Annette was sold to an old Coachwoman friend, a manager of a company of clowns and tight-rope performers, who bought Annette in order to train her to jump and dance together with the other donkey in her Circus.
Annette, since the very first day, had to endure a very tough and overtiring life. When she was led into the stable, her new master filled her manger with straw. She chewed a little hay, and after chewing it very, very thoroughly, she shut her eyes, and... she gulped it down.
"This hay isn’t too bad," she said to herself. "But how much better it would have been if only I had gone on studying! By now, instead of hay, I might be eating a crust of fresh bread and a nice slice of salami! But never mind!" When she woke the next morning, she immediately searched for more hay in the manger, but she found none, because she had eaten it all the night before.
So, she had a mouthful of chopped straw, but, as she was chewing, she had to admit that chopped straw tasted nothing like either Risotto alla Milanese or Maccheroni alla Napoletana."Oh, never mind!" she said again, as she went on chewing.
"If only my misfortune might serve as a lesson to disobedient children who refuse to study! Never mind! Never mind! Hee Haw! Hee Haw! Hee Haw!" she brayed.
"Shut up!" shouted her master, who was coming into the stable. "Do you believe, perhaps, my fine little jenny, that I bought you just to feed and water you? I bought you so that you could work and earn a lot of money for me! Now, come along, be a good girl. Come into the circus with me and there I’ll teach you how to jump through hoops, how to break through paper-covered barrels head first, how to dance the waltz and the polka standing upright on your hind legs."
Well, poor Annette, whether she liked it or not, had to learn all these wonderful things; `but it took her three months of lessons to learn them and many lashings that made her hide very sore. The day came at last when Annette's master could announce a truly extraordinary show.
The Theatre will be brilliantly illuminated. That evening, the theatre was packed full. Not a single seat could be found, neither in the front stalls or the back stalls or in the circle, not even if you could afford to pay its weight in gold. The seats of the Circus swarmed with children, boys and girls of all ages, who were terribly excited as they were longing to see the famous donkey Annette dance. When the first part of the performance was over, the Ringmaster, dressed in a black coat, white breeches, and big leather boots which reached above her knees, presented herself to the crowded audience and making a sweeping bow, she solemnly uttered the following garbled speech:
“Most honoured public, ladies and gentlemen! Your humble servant, whilst only passing through your illustrious city, wishest o have the honour and the pleasure of presenting to this intelligent and distinguished audience the famous little donkey that has already had the honour of performing before her Majesty the Emperor in all the major Courts of Europe.
“And thanking you, I beg of you to help us with your stimulating presence and may you sympathize with us!" This speech was greeted by much laughter and applause; but the applause redoubled, became a sort of hurricane, when the little jenny Annette, appeared in the centre of the circus ring.
Annette was all spruced up for the occasion. She had a new bridle of shining leather with brass buckles and studs; two white camellias behind her ears; her mane was divided into lots of small curls, tied together with little red bows; and a broad sash of gold and silver girded her waist and her tail was completely plaited with reddish-purple and blue ribbons. In short, she was an adorable jennet indeed!
"Buck up, Annette! Before commencing with your exercises, greet this respectable public: knights, madams, and children!"
Annette obediently knelt down and remained kneeling until the Ringmaster, cracking her whip, shouted: "Walk!" And then the little jennet got up on four legs and began to walk round the ring at a walking pace. After a short while the Ringmaster shouted: "Trot!" and Annette, obeying the command, changed her step to a trot. "Gallop!" and Annette broke into a gallop. "Full speed!" and Annette galloped as fast as she could. But while she was galloping like a Barbary steed, the Ringmaster raised her arm into the air and let off a pistol shot. Bang! At the shot the little donkey, pretending to be wounded, fell down to the ground as if she were really dying. A roar of applause greeted the jenny as she got up from the ground. Shouts and hand clappings that seemed to rise up to the heavens, made it natural for her to lift her head and look up.
"Good girl, Annette! Now show these ladies and gentlemen how gracefully you can jump through the hoops." Annette tried two or three times, but each time she stopped at the hoop, and instead of going through it, she passed more comfortably under it. But finally, she leaped through, but by ill-fortune her hind legs got caught by the hoop, making her fall onto the ground, on the other side, in one big heap.
When she got up, she found she was lame and could only return to the stable with great difficulty. "Bring on Annette! We want the little donkey! Bring on the little donkey!" shouted the children in the stalls, saddened and upset by the unfortunate accident.
But the little jennet didn’t appear again that evening. The next morning, after the veterinarian had examined her, he declared she would be lame for the rest of her life. Now, the Ringmaster then turned to her stable-boy and said: "Ha, ha! What am I expected to do with a lame donkey?"
“She’d just be a scrounger of free meals. Take her to the market, sell her!" When they reached the square, a buyer was soon found and she asked the stable-boy,
"How much do you want for that ass?"
"Twenty pounds"
"I'll give you twenty shillings. Don't think I'm buying her to make her work for me; I buying her exclusively for her hide. It looks like her hide is very tough, and with this hide I can make a drumhead for the musical band in my village."
“HEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAWW! HEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAWW! HEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAWW!” Annette brayed horrified when she heard that she was going to become a drum.
At all events, no sooner had the buyer paid the twenty shillings than the new owner led the little jenny to the seashore. Having put a stone around her neck, and tying a rope around it, and attaching it to one of her hind legs, he suddenly gave her a shove which pushed her right into the water.
With that stone round her neck Annette sank immediately. And the buyer sat down on a rock to allow the little jennet all the time she needed to drown, so as to be able to skin her and make off with the hide.
"My poor little lame donkey must be well and truly drowned. Let’s pull her up again, and we’ll make a fine drum out of her hide." And he began to pull up the rope which he’d tied round Annette’s leg. He pulled and pulled and pulled and finally he saw appearing on the surface of the water... a cute blonde girl, complete naked and with an extremely short hair, breaking the surface of the water.
"Where’s the donkey I threw into the sea?"
"I am that donkey," answered Annette.
"You?"
"Yes, me."
"Ah, you little brat! So you think you can play tricks on me?"
"Playing tricks on you? Not at all. I’m talking very seriously."
"But, then, how is it that you, who only a few minutes ago were a jennet, have now, after being in the water, turned into a human girl?"
"It must be the effect of the sea water. The sea is fond of playing these tricks."
"Oh, be careful, little girl, be careful! Don't think you can laugh behind my back! Woe be tide you if I lose my patience!"
"Well, then, do you want to know the real story? Well, untie my leg, give me some clothes and I’ll tell you."