In ancient times, there was a great king living with his beautiful queen wife and their beautiful daughter in happiness and prosperity. The king had a wonderful donkey that produced a piece of gold every day. The donkey remained in this state until the king became wealthy and fabulously rich.
One day, the beautiful queen fell ill and felt her end approaching. She advised her husband not to marry a woman other than her so as not to mistreat her only daughter. The king promised her that, but after a few years of loneliness, some of the king’s close ones began pressing him to marry another woman. The king agreed and decided to marry.
The kingdom rejoiced at the king’s decision, except his daughter who was not pleased with the matter and was very sad about it. The princess thought of a solution that would free her from the coming stepmother. She went to her room and sought refuge with her fairy friend to free her from that marriage. The fairy said to her: Show your approval to your father the king, but on the condition that he brings you clothing from the colors of nature. The princess did according to the fairy’s advice.
Within a few days, the most skilled tailors in the kingdom were able to finish the princess’s wonderful dress, colored with the blue of the sky and the color of clouds. The fairy began thinking of another trick to delay the king’s marriage, so she said to the princess: Ask him to slaughter his donkey that is dear to him and give you its skin.
When the princess told the king of her request, he hesitated at first, but he agreed to please his daughter. Here, the fairy found no other argument to delay the marriage, and said to her: The only solution is for you to escape far away, princess, from that new wife. Here is that box and that magic wand.
The girl disguised herself in the donkey’s skin and moved away from her father the king’s palace until she reached a farm run by an elderly woman. The elderly woman felt pity for the disguised princess and gave her the name Donkey Skin. She gave her some tasks in the farm, and she worked every day except Sunday, when she would enter her room and take out her royal outfit from the box and wear it, adorn herself, and dream of the knight who would marry her.
Meanwhile, the prince son of the king of the town where the farm owner lived was wandering, and he saw Donkey Skin and liked her very much. He fell in love with her and returned to his palace that day, distracted, refusing food. His mother worried about him and tried to know his secret but to no avail.
One day, his mother prepared sweets for him and went to give them to him. He didn’t want to taste them, and when she insisted, he said to her: Then bring me sweets from Donkey Skin. The queen ordered the minister to go to Donkey Skin and order her to prepare sweets for the prince. The princess prepared a dish of delicious sweets and hid her ring among the folds of the sweets.
When the prince ate from it, he found its taste delicious. While he was eating voraciously, he felt something hard hitting his teeth. He spat it out, and it was a beautiful ring. He knew it belonged to Donkey Skin and understood why she put it in the sweets. As the queen felt the prince’s sadness, she sent throughout all the countries searching for a bride for the prince.
Every woman who came forward, the prince gave the ring to put on her finger, but it didn’t fit any of them. Finally, the prince said to her: I beg you mother to try it on the farm servant’s finger. The mother did so, yielding to her son’s desire, and indeed the ring fit Donkey Skin.
The onlookers were amazed at the girl’s appearance and how the prince was enchanted by her. The princess removed Donkey Skin from herself and appeared in her royal dress. She was marvelously beautiful like a piece of the moon. Everyone was enchanted by her, and signs of approval appeared on them. As for the prince, he remained enchanted by the beauty of Donkey Skin princess.
The king rejoiced greatly at his son the prince’s marriage and announced the wedding ceremonies. He invited all the kings of neighboring countries and their princes. Among the attendees was the king, the princess’s father, who was extremely pleased when he learned that this wedding was his daughter the princess to the handsome prince.