She decided to escape the night before her wedding.
Her father was a cruel man and would make a terrible husband.
She wanted to gather some supplies, but she had nothing of her own to carry with her into the wilderness; everything belonged to her father and to the kingdom, which were one and the same.
She tore her chambers apart searching for a single pin or shift that didn't belong to him. The only thing she kept for herself was her golden ring. It was a royal artifact handed down from queen to daughter and belonged to her by right.
She was about to give up and flee empty-handed when she found a chest she’d never seen before tucked away in a dark corner. It had a heavy lock that sprung open under her fingers.
Inside the chest lay a fur cloak. It was tatty and ugly - the skin seemed like it was about to crumble into dust but the fur felt wiry and tough.
[[next->2]]
The princess liked this cloak. She only wanted ugly things that were nothing like what she’d owned before. She took it up and threw it over the plain dress she’d stolen. Underneath the cloak she found a little tinderbox, which she tucked into her clothes.
She slipped out of her room and down the servants’ stairs. She fit right in with the shadows and dirt that huddled in the corners of the cold castle.
[[next->3]]
At this time of night there was no one in the kitchen, not even a girl to tend the fires. The princess slipped out through the herb garden before anyone knew she had left the castle.
As soon as she passed the edge of the gardens into the woods she picked up her skirts and ran as far as she could. She wasn't used to running but she pushed herself on for what felt like hours. Eventually, though, she had to stop to sleep.
She found a tree some ways off the road. It was a big, old tree with a deep hollow in its trunk. She leaned against it and it felt finer and safer than any bed she’d ever slept in.
She built a little fire by her tree the way with her tinderbox she’d read about in a story.
Before she slept she remembered to drag dust across her footprints and cover them with leaves.
[[next->4]]
When she woke up she scattered the ashes of her little fire.
It was morning, and she felt hungry. She’d never been hungry before. For a little while she just sat in order to better contemplate the feeling.
She had to eat, though, and she couldn’t live in the forest forever. Her lovely tree wouldn’t bear fruit and the princess didn’t know how to survive without other people.
Before the princess left she left her tinderbox in the tree's hollow on a whim. Perhaps the next person to pass would need it to build a fire.
She continued down the road, away from her father. She regretted having to leave the lovely old tree that had sheltered her.
[[next->5]]
There was another castle a ways away. After walking for a long time she came to it. It made her afraid to look at it but it was different from her father’s house, even though it was the same.
She crept through the kitchen door and asked for work. The kitchen women exclaimed over her dirtiness and ugliness, but it was the king’s duty to give food and shelter to anyone who would work.
The princess was set to scrubbing pots. She worked hard and her hands became sore and rough. No matter how blistered her skin became she wore her royal ring, but no one seemed to notice it. No one seemed to notice her at all. No one ever looked at her. To be ignored seemed to her a delicious luxury.
They never asked her name but they called her “Donkeyskin” because her old cloak was all she’d wear and no one saw her without it.
[[next->6]]
One day after many weeks in the kitchen the cooks were preparing a huge feast.
While they were in the middle of their preparations a servant came down and said that the king of the castle felt ill and had asked for a rich healing soup.
Everyone was too busy with the feast to spend time on such a plain meal and so one of them called over to the princess to take care of it - making soup was very easy for poor women because soup was all that they ate. Even the lowliest scullery maid could make a good soup.
The princess dragged a heavy pot over to her corner where she’d be out of the way.
She’d never cooked before, but she did her very best, dropping this and that into the pot. The soup cooked and boiled and by some miracle became rich and savory.
[[next->7]]
The moment she was finished cooking the servant dipped up a bowl to take to the king. In only a few minutes he was back with the empty bowl asking for another serving.
The second bowl came back in minutes as well. The servant carrying them said that the king wanted a third bowl and the cook who’d made the soup.
Everyone was embarrassed to send dirty old Donkeyskin up but they did as the king asked.
[[next->8]]
The princess was very afraid as she went upstairs. She wished to be ugly and invisible again, but she could feel sunlight hitting her face as she climbed the stairs to the king’s chambers.
She imagined herself leaving dirty footprints on the marble floors as she was brought to the king’s throne.
The king looked a bit like her father, but younger. He proclaimed his praise of the soup, saying his illness had been almost instantly cured when it touched his tongue. As happy as he was with the soup, he was equally disappointed with the look of the princess. He couldn’t imagine such wonderful food coming from such a dirty peasant’s hands.
He interrupted himself. “Show me your hands, girl.”
[[next->9]]
Trembling, the princess obeyed. Her mother’s golden ring winked in the light.
The king seized the hand that wore the ring. He looked slowly up to the princess’s face which was still partially hidden under her cloak.
He reached up and pushed the cloak back to reveal her face. She stared back at him, [[paralyzed with fear.]]
[[next->10]]
He touched her face and declared her the lost princess. He was so proud that he had found her her and knew that her father would be so glad for her safe return that he would decree that she should be married to her rescuer.
The princess shrank where she stood and knew that she wouldn’t be able to run away again.
[[next->End]]
A few days later during the wedding procession to her father’s castle the new queen slipped out of her carriage to lay a hand on the sweet tree that had protected her. Her old cloak she folded carefully and hid away in its hollow. The tree felt warm against her hand.
She heard someone calling out for her and hurried to rejoin her husband.
[[END->--]]
[[Donkeyskin->1]]