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