The 48 Laws Of Power

Illl’|’l‘,/\."~‘A,'\'|»\'\l)

'I‘l||'.A|’|‘l -Tl{l}l'l

A

peasant

hadin

his

garden

an

apple-tree.

whichboreno
fruit,

but

only

servedas

a

perch

for

(he

sparrows‘

and

grasshoppers.

He

rc.wlvc'dtoourildown,

and,

taking

hisaxin

lmml,

madeahold

stmkreatitsroots.The

grasslxappzm

and

spar-

rowsemreatedhimnot

I!)cutdownthetree

that.\‘h€l((‘I’(,'d

them,

but

to

spare

it,

and

they

would

sing

(0himand

ltghlen

hislabors.He

paid

no

nrrmlzrm

I0

their

request,

bu!

gave

thetreeLlsecondand[1

thirdblowwithhisax.

WhenhereachedI/1e

hollow

Uflhetrue,

he

found

ahive

fullof

honey.Having

tasted

the

honeym11xb,

he

threwdownhis

ax,am},

looking

onthetreeas

sacred,

took

great

care

ofit.

.S'clf—tn1ere.s'r

alone

ntovessornemen.

I—'Am,r:s,

Air. P.

sixruCEl\'TURY 13 <:.

96

3

LAW 13

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

Inthe

early

fourteenth

century,

a

young

mannamedCastruccioCastracani

rosefromtherankofcommonsoldier

tobecomelordofthe

greatcity

of

Lucca,

Italy.

Oneofthemost

powerful

familiesin

the

city,

the

Poggios,

hadbeeninstrumentalinhisclimb

(which

succeeded

throughtreachery

and

bloodshed),

butafterhecameto

power,they

cametofeelhehadfor»

gotten

them.Hisambition

outweighedanygratitude

hefelt.In

1325,

while

Castruccio

was

awayfighting

Lucca’s

main

rival,Florence,

the

Poggios

conspired

withothernoblefamiliesinthe

city

to

ridthemselvesofthis

troublesomeandambitious

prince.

Mounting

an

insurrection,

the

plotters

attackedandmurderedthe

gov-

ernorwhomCastrucciohadleftbehindtorulethe

city.

Riotsbroke

out,

andtheCastmccio

supporters

andthe

Poggiosupporters

were

poised

todo

battle,Atthe

height

ofthe

tension,however,

Stefanodi

Poggio,

the

oldest

memberofthe

family,

intervened,

andmadebothsides

lay

downtheir

arms.

A

peaceful

man,

Stefanohadnottaken

part

inthe

conspiracy.

Hehad

toldhis

family

it

wouldend

inauselessbloodbath.Nowheinsistedhe

shouldintercede

onthe

family’s

behalfand

persuade

Castrucciotolistento

their

complaints

and

satisfy

theirdemands.Stefanowastheoldestandwis-

estmemberofthe

clan,

andhis

familyagreed

to

put

theirtrustinhis

diplcw

macy

ratherthanintheir

weapons.

Whennewsof

the

rebellionreached

Castruccio,

hehurriedbackto

Lucca.

By

thetimehe

arrived,however,

the

fighting

had

ceased,

through

Stefa.no’s

agency,

andhewas

surprisedby

the

city’s

calmand

peace.

Ste-

fanodi

Poggio

had

imagined

thatCastrucciowouldbe

grateful

tohimfor

his

part

in

quelling

the

rebellion,

sohe

paid

the

prince

avisit.He

explained

howhehad

broughtpeace,

then

begged

forCastruccio’s

mercy.

Hesaid

thattherebelsinhis

family

were

young

and

impetuous,hungry

for

power

yetinexperienced;

herecalledhis

family’spastgenerosity

to

Castzuccio.

Forallthese

reasons,

he

said,

the

greatprince

should

pardon

the

Poggios

andlistentotheir

complaints.

This,

he

said,

wasthe

onlyjust

thing

to

do,

sincethe

family

had

willingly

laiddowntheirarmsand had

alwayssup-

ported

him.

Castmcciolistened

patiently.

Heseemednotthe

slightest

bit

angry

or

resentful.

Instead,

hetoldStefanotorestassured

that

justice

would

prevail,

andheaskedhimto

bring

hisentire

family

tothe

palace

totalkovertheir

grievances

andcometoan

agreement.

As

they

tookleaveofone

another,

CastrucciosaidhethankedGodforthechancehehadbeen

given

toshow

his

clemency

andkindness.That

evening

the

entire

Poggiofamily

cameto

the

palace.

Castruccio

immediately

hadthem

imprisoned

andafew

days

laterallwere

executed,including

Stefano.

Interpretation

Stefano

di

Poggio

is

the

embodimentofallthosewhobelievethatthe

jus-

ticeand

nobility

oftheircausewill

prevail,Certainlyappeals

to

justice

and

gratitude

have

occasionally

succeededinthe

past,

butmoreoftenthannot