The Donkey in the Tiger Skin

A laundryman named Clean-Cloth owned a donkey who had grown thin because there was little fodder near the town. While walking at the forest edge, the laundryman found an old tiger skin left by hunters.

He placed the striped skin over the donkey and led him to a barley field after dark. From far away, the farmers thought a tiger was moving among the crops. They stayed at a safe distance, and the donkey ate until he was satisfied.

Each night the same trick worked. The donkey became healthy and strong. Clean-Cloth warned him, “Move quietly, eat only what you need, and return before dawn. If you make your own sound, everyone will know you.”

One moonlit night, the disguised donkey heard another donkey braying beyond the fields. Forgetting the warning, he lifted his head and answered with a tremendous bray.

The farmers listened in surprise. “That is no tiger,” one said. They approached together, saw the donkey’s long ears beneath the skin, and drove him out of the barley. Clean-Cloth lost the clever disguise, and the donkey lost his nightly feast.

A borrowed appearance had frightened the farmers, but it could not change who the donkey was. The moment he forgot caution, his own voice revealed the truth. Any plan built on deception is fragile, especially when pride makes silence difficult.