This book contains the following stories:
The Little Mermaid
Deep, deep down in the sea lived the sea king and queen and their brood of mermaid daughters. When each child turned sixteen she was allowed to visit the surface of the sea and look out upon the human world. One by one each girl came of age, but having satisfied their curiosity, each agreed that their sea world was more enchanting than the world above the sea. Until the time came for the youngest princess to visit the seas surface, whereupon she saw a ship filled with beautiful people having a party and gazed upon the most handsome of all, a young prince. The youngest mermaid watched all day but then as evening drew in, a storm erupted tossing the ship this way and that. The handsome young prince was thrown into the sea and would have drowned but for the plucky young mermaid who rescued him. Scared of being discovered, the little mermaid left the unconscious prince on the beach where he was found by a lovely young woman. The prince believed that it was the young woman who had rescued
The Princess and the Pea
A prince travelled the world to find a real princess to be his bride, but none of them would quite do. One night during a massive storm a girl knocked on the door claiming to be a princess from down the road looking for shelter. The queen was sceptical so placed a pea under the mattress of the spare bed. Then she piled more and more mattresses onto the bed so that it was so high the girl needed a ladder to climb into bed. Only a real princess will feel the pea under that many mattresses thought the queen. The next morning the queen asked the girl how she had slept and she complained bitterly about a hard lump in the bed. The queen was delighted and presented the girl to the prince. This is a real princess, she said. The prince was delighted and the two got married and lived happily ever after.
