The 48 Laws Of Power

llll‘.\i1)\K|-ZV«‘l\|5

'lHI-(',,\'l

A

monkey

and

cat,

in

ruguery

and

fun

Swornbrothel-,9twain.

lmzhowneda(‘L’)iI7II1(lI’I

masten

Wlmtever

mischief

in

thelttmsewasdonut

ByPug

andTom

wascrmtriverlcarh

dimstur..

4

.

Onewinter's

day

was

seenthis

hopefulpair

Closeinmekitchen

fire,

as

usual,

posted.

Amongst

therr-d-hot

rrmrlvthecookwith

rare

Hm!

plat,

‘(Isornr‘nice

plump

chesmuia‘tobe

rrI(1.s‘l:’€(¥’.

Fromwhencein.vmvke

a

pmzgerir

odorrI).§'€,

Whose

oziy/'ragraru:o

struck

the

rmmkuy

‘.9

t1()A‘¢¢.

“'l‘om!"suy.vslyl’u},*.

"pray

amidnot

you

and!

Sharethisdessertthe

mukis

jrluzsed

to

cater?

HadI.\'H('}:clawsas

yours.

l'r1'

quickly‘try:

I4‘.',1l}mea!IamI——‘1wi1I

bea

coup—rie—rnaitre.

“

Sosaid.heseizedhis

colleaguesreadypaw,

Puller!ourthe

fruit,

:2()6 LAW 26

PART

II:

MAKEUSEOFTHECAT’S»l’AVV

In

thefable,

the

Monkey

grabs

the

pawof

his

friend,

the

Cat,

andusesitto

fish

chestnutsout

of

the

fire,

thus

getting

thenutshe

craves,

withouthurt-

inghimself

If

thereis

somethingunpleasant

or

unpopular

thatneedstobe

done,

it

is

for

too

riskyforyou

todothework

yourself

Youneedan

catty-{Jaw-—

someonewhodoesthe

dirty,dangerous

work

foryou.

Thecat

’5«pawgrabs

what

you

need,

hurtswhom

you

need

hurt,

and

keeps

people

from

noticing

that

you

aretheone

responsible.

Letsomeoneelsebethe

executioner

orthe

bearer

ofhad

news,

while

you

bringzmlyjoy

and

gladtidings.

OBSERVANCE

OFTHE

LAVV

I

In

59

B.C.,

thefuture

queenCleopatra

of

Egypt,

thenten

years

old,

wit~

nessedtheoverthrowandbanishmentofher

father,

Ptolemy

XII,

atthe

hand of his elder

daughters-«her

own sisters. Oneofthe

daughters,

Berenice,

emerged

astheleaderofthe

rebellion,

andtoensurethatshe

wouldnowrule

Egypt

alone,

she

imprisoned

herothersistersand

mur-

deredherownhusband.This

may

havebeen

necessary

asa

practical

step

tosecureherrule.Butthatamemberofthe

royalfamily,

a

queen

no

less,

wouldso

overtly

exactsuchviolenceonherown

family

horrifiedhersub-

jects

andstirred

uppowerfulopposition.

Four

years

laterthis

opposition

was

abletoreturn

Ptolemy

to

power,

and

he

promptly

hadBereniceand

the

othereldersistersbeheaded.

In 51 B.C.

Ptolemy

died,

leaving

four

remaining

childrenasheirs.As

wasthetraditionin

Egypt,

theeldest

son,

Ptolemy

XIII

(only

tenatthe

time),

marriedtheelder

sister,

Cleopatra

(now

eighteen),

and

the

couple

tookthe

throne

together

as

king

and

queen.

Noneofthefourchildrenfelt

satisfiedwith

this;

everyone,includingCleopatra,

wantedmore

power.

A

struggleemerged

between

Cleopatra

and

Ptolemy,

earl:

trying

to

push

the

othertotheside.

In 48

15.0.,

withthe

help

ofa

government

faction

that

feared

Cleopa-

tra’s

ambitions,

Ptolemy

was

abletoforcehissisterto fleethe

country,

leaving

himselfassoleruler.In

exile,

Cleopatra

schemed.Shewantedto

rulealoneandtorestore

Egypt

toits

pastglory,

a

goal

shefeltnoneofher

other

siblings

could

achieve;

yet

as

long

as

they

were

alive,

shecouldnot

realize

herdream.Andthe

example

ofBerenice

had

madeit

clear

thatno

onewouldservea

queen

whowas

seen

murdering

herownkind.Even

Ptolemy

XIIIhadnotdaredmurder

Cleopatra,although

heknewshe

would

plotagainst

himfromabroad.

Withina

year

after

Cleopatra’s

banishment,

theRomandictator

Julius

Caesararrivedin

Egypt,

determinedtomakethe

country

a

Roman

colony.

Cleopatra

sawher

chance:

ReenteringEgypt

in

disguise,

shetraveledhun-

dredsofmilestoreachCaesarinAlexandria.

Legend

hasitthatshehad