The 48 Laws Of Power

SceneVIII

One

day,

for

amusement,

theItalianRenaissance

painter

Fra

FilippoLippi

(1406-1469)

andsomefriendswent

sailing

inasmallboat

offAncona.

There

they

were

capturedby

twoMoorish

galleys,

whichhauledthemoff

inchainsto

Barbary,

where

they

weresold

as

slaves.For

eighteenlong

months

Filippo

toiledwithno

hope

of

returning

to

Italy.

Onseveraloccasions

Filippo

sawthemanwhohad

bought

him

pass

by,

and

one

day

hedecidedto

sketch

thisman’s

portrait,using

burnt

coal~charcoal—fromthefire.Stillinhis

chains,

hefoundawhite

wall,

wherehedrewa

full—length

likenessofhisownerinMoorish

clothing.

The

ownersoonheardabout

this,

fornoonehadseensuchskillin

drawing

be-

foreinthese

parts;

itseemedlikea

miracle,

3.

gift

fromGod.The

drawing

so

pleased

theownerthatbe

instantlygaveFilippo

hisfreedomandem—

ployed

himinhis

court.

All

the

big

menonthe

Barbary

coastcameto

see

the

magnificent

color

portraits

thatFra

Filippo

then

proceeded

to

do,

and

finally,

in

gratitude

forthehonorinthis

waybroughtupon

him,

Filippcfs

ownerreturnedtheartist

safely

to

Italy.

lnterpretation

Wewhotoilforother

people

have

allinsome

way

been

capturedbypi-

ratesandsoldinto

slavery.

ButlikeFra

Filippo(if

toalesser

degree),

most

ofus

possess

some

gift,

some

talent,

an

ability

todo

something

betterthan

other

people.

Make

your

mastera

gift

of

your

talentsand

you

willrise

aboveothercourtiers.Lethimtakethecreditif

necessary,

itwill

only

be

temporary:

Usehimasa

stepping

stone,

a

way

of

displayingyour

talent

and

eventuallybuyingyour

freedomfromenslavernent.

SceneIX

AlfonsoIof

Aragon

oncehadaservantwhotoldthe

king

thatthe

night

beforehehadhadadream:Alfonsohad

given

him

a

gift

of

weapons,

horses,

andclothes.

Alfonso,

a

generous,lordly

man,

decideditwouldbe

amusing

tomakethisdreamcome

true,

and

promptly

gave

theservant

exactly

these

gifts.

Alittlewhile

later,

thesameservantannouncedtoAlfonsothathehad

had

yet

another

dream,

andinthis

one

Alfonso

had

given

hima

consider-

able

pile

of

gold

florins. The

king

smiledand

said,

“Don't believein

dreamsfromnow

on;

they

lie.”

interpretation

Inhistreatmentoftheservant’sfirst

dream,

Alfonsoremainedincontrol.

Bymaking

adreamcome

true,

he

claimed

a

godlikepower

for

himself,

if

inamildandhumorous

way.

Inthesecond

dream,however,

all

appear-

anceof

magic

was

gone;

thiswas

nothing

butan

ugly

con

game

ontheset»

vant’s

part.

Neveraskfortoo

much,

then,

andknowwhento

stop.

Itisthe

master’s
prerogative

to

give——togive

whenhewantsandwhathe

wants,

andtodosowithout

prompting.

Donot

give

himthechance

to

rejectyour

requests.

Bettertowinfavors

by

deserving

them,

sothat

they

arebestowed

without

yourasking.

LAW 24 157