DONKEY SKIN - A Fairy Tale woth a moral to tell: Baba Indaba Children's Stories - Issue 251
About this ebook
ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 251
In this 251st ÿissue of the Baba Indaba?s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the story of ?DONKEY SKIN?.
ONCE upon a time, long, long ago and far, far away there was a time a king who was so much beloved by his subjects that he thought himself the happiest monarch in the whole world, and he had everything his heart could desire. His palace was filled with the rarest of curiosities, and his garden with the sweetest flowers, while the marble stalls of his stables stood a row of milk-white Arab stallions, with big brown eyes.
Strangers who had heard of the marvels which the king had collected, and made long journeys to see them, were, however, surprised to find the most splendid stall of all occupied by a donkey, with particularly large and drooping ears. It was a very fine donkey; but still, as far as they could tell, nothing so very remarkable as to account for the care with which it was lodged; and they went away wondering, for they could not know that every night, when it was asleep, bushels of gold pieces tumbled out of its ears, which were picked up each morning by the attendants.
After many years of prosperity a sudden blow fell upon the king in the death of his wife, whom he loved dearly. But before she died, the queen, who had always thought first of his happiness, gathered all her strength, and said to him:
'Promise me one thing: you must marry again, I know, for the good of your people, as well as of yourself. But do not set about it in a hurry. Wait until you have found a woman more beautiful and better formed than myself.'
'Oh, do not speak to me of marrying,' sobbed the king; 'rather let me die with you!' But the queen only smiled faintly, and turned over on her pillow and died.
Eventually the king overcomes the grief of his loss and decides to follow his wife?s instructions and look for another wife. And then the fun and games start??.
Was the king successful you ask? Was the new wife as beautiful as his first love? And how does the donkey fit into the greater scheme of things? Well, if you download and read this story you?ll be in for a surprise.
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Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.
Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".
About the author
The Baba Indaba Children's Stories, published by Abela Publishing, often uses folklore and fairy tales which have their origins mists of time. Afterall who knows who wrote the story of Cinderella, also known in other cultures as The Little Glass Slipper, or Cenerentola (Italian),ÿ Cendrillon, ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre (French), Aschenputtel (German), Tattercoats and Cap o? Rushes (English), or Conkiajgharuna (Georgian). There is still debate as to whether the story originated in Egypt or China. So who wrote the original? The answer is simple. No-one knows, or will ever know, so to assume that anyone owns the rights to these stories is nothing but nonsense. As such, we have decided to use the Author name "Anon E. Mouse" which, of course, is a play on the word "Anonymous".
