Once there was a pretty girl, but she was idle and negligent. When she had to spin, she was so out of temper that if there was a little knot in the flax, she at once pulled out a whole heap of it and strewed it about on the ground beside her. Now she had a servant who was industrious, and gathered together the bits of flax that were thrown away, cleaned them, span them fine, and had a beautiful gown made out of them for herself.
A young man had wooed the lazy girl, and the wedding was to take place. On the eve of the wedding, the industrious one was dancing merrily about in her pretty dress.
The bride said, "Ah, how that girl does jump about, dressed in my odds and ends.*"
The bridegroom heard it and asked the bride what she meant by it? Then she told him that the girl was wearing a dress make of flax that she had thrown away. When the bridegroom heard that and saw how idle she was and how industrious the poor girl was, he gave up his lazy bride and went to the other and chose her as his wife.
*Odds and ends = remnants, hards (of flax).
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There was once on 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 thalers. 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 daintily he ate and drank, his heart desired what he saw, and he 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 whatever 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 put in 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 Grethe, 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, Grethe, 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, "Grethe, 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, "Grethe, that is the second."
This servant was just as much alarmed, and he got out. The third did not fare better, for the peasant again said, "Grethe, 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. 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 knew it was a crab beneath the cover. I guess he will find out who has the money to!"
On this the servants looked terribly uneasy, and made a sign to the doctor that they wished him to step outside for a moment. So when he went out, all four of them confessed to him that they had stolen the money and that they would willingly restore it if he would not tell their lord about them, for in that case they would be hanged.
They led him to the spot where the money was hidden. 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. The Doctor, however, 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 at once he said, "I know you are there, so you had better show yourself."
Then the fellow in the stove thought that the doctor meant him, and full of terror, sprang out, crying, "That man knows everything!" Then Dr. Knowall showed the count where the money was, and received much money in reward, and became a renowned man.
[Retold]
