“Donkey Skin.” The Grey Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1905, pp. 1-16.

Tale Summary

The King has a donkey that at night pours gold out of its ears. Before the Queen dies, she says that the king should remarry a woman more beautiful than she is. The King wants to marry his adopted daughter, but she doesn’t want to. So she runs away to consult her fairy godmother. The fairy godmother said that the daughter must ask for a dress that is the color of the sky. The king gets it done. She goes back to the fairy godmother. The fairy godmother said that the daughter must ask for a dress of moonbeams. The King gets it done. She goes back to the fairy godmother. The fairy godmother said that the daughter must ask for a dress of sunshine. The King gets it done. She goes back to the fairy godmother. The fairy godmother said that the daughter must ask for the skin of the donkey that pours gold out of its ears. He does it in an instant and lays it at her feet. Quickly she leaves the castle in the skin of the ass. The king soon realizes this and sends out search parties without success. The girl is hiding at a nearby farm. It is a royal farm, she is renamed “donkey skin” and begins to work there. While she was dressing up in secret for a holiday, the king’s son stopped by and took a peek through the keyhole and sees a gorgeous girl. The king’s son leaves and sleeps with a vision of the girl (the princess) and awakes up with a fever. The king’s son requests a cake made by the donkey skin girl to cure his fever. She makes the cake, and a ring from her hand falls into the cake. The prince eats the cake and secretly finds the ring and tells no-one about it. The prince wishes to marry the woman whose finger fits the ring. They find her at the farm and her hand fits the ring, magically the donkey skin falls off. They live happily ever after.