Donkey Skin
There was once upon a time a king who was so much beloved by
his subjects that he thought himself the happiest monarch in the whole world,
and he had everything his heart could desire. His palace was filled with the
rarest of curiosities, and his gardens with the sweetest flowers, while in the
marble stalls of his stables stood a row of milk-white Arabs, with big brown
eyes.
Strangers who had heard of the marvels which the king had
collected, and made long journeys to see them, were, however, surprised to find
the most splendid stall of all occupied by a donkey, with particularly large
and drooping ears. It was a very fine donkey; but still, as far as they could
tell, nothing so very remarkable as to account for the care with which it was
lodged; and they went away wondering, for they could not know that every night,
when it was asleep, bushels of gold pieces tumbled out of its ears, which were
picked up each morning by the attendants.
After many years of prosperity a sudden blow fell upon the
king in the death of his wife, whom he loved dearly. But before she died, the
queen, who had always thought first of his happiness, gathered all her
strength, and said to him:
'Promise me one thing: you must marry again, I know, for the
good of your people, as well as of yourself. But do not set about it in a
hurry. Wait until you have found a woman more beautiful and better formed than
myself.'
'Oh, do not speak to me of marrying,' sobbed the king;
'rather let me die with you!' But the queen only smiled faintly, and turned
over on her pillow and died.
For some months the king's grief was great; then gradually he
began to forget a little, and, besides, his counsellors were always urging him
to seek another wife. At first he refused to listen to them, but by-and-by he
allowed himself to be persuaded to think of it, only stipulating that the bride
should be more beautiful and attractive than the late queen, according to the
promise he had made her.
Overjoyed at having obtained what they wanted, the counsellors
sent envoys far and wide to get portraits of all the most famous beauties of
every country. The artists were very busy and did their best, but, alas! nobody
could even pretend that any of the ladies could compare for a moment with the
late queen.
At length, one day, when he had turned away discouraged from
a fresh collection of pictures, the king's eyes fell on his adopted daughter,
who had lived in the palace since she was a baby, and he saw that, if a woman
existed on the whole earth more lovely than the queen, this was she! He at once
made known what his wishes were, but the young girl, who was not at all
ambitious, and had not the faintest desire to marry him, was filled with
dismay, and begged for time to think about it. That night, when everyone was
asleep, she started in a little car drawn by a big sheep, and went to consult
her fairy godmother.
'I know what you have come to tell me,' said the fairy, when
the maiden stepped out of the car; 'and if you don't wish to marry him, I will
show you how to avoid it. Ask him to give you a dress that exactly matches the
sky. It will be impossible for him to get one, so you will be quite safe.' The
girl thanked the fairy and returned home again.
The next morning, when her father (as she had always called
him) came to see her, she told him that she could give him no answer until he
had presented her with a dress the colour of the sky. The king, overjoyed at
this answer, sent for all the choicest weavers and dressmakers in the kingdom,
and commanded them to make a robe the colour of the sky without an instant's
delay, or he would cut off their heads at once. Dreadfully frightened at this
threat, they all began to dye and cut and sew, and in two days they brought
back the dress, which looked as if it had been cut straight out of the heavens!
The poor girl was thunderstruck, and did not know what to do; so in the night
she harnessed her sheep again, and went in search of her godmother.
'The king is cleverer than I thought,' said the fairy; 'but
tell him you must have a dress of moonbeams.'
And the next day, when the king summoned her into his
presence, the girl told him what she wanted.
'Madam, I can refuse you nothing,' said he; and he ordered
the dress to be ready in twenty-four hours, or every man should be hanged.
They set to work with all their might, and by dawn next day,
the dress of moonbeams was laid across her bed. The girl, though she could not
help admiring its beauty, began to cry, till the fairy, who heard her, came to her
help.
'Well, I could not have believed it of him!' said she; 'but
ask for a dress of sunshine, and I shall be surprised indeed if he manages
that! '
The goddaughter did not feel much faith in the fairy after
her two previous failures; but not knowing what else to do, she told her father
what she was bid.
The king made no difficulties about it, and even gave his
finest rubies and diamonds to ornament the dress, which was so dazzling, when
finished, that it could not be looked at save through smoked glasses!
When the princess saw it, she pretended that the sight hurt
her eyes, and retired to her room, where she found the fairy awaiting her, very
much ashamed of herself.
'There is only one thing to be done now,' cried she; 'you
must demand the skin of the ass he sets such store by. It is from that donkey
he obtains all his vast riches, and I am sure he will never give it to you.'
The princess was not so certain; however, she went to the
king, and told him she could never marry him till he had given her the ass's
skin.
The king was both astonished and grieved at this new request,
but did not hesitate an instant. The ass was sacrificed, and the skin laid at
the feet of the princess.
The poor girl, seeing no escape from the fate she dreaded,
wept afresh, and tore her hair; when, suddenly, the fairy stood before her.
'Take heart,' she said, ' all will now go well! Wrap yourself
in this skin, and leave the palace and go as far as you can. I will look after
you. Your dresses and your jewels shall follow you underground, and if you
strike the earth whenever you need anything, you will have it at once. But go
quickly: you have no time to lose.'
So the princess clothed herself in the ass's skin, and
slipped from the palace without being seen by anyone.
Directly she was missed there was a great hue and cry, and
every corner, possible and impossible, was searched. Then the king sent out
parties along all the roads, but the fairy threw her invisible mantle over the
girl when they approached, and none of them could see her.
The princess walked on a long, long way, trying to find some
one who would take her in, and let her work for them; but though the cottagers,
whose houses she passed, gave her food from charity, the ass's skin was so
dirty they would not allow her to enter their houses. For her flight had been
so hurried she had had no time to clean it.
Tired and disheartened at her ill-fortune, she was wandering,
one day, past the gate of a farmyard, situated just outside the walls of a
large town, when she heard a voice calling to her. She turned and saw the
farmer's wife standing among her turkeys, and making signs to her to come in.
'I want a girl to wash the dishes and feed the turkeys, and
clean out the pig-sty,' said the w omen, 'and, to judge by your dirty clothes,
you would not be too fine for the work.'
The girl accepted her offer with joy, and she was at once set
to work in a corner of the kitchen, where all the farm servants came and made
fun of her, and the ass's skin in which she was wrapped. But by-and-by they got
so used to the sight of it that it ceased to amuse them, and she worked so hard
and so well, that her mistress grew quite fond of her. And she was so clever at
keeping sheep and herding turkeys that you would have thought she had done
nothing else during her whole life!
One day she was sitting on the banks of a stream bewailing
her wretched lot, when she suddenly caught sight of herself in the water. Her
hair and part of her face was quite concealed by the ass's head, which was
drawn right over like a hood, and the filthy matted skin covered her whole
body. It was the first time she had seen herself as other people saw her, and
she was filled with shame at the spectacle. Then she threw off her disguise and
jumped into the water, plunging in again and again, till she shone like ivory.
When it was time to go back to the farm, she was forced to put on the skin
which disguised her, and now seemed more dirty than ever; but, as she did so,
she comforted herself with the thought that to-morrow was a holiday, and that
she would be able for a few hours to forget that she was a farm girl, and be a
princess once more.
So, at break of day, she stamped on the ground, as the fairy
had told her, and instantly the dress like the sky lay across her tiny bed. Her
room was so small that there was no place for the train of her dress to spread
itself out, but she pinned it up carefully when she combed her beautiful hair
and piled it up on the top of her head, as she had always worn it. When she had
done, she was so pleased with herself that she determined never to let a chance
pass of putting on her splendid clothes, even if she had to wear them in the
fields, with no one to admire her but the sheep and turkeys.
Now the farm was a royal farm, and, one holiday, when 'Donkey
Skin' (as they had nicknamed the princess) had locked the door of her room and
clothed herself in her dress of sunshine, the king's son rode through the gate,
and asked if he might come and rest himself a little after hunting. Some food
and milk were set before him in the garden, and when he felt rested he got up,
and began to explore the house, which was famous throughout the whole kingdom
for its age and beauty. He opened one door after the other, admiring the old
rooms, when he came to a handle that would not turn. He stooped and peeped
through the keyhole to see what was inside, and was greatly astonished at
beholding a beautiful girl, clad in a dress so dazzling that he could hardly
look at it.
The dark gallery seemed darker than ever as he turned away,
but he went back to the kitchen and inquired who slept in the room at the end
of the passage. The scullery maid, they told him, whom everybody laughed at,
and called ' Donkey Skin;' and though he perceived there was some strange
mystery about this, he saw quite clearly there was nothing to be gained by
asking any more questions. So he rode back to the palace, his head filled with
the vision he had seen through the keyhole.
All night long he tossed about, and awoke the next morning in
a high fever. The queen, who had no other child, and lived in a state of
perpetual anxiety about this one, at once gave him up for lost, and indeed his
sudden illness puzzled the greatest doctors, who tried the usual remedies in
vain. At last they told the queen that some secret sorrow must be at the bottom
of all this, and she threw herself on her knees beside her son's bed, and
implored him to confide his trouble to her. If it was ambition to be king, his
father would gladly resign the cares of the crown, and suffer him to reign in his
stead; or, if it was love, everything should be sacrificed to get for him the
wife he desired, even if she were daughter of a king with whom the country was
at war at present!
'Madam,' replied the prince, whose weakness would hardly
allow him to speak, 'do not think me so unnatural as to wish to deprive my
father of his crown. As long as he lives I shall remain the most faithful of
his subjects! And as to the princesses you speak of, I have seen none that I
should care for as a wife, though I would always obey your wishes, whatever it
might cost me.'
'Ah! my son,' cried she, 'we will do anything in the world to
save your life ----and ours too, for if you die, we shall die also.'
'Well, then,' replied the prince, 'I will tell you the only thing
that will cure me ---a cake made by the hand of "Donkey Skin." '
'Donkey Skin?' exclaimed the queen, who thought her son had
gone mad; 'and who or what is that?'
'Madam,' answered one of the attendants present, who had been
with the prince at the farm, "'Donkey Skin" is, next to the wolf, the
most disgusting creature on the face of the earth. She is a girl who wears a
black, greasy skin, and lives at your farmer's as hen-wife.'
'Never mind,' said the queen; 'my son seems to have eaten
some of her pastry. It is the whim of a sick man, no doubt; but send at once
and let her bake a cake.'
The attendant bowed and ordered a page to ride with the
message.
Now it is by no means certain that 'Donkey Skin' had not
caught a glimpse of the prince, either when his eyes looked through the
keyhole, or else from her little window, which was over the road. But whether
she had actually seen him or only heard him spoken of, directly she received
the queen's command, she flung off the dirty skin, washed herself from head to
foot, and put on a skirt and bodice of shining silver. Then, locking herself
into her room, she took the richest cream, the finest flour, and the freshest
eggs on the farm, and set about making her cake.
As she was stirring the mixture in the saucepan a ring that
she sometimes wore in secret slipped from her finger and fell into the dough.
Perhaps 'Donkey Skin' saw it, or perhaps she did not; but, any way, she went on
stirring, and soon the cake was ready to be put in the oven. When it was nice
and brown she took off her dress and put on her dirty skin, and gave the cake
to the page, asking at the same time for news of the prince. But the page
turned his head aside, and would not even condescend to answer.
The page rode like the wind, and as soon as he arrived at the
palace he snatched up a silver tray and hastened to present the cake to the
prince. The sick man began to eat it so fast that the doctors thought he would
choke; and, indeed, he very nearly did, for the ring was in one of the bits
which he broke off, though he managed to extract it from his mouth without
anyone seeing him.
The moment the prince was left alone he drew the ring from
under his pillow and kissed it a thousand times. Then he set his mind to find how
he was to see the owner---for even he did not dare to confess that he had only
beheld 'Donkey Skin' through a keyhole, lest they should laugh at this sudden
passion. All this worry brought back the fever, which the arrival of the cake
had diminished for the time; and the doctors, not knowing what else to say,
informed the queen that her son was simply dying of love. The queen, stricken
with horror, rushed into the king's presence with the news, and together they
hastened to their son's bedside.
'My boy, my dear boy!' cried the king, 'who is it you want to
marry? We will give her to you for a bride; even if she is the humblest of our
slaves. What is there in the whole world that we would not do for you?'
The prince, moved to tears at these words, drew the ring,
which was an emerald of the purest water, from under his pillow.
'Ah, dear father and mother, let this be a proof that she
whom I love is no peasant girl. The finger which that ring fits has never been
thickened by hard work. But be her condition what it may, I will marry no
other.'
The king and queen examined the tiny ring very closely, and
agreed, with their son, that the wearer could be no mere farm girl. Then the
king went out and ordered heralds and trumpeters to go through the town,
summoning every maiden to the palace. And she whom the ring fitted would some
day be queen.
First came all the princesses, then all the duchesses'
daughters, and so on, in proper order. But not one of them could slip the ring
over the tip of her finger, to the great joy of the prince, whom excitement was
fast curing. At last, when the high-born damsels had failed, the shopgirls and
chambermaids took their turn; but with no better fortune.
'Call in the scullions and shepherdesses,' commanded the
prince; but the sight of their fat, red fingers satisfied everybody.
'There is not a woman left, your Highness,' said the
chamberlain; but the prince waved him aside.
'Have you sent for "Donkey Skin," who made me the
cake?' asked he, and the courtiers began to laugh, and replied that they would
not have dared to introduce so dirty a creature into the palace.
'Let some one go for her at once,' ordered the king. ' I
commanded the presence of every maiden, high or low, and I meant it.'
The princess had heard the trumpets and the proclamations,
and knew quite well that her ring was at the bottom of it all. She, too, had
fallen in love with the prince in the brief glimpse she had had of him, and
trembled with fear lest someone else's finger might be as small as her own.
When, therefore, the messenger from the palace rode up to the gate, she was
nearly beside herself with delight. Hoping all the time for such a summons, she
had dressed herself with great care, putting on the garment of moonlight, whose
skirt was scattered over with emeralds. But when they began calling to her to
come down, she hastily covered herself with her donkey-skin and announced she
was ready to present herself before his Highness. She was taken straight into
the hall, where the prince was awaiting her, but at the sight of the
donkey-skin his heart sank. Had he been mistaken after all?
'Are you the girl,' he said, turning his eyes away as he
spoke, 'are you the girl who has a room in the furthest corner of the inner court
of the farmhouse?'
'Yes, my lord, I am,' answered she.
'Hold out your hand then,' continued the prince, feeling that
he must keep his word, whatever the cost, and, to the astonishment of every one
present, a little hand, white and delicate, came from beneath the black and
dirty skin. The ring slipped on with the utmost ease, and, as it did so, the
skin fell to the ground, disclosing a figure of such beauty that the prince,
weak as he was, fell on his knees before her, while the king and queen joined
their prayers to his. Indeed, their welcome was so warm, and their caresses so
bewildering, that the princess hardly knew how to find words to reply, when the
ceiling of the hall opened, and the fairy godmother appeared, seated in a car
made entirely of white lilac. In a few words she explained the history of the
princess, and how she came to be there, and, without losing a moment,
preparations of the most magnificent kind were made for the wedding.
The kings of every country in the earth were invited,
including, of course, the princess's adopted father (who by this time had
married a widow), and not one refused.
But what a strange assembly it was! Each monarch travelled in
the way he thought most impressive; and some came borne in litters, others had
carriages of every shape and kind, while the rest were mounted on elephants,
tigers, and even upon eagles. So splendid a wedding had never been seen before;
and when it was over the king announced that it was to be followed by a
coronation, for he and the queen were tired of reigning, and the young couple
must take their place. The rejoicings lasted for three whole months, then the
new sovereigns settled down to govern their kingdom, and made themselves so
much beloved by their subjects, that when they died, a hundred years later,
each man mourned them as his own father and mother.
[From le Cabinet de Fees.]
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