The Donkey is a German fairy tale

Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 collected by Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

 by Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...

.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 430, The Donkey Bridegroom.

Synopsis

A king and queen long lamented their childlessness until the queen gave birth to a son who was a donkey. The queen was grieved, but the king had him raised as a prince. He was very fond of music and insisted on learning to play the lute, at which he grew skilled. One day, he saw his own reflection in a pool and grew so disturbed that he wandered the world. He tried to stay at the castle of a king with a single daughter. When they would not let him in, he played outside until the king heard his music and let him in. He insisted that his proper seat was with the king. After a time, he grew sad. The king questioned him about this until he learned that the donkey wished to marry his daughter. The king agreed, they married, and in the night, the king set a servant to watch the couple, to ensure the donkey would behave well. When the donkey went in the bedroom, he took off his donkeyskin and became

Shapeshifting

Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...

 a handsome youth. Even though he put on his skin again in the morning, the daughter assured her father that she was well pleased with her bridegroom. The servant told the king what had happened. The next night, the king stayed up and when the couple were asleep, he burned the donkeyskin. This distressed the donkey, but the king persuaded him to stay by offering him half his kingdom. When the king died, he had the whole kingdom, and when his own father died, he had two kingdoms.

See also

• The Fisher-Girl and the Crab
  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 Kuruk, a people living in Chitrakot, Bastar State.-Synopsis:...
  
  
• The Goat Girl
  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.-Synopsis:...
  
  
• The Pig King
• Hans My Hedgehog
  Hans My Hedgehog
  Hans My Hedgehog, or Hans the Hedgehog, is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no...
  
  
• The Pretty Little Calf
  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 left home to take up his post. His first wife said she would offer him gold on his return; the second, silver; the third, a son. He was pleased with the third...