提 要

這個王子與公主的故事，是安徒生（Hans Christian Andersen）的第一部童話《講給孩子們聽的故事集》中的一則小故事。故事中的王子「一定要」匹配「真正的」公主，也許在現今來看有點不切實際，但把「王子與公主」轉換角色為「你」與「理想的伴侶」，那追求夢想的殷切熱情，就沒有時空或地域的差別了。

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.

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.

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.

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.

On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.

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. Its horrible!

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.

Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

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.

There, that is a true story.

翻譯

從前，有王子想娶一位公主，但條件是她必須是一位「真正的公主」。他走遍世界各地，但總是找不到。公主倒是有許多，但就是很難分辨她們是否「以假亂真」，看著這些位公主，總覺得有些地方不對勁。於是，他傷心地回家了，他實在非常希望可以找到一位真正的公主。

有一天晚上，一個可怕的風暴來臨。雷電交加、大雨傾注。突然，在城門口聽到敲門聲，年老的國王前去開門。

一位公主站在門前，但是，天哪！那是什麼景象，風雨交加幫她「造型」。雨水從她的頭髮和衣服不斷奔流，進到她的鞋子、淹過腳趾再從腳踝跑出來。然而她說，她是一位「真正的公主」。

好啊，我們很快就會「見真章」，年老的皇后想，但她什麼也沒說，走進了臥室，把所有的被褥搬離床架，在底部放了一顆豌豆，然後拿來二十張床墊，蓋在那豌豆上，然後再蓋二十床羽絨被在床墊上。

這位公主不得不在這四十層上躺了一夜，隔天早晨大家問她：「昨晚睡得如何？」

「哦，非常難受！」她說，「我整夜幾乎沒有閉眼，只有老天爺知道，我躺在有硬東西的床上，所以我的身體青一塊紫一塊的，這太糟糕了！」

現在他們知道，她是一位真正的公主，因為嬌生慣養的她，可以透過二十張床墊、二十床羽絨被，感覺到豌豆的存在。

只有「真正的公主」才可能這麼敏感。

王子於是選她當妻子，因為現在他知道，他娶了一位「真正的公主」。這顆關鍵的豌豆被送進博物館，如果沒有被偷，現在仍然可以看得到。

這，可是一個真實的故事喔。