Welcome to our A1 beginner English version of The Princess and the Pea. In this old fairy tale, a prince wants to marry a real princess. One stormy night, a young woman comes to the castle. The queen has a clever plan to test if she is truly a princess – she puts a tiny pea under twenty mattresses!
Read this simple story and click on any word to see its meaning. You can also listen to the audio to practice your pronunciation. At the end, check the lesson notes for grammar and vocabulary tips. It's a free and friendly way to learn English!
, there was a prince.
He wanted to marry a real princess.
He looked everywhere.
But he could not find a real princess.
One night, there was a big storm.
The rain .
The wind was strong.
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.
The king opened the door.
A young woman stood there.
She was very wet and cold.
"I am a princess," she said.
"Can I stay here tonight?"
"Of course," said the king.
The queen did not believe her.
"Is she a real princess?" thought the queen.
"I will test her."
The queen went to the .
She put a small on the bed.
Then she put twenty on top.
And then twenty soft on top of that.
The young woman went to bed.
She tried to sleep.
But she could not sleep.
Something was hard in the bed.
She felt it all night.
In the morning, she was very tired.
"Did you sleep well?" asked the queen.
"Oh no," said the young woman.
"I felt something hard in the bed."
"I am black and blue all over."
"I am a real princess!" she said.
The queen smiled.
Only a real princess could feel a pea twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds.
So the prince married her.
And the pea was put in a museum.
You can still see it there, if no one has taken it.
There was a prince a long time ago.
He wanted to marry a true princess.
He searched everywhere.
But he couldn't find a true princess.
One night, there was a huge storm.
It rained very hard.
The wind was strong.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the castle door.
The king opened the door.
A young woman stood there.
She was very wet and cold.
She said, "I am a princess."
She asked, "Can I stay here tonight?"
The king said, "Of course."
The queen did not believe her.
The queen thought, "Is she a real princess?"
She thought, "I will test her."
The queen went to the guest bedroom.
She put a tiny pea on the bed.
Then she put twenty mattresses on top.
And then twenty soft feather beds on top of those.
The young woman went to sleep.
She tried to sleep.
But she could not sleep.
Something was hard in the bed.
She felt it all night.
In the morning, she was very tired.
The queen asked, "Did you sleep well?"
The woman said, "Oh no."
She said, "I felt something hard in the bed."
She said, "My whole body is bruised."
She said, "I am a real princess!"
The queen smiled.
Only a real princess could feel a pea through so many mattresses.
So the prince married her.
And the pea was placed in a museum.
You can still see it there, if no one stole it.
Let's look at some useful words from the story. You'll use these words again and again.
Pay attention to simple adjectives - they help you describe people and things.
- princess - a king or queen's daughter
- storm - very bad weather with rain and wind
- knock - hit a door to ask to come in
- mattress - a soft part of a bed
- pea - a small round green vegetable
- museum - a place where old or special things are shown
The story uses the simple past tense to talk about things that happened before. Notice how verbs change.
Some are regular (add -ed), others are irregular (change completely). Here are a few from the story.
- Regular: look → looked, knock → knocked, want → wanted
- Irregular: sleep → slept, feel → felt, put → put (no change!)
- Can you find more past verbs? Try: open, say, try, smile.
When something doesn't feel right, how do you say it? The princess said: 'I felt something hard.'
You can use 'feel' + adjective to talk about touch or how your body is. Try it yourself!
- I feel cold. / She felt hot.
- They felt tired. / He felt happy.
- What about you? How did you feel this morning? I felt ___.
Now you know the words and the past tense. Can you retell the story? Start with: 'Once upon a time, there was a prince...'
Try it with a friend or just say it quietly. You'll be surprised how much you remember!
The Princess and the Pea comes from an older public-domain story tradition and is best known as a public_domain_fairy_tale_retelling. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on public-domain source material, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. This version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try English Adjectives and Adverbs for another useful next step.
