“How to Tell a True Princess.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 254-255.
![How to Tell a True Princess](/projects/fairy-tales/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/article-image/yellowfairybook00lang02_0309.jpg?itok=fg1vj1z_)
Tale Summary
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess, but only a true princess. He traveled the world looking for one but could never find one that was true, so he came back home in low spirits. One night there was a terrible storm, and knocking was heard at the palace gate. The king went to open it and there stood a princess, drenched from the storm, who claimed she was a true princess. The queen set up a test and went into the bedroom to put a pea at the bottom of the bed before stacking 20 mattresses on top and 20 eirder-down quilts on top of the mattresses. The next morning the princess said she had slept very badly because of something in the bed, and she was revealed to be a true princess because only a true princess could be so sensitive. The prince married her and the pea was put into the Royal Museum.
Fairy Tale Title
How to Tell a True Princess
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Andrew Lang
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
Henry Justice Ford
Common Tale Type
The Princess and the Pea
Tale Classification
ATU 704
Page Range of Tale
pp. 254-255
Full Citation of Tale
“How to Tell a True Princess.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 254-255.
Original Source of the Tale
Tale Notes
Tale Audio
[soundcloud width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1773518730&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"][/soundcloud]
Research and Curation
Kaeli Waggener, 2023
Book Title
The Yellow Fairy Book
Book Author/Editor(s)
Andrew Lang
Illustrator(s)
Henry Justice Ford
Publisher
Longmans, Green, and Co.
Date Published
1906
Decade Published
1900-1909
Publisher City
London
New York
Bombay
Publisher Country
United Kingdom
United States
India
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.