Milk

[Abhidevananda]

The milkman came to the door of a house and inquired if any milk was
required. The lady of the house asked the price, and the milkman
replied that it is 10 lira per liter.

The woman thought to herself: If he is asking for 10 lira per liter, I
should be able to bargain him down to 8. So she told the milkman, "You
are asking for 10 lira, but another milkman comes by selling his milk
for 8 lira."

The milkman said, "Today, buy the milk for 10 lira, and tomorrow I will
sell to you for 8." The woman agreed.

By the next day when the milkman arrived, she was already having second
thoughts: The milkman accepted the price of 8 lira quite readily; that
means I could have gotten the milk for even less. So she told the
milkman, "You are asking for 8 lira, but another milkman has come by
selling his milk for 6 lira."

The milkman said, "Today, buy the milk for 8 lira, and tomorrow I will
sell to you for 6." The woman agreed.

The next day, when the milkman arrived, he found her still unsatisfied.
She said: "You are asking for 6 lira, but I have found yet another
milkman who can sell to me for 4 lira."

The milkman answered, "Today, buy the milk for 6 lira, and tomorrow I
will sell to you for 4. But I must warn you that at 4 lira per liter it
becomes very difficult to keep the milk white."