"The Princess and the Pea" (Danish: "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. The tale was first published with three others by Andersen in an inexpensive booklet on 8 May 1835 in Copenhagen by C. A. Reitzel. The tale is classified in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index as ATU 704, "The Princess and the Pea".