by Silvestro Ziccardi
freely adapted from “The Plasterer’s Donkey” by Luigi Capuana
Once upon a time there was a plasterer who had many donkeys, skinny, ugly and dirty; but among all these donkeys he had one that was the ugliest of all.
He was thin, gaunt, dirty, all crooked, mangy, with a flayed tail, his legs so ruined that he seemed to be able to stand up by a miracle.
But when his master shouted: “Forward fiery!”… the donkey raised his head, lowered his ears to be more aerodynamic and, rotating his tail like an airplane propeller, took off faster than a bray!
Don’t be fooled by appearances, even a donkey can have a noble heart and kings and princesses sometimes have to work hard to earn a little nobility.
