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Doctor Knowall
DOCTOR KNOWALL
There was once upon a time a poor peasant called Crabb, who drove with
two oxen a load of wood to the town, and sold it to a doctor for two
talers. When the money was being counted out to him, it so happened
that the doctor was sitting at table, and when the peasant saw how
well he ate and drank, his heart desired what he saw, and would
willingly have been a doctor too. So he remained standing a while, and
at length inquired if he too could not be a doctor. 'Oh, yes,' said
the doctor, 'that is soon managed.' 'What must I do?' asked the
peasant. 'In the first place buy yourself an A B C book of the kind
which has a cock on the frontispiece; in the second, turn your cart
and your two oxen into money, and get yourself some clothes, and
whatsoever else pertains to medicine; thirdly, have a sign painted for
yourself with the words: "I am Doctor Knowall," and have that nailed
up above your house-door.' The peasant did everything that he had been
told to do. When he had doctored people awhile, but not long, a rich
and great lord had some money stolen. Then he was told about Doctor
Knowall who lived in such and such a village, and must know what had
become of the money. So the lord had the horses harnessed to his
carriage, drove out to the village, and asked Crabb if he were Doctor
Knowall. Yes, he was, he said. Then he was to go with him and bring
back the stolen money. 'Oh, yes, but Grete, my wife, must go too.' The
lord was willing, and let both of them have a seat in the carriage,
and they all drove away together. When they came to the nobleman's
castle, the table was spread, and Crabb was told to sit down and eat.
'Yes, but my wife, Grete, too,' said he, and he seated himself with
her at the table. And when the first servant came with a dish of
delicate fare, the peasant nudged his wife, and said: 'Grete, that was
the first,' meaning that was the servant who brought the first dish.
The servant, however, thought he intended by that to say: 'That is the
first thief,' and as he actually was so, he was terrified, and said to
his comrade outside: 'The doctor knows all: we shall fare ill, he said
I was the first.' The second did not want to go in at all, but was
forced. So when he went in with his dish, the peasant nudged his wife,
and said: 'Grete, that is the second.' This servant was equally
alarmed, and he got out as fast as he could. The third fared no
better, for the peasant again said: 'Grete, that is the third.' The
fourth had to carry in a dish that was covered, and the lord told the
doctor that he was to show his skill, and guess what was beneath the
cover. Actually, there were crabs. The doctor looked at the dish, had
no idea what to say, and cried: 'Ah, poor Crabb.' When the lord heard
that, he cried: 'There! he knows it; he must also know who has the
money!'
On this the servants looked terribly uneasy, and made a sign to the
doctor that they wished him to step outside for a moment. When
therefore he went out, all four of them confessed to him that they had
stolen the money, and said that they would willingly restore it and
give him a heavy sum into the bargain, if he would not denounce them,
for if he did they would be hanged. They led him to the spot where the
money was concealed. With this the doctor was satisfied, and returned
to the hall, sat down to the table, and said: 'My lord, now will I
search in my book where the gold is hidden.' The fifth servant,
however, crept into the stove to hear if the doctor knew still more.
But the doctor sat still and opened his A B C book, turned the pages
backwards and forwards, and looked for the cock. As he could not find
it immediately he said: 'I know you are there, so you had better come
out!' Then the fellow in the stove thought that the doctor meant him,
and full of terror, sprang out, crying: 'That man knows everything!'
Then Doctor Knowall showed the lord where the money was, but did not
say who had stolen it, and received from both sides much money in
reward, and became a renowned man.
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