There were once three army surgeons who believed they had mastered the art of surgery completely. While traveling, they stopped at an inn for the night.
The innkeeper asked about their journey. "We travel and live by our skill," they replied. "Show me," challenged the innkeeper. The first boasted he could cut off his hand and reattach it perfectly by morning. The second claimed he could tear out his heart and restore it. The third vowed to gouge out his eyes and have them heal upon replacement. "If you can do that," said the innkeeper, "you have nothing left to learn."
They possessed a miraculous ointment that could heal any wound. As promised, they removed the hand, heart, and eyes, placed them on a plate, and gave it to the innkeeper. He entrusted it to a maid, instructing her to store it safely in the larder.
Unbeknownst to him, the maid had a soldier for a sweetheart. That night, while everyone slept, the soldier visited for food. Distracted by love, the maid left the larder door open. As they chatted, a cat crept in, stole the surgeons' organs, and ran off.
Discovering the loss, the maid panicked. The soldier devised a plan: he cut the right hand from a hanged thief, gouged out the cat's eyes, and fetched a pig's heart from the cellar. The maid placed these substitutes on the plate.
In the morning, the surgeons used their ointment to reattach the parts. The innkeeper watched in awe, praising their unparalleled skill. They paid and departed.
Soon, strange behaviors emerged. The one with the pig's heart rooted in filth like a swine. The one with cat's eyes saw poorly in daylight but spotted tiny movements in the dark. The one with the thief's hand stole compulsively.
Realizing they had received wrong organs, they returned to the inn. The maid had fled. The surgeons threatened to burn the place down unless compensated. The terrified innkeeper gave them all his wealth. Though set for life, they still longed for their original parts.