The Donkey in the Lion's Skin
A musical retelling of Aesop's fable about a donkey who finds a lion's skin, a fox who hears him roar, and where the disguise falls apart
A donkey found a lion's skin, Lying in the dirt. He pulled it on from tail to chin And said, "Well, this won't hurt!"
He strutted down the dusty road With a swagger and a stride. "Look at me, I'm king!" he crowed. "You'd better run and hide!"
The chickens screamed and flapped their wings, The goats ran left and right! The pigs squealed, "Oh, what terrible things!" And fainted dead with fright!
The donkey laughed, "Ha ha, hee hee! They think I'm big and tough! Nobody dares to mess with me-- One look and that's enough!"
He found the fox beside a stream And jumped out with a ROAR! But it was more a wheezy scream-- The fox had heard before.
"Oh, mighty lion," said the fox With just a little grin, "You'd scare me right out of my socks... But your ears are poking thin."
The donkey shook his furry mane, He stamped, he tried to growl. But what came out? Oh, what a pain-- HEE-HAW! A donkey's howl!
HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW! That's not a lion's roar! HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW! Can't fake it anymore!
The chickens stopped and turned around, The goats came trotting back. The pigs got up right off the ground-- "It's Donkey! What a quack!"
They laughed and pointed, rolled with glee, "A donkey dressed in fur!" "You're not a lion, don't you see? You never really were!"
A donkey in a lion's skin Walked out into the day. The chickens laughed, the pigs all laughed, And the lion's skin slid away.
HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW! Out from under the fur. HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW! -- The donkey was a donkey, sir.