This painting illustrates a story about a merchant who owned a donkey but did not have enough money to feed him. He was able to secure a tiger’s skin, in which he dressed his donkey at night, so he could forage freely in fields, frightening away the owners’ watchmen, seen here scrambling up in trees for safety. He succeeded for a time and grew fat and healthy, until a nearby donkey brayed, and he instinctively answered, revealing his true identity.