nd found it too soft; then she tried
the middle-sized bed, which belonged to the Middle-sized Bear, and she
found it too hard; then she tried the smallest bed, which belonged to
the Little Bear, and found it just right, so she lay down upon it, and
fell fast asleep.

While Silver-hair was lying fast asleep, the three bears came home from
their walk. They came into the kitchen, to get their porridge, but when
the Big Bear went to his, he growled out:

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN TASTING MY PORRIDGE!"

and the Middle-sized Bear looked into his bowl, and said:

"Somebody Has Been Tasting My Porridge!"

and the Little Bear piped:

"_Somebody has tasted my porridge and eaten it all up!_"

Then they went into the parlour, and the Big Bear growled:

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"

and the Middle-sized Bear said:

"Somebody Has Been Sitting In My Chair!"

and the Little Bear piped:

"_Somebody has been sitting in my chair, and has broken it all to
pieces!_"

So they went upstairs into the chamber, and the Big Bear growled:

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN TUMBLING MY BED!"

and the Middle-sized Bear said:

"Somebody Has Been Tumbling My Bed!"

and the little Bear piped:

"_Somebody has been tumbling my bed, and here she is!_"

At that, Silver-hair woke in a fright, and jumped out of the window and
ran away as fast as her legs could carry her, and never went near the
Three Bears' snug little house again.

CHAPTER XXI

THE PRINCESS ON THE PEA

There was once a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she was to
be a _real_ princess. So he travelled about, all through the world, to
find a real one, but everywhere there was something in the way. There
were princesses enough, but whether they were _real_ princesses he could
not quite make out: there was always something that did not seem quite
right. So he came home again, and was quite sad: for he wished so much
to have a real princess. One evening a terrible storm came on. It
lightened and thundered, the rain streamed down; it was quite fearful!
Then there was a knocking at the town gate, and the old king went out to
open it.

It was a princess who stood outside the gate. But, mercy! how she
looked, from the rain and the rough weather! The water ran down from her
hair and her clothes; it ran in at the points of her shoes, and out at
the heels; and yet she declared that she was a real princess.

"Yes, we will soon find that out," thought the old queen.