The princess and the pea A fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
“Well, we’ll soon find that out,” thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
On this the princess had to lie all night.
In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
“Oh, very badly!” said she. “I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible!”
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds. Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
It is almost four years ago since i sold my house. I spend the first two years still living in my old place, paying 500 euros rent a month. Almost two years ago i moved out. I put my furniture, the pieces i wanted to keep, in a storage company. Since then i moved out and about. First four months with a friend. Then a couple of months at someone who i found through airbnb. Then one after another for a month or less. Then i stayed with Erik. Very enjoyable. Two months at another place in the center of town, than back to Erik. And now i stay here in this small apartment in the west side of town, until half of April. I moved in here 6 October.
I’m up and down, yes. Mostly up. Faithful in who i am. I am not letting the people who don’t trust me and my place in this world get to me. No way sir!
A few years ago i sat with some friends at the Eekhoorn (‘squirrel’) in the Kralingse Bos. We talked about things going wrong in the world. Someone said it was the high worldwide population which was the biggest problem. No i said, surely not.
We need to look hard at how we live right now: the amount of energy we use, the pollution we cause, the diversity loss. The huge amount of people who live on this planet.
In the past two hundred years the human population rose from 1 billion to currently 7,9 billion people. Global population growth had its peak in 1962 and 1963 with an annual growth rate of 2.2%. Since then, world population growth has halved.
I am not sure i was right when i denied that the huge population rise over the last hundred years has contributed to our current climate problems. In part sure, it is a factor. But it is also a fact that the world richest 10% produce half of the carbon emissions. The poorest half – 3,5 billion people – are responsible for a mere 10%. Lifestyle factors like use of energy and carbon freeing activities like flying and driving a car are more important than the actual world population.
Personally i’m still convinced that our lifestyle is the most important factor in our current troubles. The amounts of stuff we buy, the amount of miles we drive, the amount of kilometers we fly, the amount of clothes we buy and throw away. The industry is one of the most important contributors to carbon dioxide emission.
This subject is complicated. I am no way an expert. I almost loose myself in all the data i look up. I hope one day i can say it in easy language.
It doesn’t stop. The virus keeps on mutating. The current mutation omicron, initially named B.1.1.529, is starting its spread around the world. It is already found in Belgium, Botswana, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In the Netherlands 13 cases are found this Sunday 28 November, who arrived from South-Africa last Friday.
I do feel the circle around me getting tighter. Three people who i occasionally see on the harvest market, had corona in the past two weeks. My life is quiet, so i’m not that obvious a victim for corona, but it does seem to be getting more and more infectious. Simply said, i don’t know. But i am not that worried about getting the disease. And if i do, i hope it won’t get too serious. My vaccinations should help me with that, hopefully.
And how do i feel now? I’m a bit down and then up again. A bit worried about myself mostly. And then i feel like i should be able to do something. Do something. What? Well, i’m still not burned up. I still have a bit of hope.
