The 48 Laws Of Power

Acourt-—-inthiscasetheentireworldof

diplomats

andinternational

statesmen,

andalsoofthe

journalists

whocourtthem--isa

place

ofmutual

dependence.

Itis

unwisetoinsultorolifendthetasteof

people

of

power,

evenif

they

are

below

or

equal

to

you.

If

3.manlikeChurchillcanswallow

thecriticismsofamanlike

Luce,

he

proves

himselfacourtierwithout

peer.

(Perhaps

hiscorrectionofthe

paintingimplied

acertaincondescensionas

well,but

hediditso

subtly

that

Lucedidnot

perceiveanyslight.)

lmitate

Churchill:

Putinthe

sheep.

Itis

always

beneficial

to

play

the

obliging

courtier,

evenwhen

you

arenot

serving

amaster.

THEDELEGATEGAMEOFCOURTIERSHIP:A

Warning

Talleyraud

was

theconsummate

courtier,

especially

in

serving

hismaster

Napoleon.

When thetwomen werefirst

getting

toknoweach

other,

Napoleon

oncesaidin

passing,

“Ishallcometolunchat

your

houseoneof

these

days.”Talleyrancl

hadahouse

at

Auteuil,

in

thesuburbsofParis.“I

should

be

delighted,

man

général,”

the minister

replied,

“andsince

my

houseisclosetotheBoisde

Boulogne,you

willbeabletoamuse

yourself

withabitof

shooting

intheafternoon.”

“Idonotlike

shooting,”

said

Napoleon,

“But

Ilove

hunting.

Arethere

any

boarsintheBoisde

Boulogne?”Napoleon

came

from

Corsica,

where

boar

hunting

wasa

greatsport.Byasking

iftherewereboarsinatParis

park,

heshowedhimselfstilla.

provincial,

almostatube.

Talleyrand

didnot

laugh,however,

buthecouldnotresista

practicaljoke

onthemanwho

wasnowhismasterin

politics,although

notinbloodand

nobility,

since

Talleyrand

camefromanoldaristocratic

family.

To

Napoleorfsquestion,

then,

he

simplyreplied,“Very

few,

man

généml,

butI

dare

sayyou

will

man-

age

tofindone.”

Itwas

arranged

that

Napoleon

wouldarriveat

Talleyrand’s

housethe

followingday

atsevenAM.

andwould

spend

the

morning

there.The“boar

hunt”

wouldtake

place

in

theafternoon.

Throughout

the

morning

theex-

cited

general

talked

nothing

butboar

hunting.

Meanwhile,

Talleyrand

see

cretly

hadhisservants

go

tothe

market,

buy

twoenormousblack

pigs,

and

takethemtothe

great

park.

After

lunch,

thehuntersand theirhounds setoffforthe Bois de

Boulogne.

Atasecret

signal

from

Talleyrand,

theservantsloosedoneofthe

pigs.

“Iseea

boar,”

Napoleon

cried

joyfully,

jumping

ontohishorseto

give

chase.

Talleyrandstayed

behind.Ittookhalfanhourof

gallopingthrough

the

park

beforethe“boat”was

finallycaptured.

Atthemomentof

triumph,

however,

Napoleon

was

approachedby

oneofhis

aides,

whoknewthe

creaturecouldnot

possibly

be

at

boar,

and

fearedthe

general

wouldbe

ridiculed

oncethe

storygot

out:

“Sir,”

hetold

Napoleon,“you

realizeof

coursethatthisisnotabearbuta

pig.”

Flying

intoa

rage,Napoleonimmediately

setoffata

gallop

forTal-

leyrand’s

house.

He

realized

along

the

way

thathewouldnowbethebutt

of

many

a

joke,

andthat

exploding

at

Talleyrand

would

only

makehim

LAW 24

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