A miserly dyer kept a poor, underfed donkey. In the end the animal grew so weak from ill-treatment that even the dyer realised that he had better feed it up for a while, otherwise it would die. But he had no intention of paying for its food, so he found a tiger skin and wrapped it round the donkey. Then he left the animal in a cornfield and went home.

The villagers all thought there was a tiger in the cornfield, and were afraid to go near it. So for some time the donkey lived in peace, and grew fat and contented. However, there was one villager, wiser and braver than the rest, who spent one night watching the “tiger” from a tree. Next day he got a donkey skin, put it on and went into the field. The dyer’s donkey rushed up, delighted at having found a new friend – until the new “donkey” stood up on its hind legs and put a bridle over his head. Then the villagers came running up to laugh; and the dyer lost his donkey.