"The Three Army Surgeons" (KHM 118, ''Die drei Feldscherer'') is a

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Synopsis

Three traveling army surgeons perform surgery on themselves to impress an innkeeper. After removing their own organs, they will put them back in the morning. One cuts off his hand, one cuts out his

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and one removes his own eyes. During the night a girl working at the inn has a visit from her lover, a soldier. She gives him some food from the cupboard that is holding the organs. The cat comes and takes the organs. After seeing the organs gone, she tells the soldier. He goes to the gallows and cuts the correct hand off a thief and brings it to her. He then gets the heart of a pig and eyes of a cat. In the morning the doctors re-attach the missing members using a

salve A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the surface of the body. Medical uses Magnesium sulphate paste is used as a drawing salve to treat small boils and infected wounds and to remove 'draw' small splinters. Black ointment, or Ichthyol ...

they carry with them. After going on the road again one doctor could not see with his reinstalled eyes and had the others guide him. Another doctor started rooting around in the dirt. When they reached another inn the third doctor found he could not help stealing. After traveling back to the original inn they found the girl had fled seeing their approach. They threatened to burn down the inn unless the innkeeper make reparations. He paid them enough to retire, though they still wanted their original organs back.

In modern fiction

Doctor Swineheart in the ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral ...

'' comic book is one of the three surgeons. He boasts about being the best

field surgeon A combat medic, or healthcare specialist, is responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury ...

in the world. Swineheart also plays a role in the related video game,

The Wolf Among Us ''The Wolf Among Us'' is an episodic graphic mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's ''Fables'' comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were re ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Army Surgeons Grimms' Fairy Tales German fairy tales Fictional trios Fictional physicians Fictional military medical personnel ATU 650-699