Everything that she set her beautiful hands to was done well.

One day she was sitting beside a pool where she often went to ponder her sad situation, when she thought she would look at her reflection in the water. She was revolted by the horrible donkey skin, which covered her from head to toe. Embarrassed, she washed her face and hands, which became whiter than ivory, and once again her lovely complexion revealed its natural freshness. The joy of rediscovering her beauty made her want to bathe in the pool. She did so, but she had to put on her horrible donkey skin before returning to the farm.

The next day was a holiday, so the princess had time to tap for her chest with the fairy’s wand, attend to her face and hair, and put on the lovely gown that was the colour of the weather. However, the room was so small that the train could not be spread out properly. The beautiful princess looked at herself and, with good reason, admired her appearance so much that she decided to wear her magnificent dresses on holidays and Sundays for her own pleasure. She worked flowers and diamonds into her lovely hair with great skill, but she was sad that only the sheep and geese could see her beauty, and they loved her just as much in the horrible donkey skin after which she had been named at the farm.

One Sunday, when Donkey Skin had put on her sun-coloured dress, the son of the king to whom the farm belonged stopped there to rest on his return from the hunt. This prince was young and handsome, greatly loved by his father and his mother the queen, and adored by the people. After he had eaten the simple meal that he was offered, he set out on an inspection of the farmyard and all its nooks and crannies. Going from one place to another he went down a dark passage, at the end of which he found a closed door. Curiosity made him put his eye to the keyhole. Imagine how astonished he was when he saw a beautiful and richly dressed princess with such a noble and dignified bearing that he believed her to be divine. Had it not been for the respect with which he was filled, he would have forced the door to the room.

He found it difficult to leave the gloomy little passage, but he wanted to find out who the inmate of the tiny room might be. He was told that she was a servant called Donkey Skin, because of the skin that she always wore, and that she was so dirty and unpleasant that no one took any notice of her, or even spoke to her; she had been taken on out of pity to look after the geese.

The prince was not satisfied with this information, but he saw that these dull people didn’t know any more, and that it was useless to question them. So he returned to the palace of his father the king, in love beyond words, with the image of the beautiful goddess he had seen through the keyhole constantly before his eyes. He was extremely sorry that he had not knocked on the door, and promised himself that he certainly would the next time. In the meantime, the intensity of his love had made him very agitated – that night he was struck down by a terrible fever and was soon at death’s door. The queen, who had no other child, despaired when no cure could be found. She promised great rewards to the doctors, but none of their skill could help him. At last they decided that the fever had been caused by some dreadful sorrow. They told the queen what they had concluded and she, filled with love for her son, went to him and begged him to tell her what was the matter. She told him that even if it was a question of giving him the crown, his father would do so without hesitation, or if he desired some princess, everything would be sacrificed to give him what he wanted, even if it meant a war with the princess’s father. Weeping, she begged him not to die, since their life depended on his. The prince was moved to tears by his mother’s entreaties.

“Mother,” he said at last, “I am not so low that I want my father’s crown. I hope that he will have many more years of life, and that I will always be his most faithful and respectful subject! As for the princess that you speak of, I haven’t thought about marriage yet, and you know that I will obey your wishes, even if they go against mine.”

“Oh, my son!” replied the queen, “We would stop at nothing to save your life. But, my dear child, save my life and that of your father the king by telling me what you desire, and rest assured that you will have it.”

“Well, Madam,” he said, “since you have asked me to tell you what I want, I shall tell you. It would indeed be wrong to place in danger the lives of two who are so dear to me. I wish Donkey Skin to bake me a cake, and to have it brought to me when it is ready.”

The queen, astonished at the strange name, asked who Donkey Skin might be.

“It is a creature uglier than a wolf, a servant girl who lives at your farm and looks after the geese,” said one of her officers, who had happened to see the girl.

“It doesn’t matter,” said the queen. “My son, on his way home from the hunt, must have eaten some of her cake. It is the sort of whim that sick people sometimes have. I want Donkey Skin to make him a cake at once.”

“CURIOSITY MADE HIM PUT HIS EYE TO THE KEYHOLE”

A messenger ran to the farm to tell Donkey Skin that she was to make the best cake she possibly could for the prince.