“The Princess and the Pea”

1. A story by Hans Christian Andersen. A prince insists on marrying a real princess. When a woman comes to his door maintaining that she is a real princess, the prince's mother tests her by burying a pea under a huge stack of mattresses and then ordering the woman to sleep on the mattresses. The woman cannot sleep and therefore passes the test: being a true princess, she is so delicate that the pea keeps her awake.

Example Sentences

“I warn you, sir, I can be a stickler when it comes to my accommodations. I imagine you know the story of the princess and the pea?”

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“I hope our cots do not keep you up all night, as in the story of the princess and the pea.”

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The book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller, which infuses vaudevillian mirth into “The Princess and the Pea,” has been updated by Amy Sherman-Palladino to be more in keeping with contemporary sensitivities.

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Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Gilmore Girls,” has given a much-needed update to this tale inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.”

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The Tony-winning actor was leading a new production of “Once Upon a Mattress,” a musical take on “The Princess and the Pea” that in previous incarnations starred Carol Burnett and Sarah Jessica Parker.

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