There once was a prince, kind and dutiful, who also liked the good things in life such as his two shiny sports cars and holidaying where rich young things like to holiday.
But it was time for him to marry, and being dutiful he allowed his mother to set out the arrangements of inviting all the young princesses of neighboring kingdoms to seek his hand in marriage (enlightened times these, as it worked both ways).
The Queen, his mother, arranged weekend parties and house parties, where the young people could enjoy themselves, wandering around the scented gardens and swimming in the beautiful lakes of the estate of the castle. In the evenings they ate and drank in the open air, the sky filled with twinkling stars and the trees all around hung with twinkling lanterns, fire light and candle light creating a warm and romantic setting for love to flow.
Each night a different princess was chosen to sleep in the Royal Wing of the Castle, in a lovely bedroom with the most comfortable of beds. It had silken sheets and light duvets of swans' down, but more strangely it had seventeen mattresses. Each was piled onto the next so that they almost reached the ceiling (which was very high), and the princess reached her bed by climbing up a ladder.
On the first night, the Princess chosen by the Queen (and the Prince liked her too - she was lovely, and fun to be with) climbed up the ladder and fell into a deep sleep, induced by the dancing and the good food of the night before.
"How did you sleep?", asked the Queen the next morning.
"Oh, I slept so well!" replied the Princess. With a sigh, the Queen smiled and went on her way, to check the arrangements for the day's festivities, and the Princess went home. The Prince was a little sorry she had not been chosen, but kept in touch with her anyway on face book.
The next night, another Princess was chosen to sleep in the Royal Wing of the Castle. She had long dark hair and danced bewitchingly; the Prince rather hoped that the Queen would find her suitable for him.
"How did you sleep?", asked the Queen the next morning.
"Oh, I slept so well!" replied the Princess. Again the Queen smiled and said nothing, but went on her way through the Castle and Gardens. Her plan to have her son marry the best princess was proving hard work, and she had to get on.
And so the weeks went on, with feasting and dancing, and each evening a different Princess slept on the bed with seventeen mattresses. The King and Queen were running out of money to pay for all the food, and the musicians and gardeners who entertained the young people and kept the place looking lovely and scented were costing a lot of money.
And the Prince, good and patient as he was, was mystified as to his Mother's plans. Why had she not chosen any of the beautiful Princesses so far, and of those that were not so beautiful, those that were rich or clever, or just good fun to be with?
Well at last one evening near the end of the summer, when the stars had shifted in the sky allowing Pegasus and Andromeda to look down onto the Castle Estate, a young princess arrived. She had no grand escort of servants and drove her own car (the drive was very long). She was very lovely to look at but rather pale, exhausted by her journey. The Queen was at her wit's end, having exhausted her own royal coffers and still not having found a suitable wife for her son.
She was still, however, determined that her son should marry only the best princess, which he deserved, being a good and kind young man, even after a summer of dancing and feasting. And so in the evening, after being refreshed by a good supper and a walk amongst the scented and exotic plants of the garden, and seeing the rising moon reflected in the waters of the lake, the princess was invited to sleep in the Royal Wing of the Castle. Here, she climbed up to her bed on top of seventeen mattresses, and lay down to sleep.
All night she tossed and turned.
In the morning the Queen greeted her. "How did you sleep?" she asked. The princess looked a little peaky.
"Oh, all night I tossed and turned. No matter how I lay, there seemed to be something hard underneath me and I could find no comfort." She didn't mean to be rude, but was an honest and straight forward girl.
But the Queen was not offended. In fact she was overjoyed, and said to her son: "Here is the Princess that I would like you to marry!"
The prince was mystified. "Why have you chosen her?" he asked.
Going to the bedchamber with the bed of seventeen mattresses, the Queen plunged her hand under the bottom mattress and pulled out a little hard pea.
"This is what caused your restless night", she said. Indeed, so small a pea had not caused any of the other dozens of Princesses to lose any sleep. But in our princess, delicate and sensitive as she was, it had been enough to keep her awake.
Well, the Prince was most happy to at last have a wife who was not only approved of by his mother, the Queen, but who turned out to be every bit as lovely, clever and good company as all the other princesses put together. She was also very kind and very wise, and never had a bad night after this even when they had financial difficulties and had to downsize and sleep on harder mattresses than they were used to.
Needless to say, the Princess was very happy too, and they all lived happily ever after.
4/1/12
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