A Pair of Mustachios
The moneylender's moustache
Describe the two men and how the moneylender turns the quarrel into business.
In a village lives Seth Ramanand, a grocer and moneylender. He has grown rich by buying crops cheaply from struggling peasants, and lending money at high interest.
As his wealth grows, so does his pride. He twists the tips of his goat moustache upwards, until it looks almost like a tiger moustache.
Nearby, in an old, ruined house, lives Khan Azam Khan. He is very proud of his noble Afghan family, but he has become very poor. His tiger moustache is all that is left of his family's glory.
One day the Khan comes to pawn his wife's nose-ring at the moneylender's shop. There he sees the moneylender's upturned moustache, and angrily orders him to turn the tips down: a mere shopkeeper has no right to a tiger moustache.
Calmly, Ramanand lowers one tip, buys the nose-ring cheaply, and keeps the other tip up. He promises to lower it 'next time'.
Ramanand stays calm and keeps gaining; the Khan's anger makes him easy to handle.
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