The Salad Donkey

 

One day, a young man went hunting in the forest. There he met an old woman who asked him for some money to buy food. The hunter was a kind man. He gave her some money.

The woman thanked him and said, “You seem to be a very kind hearted person. I shall tell you something that will make you rich. At the end of this road, you will find a tree on whish nine birds are quarrelling over a cloak. When you fire at them, all but one bird, will fly away. That one bird will die. Take that cloak as it is a magic one. If you put it on your shoulders and wish to go to a far away place, you will reach the place in no time. You should eat the heart of the bird you killed. Then, every morning you will find a gold coin under your pillow.” The hunter followed the woman’s instructions.

The woman was actually a fairy. When he had taken the cloak and swallowed the bird’s heart, he went home. Next morning, he looked under his pillow and found a gold coin. The gold coin appeared every morning and soon he became rich. Several years later, he decided to travel to distant lands. One day, he came to a very big castle.

A witch, who had a very beautiful daughter, owned this castle. The witch knew all about the magic of the cloak and the bird’s heart. She wanted to possess these two things. She told her daughter everything and asked her to help get those two things. When the hunter knocked at the gate, the witch welcomed him and introduced him to her daughter. The young man fell in love with the beautiful girl. The girl, too, pretended to love him. At night, she made him drink a magic potion. The potion made him sick.

He vomited and the bird’s heart came out of his stomach. He, then, became unconscious. The girl swallowed the heart. The magic passed on her. Every morning, she found a gold coin under her pillow. She would give it to her mother. The witch was, however, not satisfied. She wanted the cloak as well. She asked her daughter to get the cloak for her. One day, the girl looked out of her window and said sadly, “If only I could go on those beautiful mountains of garnet and get some of those jewels.”

The young man heard her and offered to take her there. He put the cloak around his shoulder, took her under it and said, “Take us to the Garnet Mountain.” In a moment, they were on the mountain top.

The girl picked up some precious jewels. The witch had, in the meanwhile, cast a spell upon him and he fell asleep. The girl took advantage of the situation and grabbed the cloak. She, then,returned to the castle leaving him behind in the mountains. When he woke up, he realized he cunningness of the girl and her mother. Just then, he saw two giants coming. When they saw him, one of them said, “Look at such a tiny creature. He will not be able to survive here. If he tries to climb the mountain, the clouds would carry him far away.” This gave him idea. He climbed the mountain. Immediately, he was carried away by the clouds and dropped at a far off land. He was now in a kitchen garden with lettuce leaves everywhere. He was very hungry.

                      He ate some lettuce leaves. Immediately, he turned into a donkey. He ate some more leaves from another plant and changed into a human being. He now got an idea of punishing the witch and her daughter. He picked some of the lettuce leaves from both the plants and came to the castle ance again. Before entering, he disguised himself as a messenger from the king.

                                                                            He said that the king was giving a grand feast and he was carrying special lettuce leaves for the feast. The witch was very greedy. She wanted to eat some of the lettuce leaves. The young man gave her some lettuce leaves. As soon as she ate the leaves, she turned into a donkey. Her kitchen maid also nimbled at the leaves and turned into a donkey. Then the hunter went to the witch's daughter and asked her to taste the lettuce.

                                     As soon as she ate a leaf, she turned into a donkey. The hunter took all three of them and went to a miller. He told the miller to look after them. He told him to beat the older two donkeys and give them hay to eat. He also told him to give oats to the younger donkey. He still loved the girl and could not see her suffer. 

The next day, the miller informed him that the two older donkeys had died. The hunter went and gave the second lettuce leaves to the third donkey. Immediately, it turned into the beautiful girl whom the hunter loved so much. The girl was sorry for what she had done. The hunter forgave her and married her. They lived happily ever after. (Source: Dhingra's MY Book of Selected Stories.)                                            🙂🙂🙂