If you bother to find out what the treehole/caves series is all about. Read on. When I was little my dad gave me a story book. Most of the stories in the book I have forgotten except for one. The story is called "The King has Donkey Ears" I couldn't find the version I read online, but this one is fairly similar. I made some small edits but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
via original source
-------------------------
It was Saturday morning in the Kingdom of Rulitania and King was having his breakfast. He was mostly a good and kindly King and the people of Rulitania loved him for his kindness, friendliness and caring nature. Life in the Kingdom was easy, the crops grew tall and plentiful, the weather was kind and the countryside made it the most beautiful of all Kingdoms in the area. Travellers from afar said it was almost as beautiful and tranquil as Marsden. So it must be very beautiful indeed. The people were happy, but alas the King was not, for he had a secret and it caused him so much pain,
"Good morning Highness," said Erebert, the King's chancellor, "How are you on this fine and beautiful morning?"
The King looked up from his breakfast, "I'm very well thankyou Erebert, once I have finished my breakfast I will go and inspect the troops, after all we have the grand birthday parade next month."
Erebert smiled, he loved the King as much as any of the subjects, the King was so kindly and generous. "Very good sir, I shall have the servants prepare your suit of armour, can I just thankyou again for you help with my son?"
"Think nothing of it," said King Bob. "I was so glad to help, you know all my people mean so much to me, I love them so." Last week the King had helped Erebert's son, Barney, achieve his dream of being a sailor in Rulitania's Navy.
The chancellor looked at the King who's hair was getting long, it grew so quickly he needed it cut nearly every day, "Perhaps your highness, before you inspect your army you should have a haircut."
"Erebert you are right," said the King, and he finished the last of his breakfast. "Please send for a barber."
Lucas the barber had been about to tuck into his bacon and eggs when the summons came from the King. A soldier had arrived and told him that the King had called for a barber to cut his royal hair and that Lucas had been chosen for the honour. He kissed his wife goodbye and quickly ran to the castle with his comb and scissors.
"My name is Lucas, your highness," said the barber as he introduced to the King. He bowed and walked over to the throne to begin the haircut.
"Thankyou Lucas, a short back and sides for me today, perhaps with the hint of a quiff. I shall pay you a bag of gold if you do a good job."
Lucas was astonished, a bag of gold was enough to buy a house in the finest part of the capital city. Surely all he had heard about the King was true, he was kind and generous and loved his people. But he was surprised, for a King that loved so much he appeared sullen and did not smile. Never the less, he began to cut the King's long hair.
He cut the top of the hair - Snip
He cut the back of the hair.- Snip
He cut the fringe at the front - Snip
And then he cut the left side – Snip
Boing!
And suddenly up popped the King's left ear from where it was hidden by the hair. It stuck straight up like a huge donkey's ear.
The King noticed Lucas had stopped. "Anything wrong back there Lucas?" he asked.
"Nothing highness," said Lucas, who nearly laughed out loud at the huge donkey's ear. He calmed himself down and began to cut the other side of the hair.
So he cut the right side of the hair – Snip
Boing!
And suddenly another massive donkey's ear popped up, the King had two huge donkey's ears. Lucas couldn't help himself and laughed out loud.
"What is wrong Lucas?" asked the King.
Lucas couldn't fight back the tears of laughter, "The King's got donkey's ears, Oh the King's got donkey's ears."
"Guards," shouted the King and he pushed his ears back under his hair. Several knights entered the throne room, "Take this barber and put him in the dungeons with the others."
So the knights took Lucas away to put in the dungeon.
The King cried. He was so scared of people finding out his secret. He was kind and loving to his people but thought that as soon as the people of Rulitania saw his ears they would laugh at him and love him no longer. It scared him so much that every barber that discovered his secret was put in the dungeons so the secret wouldn't get out. The secret made poor King Bob very unhappy, how could the people love a King with such comical ears? And he cried and cried because he didn't want to be cruel to the barbers and he hated keeping the secret. Poor King Bob, he was scared and lonely wasn't he?.
Two weeks passed and it was growing closer to the grand parade, the day the King and his soldiers marched through the city giving out money to the poor and sweets to children. It was his favourite time of year because he loved his people so and wanted to make them happy. On this sunny Tuesday morning, King Bob needed a haircut and sent out a messenger to find him a barber. There were fewer barbers now near the castle, so many had gone to the castle and never come back out again. But no one suspected anything bad, King Bob was kind and loving and always took care of his people.
The messenger had no luck finding a barber within the walls of the castle or the city so he took his horse and rode out to the nearest village. The village he found was pretty small, but to his surprise the messenger found there was a barber's shop there.
"Good morning," said the messenger as he entered the shop.
"Good morning," said the young man who was sweeping hair from the shop floor.
"I come with a summons from King Bob," said the messenger, "You must come to the castle at once to cut the King's hair."
"Alas I cannot," replied the boy. "I am only sixteen years old, the apprentice of the barber, I am only just learning how to cut hair."
"I see," the messenger said, "Well where is the barber."
The boy smiled, "He has gone to take his children to the village school. He will be back within the hour."
The messenger was worried. He has spent too long looking already and needed to get back to the castle. "Young man today you have a chance to become rich because the King always rewards his barbers, bring your scissors and comb and we shall go see the King."
"I will do my best," said the boy. He grabbed his scissors and comb and went outside with the messenger. There was a beautiful young girl waiting outside.
"Aren't you going to introduce us Simon," said the girl.
"Of course," said the boy, he turned to the messenger. "My name is Simon, this is my beautiful girlfriend Rachel."
"And my name is Anthony," said the messenger. "Now come on, climb on my horse Simon, for we must be away to the King right away."
"Where are you going Simon," asked the girl and her eyes sparkled.
"My love I am going to cut the King's hair, I hear he makes his barbers rich, when I return I shall have enough money to marry you." said Simon.
Rachel smiled, "Oh hurry back my love."
Simon and Anthony arrived at the castle. "This is Simon, your highness," Anthony the messenger introduced the young man to the King.
"You are very young man to be a barber," said the King.
Simon bowed, "Your highness, I am but a poor barber's apprentice learning his trade. Please let me cut your hair sire, for I truly need the money."
"What do you need the money for young Simon?" the King asked.
"To marry my sweetheart Rachel, your highness. We are so poor, but I love her with all my heart and want her to have the best of everything, I want to buy her a beautiful house when we marry."
The King took pity on young Simon. He could see the love in his heart was true and when he spoke of his sweetheart Rachel his eyes shone and he smiled so happily.
"Young Simon ," said the King, "You may cut my hair. But let me tell you this, the way you speak of Rachel shows me you love her with all her heart, she doesn't need any more than that. For the love of a true heart is worth more than riches. She will marry you no matter how poor you are because you are her sweetheart."
Simon the apprentice was astonished. He had heard the King was kind and generous but his words sung to him, he knew what he said was true and he loved Rachel all the more. He also knew this was a good King and he would always do his best to serve him.
The King spoke again, "I promise you Simon if you do a good job of my haircut I shall make sure you have the most special wedding in the Kingdom and a wonderful new house. But always remember that Rachel loves you not for your wealth but for your kind heart. Now you may begin cutting my hair."
Simon took out his scissors and began to cut.
He cut the top of the hair - Snip
He cut the back of the hair.- Snip
He cut the the fringe at the front - Snip
And then he cut the left side – Snip
Boing!
And suddenly up popped the King's left ear from where it was hidden by the hair. It stuck straight up like a huge donkey's ear.
The King noticed Simon had stopped. "Anything wrong back there Simon?" he asked.
"Nothing highness," said Simon, who nearly laughed out loud at the huge donkey's ear. He calmed himself down and began to cut the other side of the hair.
So he cut the right side of the hair – Snip
Boing!
And suddenly another massive donkey's ear popped up, the King had two huge donkey's ears. But Simon didn't laugh out loud, he remembered how kind the King had been to him when talking of his sweetheart Rachel. And everyone is different, he told himself, being a good and loving King is more important than the size of his ears, surely. Don’t you think?
"What is wrong Simon?" asked the King, who noticed Simon had stopped cutting..
Simon took a deep breath and began to speak, "You highness I was admiring your beautiful big ears."
The king was surprised, all his other barbers had laughed and the dungeons were becoming full of hairdressers. "You like my ears Simon?" the King asked.
"I do sir," said Simon honestly. "Everyone has such boring small ears, but yours are so big and beautiful."
The King's heart was touched. "Young Simon you have no idea how happy that makes me feel, to hear those kind words from you. From now on you will cut my hair every day, I will make you a rich man, but you must keep my secret, if anyone ever finds out about my ears I will have you put in my dungeons."
Simon was suddenly a little scared. "My lord, I will keep your secret, because you have shown me kindness. But surely you mustn't keep secrets, because they cause so much pain and suffering, secrets are always bad."
The King frowned, "I know Simon, I know. But if the people saw my ears they wouldn't love me anymore and their love is the most precious thing to me in the world."
Simon took pity on the kindly king, "I will keep your secret sir."
A week passed. Every day Simon rode to the castle on a beautiful horse that the king had given him. Every day he cut the king's hair and carefully styled it to hide the massive ears. Each day Simon told the king how beautiful and different his ears were and that he should reveal them to his people. But the king refused, saying his people would no longer love him.
Simon too was unhappy. He hated keeping secrets and wanted desperately to tell someone, he had never kept a secret before. To make matters worse, Rachel had noticed that her sweetheart was so sad, she loved him so, but was angry that he wouldn't tell her the reason he was so downcast.
"You must tell me Simon," said Rachel. "I love you so, I don't like to see you hurt in this way."
Simon told her, "I have a terrible secret that the king has told me too keep. I shall burst if I don't tell someone, it hurts so much to keep a secret my sweet."
"Well I don't want to keep a secret either," said Rachel because she was very smart, "For it would burn within me too. But I know a way for you to feel better. An old wise woman once told me that if you went to the old oak tree in the forest clearing at midnight, and told it your darkest secrets under a full moon, you would feel so much happier."
So that night, Simon went to the forest clearing. It was a bright full moon and the stars shone in the sky like diamonds. The old oak stood proudly in the middle of the clearing. Carefully he walked up to the tree and leaned close so that he might whisper to it. And then he began,
"The king's got donkey's ears, Oh the king's got donkey's ears.
The king's got donkey's ears, Oh the king's got donkey's ears."
And suddenly he felt so much better. He had kept his promise to the king not to tell anyone the secret, but at the same time he was relieved, no longer was the secret of the donkey's ears burning inside him.
And so the days rolled by and it got much closer to the time for the King's parade through the city to give money and sweets to his people. This year was a special occasion, it was the king's fiftieth birthday and the chancellor Erebert was making sure that this would be the best birthday party and parade ever. The King loved music, so Erebert sent the finest craftsmen in the land to the forest to get wood to make the best violins, the best cellos, the best horns and the best drums for a wonderful celebration orchestra. The craftsmen went to the forest and in a clearing found the magnificent oak tree.
They said, "Let us not chop down too many trees, for they are splendid and beautiful, this oak here in the clearing will do for us to make our instruments. So they cut down the old oak tree and took it to make their violins, cellos, horns and drums."
The day of the parade arrived. Travellers came from all over the kingdom for the parade and the city was packed with happy people waving flags and cheering for the king who they loved. The sun shone over the houses and the castle and many said that today Rulitania was looking just as beautiful as Marsden. The King's coach left the castle and begun to drive through the streets pulled by six magnificent black horses. The king smiled to see all his people, because he loved them. He threw bags of gold and silver to the people, and sweets to the children, as the coach was pulled through the streets. Today the king was wearing his special silver armour and Simon had given the king a very special haircut, with gold braid woven into his hair.
As a special treat for the trusted barber Simon and Rachel were allowed to ride in the coach too. They waved to the crowds and helped the King throw the money and sweets to the people.
It was one of the happiest days the kingdom had ever seen.
Eventually the coach came to the town-square where the birthday orchestra was waiting to play the King's favourite songs. The King, Simon and Rachel climbed down from the coach to stand before the people on the stage where the orchestra was about to play.
"My friends," said the king to the crowd. "This has been a most happy day for me. I hope you have all enjoyed the celebrations and I have decided the party will last the rest of the week because I love you all so." The crowd roared with delight and cheered the King. Then King Bob signalled the orchestra to begin to play.
The violinists began to play
The cellists began to play
The horn players began to play
And the drummers began to play
But no music was heard, because the instruments were made from the secret oak that Simon had whispered to on the night of the full moon.
So the musicians tried again, and played their instruments much louder. Suddenly a loud sound came from the violins, the cellos, the horns and the drums. But it wasn't music, but it was a loud voice. Can you guess what the voice said?
It said…
"The king's got donkey's ears, Oh the king's got donkey's ears.
The king's got donkey's ears, Oh the king's got donkey's ears."
And with that, the King's ears popped up from within his hair so that everyone could see them. The crowd went silent. Poor King Bob stood before all the people with his large ears on display for everyone to see. He was shocked and unhappy, because his secret was out and he blushed.
Someone in the crowd laughed, "The king's got donkey's ears, Oh the king's got donkey's ears." Some people told the laughing man to hush. And then they began to clap the king, everyone in the crowd clapped, and then they started to cheer. They were chanting, "We love King Bob."
The King was amazed and moved.
He began to laugh. And then Simon and Rachel began to laugh. Soon the whole crowd was laughing and cheering for the King. The King realised that his people loved him whether his ears were big or small. His ears didn't matter, he loved his people and they loved him. Immediately the King had all the barbers released and bought them new scissors, he promised that he would never keep a secret again. The party went on for days, and is still remembered in Rulitania as the best party ever and the day when the kingdom was as beautiful as Marsden.
Simon still cuts the king's hair every day. He kisses Rachel his wife goodbye every morning and rides to the castle. Every morning the King says,
"Good morning Simon, please cut my hair, and try to show off my ears, because they are big and beautiful."
And every morning Simon tells the King, his friend, that his ears look splendid.
-------------------------
In the version that I read, the secret was spread with one day a traveller picked a leaf from the secret tree and began blowing it as an instrument (hv you ever tried this? it's hard but very much possible) Others heard the secret within the sound of the leaf and it spreads from there.
Now the tree stumps, leaf-less tress, and weird caves makes more sense I hope?
Tweet
.jpg)
