The Donkey (fairy tale)
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"The Ass", "The Donkey", or "The Little Donkey" (german: Das Eselein) is a German fairy tale collected by
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
compiled in the ''
Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publi ...
''.


Tale type

"The Ass", "The Donkey" or "The Little Donkey" (') is cataloged as KHM 144 (since the second edition of the ''
Grimms' Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publi ...
''), in the compilation of the Brothers Grimm. Ashliman, D.L.,
The Little Donkey
This tale was not collected from oral recitation but was reworked by
Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, ...
from the fourteenth-century Latin tale ''Asinarius''. The piece is representative of the Aarne-Thompson tale type 430 "The Ass" (or "The Donkey Bridegroom"), and exhibits the motif D721.3 "Disenchantment by destroying skin (covering)".


Synopsis

A king and queen had everything they wished for but no children. Eventually, the queen gave birth, but to a young donkey. They were disappointed but the king decided to raise the donkey as his son and heir. The donkey requested to learn to play the lute and became an accomplished player. Seeing the reflection of himself in the mirror one day, he became sad and decided to travel outside of the kingdom. He eventually arrived to a kingdom that was ruled by an old king who had a beautiful daughter. When he knocked on the gate the gatekeeper did not give him admittance, but when he played his lute, the gatekeeper ran to the king and told him. Initially mocked by the king's attendance, the donkey insists on being treated as a nobleman and the king lets the donkey sit beside his daughter and he behaves like a gentleman. After many days, the donkey grew sad and the king offered him many things to make him happy, as the king liked him a great deal. The donkey would only accept the king's beautiful daughter as his wife, and they married. After the wedding, the king sent a servant to watch their bedroom to see that the donkey behaved himself. The servant observed the donkey take off his skin and underneath he was a handsome young man. He related this to the king, who observed for himself later and threw the donkey skin away in the night. When the young man awoke, he panicked and decided to run away. On his way out, the king found him and told him to stay and offered to make him his heir. The young man accepted, and when the old king died the next year, he became king and had a glorious life.


Further reading

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See also

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Hans My Hedgehog "Hans My Hedgehog" (german: Hans mein Igel) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 108). The tale was translated as ''Jack My Hedgehog'' by Andrew Lang and published in ''The Green Fairy Book''. It is of Aarne-Thompson typ ...
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The Donkey's Head (Jewish-Tunisian folktale) The Donkey's Head ( French: ''La Tête d'Âne'') is a Jewish-Tunisian folktale collected by author Alice Fermé and published in the French journal ''Revue de Traditions Populaires'', in late-19th century. The tale is related to the international ...
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The Fisher-Girl and the Crab The Fisher-Girl and the Crab is an Indian fairy tale collected by Verrier Elwin in ''Folk-Tales of Mahakoshal''; it comes from the Kurukh, a people living in Chitrakoot, Bastar State.Angela Carter, ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'', Pantheon Book ...
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The Goat Girl The Goat Girl is a Greek fairy tale, known in many variants, collected by Anna Angelopoulou, Johann Gottfried von Hahn, and Georgios Ioannou. It bears many similarities to the French ''Donkeyskin''.Soula Mitakidou and Anthony L. Manna, with ...
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The Pig King "The Pig King" or "King Pig" (''Il re porco'') is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in his '' The Facetious Nights of Straparola''. Madame d'Aulnoy wrote a French, also literary, variant, titled Prince Marcas ...
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The Pretty Little Calf "The Pretty Little Calf" is a Chinese fairy tale collected by Wolfram Eberhard in "Folktales of China". Synopsis An official without children leaves home to take a new post. His first wife promised him gold on his return; the second, silver; th ...


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donkey Grimms' Fairy Tales Fictional princes Fictional donkeys Fiction about shapeshifting German fairy tales ATU 400-459