Baskadia

A hunter had a magic cloak. This cloak could take its wearer anywhere he wished to go. With it's help, the hunter went with a girl to a mountain where there were many rich jewels. He did not know that the girl had made a plan with a witch to deceive him.

The hunter and the girl collected the best jewels on the mountain but the magic of the witch began to make the hunter hunter feel very tired, and so he sat down and immediately fell asleep. As soon as he was fast asleep, the girl unfastened the cloak from his shoulders and put it over her own . Then, picking up jewels, she wished herself at home immediately she disappeared .

When the hunter awoke, he saw that the girl had tricked him. He was alone on the strange mountain and did not know how to find his way down. Then, he saw three wicked giants coming towards him, and as he did not know how to escape, he layed down again and pretended to be asleep.

The first two giants wanted to kill him, but the third said, "it's not worth the trouble. Leave him alone. He can't stay where he is. If he climbs higher to the top mountain, the clouds will carry him away." So, they left him there and went away. As soon as they were gone, the hunter stood up and climbed to the top of the mountain. After a little while, a cloud floated near; he got hold of it and was carried about in the sky from some time. He was the dropped into a garden of vegetable.

He felt hungry, although he looked round in the garden, he found no fruits of any kind. Nothing grew in the garden except fresh vegetables. But he was so hungry that he decided to eat some of them. So he chose one, ate it, and at once felt very strange indeed. He felt himself changing completely. He developed four legs, a thick head and two long ears. To his horror, he was now a donkey. Still hungry, however, he ate another vegetable, and discovered that he was changing back to his human shape.

Before he left the garden, he took a bit of those vegetables. 'These', he said to himself, 'will help me to get back my cloak and punish those who had deceive me.' So, he went to search for the castle in which the girl and the witch lived. He painted his face brown so that even his own mother would not have recognized him, and went up to the castle, asking to be allowed there to stay for a night.