a
reference to The Princess and the Pea, a well-known story by Danish author Hans
Christian Andersen (1805-1875). The Princess and the Pea tells of a prince who insists on marrying a real princess. Upon failing in his quest to find one, he
returns home. During a storm, a
girl appears at his door claiming to be a real princess. The prince's
mother puts the
girl to the test by burying a pea under a large
stack of mattresses (the amount of peas and mattresses varying with
different versions of the story). The
theory being a true princess will be so
delicate the tiny lump under the mattress will keep her from sleeping. If she cannot
fall asleep, she passes the test. The
girl goes to
bed and when asked the
following morning how she slept the
girl confesses she
hardly slept at all due to the lump in her
bed. She thus passes the test and marries the prince.