A washerman lived in a small town long ago. He was not very rich, so he could keep only one donkey for his work. The donkey was thin and starved because the washerman himself had not enough food.
One day while going around with his work, the washerman came upon a dead tiger. At first, he almost passed it by. Then an idea came to him. He could use the tiger’s skin in a very useful way! He would put it on his donkey and then, when his work was over, he would turn him loose in a field. People would only see the tiger skin on top and be scared to go near it. The donkey would then be able to eat to his heart’s content!
Having decided what to do, the washerman set about the task. He took its skin and went off.
He used to go for his usual round of work. Then, in the evening, he would put the tiger’s skin on his donkey and let him loose in someone’s field. No one dared to come near a tiger in the night. So, the donkey ate his fill and became stout and healthy. As the donkey became stronger, he could do more work. the washerman started to earn more money as well.
This became a routine. The donkey became fat and sometimes the washerman had a great deal of trouble dragging him home. He had to pull and prod the donkey to get him home into his stall because the donkey did not want to leave the barley fields in which he was having such a great time eating!
One night, the washerman finished his rounds and then put the tiger’s skin on the donkey’s back and led him to the barley field to eat. The tired washerman stretched out on his bed and fell asleep. He would bring in the donkey early morning before anyone woke up.
Suddenly, he was woken up by the sounds of people shouting. He got up and ran out to see what the noise was all about. Men were running with lanterns and sticks towards the field. He asked one of the men what had happened. The man said, “We saw a tiger walking through the fields, so we kept away. But all at once, we heard a donkey braying in the distance. And then, this creature also started braying! So, we knew that there was no tiger, but a donkey and it was eating the barley in our fields. We are going to thrash the fellow!”
The washerman realised they would beat him also when they recognised his donkey. So leaving the poor donkey, he ran for his life.
