The Three Army-Surgeons (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The surgeons challenge and magical preparation
Three army-surgeons traveled the world, confident in their medical abilities. They arrived at an inn seeking lodging for the night. When the innkeeper asked about their destination and origins, they explained they were wandering and practicing their craft.
The innkeeper requested a demonstration of their skills. The first surgeon offered to cut off his hand and reattach it by morning, the second proposed to tear out his heart and replace it, while the third claimed he could cut out his eyes and heal them overnight. The surgeons possessed a magical salve that could rejoin severed parts, which they carried in a small bottle.
The servants mistake and the substituted parts
Then they cut the hand, heart and eyes from their bodies as they had said they would, and laid them all together on a plate, and gave it to the innkeeper.
The innkeeper entrusted the plate to a servant girl, instructing her to store it safely in the cupboard. However, the girl had a secret lover who was a soldier.
When everyone was asleep, the soldier came seeking food. The girl opened the cupboard to serve him but forgot to close it afterward. As they sat together chatting, a cat crept in and discovered the open cupboard.
While she sat so contentedly there, thinking of no ill luck, the cat came creeping in, found the cupboard open, took the hand and heart and eyes... and ran off with them.
When the girl discovered the empty plate, she panicked and confessed to her lover. The soldier quickly devised a solution. He went to the gallows and cut off the right hand of a hanged thief, then killed the cat and removed its eyes. For the heart, he fetched one from a pig in the cellar. The girl placed these substitute parts on the plate and returned it to the cupboard.
Strange behaviors and uncontrollable urges
In the morning, the surgeons requested their body parts. The girl brought the plate from the cupboard, and each surgeon reattached their respective organ using the magical salve. The first fixed the thief's hand to his arm, the second inserted the cat's eyes into his head, and the third placed the pig's heart in his chest. The innkeeper marveled at their skill and promised to recommend them to others.
After paying their bill, the surgeons departed, but strange behaviors soon manifested. The surgeon with the pig's heart constantly ran to corners and rooted around with his nose like a pig. His companions tried restraining him, but he broke free and sought out the dirtiest places.
The second surgeon complained that he could not see properly and needed guidance to avoid falling. At their next inn, they encountered a rich man counting money. The surgeon with the thief's hand found himself compulsively reaching for the money pile.
'Eh,' said he, 'but how can I stop myself? My hand twitches, and I am forced to snatch things whether I will or not.'
That night, the surgeon with cat's eyes awakened his companions, claiming he could see white mice running about in the darkness, though the others saw nothing in the pitch-black room.
The return and demand for compensation
Realizing something was wrong, the surgeons returned to the first inn and confronted the innkeeper. They explained that they had not received their proper organs back - one had a thief's hand, another cat's eyes, and the third a pig's heart. When the innkeeper tried to summon the servant girl, they discovered she had fled through the back door upon seeing them approach. The surgeons threatened to burn down the inn unless they received substantial compensation for their predicament.
It was enough for the rest of their lives, but they would rather have had their own proper organs.