Page:Danish fairy and folk tales.djvu/150

 's equipment she was not at all pleased, but wept, and asked, plaintively, how they would now obtain their bread and butter, since he had received no money for the turf. Her husband did his best to comfort her, saying that in a little while they would have all that they needed, for now he had decided to take up a doctor's profession. He put on the mantle and the doctor's hat, and with the long pipe dangling from between his teeth he sat from morning to night reading diligently in the large doctor-book. He looked exactly like a real doctor; no one would notice the slightest difference; but, nevertheless, no one came to consult him. Thinking the reason might be that no one knew of him, he at length decided to place a sign above his door stating, "Here lives the Greatest Doctor in the World," as he was sure this would at once turn the general attention towards him. He began to paint these letters on an old board. But as he had a very faint idea of writing—in fact, this was the first time he had ever tried the art—he wrote instead, "Here lives the Greatest Detective in the World."

A few days afterwards the king happened to pass the house of the "Greatest Detective." "What in all the world is written on that sign?" said he, despatching one of his servants over to examine it closely. The servant reported that the sign advertised the greatest detective in the world. "Well," said the king, "I shall remember him and employ his services some day."