The 48 Laws Of Power

Looktothe

end,

no

/nutterwhatitis

you

an-,

<'0rz.wrlm'ir2_1{.Often

enough.

God

gives

a

mana

glimpseof

hap[1ines.s.

and

then

mierly

ruinshim.

Tlll-1HlS‘l'()Rll"S,

lli.R0mm ,

Fll<‘I'IlL’i~:N'1‘i,R~ru.,.

WlliKl\(.TH

‘

‘llH

v\.\DTlfliSIRillinfl

Intlmfiemtimer1:

king

ofTm‘mry

wasout

walking

withmine

of

hisnoblemen.A!the

rrmrlxidewasanahdul

(iiwzmderirigSufi),

whocriedout.‘

“Whoeverwill

give

me

ahundred

dinars,

Iwill

give

himsrmm

good

advice.

"

The

kingsm;>ped.

and

xairl:"Abdul,

wlmrit

(his

good

uclvice

for

a

hmzdreddiners?

"Sir."

answeredthe

abrlal,

"m'cl’er(liesum

10 be

given

to

me,

am)’I

willtellit

you

immedi-

ately.

"

The

king

did

.m,

e.rpu‘iing

in[warsame-

thingvxmxordiniiry.

Thezlervishsaid/0

him:

“My

adv: ISthis:

Never

hvgin(my!/iing

until

you

have

reflected

whatwillberhoend

of

it."/if

thistherzirbles

and

everyone

else

[7l<’.S’(f7lIlaughed,mying

thattheahdnlhem’been

wisesoask

for

his

money

inadvztnceBut

the

king

swirl.’"You

havenoreaxmzto

laugh

althe

good

advicethisahdrllltas

given

me.Nooneis

LAW 29

mained,

manyhaving

succumbedtothe

harshconditions——the

blood-

sucking

insects,

thetorrential

rainfall,

fever.

Finally,

from

a

mountaintop,

Balboabecamethefirst

European

to

layeyes

onthePacificOcean.

Days

laterhemarchedinhisarmorintoits

waters,

bearing

thebannerofCastile

and

claiming

allits

seas,lands,

andislandsinthenameofthe

Spanish

throne.

Indiansfrom

thearea

greeted

Balboawith

gold,jewels,

and

precious

pearls,

thelikeofwhich

hehadnever

seen.Whenheaskedwherethese

hadcome

from,

theIndians

pointed

south,

tothelandoftheIncas.But

Balboahad

only

afewsoldiersleft. Forthe

moment,

he

decided,

he

shouldreturnto

Darien,

sendthe

jewels

and

gold

to

Spain

asatoken

of

good

will,

andaskfora

largearmy

to

aidhim

in

the

conquest

ofEl

Dorado.

Whennewsreached

Spain

ofBalboa’sbold

crossing

ofthe

isthmus,

his

discovery

ofthewestern

ocean,

andhis

plannedconquest

ofElDo-

rado,

theformercriminalbecameahero.Hewas

instantlyproclaimed

governor

of

thenewland.Butbeforethe

king

and

queen

receivedwordof

his

discovery,they

had

already

sentadozen

ships,

underthecommandof

amannamedPedroArias

Davila,“Pedrarias,”

withorderstoarrestBal-

boaformurderandtotakecommandofthe

colony.By

thetimePedrarias

arrivedin

Panama,

hehadlearnedthatBalboahadbeen

pardoned,

and

thathewas

tosharethe

governorship

with

the

formeroutlaw.

Allthe

same,

Balboafelt

uneasy.

Goldwashis

dream,

El

Doradohis

only

desire.In

pursuit

ofthis

goal

hehad

nearly

died

many

times

over,

andtosharethewealthand

glory

withanewcomerwouldbeintolerable.

He alsosoondiscoveredthatPedraxiaswasa

jealous,

bitter

man,

and

equallyunhappy

withthesituation.Once

again,

the

only

solutionforBel»

boa

wastoseizetheinitiative

byproposing

tocrossthe

jungle

witha

largerarmy,

carrying

shipbuilding

materialsandtools.OnceonthePa—

cific

coast,

hewouldcreateanarmada.withwhichto

conquer

theIncas.

Surprisinglyenough,

Pedrarias

agreed

to

the

plan—--perhaps

sensing

it

wouldnever

work.

Hundreds

diedin

thissecondmarch

through

the

jun-

gle,

andthetimber

they

carriedrottedinthetorrentialrains.

Balboa,

as

usual,

wasundaunted»-no

power

intheworldcouldthwarthis

plan—and

on

arriving

atthePacifiche

began

tocutdowntreesfornewlumber.But

the

men

remaining

tohimweretoofewandtooweaktomountaninva-

sion,

andonce

again

BalboahadtoreturntoDarien.

Pedrariashadin

any

caseinvitedBalboabacktodiscussanew

plan,

andontheoutskirtsofthe

settlement,

the

explorer

wasmet

by

Francisco

Pizarro,

anoldfriendwhohad

accompanied

himonhisfirst

crossing

of

theisthmus.Butthiswasa

trap:Leading

onehundred

soldiers,

Pizarro

surroundedhisformer

friend,

arrested

him,

and returnedhimto Fe

draiias,

who

tried

himon

charges

ofrebellion.

A

few

days

laterBa.lboa’s

headfellintoa

basket,

along

withthoseofhismosttrustedfollowers.

YearslaterPizarrohimselfreached

Peru,

andBalboa’sdeedswerefor-

gotten.