Question 3
Read the story below, then answer the question that follows.
The Real Princess - Hans Christian Andersen
There was once a prince who wanted to marry a princess. But she must be a real princess,
mind you. So he traveled all round the world, seeking such a one, but everywhere something
was in the way. Not that there was any lack of princesses, but he could not seem to make out
whether they were real princesses; there was always something not quite satisfactory.
Therefore, home he came again, quite out of spirits, for he wished so much to marry a real
princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on. It thundered and lightened, and the rain poured down;
indeed, it was quite fearful. In the midst of it there came a knock at the town gate, and the old
king went out to open it.
It was a princess who stood outside. But O dear, what a state she was in from the rain and bad
weather! The water dropped from her hair and clothes, it ran in at the tips of her shoes and out
at the heels; yet she insisted she was a real princess.
"Very well," thought the old queen; "that we shall presently see." She said nothing, but went into
the bedchamber and took off all the bedding, then laid a pea on the sacking of the bedstead.
Having done this, she took twenty mattresses and laid them upon the pea and placed twenty
eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
The princess lay upon this bed all the night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
"Oh, most miserably!" she said. "I scarcely closed my eyes the whole night through. I cannot
think what there could have been in the bed. I lay upon something so hard that I am quite black
and blue all over. It is dreadful!"
It was now quite evident that she was a real princess, since through twenty mattresses and
twenty eider-down beds she had felt the pea. None but a real princess could have such delicate
feeling.
So the prince took her for his wife, for he knew that in her he had found a true princess. And
the pea was preserved in the cabinet of curiosities, where it is still to be seen unless someone
has stolen it.
And this, mind you, is a real story.
Question 3
You are teaching a drama class.
You decide to adapt the story into a short play for your students to perform.
Using your knowledge of the elements of a drama, suggest possible props you could use,
costumes you could make for the main characters and how you would create a setting
for the play on the stage. Items from all three areas must be discussed. (10 Marks)
1 Mark for each prop mentioned
1 Mark for each costume mentioned
1 Mark for each setting mentioned