Doctor Knowall

There was once upon a time a poor peasant called
Crabb, who drove with two oxen and 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 easily done.' ''What
must I do?" Asked the peasant.
"First buy yourself an A B C book of the kind
which has a cock on the frontispiece; second, sell your
cart and your two oxen, and get yourself some clothes,
and whatsoever else pertains to medicine; third, 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. After he had treated people a while, 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 was 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,' he said, and
he seated himself with her at the table. And when
the 􀃀 rst servant came with a dish of delicate fare, the
peasant nudged his wife, and said: 'Grete, that was
the 􀃀 rst,' meaning that was the servant who brought
the 􀃀 rst dish. The servant, however, thought he meant

to say: 'That is the 􀃀 rst thief,' and as he actually was
so, he was terri􀃀 ed, and said to his comrade outside:
'The doctor knows all: we shall fare ill, he said I was
the 􀃀 rst.' The second did not want to go in at all, but
was forced to. 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!'
At this the servants looked terribly uneasy, and
made a sign to the doctor that they wished him to
step outside for a moment. When 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 satis􀃀 ed, and
returned to the hall, sat down to the table, and said:
'My lord, now I will 􀃀 nd in my book where the gold
is hidden.' The 􀃀 fth servant, however, crept into the
stove to hear if the doctor knew 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 􀃀 nd 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.