"The Ass", "The Donkey", or "The Little Donkey" (German: Das Eselein) is a German fairy tale collected by Brothers Grimm compiled in the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
[5][6] The piece is representative of the Aarne-Thompson tale type 430 "The Ass"[5][2] (or "The Donkey Bridegroom"[4]), and exhibits the motif D721.3 "Disenchantment by destroying skin (covering)".
The donkey requested to learn to play the lute and became an accomplished player.
The servant observed the donkey take off his skin and underneath he was a handsome young man.
He related this to the king, who observed for himself later and threw the donkey skin away in the night.