Donor (fairy tale) by Giambattista Basile. In the Grimm Brothers' variant of "Cinderella", the protagonist is aided not by her fairy godmother but by her dead mother, as is the heroine of the Finnish variant, "The Wonderful Birch". A great variety of other figures may also take this place. In "Vasilissa the Beautiful", the heroine is aided by a wooden doll that her dying mother had given her; in "Rushen Coatie", by a red calf sent to her by her dead mother, a calf that can continue to aid her after its death; in "Katie Woodencloak" by a mysterious dun bull; in "Tattercoats",
The Donkey (fairy tale) The Donkey (fairy tale) "The Donkey" is a German fairy tale collected by Brothers Grimm compiled in the "Grimm's Fairy Tales". It is Aarne-Thompson type 430, The Donkey Bridegroom. A king and queen long lamented their childlessness until the queen gave birth to a son who was a donkey. The queen was upset, but the king had him raised as a donkey. He was very fond of music and insisted on learning to play the lute, at which he grew skilled. One day, he saw his own reflection in a pool and grew so disturbed that he wandered the world.