Being Queen is a big job. It takes all your time and all your energy. The Queen in this story had devoted her whole life to being Queen and was the greatest Queen her people had ever known.
But, one morning, she looked in the mirror and saw she was not as young as she used to be.
“I’m getting old Croak,” she said to her best friend and trusty advisor, who happened to be a frog.
“Nonsense!” Croak, the frog, croaked. “You’re as young and fresh as a lily pad.” But then he took another look with his big googly-eyes. “But, perhaps it would be wise to think about slowing down and passing your duties on to an heir.”
Unfortunately, the Queen had spent all her life being Queen. She hadn’t married or had children and so, she had no one to pass her throne on to.
“What will I do, Croak? How will I find an heir?”
Croak thought about this for a moment, then smiled a big, froggy smile. “I know,” he ribbitted. “We will make an advert.”
Croak designed an advert to send out across the Kingdom.
Princess Wanted. It read.
Must be intelligent, elegant and a good leader.
Non-princesses need not apply.
The Queen looked at the advert. “Must our new Queen be a princess?”
Croak frowned. “You cannot be Queen unless you are a princess, your majesty,” he said. “It’s the rules.”
Off he hopped to post the advert.
Within hours of the advert going out, Princesses started arriving at the Palace. Each Princess had their own talents. There was one who rode elephants, one who flew planes. One who made clothes, one who fixed brains. One who knew science, one who raced cars. One who painted pictures, one who chased stars.
The Queen was very impressed. But which would make the best Queen?
Croak arrived with a huge scroll filled with writing. “Fear not, your majesty,” he said. “I have a checklist.”
It was a very, very long list.
At the top it said: A Queen Must... Then underneath was written everything a Queen needed to be or do. At the very top, number one on the list was: Be A Princess. Then there were reams and reams of things she should be able to do like, ride a horse, drink tea, converse with strangers, climb a tree, play music, speak a language, build cities, make a sandwich.
“Does a Queen really need to be able to do all these things?” She was sure she couldn’t do everything on the list.
Croak puffed out his chin and read. “A Queen must be... kind and pleasant, thoughtful and present,” he said, in a very important sounding voice. “She should listen and learn and understand and discern. She should be accepting and loving and beyond reproach. And above all else, she must be easy to approach.”
The Queen had to admit, a Queen that was all those things would make a very fine Queen indeed. But still, it seemed like rather a lot for one person.
“Allow me to interview the candidates, Your Highness,” Croak said. “I will send you only the Princesses that fulfil our list.”
The Queen looked at the long line of Princesses waiting to meet her. She supposed they had to narrow it down somehow.
“Very well,” she said to Croak, “But do try to look beyond your list, find a Princess that has a good heart above all things.”
Croak puffed out his chin, “A good heart is number three on the list, Your Highness.” Then he hopped off to question the Princesses. It took Croak an awfully long time to ask each Princess his questions. After three days he had finally found three princesses that could put ticks next to most of the items on the list.
At least they said they could.
The Queen decided to have dinner with each Princess, to see if they would make a good Queen.
The first princess had a few requirements:
“I cannot have meat, or bread, or rice… Or water, or milk, or juice or spice. My sheets must be silk and changed at least twice. And make sure I’m given rooms that are nice.”
The Queen decided the first princess was too fussy to be a queen.
The second princess wasn’t fussy at all, she ate everything she was given.
“Gulp, guzzle, yum, yum, slurp. Gobble, dribble, suck, swig, burp. Munch, crunch, chew, chomp, gnaw. Food is scrummy. Give me more!” she cried.
The Queen decided the second princess was too greedy to be a queen.
The third princess wasn’t greedy, but she didn’t seem to like anything.
“Only thirty rooms, you say? This palace is quite out the way. I’ll eat my own food, if I may. Oh. I couldn’t stay here for more than a day,” she declared.
The Queen decided the third princess was too rude to be a queen.
“Who’s next?” she asked Croak.
Croak gulped. He’d sent all the other princesses home. What was he going to do?
Suddenly, there was a knock at the palace door. Outside, the rain was falling heavy. When Croak opened the door, he found a rain-drenched, young girl standing on the doorstep.
“Ah! Excellent,” he said, relieved to find another princess. Then he looked her up and down. She was a bit wet and messy to meet the Queen. “Quick, have a bath and I’ll get you some clothes.”
The girl was surprised to meet a talking frog but far too polite to say so.
“You are so very kind,” she said, when Croak brought her a beautiful gown after her bath. “This is gorgeous,” she smoothed the fine material against her skin.
Croak croaked. “Not as gorgeous as you are in it.” It was true. The girl looked as elegant as the Queen herself had when she had worn the same dress.
“OK,” Croak took out his list. “Can you dance a waltz? Tame a wolf? Are you gracious and humble and never false?”
The girl blinked. “I er…”
Croak threw the list away. The Queen was waiting. “Never mind,” he said. “Come with me.” He led the girl into the dining room.
The Queen was impressed with this fourth Princess. She ate politely and only took what was put in front of her. She didn’t fuss or say anything rude. She was intelligent and thoughtful and when the Queen asked her what was the most important quality in a Queen, the girl thought for a moment, then said, “She should be able to listen to others and act with kindness.”
The Queen nodded. That was exactly what she thought.
Croak grinned. Thank goodness this Princess had come along when she had.
“Tell us,” Croak jumped in. “What makes you want to be Queen?”
The girl blinked. “Queen? Me?” Then she giggled nervously. “I don’t think I could be Queen even if I wanted. I’m not a princess.”
Croak croaked. “You’re not a Princess?” He pulled out the advert. “But I specifically wrote - non princesses need not apply.”
The girl looked at the advert. “I’m not here for a job. I was on my way to the City and got lost in the storm. I came across the castle. You’ve been very kind to look after me.”
The Queen laughed. Croak ribbitted with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness. This is just an... ordinary girl.”
The Queen shook her head. “This girl is far from ordinary, Croak. She is the most suitable girl we’ve met so far.”
Croak agreed but she wasn’t a princess. “Are you sure you’re not a princess?”
The girl shrugged. “Sorry. My parents own a farm. Or they did… before they died.”
The Queen was sorry to hear the girl’s parents had died. “You must stay here with us tonight,” she said. “We can sort all this out in the morning.”
The girl agreed. She had nowhere else to go.
“Croak will organise a bed for you,” the Queen said.
Croak let out a little ribbit as he hopped off to sort out the girl’s bed. If only there was some way around the rule, he thought. Then he hopped past the library… Croak croaked. “I wonder,” he said to himself and hopped over to the shelves. He jumped and leapt and bounced around the bookshelves until he found what he was looking for: A book entitled 50 Ways To Spot A Princess.
Croak flicked through the pages. “Splendid,” he said and hopped off to the kitchen. He took a pea from the vegetable store then made his way to the guest bedroom.
Croak placed the tiny pea under the mattress of the girl’s bed. Then he went from room to room, collecting every mattress and blanket and pillow he could find. He piled them all on top of each other, on top of the pea. When he was done every bed in the palace was without bedding, all of it was piled on the girl’s bed.
“Sleep well,” Croak said to the girl, showing her to her room.
The girl looked at the bed with a hundred mattresses. It was awfully high. How she was supposed to get all the way up there?
Croak fetched her a ladder.
The girl climbed the ladder. Up and up and up she went, almost to the ceiling. When she was at the top, she burrowed under the covers and tried not to look down. At least it will be nice and comfortable, she thought.
But it wasn’t comfortable at all.
“Oo, ah, ouch,” the girl said as she tossed and turned and tried to get to sleep. She turned this way and that. She fluffed the pillows. She even tried sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed. But no matter what she did, she could not get comfy.
After a sleepless night, the girl climbed back down the ladder.
Croak was waiting for her. “How did you sleep?” he asked.
The girl sighed, “Simply terribly. It felt as though there was a huge rock in the middle of the bed.”
“Ha ha!” Croak cried. “I knew it...” he grinned happily and was just about to tell her what it meant, when the Queen came by.
The Queen hadn’t slept well either. She had been up all night, rewriting the rules.
“It occurred to me last night that I am Queen,” she said. “And I make the rules. The rule that only a princess can become Queen, is a silly rule,” she said to Croak then turned to the girl. “I believe you would make a great Queen. How would you like to be my heir?”
The girl thought about it. She had never imagined becoming a Queen. It was a big job. She wasn’t sure she could do it. But, if the Queen believed in her, then maybe she should believe in herself. “Would you show me how?”
The Queen smiled. Of course she would. “You can move in here and I will teach you everything you need to know.” The Queen looked at Croak. “Unless of course you have any objections, Croak?”
Croak shook his head. The girl would make a perfect Queen, he thought. And, even though she didn’t know it, and even though the Queen had rewritten the rules, Croak knew the girl was a true princess, because only a true princess would have felt that pea under all those mattresses and blankets.
The girl moved into the palace that very day and started learning how to be a Queen. The Queen and the girl became very close, almost like mother and daughter. Then, when she was ready, the girl took over as Queen and the old Queen finally hung up her crown, safe in the knowledge she had found the perfect person to look after her kingdom.
The End
But, one morning, she looked in the mirror and saw she was not as young as she used to be.
“I’m getting old Croak,” she said to her best friend and trusty advisor, who happened to be a frog.
“Nonsense!” Croak, the frog, croaked. “You’re as young and fresh as a lily pad.” But then he took another look with his big googly-eyes. “But, perhaps it would be wise to think about slowing down and passing your duties on to an heir.”
Unfortunately, the Queen had spent all her life being Queen. She hadn’t married or had children and so, she had no one to pass her throne on to.
“What will I do, Croak? How will I find an heir?”
Croak thought about this for a moment, then smiled a big, froggy smile. “I know,” he ribbitted. “We will make an advert.”
Croak designed an advert to send out across the Kingdom.
Princess Wanted. It read.
Must be intelligent, elegant and a good leader.
Non-princesses need not apply.
The Queen looked at the advert. “Must our new Queen be a princess?”
Croak frowned. “You cannot be Queen unless you are a princess, your majesty,” he said. “It’s the rules.”
Off he hopped to post the advert.
Within hours of the advert going out, Princesses started arriving at the Palace. Each Princess had their own talents. There was one who rode elephants, one who flew planes. One who made clothes, one who fixed brains. One who knew science, one who raced cars. One who painted pictures, one who chased stars.
The Queen was very impressed. But which would make the best Queen?
Croak arrived with a huge scroll filled with writing. “Fear not, your majesty,” he said. “I have a checklist.”
It was a very, very long list.
At the top it said: A Queen Must... Then underneath was written everything a Queen needed to be or do. At the very top, number one on the list was: Be A Princess. Then there were reams and reams of things she should be able to do like, ride a horse, drink tea, converse with strangers, climb a tree, play music, speak a language, build cities, make a sandwich.
“Does a Queen really need to be able to do all these things?” She was sure she couldn’t do everything on the list.
Croak puffed out his chin and read. “A Queen must be... kind and pleasant, thoughtful and present,” he said, in a very important sounding voice. “She should listen and learn and understand and discern. She should be accepting and loving and beyond reproach. And above all else, she must be easy to approach.”
The Queen had to admit, a Queen that was all those things would make a very fine Queen indeed. But still, it seemed like rather a lot for one person.
“Allow me to interview the candidates, Your Highness,” Croak said. “I will send you only the Princesses that fulfil our list.”
The Queen looked at the long line of Princesses waiting to meet her. She supposed they had to narrow it down somehow.
“Very well,” she said to Croak, “But do try to look beyond your list, find a Princess that has a good heart above all things.”
Croak puffed out his chin, “A good heart is number three on the list, Your Highness.” Then he hopped off to question the Princesses. It took Croak an awfully long time to ask each Princess his questions. After three days he had finally found three princesses that could put ticks next to most of the items on the list.
At least they said they could.
The Queen decided to have dinner with each Princess, to see if they would make a good Queen.
The first princess had a few requirements:
“I cannot have meat, or bread, or rice… Or water, or milk, or juice or spice. My sheets must be silk and changed at least twice. And make sure I’m given rooms that are nice.”
The Queen decided the first princess was too fussy to be a queen.
The second princess wasn’t fussy at all, she ate everything she was given.
“Gulp, guzzle, yum, yum, slurp. Gobble, dribble, suck, swig, burp. Munch, crunch, chew, chomp, gnaw. Food is scrummy. Give me more!” she cried.
The Queen decided the second princess was too greedy to be a queen.
The third princess wasn’t greedy, but she didn’t seem to like anything.
“Only thirty rooms, you say? This palace is quite out the way. I’ll eat my own food, if I may. Oh. I couldn’t stay here for more than a day,” she declared.
The Queen decided the third princess was too rude to be a queen.
“Who’s next?” she asked Croak.
Croak gulped. He’d sent all the other princesses home. What was he going to do?
Suddenly, there was a knock at the palace door. Outside, the rain was falling heavy. When Croak opened the door, he found a rain-drenched, young girl standing on the doorstep.
“Ah! Excellent,” he said, relieved to find another princess. Then he looked her up and down. She was a bit wet and messy to meet the Queen. “Quick, have a bath and I’ll get you some clothes.”
The girl was surprised to meet a talking frog but far too polite to say so.
“You are so very kind,” she said, when Croak brought her a beautiful gown after her bath. “This is gorgeous,” she smoothed the fine material against her skin.
Croak croaked. “Not as gorgeous as you are in it.” It was true. The girl looked as elegant as the Queen herself had when she had worn the same dress.
“OK,” Croak took out his list. “Can you dance a waltz? Tame a wolf? Are you gracious and humble and never false?”
The girl blinked. “I er…”
Croak threw the list away. The Queen was waiting. “Never mind,” he said. “Come with me.” He led the girl into the dining room.
The Queen was impressed with this fourth Princess. She ate politely and only took what was put in front of her. She didn’t fuss or say anything rude. She was intelligent and thoughtful and when the Queen asked her what was the most important quality in a Queen, the girl thought for a moment, then said, “She should be able to listen to others and act with kindness.”
The Queen nodded. That was exactly what she thought.
Croak grinned. Thank goodness this Princess had come along when she had.
“Tell us,” Croak jumped in. “What makes you want to be Queen?”
The girl blinked. “Queen? Me?” Then she giggled nervously. “I don’t think I could be Queen even if I wanted. I’m not a princess.”
Croak croaked. “You’re not a Princess?” He pulled out the advert. “But I specifically wrote - non princesses need not apply.”
The girl looked at the advert. “I’m not here for a job. I was on my way to the City and got lost in the storm. I came across the castle. You’ve been very kind to look after me.”
The Queen laughed. Croak ribbitted with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness. This is just an... ordinary girl.”
The Queen shook her head. “This girl is far from ordinary, Croak. She is the most suitable girl we’ve met so far.”
Croak agreed but she wasn’t a princess. “Are you sure you’re not a princess?”
The girl shrugged. “Sorry. My parents own a farm. Or they did… before they died.”
The Queen was sorry to hear the girl’s parents had died. “You must stay here with us tonight,” she said. “We can sort all this out in the morning.”
The girl agreed. She had nowhere else to go.
“Croak will organise a bed for you,” the Queen said.
Croak let out a little ribbit as he hopped off to sort out the girl’s bed. If only there was some way around the rule, he thought. Then he hopped past the library… Croak croaked. “I wonder,” he said to himself and hopped over to the shelves. He jumped and leapt and bounced around the bookshelves until he found what he was looking for: A book entitled 50 Ways To Spot A Princess.
Croak flicked through the pages. “Splendid,” he said and hopped off to the kitchen. He took a pea from the vegetable store then made his way to the guest bedroom.
Croak placed the tiny pea under the mattress of the girl’s bed. Then he went from room to room, collecting every mattress and blanket and pillow he could find. He piled them all on top of each other, on top of the pea. When he was done every bed in the palace was without bedding, all of it was piled on the girl’s bed.
“Sleep well,” Croak said to the girl, showing her to her room.
The girl looked at the bed with a hundred mattresses. It was awfully high. How she was supposed to get all the way up there?
Croak fetched her a ladder.
The girl climbed the ladder. Up and up and up she went, almost to the ceiling. When she was at the top, she burrowed under the covers and tried not to look down. At least it will be nice and comfortable, she thought.
But it wasn’t comfortable at all.
“Oo, ah, ouch,” the girl said as she tossed and turned and tried to get to sleep. She turned this way and that. She fluffed the pillows. She even tried sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed. But no matter what she did, she could not get comfy.
After a sleepless night, the girl climbed back down the ladder.
Croak was waiting for her. “How did you sleep?” he asked.
The girl sighed, “Simply terribly. It felt as though there was a huge rock in the middle of the bed.”
“Ha ha!” Croak cried. “I knew it...” he grinned happily and was just about to tell her what it meant, when the Queen came by.
The Queen hadn’t slept well either. She had been up all night, rewriting the rules.
“It occurred to me last night that I am Queen,” she said. “And I make the rules. The rule that only a princess can become Queen, is a silly rule,” she said to Croak then turned to the girl. “I believe you would make a great Queen. How would you like to be my heir?”
The girl thought about it. She had never imagined becoming a Queen. It was a big job. She wasn’t sure she could do it. But, if the Queen believed in her, then maybe she should believe in herself. “Would you show me how?”
The Queen smiled. Of course she would. “You can move in here and I will teach you everything you need to know.” The Queen looked at Croak. “Unless of course you have any objections, Croak?”
Croak shook his head. The girl would make a perfect Queen, he thought. And, even though she didn’t know it, and even though the Queen had rewritten the rules, Croak knew the girl was a true princess, because only a true princess would have felt that pea under all those mattresses and blankets.
The girl moved into the palace that very day and started learning how to be a Queen. The Queen and the girl became very close, almost like mother and daughter. Then, when she was ready, the girl took over as Queen and the old Queen finally hung up her crown, safe in the knowledge she had found the perfect person to look after her kingdom.
The End
The original story is from Hans Christian Andersen, this is my updated version written for open source education for Onebillion.org.
If you are going to republish this version, I would appreciate a link back to this site or credit. Cheers.
If you are going to republish this version, I would appreciate a link back to this site or credit. Cheers.
