Five Peas from a Pod: A Classic Tale with Important Morals

There were Five Peas in a Pod in the fairy tale story, the life cycle of five peas is shown. Some peas in the pod get tired of remaining inside the pod and want to go out in the world. Two peas have ambitions to achieve some glory and travel the world. There is one pea in the pod, who is not over-ambitious and has no such ambition. The pea is prepared to accept whatever his destiny has written for him. It is this pea who ends up bringing hope and comfort to an ill girl along with her mother. Read the story from the five peas in a pod summary provided here.

Five Peas in a Pod Fairy Tale Story in English 

‘Five Peas from a Pod’ is a short story for kids written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Once upon a time, five peas lived in a pod. Since the peas were green, they thought that the whole world was green. The pods grew after some time and so did the peas. They adjusted themselves to their environment while sitting straight in the row.

The sun shone outside and warmed the pod. The rain made the pod clean and clear. It was very cosy and nice inside the pod. During the daytime, it was bright. During the night, it was dark. With time, the peas became larger and more thoughtful.

One day, one of the peas questioned if he would remain sitting there in the pod for a long time. He thought that there was something outside and he had a strong feeling about it.

After some weeks, the peas matured and became yellow. The pod also became yellow. They thought that the whole world was becoming yellow just like them.

After some time, the peas felt some kind of a jerk at the pod. It was turned off and the pod came into the hands of the human. It was placed in the pocket of a jacket along with the other pods.

"It will be opened up soon", they said. They were waiting for that to happen.

"I want to know who will get the farthest", said the smallest pea. The biggest pea said, "Let whatever happens happen".

The pod burst and opened, all the five peas rolled out into the sunshine. There was a little boy who held the peas and also said that the peas were suitable for the peashooter. Immediately one of the peas was put in and was also shot out.

The pea said, "I am flying into the world! If anyone can catch me, then come forward and catch me". The pea was gone.

The second pea said, "I am going to fly into the sun. It is a perfect pod and it is suited for me". The pea went away.

The other two peas said, "We will go to sleep wherever we will land but we will continue to roll on anyway". The two peas rolled about on the ground before they were put into the shooter. They said, " We will go the farthest".

However, the last pea kept on saying, "Let whatever happens happen". The last pea was shot into the air. The pea flew up against the board under the window where there was soft soil and moss. The moss closed near the pea. The pea lay hidden there but it was not forgotten by the Lord.

The pea still said, "Let whatever happens happen". Inside the garret, there used to live a poor woman. She went out to polish the stoves. She used to do a lot of hard work and used to even chop wood. She was hard-working and had strength but still, she remained poor.

At the poor lady's place, her half-grown daughter used to live. She was very thin and weak. The girl had been bedridden for a whole year. It seemed as if the girl could neither live nor die.

The old lady said, "She will have to go to her little sister. I had two children and it was very difficult for me to take care of both children. The other one is already with the Lord and I want to keep the one remaining with me".

The old lady had two children and one of them died. Her other daughter was also in a serious health condition and the old lady thought that she would also die sometime.

The sick girl stayed and used to lie in her house while her mother went out to earn some money. One morning, it was springtime. The mother set out to go to work. The sun shone very beautifully across the floor through the window of the house. The girl looked over the windowpane that was the lowest.

She said, "What is the green thing which is peeping in the window?.It is moving in the wind". The mother went to the window and opened it. The mother said, "It is a pea that has sprouted with some green leaves". The mother told the sick girl that she now had a small garden to look at through the window.

The bed of the sick girl was moved closer to the window. The sick girl could easily see the pea growing while her mother moved to work.

"I think I will get well", said the same girl to her mother in the evening. The sick girl told her mother that the sun shone brightly in the evening. She told her mother that she would also get up and prosper.

The mother said, "I hope so". The mother knew that this wouldn't happen. The mother was careful to strengthen with a stick the green plant which had given her sick daughter happy thoughts about life. By doing this, the green plant wouldn't be broken by the wind. The old lady tied a string to the sill of the window and also to the upper part of the frame. 

The sick girl could see that the pea was growing. "It has a blossom", said the old lady. The old lady not only had hope but now she also believed that her girl would get well soon. The old lady recalled that the sick girl had been cheerful in the last few days and also got up from the bed all by herself.

The girl looked with sparkling eyes at the pea garden. The sick girl sat for the first time for an hour. The girl sat in the warm sunshine. The window of the house was open and outside there was a pea blossom. The girl kissed the leaves and it was just like a festival day.

The old lady smiled and thought as if the Lord had sent the pea so that her daughter could recover.

The story concludes with a description of the fate of the four peas. The first pea wanted to travel far and the two lazy peas were eaten by pigeons. The fourth pea who wanted to go to the sun landed in a gutter full of dirty water.

The water went inside the pea and made the pea swell up to an enormous size before the pea burst. The gutter maintains that the pea which landed inside the gutter was more glorious than the pea which grew into the pea plant of the sick girl.

Five Peas Talking to each other

Five Peas in a Pod Story Moral for Kids

The five peas from a pod teach the students that they should not be over-ambitious. A person should be content with what he or she has. If a person is overambitious, he or she would have to face the consequences as faced by the four peas in the story. A person should be prepared for his future just like the last pea.