they could marry the prince.
The queen wanted to confirm that they were really princesses, so she tested each one.
"What is your name, my dear?" asked the queen.
"I am Princess Valeria of Sweden, Your Highness," answered the princess.
"Let me see your hands, Valeria," said the queen.
"I . . . I beg your pardon?" Valeria said nervously.
"Your hands," the queen repeated. "Just as I thought!
You are not really a princess!
No true princess could have such rough hands!"
The queen dismissed poor Valeria in a huff.
Sometimes the queen inspected the princesses' teeth.
Sometimes she checked their hair. The queen even examined their feet!
Finding the perfect princess was very demanding work.
One stormy evening there was an unexpected visitor at the castle.
The prince was the first person to get up.
Outside in the pouring rain stood a beautiful but very wet young lady.
The prince had never seen such a lovely woman before in his life.
"What are you doing in the rain?" the prince asked.
"Well, can I come in or not?" the lady said irritably.
The lady told the prince what had happened.
She had been taking a walk when it began to rain very hard.
She had been walking all night trying to find a dry place.
"May I please stay here tonight?" she asked the prince.
The prince wished she could stay forever.
While the prince and the young lady were talking, the queen silently entered the room.
"What is going on here? Who are you?" demanded the queen.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. I am Princess Winnifred," said the lady.
"Princess?" asked the queen.
"But my friends call me Winn."
The prince explained to his mother what had happened.
"She must go at once!" shouted the queen.
"Perhaps she really is a princess," the prince said.
"There is only one way to find out." The queen smiled coldly.
"Show me your hands," demanded the queen. "Say ‘Ah,'" said the queen.
Winnifred's teeth were white and hard. The queen pulled on Winn's braid.
Her hair was still wet, but it looked strong and healthy.
"Let me see your feet," the queen said. Her feet were small and straight.
"She may stay the night," the queen agreed.
"See? She was telling the truth.
She really is a princess!" the prince said excitedly.
"Not quite."
"What do you mean?" the prince asked.
"There is one more test," the queen answered.
As the maid prepared the bed, the queen put a tiny pea under the mattress.
Then the servants came in with twenty more mattresses and piled them on top of the first one.
"Only a real princess will be able to feel that little pea under all these mattresses," the queen said happily.
The prince overheard his mother's plan.
He began to worry because he really liked Winn.
Suddenly he thought of an idea.
The next morning Winnifred came to the dining room for breakfast.
"How did you sleep last night?" asked the queen.
"Oh, I slept wonderfully!" answered Winn.
"You didn't feel uncomfortable at all?" asked the prince.
"Not at all!" Winn answered.
"Well, to tell the truth, it was a bit uncomfortable at first," she added.
"Explain yourself," said the queen.
"I couldn't get comfortable.
It felt like there was something under my mattress.
I just couldn't get to sleep!
When I looked under the mattress, I found a pair of scissors, three books, and a toy bicycle!"
The prince had put all these things there to make sure that she looked under her mattress.
"After you removed all those items from under your mattress, I'm sure you were able to fall asleep comfortably," said the queen.
"Well, not exactly," said Winn.
"There was still something under my mattress!
Finally I found what was making me uncomfortable!"
Winn showed the queen and the prince the pea.
"You truly are a princess," said the queen.
"Of course I am," said Winn. "Can you pass me the eggs please?"
The queen was very happy now. Princess Winnifred and her son were married.
And they lived happily ever after.