The princess and the pea
There was once a Prince who wished to marry a Princess, but she must be a real Princess. He travelled all
over the world in hopes of finding such a lady, but there was always something wrong. Princesses he
found in plenty, but whether they were real Princesses it was impossible for him to decide，for now one thing, now another, seemed to him not quite right about the ladies. At last he returned to
his palace quite cast down，because he wished so much to have a real Princess for his wife.
One evening a terrible storm came on，it thundered and lightened，and the rain poured down from the sky in torrents：besides，it was as dark as pitch. All at once there was heard a violent knocking at the door，and the old King，the Prince’s father，went out himself to open it.
It was a Princess who was standing outside the door. What with the rain and the wind，she was in a sad
condition；the water trickled down from her hair，and her clothes clung to her body. She said she was a real Princess.
“Ah！we shall soon see that！” thought the old Queen-mother；however，she said not a word of what she was going to do；but went quietly into the bedroom，took all the bed-clothes off the bed，and put three little peas on the bedstead. She then laid twenty mattresses one upon another over the three peas，and put twenty feather beds over the mattresses.
Upon this bed the Princess was to pass the night.
The next morning she was asked how she had slept. “Oh，very badly indeed！” she replied. “I have scarcely closed my eyes the whole night. I do not know what was
in my bed，but I had something hard under me，and I am all over black and blue. It has hurt me so much！” [page]分页标题[/page]
Now it was plain that the lady must be a real Princess，since she had been able to feel the three little peas through the twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. None
but a real Princess could have had such a delicate sense of feeling.
the Prince accordingly made her his wife；Being now convinced that he had found a real Princess. The three peas were however put into the cabinet of
curiosities，where they are still to be seen，provided they are not lost.
Wasn’t this a lady of real delicacy？
豌豆公主
从前有一位王子，他想找一位公主结婚，但她必须是一位真正的公主。他走遍了全世界，想要寻到这样的一位公主。可是无论他到什么地方，他总是碰到一些障碍。公主倒有的是，不过他没有办法断定她们究竟是不是真正的公主。她们总是有些地方不大对头。 结果，他只好回家来，心中很不快活，因为他是那么渴望着得到一位真正的公主。
[1] 牛津小学英语5B教案UNIT4 下一篇：名词专项练习题
