The 48 Laws Of Power

his
methods,
buthewouldnottoleratean
outright
lie,
andin 1902 hechal-

lengedKleppini

toahandcuffduel.

Kleppiniaccepted.

Through

a

spy,

he

foundoutthesecretwordtounlocka
pair

ofFrenchcombination-lock

cuffs
thatHoudinilikedtouse.His

plan

wastochoosethesecuffsto

escape

from
onstage.

Thiswould

definitively

debunkHoudini—his

“genius”

sim-

ply

lay

inhis

use

ofmechanical

gadgets.

Onthe

night

ofthe

challenge,just

as

Kleppini

had

planned,

Houdini

offeredhimachoiceofcuffsandheselectedtheoneswiththecombination

lock.
Hewasevenableto

disappear

withthembehindascreentomakea

quick
test,
and

reemerged

seconds

later,

confident

of

victory.

Acting

as

if

he

sensed

fraud,

Houdinirefused

tolock

Kleppini

in

the

cuffs.Thetwomen

argued

and

began

to

fight,

even

wrestling

witheach

other
onstage.

Afterafewminutesof

this,

an

apparentlyangry,

frustrated

Houdini
gaveup

andlocked

Kleppini

inthecuffs.Forthenextfewminutes

Kleppini

strainedto

get

free.

Something

was

wrong——minutes

earlier

he

had

opened

thecuffsbehindthe

screen;

nowthesamecodeno

longer

worked.He

sweated,

racking

hisbrains.Hourswent

by,

theaudience

left,

and

finally

anexhaustedandhumiliated

Kleppini

gaveup

andaskedtobe

released.

Thecuffsthat

Kleppini

himselfhad

opened

behindthescreenwiththe

word “C—L—E-F—S”

(French

for

“keys”)

nowclicked

openonly

withthe

word“F-R-A-U-D.
”Kleppini

never

figured

outhowHoudinihadaccom-

plished

this

uncanny

feat.

Interpretation

Although

we

donotknow

forcertainhow

Houdini

accomplishedmany

of

hismost

ingeniousescapes,

one

thing

isclear:Itwasnotthe

occult,

or

any

kindof

magic,

that

gave

himhis

powers,

buthardworkandendless

prac-

tice,

allofwhichhe

carefully

concealedfromtheworld.Houdinineverleft

anything

to

chance-—-day

and

night

hestudiedthe

workings

of

locks,

re-

searchedcenturies-old
sleight—of-hand

tricks,

pored

over

books

onmechan

ics,
whateverhecoulduse.

Every

momentnot

spentresearching

he

spent

working

his

body,keeping

himself

exceptionally

limher,

and

learning

how

tocontrolhismusclesandhis

breathing.

Early

oninHoudini’s

career,

anold

Japaneseperformer

whomhe

touredwith

taught

himanancient

trick:

how

to

swallowan

ivory

ball,

then

bring

itback

up.

He

practiced

this

endlessly

withasmall

peeled

potato

tied

toa

string—up

anddownhewould

manipulate

the

potato

withhisthroat

muscles,

until

they

were

strong

enough

tomoveitwithoutthe

string.

The

organizers

oftheLondonhandcuff

challenge

hadsearchedHoudini’s

body

thoroughly

beforehand,

butno

onecouldchecktheinsideofhis

throat,

wherehecouldhaveconcealedsmalltoolsto

help

him

escape.

Even

so,

Kleppini

was

fundamentallywrong:

ItwasnotHoudini’stoolsbuthis

prac-

tice,work,

andresearchthatmadehis

escapespossible.

Kleppini,

in

fact,

was

completely

outwitted

by

Houdini,

whosetthe

whole

thingup.

Helethis

opponent

learnthecodetotheFrench

cuffs,

Keep

theexrent

nfyour

abilitiesunknown.The

wisemandoesnot

allowhIS

knowledge

andabilitiestobe

roundedtothe

bottom,

ifhe

desirestobe

honored

by

all.He

allows

you

toknow

thembut710!to

comprehend

them.No

onemustknowthe

extent

of/zit

abilities

lesthebe

disappointed.

Nooneeverhasan

opportunityoffazhmw

ing

him

entirely.

Fur

guesses

anddoubts

aboutthe

extem

ofhis

taletusarousemore

venerationthanaccu—

rule

knowledgeof

them,

be

they

everso

great.

BALTASARGRACIAN,

1601-1658

LAW 30 249