Once upon a time, a wicked King invaded a land and captured its Queen and her baby daughter. He imprisoned them in the highest room of a tall tower. The room was bare, with only a table and a hard bed. The cruel jailer gave them only three boiled peas and a morsel of black bread each day, leaving them always hungry.
One evening, a tiny, pretty mouse crept into the room. The Queen, despite her own hunger, shared her last pea with the mouse, praising its delightful dancing. In return, a feast miraculously appeared on the table. From then on, whenever the Queen gave her meager rations to the mouse, they were replaced with delicious food.
Tormented by the thought of her daughter being forced to marry the wicked King's horrid son, the Queen longed to escape. She began weaving a basket from straws, which the helpful mouse tirelessly gathered. When the basket was finished, an old woman appeared below the tower, offering to help save the baby—but demanded the mouse in return.
The Queen refused, crying, "I cannot bear to think of its being killed." The old woman left in a rage, calling the Queen a fool for valuing a mouse over her own child.
That night, as the heartbroken Queen prepared to lower her sleeping baby in the basket, the mouse sprang in. To the Queen's astonishment, the mouse spoke, transformed, and revealed herself as the Fairy who had visited long ago.
The Fairy explained, "I wanted to see if you were capable of true friendship before I helped you. When you protected the mouse, knowing you would gain nothing, you passed my test." With three kisses for the baby, the Fairy then whisked the Queen and her daughter away to a safe, enchanted cottage, far from the wicked kingdom, where they lived happily ever after.