The Three Army Surgeons

Three surgeons of great skill travel together. They claim their medical knowledge is so profound that they can heal even the most terrible wounds. A king, testing their claims, has them each severed a hand, a leg, and an eye. He promises them great rewards if they can restore what he has taken. That night, the first surgeon restores his eye by pouring a potion into the socket, yet a pig's eye grows in place of his own. The second restores his hand, but it becomes a thief's hand that steals whenever it pleases. The third restores his leg, but it becomes a murderer's leg that kicks anyone nearby. The next morning, when the king examines them, they are whole in body but corrupted in spirit. The first surgeon, with a pig's eye, sees only filth and ugliness. The second, with a thief's hand, cannot help but steal. The third, with a murderer's leg, strikes without reason. The king realizes their devotion had been to their own pride in their skill, not to genuine healing. They are cast out. The story teaches that true devotion must be to something beyond the self—to God, to genuine healing, to service without vanity. These surgeons learned too late that pride in one's abilities separates us from true devotion.