I have been thinking of the fairy tale of the Princess and the Pea this week, as my husband couldn’t sleep – just because we had put the duvet cover on sideways.
And then what should I see on TV but an ad for Sky Broadband featuring the same traditional storyline of the super-sensitive princess. When the pea has been “deployed” all night and the picky prince goes to check on her, she has had a bad night because she can’t get high-speed broadband.
The imagery also takes me back to my childhood, when I craved the idea of bunk beds but at the same time had nightmares of falling off the top. Precarious!
In the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, first published in Denmark in 1835, a prince is looking for a bride but doesn’t know how to prove the credentials of a REAL princess. Then, when someone claiming to be a Princess turns up bedraggled in a thunderstorm, his mother comes up with the idea of putting a pea under the mattress to test her. A hard, dried pea, no doubt. In no way could it be a mushy pea.
A REAL princess could sense it, of course. Even elevated on dozens of mattresses the real princess destined to be the bride cannot sleep because of the lumpiness of the pea beneath.
According to Iona and Peter Opie in The Classic Fairy Tales (1974), when the tale was translated into English by Charles Boner in 1846, he couldn’t believe a pea could be felt through 20 mattresses and 20 feather-beds (eiderdowns), so he had the queen place not one but three peas under them. They ended up in a museum…
In old Swedish folk-tales there are also subtle variations – sometimes there are only seven mattresses, but with a pea between each, sometimes there are three trials, with nuts, grains, pinheads or straws being placed under the mattresses.
In some versions the princess sleeps soundly and is only alerted to the trick by her cat or dog.
In 11th century Kashmir apparently the tale was not so sexist. Sensitivity applied to anyone of royal blood and three sons of a wealthy brahmin tried to excuse themselves from fetching a turtle from the sea because of their superior fastidiousness.
The winner is the young man who is wounded in the side by a single hair laid under seven mattresses.
But back to the princess. There’s a great line in the Sky ad: “Stop putting vegetables in my bedding. It’s perverse.” Perverse it may be, but many people have thought it a great scenario to illustrate, full of texture and colour. Here are some of my favourites…
As usual, click on a picture to go to the source of the image.
Dear Pat – thank you for this most interesting and entertaining post! You have certainly done your research and gathered a stunning collection on the subject. Such gorgeous images – what fun!
All the best, Marianne
Well thank you! I just like pretty pictures, really…
Best wishes
x
Reblogged this on laramaynard.
Thank you for the reblog! You have an interesting collection of articles there…
Best wishes 🙂
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I have provided the link to this lovely post on my daily prompt attempt today. Bedtime. I love politically incorrect fairy tales, too!
Thank you for connecting! I must take a longer look at your blog 🙂
All the best
wow u have certainly done your research amaz
ing..
Thank you 🙂