Dear all,
John Shinners' source for St. Dymphna mentioned "the well-known folk tale of
the ass's skin." I remember this story well from a book of fairy tales I had
as a child -- a wonderful collection of traditional stories that had not
been "cleaned up" for the younger set as they so often are. Perhaps this is
why the now rare story of the incestuous father made it into the book?
In the story, "Donkey-Skin," a dying queen extracts a promise from her
husband not to re-marry unless he finds a woman as beautiful as she. He
decides to marry the daughter as a result. She confers with, I think, a
fairy godmother, who advises her to demand some impossible gifts. On 3
successive days she demands a dress as beautiful as the sky; as the moon;
and as the sun, to be made in 24 hours. The father manages it. Then she
demands the skin of his favorite animal, a donkey that is secret source of
his wealth, because it shits gold. He kills the donkey. She flees,
concealing her beauty in the donkey skin, and ends up working as a swineherd
in a neighboring kingdom.
One day, she decides to clean herself up, just for fun, and puts on one of
her amazing dresses in her swineherd's hut. The local prince spies her,
falls in love with her, falls ill with pining. He tells his parents he can
only be cured if they get the dirty swineherd girl to bake him a cake. She
does, but slips an elegant, obviously expensive, ring into the batter. He
finds the ring, the parents are amazed, they go to find her, she is already
dressed up in anticipation, she tells her story and they get married.
Incidentally, there is a lovely older French film version of the tale,
mostly in black and white, but with touches of color. I don't recall who
made it, though.
--Nancy Caciola
History, UCSD
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|