When Flax-Flower had her first peep at the stranger, she fainted away; but a few drops of dew, thrown in her face, revived her. When shown the quadruped again, and seeing it face to face, with the long ears, shaggy hair, short mane, and bare tail, with only a tuft, like a long-handled paint brush, she drew back in terror. [[136]]Then, throwing herself at the feet of the Fairy Queen, she cried out most piteously:
“Is this the creature of our dreams, about which we heard so much in description? With all its glorious record and ancestry, it is the disgrace of creation. Must I take its form? Spare me, oh queen, and I shall be your slave.”
“No,” said the Fairy Queen. “You must obey the law of fairy land, as laid down in council. I shall make of you an example, to other frivolous fairies. It is so silly of you, or them, to envy other creatures. When you weary of being such a quadruped, if it be the right moment of your release, utter the Flemish name for donkey. Then, you will become a thing of wood, but not the living creature itself; and always after that, you must be burden-bearer for men. You will live forever, on four legs, in an artist’s studio, but you can never be a fairy again.”
Although Flax-Flower wept copiously, and the tears rolled down out of her beautiful eyes, like rain drops, the spell proceeded. Like magic, her pretty, pink ears sprouted into long and hairy things, as big as powder horns. Her mouth widened to the width of a cow’s muzzle, her lovely white skin was changed into a shaggy hide; and, last of all, something like a rope, with a hairy tuft like a ball of yarn-fringe, at the end, appeared from behind. At first, she fell [[137]]down on her hands and knees, with grief; but, when she got up, she was on four legs! To show how completely she had been transformed, out of her mouth sounded what the real donkey in the barnyard recognized at once, as a vocal effort. He pricked up six or eight inches of his ears with delight and immediately felt at home. But as soon as the rough farmer’s boy heard the noise, he called it braying. He declared to his father, that there was a donkey in the woods, calling, either for a thistle or a mate.
Thereupon Bavon, as the boy’s name was, grabbed a big bunch of stems of the prickly weed. He threw his armful of the green stuff in, where he had heard the new sort of a nightingale.
And what happened?
Well, the being that, but an hour before, was a lovely fairy, showed that it had an appetite and was very hungry. It now opened its mouth and chewed up the spiny stuff, as if it had been used to such breakfasts all its life. Then it put out its tongue and smacked its lips, as if it enjoyed the new diet, but now wanted some beans.
Worse than all, the next day the farmer’s boy caught the new donkey, led it by a halter, and harnessed the beast to a cart. He had now a pair of Orientals. Every day he took his team, which some fellow named “Rabbit Ears,” to the field, to plough with; or, into town, to carry his [[138]]carrots or cabbages to market. Happily, he found that the donkey’s reputation for patient hard work, economical diet, and general good behavior, was all he had heard it to be. The cost of feeding both animals was surprisingly little. Some people declared that, in winter, the Rabbit-eared beast was fed chiefly on barnyard fences and the East Wind.
Now the farmer’s boy had taste and liked to draw and paint. He drew pictures with chalk on the barn door, and he cultivated his talents, especially in winter. Having no money to spare, to buy a paint brush or colors, he pulled some hairs out of poor pussy’s tail, and made one, and he squeezed colors out of the juice of berries. By and bye he attracted the attention of a famous artist in Antwerp, who offered to employ the boy in his house.
Overjoyed at the idea, the farmer’s boy asked if he could take his favorite donkey with him. Permission was given, and lo! the lad chose the one that was a transformed fairy. The boy rode to the great city on his long-eared beast, and, having arrived at the artist’s dwelling, he locked up the creature in the stable and reported to his master.