In our town there were three men named Ezrialke: Ezrialke the butcher, Ezrialke the hardware man and Ezrialke the watchmaker.
The eldest among them was Ezrialke the butcher. He was a Jew about sixty years of age, medium height, broad shoulders, with a very heavy, quick step. In spite of his sixty years, he could still lift up a heavy side of meat by himself.
Ezrialke's butcher shop was the first one in a row of seven butcher shops in town. He was a very angry person. If a woman came in and complained that a piece of meat that he sold her was not to her liking, he would curse her roundly. Even so, the knowledgeable housewives still would come to Ezrialke to buy their meat. The Jews and non-Jews that would come to the village knew that if they had a fine cow or other high quality livestock, that he would buy it for his shop. If one would think that by going to another shop he would make a better deal, after going to all the other shops, he would return to Ezrialke's.
This is the reason that all the housewives knew that if they would need to buy a really good piece of meat, or first-cut of breast, or a pancreas that would melt in your mouth, that they would have to come to Ezrialke's establishment. This, in spite of the fact that many of them swore ten times that they would not set foot in his place.
The second Ezrialke, a hardware merchant, was a businessman. A young man about thirty-five years old, who's business went very well for him and was well on his way to becoming a rich Jew. His ambition was to become a leader of the town and therefore he never missed a meeting and always made himself heard. He bought himself the best seat in the Trisker Bais Midrash, where the elections and meetings were held. He used to invite all the young people to his store and discussed politics with them. For instance, he would arrange debates between the Rabbi and Yonah the Shochet. The one who was losing was roundly criticized be Ezrialke, adding salt to the wounds. Therefore the townspeople had given him the name, Ezrialke the Shaigetz (roughneck).
The third Ezrialke, the watchmaker, was tall, and about the same age as Ezrialke the hardware merchant. In fact the two of them in their youth went to class together. However, he was a gentle and quiet person. He was the Mayor's aide, as well as the Gabbai of the Ruzhiner shull. But he would always be reluctant to tell the town how to run its business.
Once, on a Saturday night, Mr. Wolfe, the mayor called the leaders to his office for a meeting in order to arrange funding to clean up the marketplace. When Rachel, the watchmaker's wife, asked why he wasn't attending the meeting he responded that he thought that there would be a lot of quarreling, with each one wanting the other to give a higher amount while they would want to give only a small amount themselves. Therefore, he would be better off paying the amount that the group assessed, so long as he wouldn't have to argue with them. That was the reason that he didn't attend the meeting.
The meeting was, in fact, a rather noisy one and lasted well into the night. Of all the people there, Ezrialke the Shaigetz was the loudest. He truly had the opportunity to have himself seen and heard. He told everyone that they should pay a higher amount.
When it came the turn for Ezrialke the butcher, who also didn't attend, Ezrialke the hardware man announced that he should pay 25 Kerblechs for the following reason: The butcher would have no problem to pay it. Furthermore, a whole year he skins us, so now we have a chance to get even.
At this meeting, some of the other butchers were in attendance. They immediately brought this news to Ezrialke the butcher, including what the other Ezrialke had said about him. They were sure that he would understand that it was Ezrialke, the Shaigetz, since no one else would express himself that way.
The butcher understood it otherwise. Knowing that the meeting was called by Wolfe, the Mayor, he was sure that the Mayor's aide, Ezrialke the watchmaker was playing first fiddle (running the meeting). So when his friends told him what had occurred there, he took it for granted that Ezrialke the watchmaker had put him on the list to pay the money. He was burning mad.
Monday morning, Rachel the watchmaker's wife came into the butcher shop to purchase a piece of meat. She had barely stepped over the threshold of the store when Ezrialke the butcher, with a knife in his hand threw himself at her with wild curses. This would certainly have resulted in a great tragedy were it not for other people mixing in and holding him back.
The tumult brought the other butchers running to the store. They realized that it was all a misunderstanding by the butcher and straightened him out.
When the watchmaker's wife came home the poor thing opened up her bitter heart to her husband. For a long after this episode, he avoided taking any kind of position in the town.