A large bag hung from the donkey's saddle.
"Will you sell me one of your hares?" he asked of the young shepherd.
"My hares are not for sale," replied the shepherd; "but they may be gained."
"What must one do to gain one?"
The shepherd considered for a moment.
"You must kiss three times the tail of your donkey," he said.
This strange condition was greatly repugnant to the old King, who tried his hardest to escape it, going so far as to offer fifty thousand francs for a single hare, but the young shepherd would not budge from the terms he had named. At last the King, who held absolutely to getting possession of one of the hares, submitted to the conditions, humiliating as they were for a king. Three times he kissed the tail of his donkey, who was greatly surprised at a king doing him so much honour; and the shepherd, faithful to his promise, gave him the hare demanded with so much insistence.
"THREE TIMES HE KISSED THE TAIL OF HIS DONKEY."
The King tucked his hare into his bag, and rode away at the utmost speed of his donkey.