Doctor Know-All

Arthur Rackham

The Tale

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.

Discussion Points

This is a lovely little tale about the power of appearances. Crab is nothing but a poor peasant. But all it takes is a book, some nice clothes, a fancy sign and luck to turn him into famous Doctor Know-All. He becomes something by making people believe he is something.

Let's first take a look at the objects the doctor tells him to require:

-An ABC book with a rooster on the front: I'm assuming this is a letters or alphabet book. Basically, anyone who can read would be able to tell in an instance that the book was a sham and Crab didn't know anything. But in a time when barely anyone could read (probably including Crab) it really didn't matter what book it was. Of course, the noble could probably tell what the book actually was, but no one asks questions of a man who's already considered a “Know- All”. Any book is needed to build up a reputation amongst the simple minded. Once the reputation is strong, an unexpectedly simply book would probably only add mystery to Doctor Know-All.

-Nice clothing: physical appearance is everything. If a man in peasant's clothing claimed to be a doctor the best he could hope for would be for people stick to laughing and not throw rotten vegetables his way. But once he has a nice suit and looks respectable, people will immediately treat him as such. As much as we might hate to admit it and wish people would look deeper than the clothes we wear, the fact of life is that first impressions are made by appearances. And Crab is only looking to make an impression.

-A Sign: once he has the book and the clothes, all Crab has to do is stick a sign outside his door to let people know what they are supposed to think. No one would come into Crab's house and come to the conclusion that he knew everything simply because he's wearing nice clothing. But the moment Crab tells them what they're supposed to find and what they do find matches their expectations, they have no reason not to believe him.

Of course, some extra proof is necessary in order for the sham to hold. If Crab never proved he knew anything (let alone everything), his reputation would die at once. This is probably why the tale had to point out that the noble had come after Crab had only been working for a short time. Luck had probably carried him this far, and while it can't last forever, Crab only really needed it to last until he got another opportunity.

From: "Doctor All-Knowing"
Illustrated by: Alexandra Boiger

Crab had a lot of luck in the nobleman's estate. He obviously had no idea what was going on but somehow said the right things at the right moment. I think a lot of his success has to do with his reputation. If the thieves hadn't expected him to know everything they wouldn't have interpreted his words as they had. There were probably quite a few other things he could have said that would have had the thieves thinking he had found them out. So his reputation as Doctor Know-All was in a way a self- fulfilling title. Because of the name, people believed he knew it all, and because they believed it he came off as knowing it all. The reputation supplied the proof of itself. This is the power of society's opinion. It didn't matter if Crab actually knew nothing. He managed to convince people he knew everything and reaped the reward, I wouldn't even call it unfairly.

The last thing I want to point out is Crab's character. He doesn't in any way come off as money hungry, power hungry or even as a trickster. He doesn't act out of lust or greed. He simply longs for a few simple comforts such as good food or drink and at the end he is satisfied by what he gets. He doesn't feel the need to abuse his reputation. He doesn't forget about his wife, even when a nobleman invites him over and gives her the place of honor rather than taking it for himself. Neither does he feel the need to tell the king who the thieves are. After all, they can do their trickery while he continues to do his, no need to make a big fuss out of anything or get anyone in trouble. He stays a simple man from beginning till end, as not many who move up a station in life do. This makes him a very likable character in my eyes.

What do you think? Do you like Crab as well or do you think it's not right for him to trick everyone? Does that fact that society lets itself be tricked so easily justify Crab tricking them? Or is reputation, whether it's really you or not, just part of life?

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