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Tale Summary

Once upon a time there was a beloved king who had everything his heart could desire, including an ordinary looking donkey which produced bushels of gold pieces from its ears every night. After many years of prosperity, the king suffered the loss of his wife, who begged him before her death that he must marry again, but that he must find a woman more beautiful and better than herself. For some time his counselors sent out requests for portraits of the most beautiful girls in the land, but none were better than the late Queen. One day the king's eyes fell on his adopted daughter and saw that she was more lovely than his late wife and announced his intention to marry her. Not wanting this, the girl went to consult her fairy godmother, who instructed her to ask the king to give her a dress that exactly matched the sky, and she would be quite safe because it was an impossible task. The next morning her father the king begged for her consent, and she replied that she would give him an answer if he presented her with a dress like the fairy had described. She was shocked when he was able to provide this, and so visited her fairy godmother again and was advised to ask for a dress of moonbeams. The next day, she told her father the king what she desired, and the day after, such a dress was laid across her bed, so the fairy godmother instructed her to ask for a dress of sunshine. The king had no difficulties in forcing his tailors to produce this, and the ashamed fairy thought of one other way to save her. At her instruction, the girl requested the skin of the prized donkey, but when it was laid at her feet she grieved her fate. The fairy told her to wrap herself in its skin and run from the palace, assuring her that her dresses and jewels would come to her if she struck the earth wherever she was. The princess traveled for some time unable to find charity, until a farmer’s wife invited her to work, and although the other servants teased her for her donkey skin and dirty appearance, the mistress grew fond of her for working so hard. One day, the girl went to a stream to bewail her fate, and for the first time caught sight of herself so dirty. She dove into the water and bathed but soon had to return to her farm work, so she donned her disguise and took heart in knowing that the next day was a holiday. The next morning the girl stamped the ground and instantly the dress like the sky appeared and she resolved to never miss a chance to wear her beautiful garments even if there was no one to admire her beauty. One holiday the princess had locked herself in her room to wear her dress of sunshine, and the king’s son arrived at the gate to seek some rest from hunting. He explored all the rooms, and when he came upon the locked door he peeped through the keyhole to see an astonishingly beautiful girl. He was told that the room he peered into was the home of the wretched and ugly Donkey Girl, and during his entire ride home he had visions of her beauty. He awoke the next morning in a high fever which no one could cure, and the queen perceived it must be from some sorrow and so implored her son to confide in her. He told her the only thing which would cure him would be a cake made by Donkey Skin, who was explained to the queen by a courtier as a dirty henwife. When she received the request, the girl put on fine clothes and set to making the cake, but lost a ring in the dough. When it was ready, she again put on her disguise to give the dessert to the page, who then gave it to the prince. It provided him relief from his illness and the ring he found gave him joy, but he still worried about how he could see its owner. His fever returned and the doctors informed the queen that he was dying of love, and so immediately she and her husband went to his bedside to promise him whoever he wanted as a wife. He presented the ring to them, proof that the one he loved was no peasant girl. Heralds and trumpeters went through the town to summon every maiden to the palace to see which finger the ring fit. All the nobility failed, then the shopgirls failed, and all the scullions and shepherdesses could not fit it on their fingers either. When there was no woman left, the prince asked for Donkey Skin, whom the courtiers denied from entering the palace because she was too dirty a creature. The trumpeters went to beckon her, and as she had also fallen in love with the prince, she clothed herself in the dress of moonlight with the donkey skin wrapped all around her. The prince was disappointed to see her apparent filth, but was astonished that the ring fit her perfectly. She shed her donkey skin and revealed herself as a beautiful lady. The fairy entered the hall and told the princess’s story and quickly wedding preparations began, with everyone invited. Many showed up in fantastical ways, mounted on elephants and tigers and eagles, and the wonderful wedding was followed by a coronation as the old king and queen were tired of reigning. There was rejoicing for three months, and the new king and queen became much beloved by their subjects.

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