Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she woul have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, 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.
Der var engang en prins; han ville have sig en prinsesse, men det skulle være en rigtig prinsesse. Så rejste han hele verden rundt, for at finde sådan en, men alle vegne var der noget i vejen, prinsesser var der nok af, men om det var rigtige prinsesser, kunne han ikke ganske komme efter, altid var der noget, som ikke var så rigtigt. Så kom han da hjem igen og var så bedrøvet, for han ville så gerne have en virkelig prinsesse.
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.
En aften blev det da et frygteligt vejr; det lynede og tordnede, regnen skyllede ned, det var ganske forskrækkeligt! Så bankede det på byens port, og den gamle konge gik hen at lukke op.
It was a princess 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. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
Det var en prinsesse, som stod udenfor. Men gud hvor hun så ud af regnen og det onde vejr! Vandet løb ned af hendes hår og hendes klæder, og det løb ind af næsen på skoen og ud af hælen, og så sagde hun, at hun var en virkelig prinsesse.
"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.
"Ja, det skal vi nok få at vide!" tænkte den gamle dronning, men hun sagde ikke noget, gik ind i sovekamret, tog alle sengeklæderne af og lagde en ært på bunden af sengen, derpå tog hun tyve madrasser, lagde dem oven på ærten, og så endnu tyve edderdunsdyner oven på madrasserne.
On this the princess had to lie all night.
Dér skulle nu prinsessen ligge om natten.
In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
Om morgnen spurgte de hende, hvorledes hun havde sovet.
"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!"
"Oh forskrækkeligt slet!" sagde prinsessen, "jeg har næsten ikke lukket mine øjne den hele nat! Gud ved, hvad der har været i sengen? Jeg har ligget på noget hårdt, så jeg er ganske brun og blå over min hele krop! det er ganske forskrækkeligt!"
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.
Så kunne de se, at det var en rigtig prinsesse, da hun gennem de tyve madrasser og de tyve edderdunsdyner havde mærket ærten. Så ømskindet kunne der ingen være, uden en virkelig prinsesse.
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.
Prinsen tog hende da til kone, for nu vidste han, at han havde en rigtig prinsesse, og ærten kom på Kunstkammeret, hvor den endnu er at se, dersom ingen har taget den.
There, that is a true story.
Se, det var en rigtig historie!