The 48 Laws Of Power

mnszrrr

laugh

at

your

expen.w.

To.s‘u'm(:r:thzrir

('fl(‘klI‘,,

should

you

handout

rough

Pzinixhmmt?

Maybe

you

‘renor

.vtmn,g

mouglt.

Bauer

persuade

them

toattack

Samebolly

efxv,who

ammorethan

pay

iherrtback.

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1621-1695

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Amerrlmm

kip!

abird

ina

cage.

liewas

going

to

India,

me[mid

from

wliichshehirrl

zwmt’.

andaskeditwlwtiier/11:

maid

bringanyimng

back

for

2!.The

bird

{1$‘f((.’(l

for

in‘

frecdrml,

Innwas

refused.

Sohe

u.\‘l<cr!rimrm'rr/rantto

visit:1

jmlglt:

IllIndia

andannouncehis

caplivily

lothe

[rev

birdswhnwerethere.

Themnrtrhrlritrift]S17.

andno

.S‘(I(IHk'!’hadhe

sprxicm

wlmn:1wild

bird,

just

likehis

own.

fell

senselessno:

of

:1

macantothe

ground.

Timmerchant

Ilzoughr

thatthismustbyarole»

rive

afliix

ownbird,

und

/bl:

xmlrlmthe

slzouldhavemuralt/tis

detlrh.

Whenhe

got

home,

the

hm!a.i'k¢=zl'himwhrrtller

hehad

broughtgood

news

from

India,

"No.".wr1'r1the

anew'chzm!_“I

feel

that

my
news:ishim.(Me
of

2!!)
LAW 26

relativewhohadfallen

intodebt.But

although

Soemonhad

managed

to

bailouthis

relative,

hehad

simplydisplaced

theburdenontohimself.

DaizenknewSoemonwell—-heneithercarednotunderstoodmuch

about

money,

andcould

easilyget

intotrouble

through

slownessin

repaying

the

loan,

whichhadbeen

made

by

it

wealthy

merchant

called

Kawachiya

Sanemon.

Yetif

Daizenoffered

to

help

Soemon

pay

backthe

loam,

he

would

refuse,

outof

pride,

and

might

evenbeoffended.

One

day

Daizenvisitedhis

friend,

andafter

touring

the

garden

and

looking

atSoemon’s

prizedpeonies,they

retiredtohis

reception

room.

HereDaizensawa

paintingby

themaster

Kano

Tennyu.

“Ah,”

Daizenex-

claimed,

“a

splendidpiece

of

painting.

.. .Idon’tknowwhenIhaveseen

anything

I

likebetter.”Afterseveralmoreboutsof

praise,

Soemonhadno

choice:

“Well,”

he

said,

“since

you

likeitso

much,

I

hopeyou

willdome

thefavorof

accepting

it.”

AtfirstDaizen

refused,

butwhen

Soemoninsistedhe

gave

in.The

next

day

Soemon

in

turnreceiveda

package

fromDaizen.Insideitwasa

beautiful

anddelicate

vase,

which

Daizen,

inan

accompanying

note,

asked

hisfriendto

accept

asatokenofhis

appreciation

forthe

painting

that

Soe~

monhadso

graciouslygiven

him

the

day

before.He

explained

thatthe

vasehad beenmade

by

Sen

no

Rikyu

himself,

and

borean

inscription

from

EmperorHideyoshi.

If

Soemondidnotcareforthe

vase,

Daizen

sug~

gested,

he

might

makea

gift

ofittoanadherentof

Cha«no—yu—-perhaps

themerchant

Kawachiya

Sanemon,

whohadoften

expressed

a

desireto

possess

it.“I

hear,”

Daizen

continued,

“hehasafine

piece

of

fancypaper

[the

3()()~ryo

I.O.U.]

which

you

wouldmuchlike.Itis

possible

youmight

arrange

an

exchange.”

Realizing

what

his

gracious

friendwas

up

to,

Soemontookthevaseto

the

wealthy

lender.“However did

you get

this,”

exclaimed

Sanemon,

whenSoemonshowedhimthevase.“I

haveoftenheard

of

it,

but

thisisthe

firsttimeIhaveeverseenit.Itissucha

treasure

thatit

isneverallowed

outsidethe

gate!”

He

instantly

offeredto

exchange

thedebtnoteforthe

flower

vase,

andto

give

Soemon 300

ryo

moreon

top

ofit.But

Socmon,

who did not care for

money,only

wantedthe debtnote

back,

and

Sanemon

gladlygave

ittohim.

ThenSoemon

immediately

huniedto

Daizen’s

house

tothank

himforhisclever

support

Interpretation

Kuriyama

Daizenunderstoodthatthe

granting

ofafavorisnever

simple:

Ifitisdonewithfussand

obviousness,

itsreceiverfeels

burdened

by

an

obligation.

This

maygive

thedooracertain

power,

butitisa

power

that

will

eventually

self-destruct,

foritwillstir

up

resentmentandresistance.A

favordone

indirectly

and

elegantly

has tentimesmore

power.

Daizen

knewadirect

approach

would

only

haveoffendedSoemon.

Byletting

his

friend

give

himthe

painting,

however,

he

made

Soemon

feelthathetoo

had

pleased

hisfriendwitha

gift.

In

the

end,

allthree

partiesemerged

from

theencounter

feeling

fulfilledintheirown

way.