The Princess and the Pea
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A storm-soaked princess appears at a palace gate, and the queen devises an unusual test to verify her royal sensitivity — by hiding a pea under twenty mattresses.
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
Dahulu kala ada seorang pangeran yang ingin menikahi seorang putri; tetapi putri itu haruslah putri sejati. Ia berkelana ke seluruh dunia untuk menemukannya, tetapi di mana pun ia tak bisa menemukan apa yang ia inginkan. Ada banyak sekali putri, tetapi sulit untuk memastikan apakah mereka putri sejati. Selalu ada sesuatu pada diri mereka yang tidak sebagaimana mestinya. Maka ia pun pulang ke rumah dengan sedih, sebab ia sangat ingin memiliki seorang putri sejati.
One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
Suatu malam badai dahsyat datang; ada guntur dan kilat, dan hujan turun deras bagai dicurahkan. Tiba-tiba terdengar ketukan di gerbang kota, dan raja tua pergi membukanya.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
Ternyata seorang putri berdiri di luar gerbang. Tetapi, ya ampun! seperti apa rupanya setelah diterpa hujan dan angin. Air mengalir dari rambut dan pakaiannya; mengalir turun ke ujung sepatunya dan keluar lagi dari tumitnya. Namun ia tetap mengatakan bahwa ia adalah putri sejati.
"Well, we'll soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
"Baiklah, kita akan segera tahu," pikir sang ratu tua. Tetapi ia tidak berkata apa-apa, masuk ke kamar tidur, mengangkat semua alas dari ranjang, dan meletakkan sebutir kacang polong di dasar ranjang; lalu ia mengambil dua puluh kasur dan menumpuknya di atas kacang polong itu, kemudian dua puluh selimut bulu angsa di atas tumpukan kasur itu.
On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
Di atas ranjang itulah sang putri harus tidur semalaman. Pagi harinya ia ditanya bagaimana ia tidur.
"Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"
"Oh, sangat buruk!" katanya. "Aku hampir tidak bisa memejamkan mata semalaman. Entah apa yang ada di ranjang itu, tetapi aku merasa berbaring di atas sesuatu yang keras, sampai-sampai seluruh tubuhku memar. Sungguh mengerikan!"
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.
Kini mereka tahu bahwa ia adalah putri sejati karena ia bisa merasakan kacang polong itu menembus dua puluh kasur dan dua puluh selimut bulu angsa.
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
Tak ada yang bisa sepeka itu selain putri sejati.
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
Maka sang pangeran pun menjadikannya istrinya, karena kini ia tahu bahwa ia telah mendapatkan putri sejati; dan kacang polong itu disimpan di museum, di mana ia masih bisa dilihat, jika belum ada yang mencurinya.
There, that is a true story.
Nah, itulah kisah nyata.