A concluding adventure is sometimes added to version c, "Juan
the Guesser." King and queen of another country visit palace of
Juan's father-in-law and want their newly-born child baptized. Juan
is selected to be godfather. When called upon to sign the baptism
certificate, he instantly dies of shame, pen in hand: he cannot write
even his own name.





A connection between our story and Europe at once suggests
itself. "Dr. Knowall" (Grimm, No. 98) is perhaps the best-known,
though by no means the fullest, Western version. Bolte and Polivka
(2 [1915] : 402) give the skeleton of the cycle as follows:--

A1 A peasant with the name of Crab (Cricket, Rat), who buys a
physician's costume and calls himself Dr. Knowall, or (A2) who would
like to satiate himself once with three days' eating, (B) discovers
the thieves who have stolen from a distinguished gentleman a ring
(treasure), by calling out upon the entrance of the servants (or at
the end of the three days), "That is the first (second, third)!" (C)
He also guesses what is in the covered dish (or closed hand) while
commiserating himself, "Poor Crab (Cricket, Rat)!" (D1) Through
a purgative he by chance helps to find a stolen horse, or (D2) he
discovers the horse that has previously been concealed by him. (E) He
gets a living among the peasants, upon whom he has made an impression
with a short or unintelligible sermon or through the crashing-down
of the pulpit, which has previously been sawed through by him.