Once upon a time there was a poor peasant by the name of Crab who drove two oxen with a load of wood into town where he sold it to a doctor for two thalers. He received his money just as the doctor was sitting down to eat. When the peasant saw how well the doctor ate and drank, his heart took a longing for the same things, and he decided that he would like to have been a doctor. He stood there for a while, and then asked if he too could not become a doctor.

    "Certainly," said the doctor, "in no time at all."

    "What do I have to do?" asked the peasant.

    First of all, buy yourself an ABC-book, one that has a picture of a rooster up front. Second, sell your wagon and your two oxen and buy yourself some clothing and other things that doctors use. Third, have yourself a sign painted with the words 'I am Doctor Know-All' and nail it above the door to your house."

    The peasant did everything he was told to do. After he had doctored a little —— but not very much —— some money was stolen from a great and wealthy nobleman. Someone told him about the Doctor Know-All who lived in such and such a village, and who must know where the money had gone. So the nobleman had his carriage hitched up, rode out to the village, and asked him if he were Doctor Know-All.

    "Yes, that I am."

    "Then you must come with me and recover my stolen money."

    "Yes, but my wife Grete must come along too."

    The nobleman agreed and had them take their places in his carriage. They rode away together.

    They arrived at the nobleman's court just at mealtime, and the nobleman invited him to eat.

    "Yes, but include my wife Grete," he replied, and the two of them sat down behind the table.

    When the first servant brought out a platter of fine food the peasant nudged his wife and said, "Grete, that's the first one," meaning the meal's first course.

    However, the servant thought that he meant, "That's the first thief," and because that is indeed what he was, he took fright, and outside he said to his comrades, "The doctor knows everything. It's going to go badly for us. He said that I'm the first one."

    The second one did not want to go inside at all, but finally he had to, and when he entered, the peasant nudged his wife and said, "Grete, that's the second one."

    This servant took fright as well, and went outside. It did not go any better for the third one. Once again the peasant said, "Grete, that's the third one."

    The fourth one brought in a covered platter, and the nobleman told the doctor that he should demonstrate his art by guessing what it contained. It was crabs. The peasant looked at the platter, and seeing no way out of his dilemma, he said to himself, "Oh, poor Crab!"

    Hearing this, the nobleman called out, "If he knows that then he must know who has the money as well!"

    The servant grew very fearful and motioned to the doctor to go outside. There all four of them confessed to him that they had stolen the money. They offered to give it all to him and a handsome sum in addition, if he would not turn them in. Otherwise they would all hang. They showed him where the money was hidden. The doctor was satisfied with this, and he went back inside and sat down again at the table.

    "My lord," he said, "Now I will look in my book to see where the money is hidden.

    However, the fifth servant climbed into the stove in order to hear if the doctor knew anything else. The doctor leafed back and forth in his book looking for the picture of the rooster. Not finding it, he said, "I know that you are in there. Come on out."

    The man in the stove thought that the doctor was talking to him, and terrified, he jumped out, saying, "The man knows everything!"

    Then Doctor Know-All showed the nobleman where the money was, but he did not tell who had stolen it. Thus he received a large reward from each side and became a famous man. 

    從前有一個貧窮的農(nóng)夫名叫螃蟹，趕著兩頭牛拉了一車木頭進(jìn)城，以二個金幣的價格將木頭賣給了一個大夫。大夫一邊給他點錢，一邊坐在桌旁吃飯，農(nóng)夫看見大夫的飯菜如此豐盛，從內(nèi)心感到羨慕，心想如果自己也是大夫該多好。他站在那里楞了一會兒，終於不好意思地問他是否也能當(dāng)一名大夫。

    「噢，可以，」大夫說：「那很好辦。」「我該作甚么？」農(nóng)夫接著問。「首先買一本卷首有一只公雞的入門書；然后將你的牛車和兩頭牛換成錢，給自己買些衣服和隨便一些與醫(yī)藥有關(guān)的物品；最后做一塊招牌上面寫著：'我是萬事通大夫，'釘在你的門上邊。」農(nóng)夫照此作好了一切，便開始行醫(yī)治病。時間不長，有一個大財主的錢財被盜，聽說在某某村莊有個萬事通大夫，他想他一定知道被盜的錢財在哪里。於是大財主套上馬車，驅(qū)車奔向那個村莊，問螃蟹是不是萬事通大夫。沒錯，我就是，他答道。財主邀請他同去把被偷盜的錢財找回來。「噢，可以，可是我的老婆，革里特也必須去。'」財主同意了，請他們二人上車，一同上了路。當(dāng)他們到了那位大人物的豪宅時，餐桌已經(jīng)擺好，螃蟹被邀請入座就餐。「好吧，可是我的老婆，革里特也得入座呀。」他說，然后和他的老婆一塊坐在了桌旁。這時第一個仆人端著一盤精美的菜餚進(jìn)來，農(nóng)夫用胳膊肘推了他老婆一下說：「革里特，這是第一個。」他的意思是這是第一道菜。然而那個仆人卻以為是說：「這是第一個賊。」實際上他就是賊，所以他十分害怕，跟外邊的同夥說：「大夫全都知道，我們可要倒霉啦，他說我是第一個。」第二個不敢進(jìn)來了，可是他不得不進(jìn)來。當(dāng)他端著菜進(jìn)來時，農(nóng)夫用胳膊肘推了他老婆一下說：「革里特，這是第二個。」這個仆人同樣嚇得不輕，馬上抽身出來了。第三個也是被嚇得心驚肉跳，因為農(nóng)夫又說了聲：「革里特，這是第三個。」第四個端著一個蓋著蓋子的盤子，財主請大夫顯示一下他的才能，猜猜蓋子底下是甚么。盤子里裝的是螃蟹。大夫盯著盤子看，可是實在不知說甚么好，他哀歎道：「唉，可憐的螃蟹呀。」財主一聽就大喊：「太棒啦！他知道里面是甚么，他一定也知道錢在哪兒！」

    看到這一切，仆人們的神色格外緊張，他們暗示大夫能不能出去一小會兒。於是他就出去了，四個仆人都坦白說是他們偷了錢，并且許諾如果他不揭發(fā)他們，他們愿意將錢還回而且給他一大筆錢作為酬謝，否則他們會被絞死。他們帶他到了藏錢的地方。他胸有成竹地回到大廳，在桌旁落座后說道：「我的老爺，現(xiàn)在我要從我的書中查找藏金子的地方。」這時，第五個仆人爬進(jìn)壁爐里想聽聽大夫還知道些甚么。可是大夫坐著一動不動，打開他的入門書，將書頁來回翻著，尋找那只公雞。由於一時找不著，他就說：「我知道你就在那兒，所以你最好是自己出來！」那位在壁爐里的老兄誤認(rèn)為大夫是指他，真是驚恐萬分，一下子跳了出來，使勁嚷：「那個人真是神掐妙算，無所不知！」這時萬事通大夫告訴了財主藏錢的地方，卻沒有告訴他是誰偷的，結(jié)果雙方都給了他酬金，他也由此成了名人。