The Princess and The Pea - Similar Tales

Similar Tales

Tales of extreme sensitivity are infrequent in world culture but a few have been recorded. The 11th-century Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva tells of a young man who claims to be especially fastidious about beds. After sleeping in a bed on top of seven mattresses, and newly made with clean sheets, the young man rises in great pain. A crooked red mark is discovered on his body, and upon investigation a hair is found on the bottom-most mattress of the bed. An Italian tale called "The Most Sensitive Woman" tells of a woman whose foot is bandaged after a jasmine petal falls upon it. The Brothers Grimm included a "Princess on the Pea" tale in an edition of their Kinder- und Hausmärchen, but removed it after they discovered that it belonged to the Danish literary tradition. A few folk tales feature a boy discovering a pea or a bean assumed to be of great value. After the boy enters a castle and is given a bed of straw for the night he tosses and turns in his sleep, attempting to guard his treasure. Some observers are persuaded that the boy is restless because he is unaccustomed to sleeping on straw, and is therefore of aristocratic blood.

In the more popular versions of the tale, only one pea is used. However, Charles Boner added in two more peas in his translation of the story upon which Andersen based his tale. Other differences amongst versions can be seen in various amounts of mattresses as well as feather beds. Versions of the story differ based on whether or not the character of the helper is included. The helper, in some cases, tells the princess to pretend as though she slept badly. However, in other versions, the helper doesn’t appear at all, and the princess decides to lie all on her own.