The 48 Laws Of Power

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by

Imnterisas/(eda

furrrwr

Inlaveifs

life.

Tohideit

from

its

pur.\'uer.\;

the

finmer

.aqna£te(l

amtlei

(hrSnakecrawlinn)his

belly

Bu! when the

tlangttr

had

pasxswl

and

the

[unuer

cwketlthe

snaketocomaout.zhe

xnake

rrfusml.

Ir

was

warm

and

safiz

inside.

On

his

way

harm»,

the

/7umsawaheronand

worn‘

up

:0himand

whispered

whathad

huppemerl.

Timheron

toldhimto

mud:

and

smzin to

eject

the

make.Whenthesnake

snm;k

itshead

(ml,

the

heron

caughl

it.

pulled

it

our,

andkilledit.The

former

wasworriedthat

themakfs

polxrzn

Inighl

will be inside

him,

andtheheron

toldhim(ha!theLure

for
snakz’
poison
was

tocookandeatsit

white

fowl.

“

You‘re

(1

while

fowl,

"

.\'(Ii(l Yha

farmer.

"You'll do

far

a

start.

”

He

grabbed

the’heron.

put

itinat

bag,

h 0

andcarriedit

me,wherehe

hung

2'!

up

whilehe

toldhis

wife

whal

had

happened.

"I'm

surprised

at

you,

"

suit!the

wife.

"The hirdtimer

you

a

kimlrms‘.

rizls

youofthv

evil

in

your

belly,

.save.\‘

your

Ilia

in

fact, yet you

(archiftmcltalk

of killing

it."

She

immedi-

ate!)

J

releaxetl

the

henm,

and

it

flew

3 ul 0

away.

nits

way,

it

gouged

outher

eyes.

M0 7 at‘;

When

you

.\'(’(:' water

/

l 0 win

g

1:

phi

Il

,

it

m€u!’LS‘that

thatthe

emperorsuddenly

realizedhis

predicament:

Theformerstable

boy

hadmore

money,

morealliesinthe

army

and

senate,

andintheend

more

power

thanthe

emperor

himself.Afewweeks

later,

aftera

night

of

heavydrinking,

Michaelawoketo

find

himselfsurrounded

by

soldiers.

Basiliuswatched

as

they

stabbedthe

emperor

todeath.

Then,

after

pro-

claiming

himself

emperor,

herodehishorse

through

thestreetsof

Byzan-

tium,brandishing

theheadofhisformerbenefactorandbestfriendatthe

endofa

longpike.

Interpretation

MichaelIIIstakedhisfutureonthesenseof

gratitude

he

thought

Basilius

mustfeelforhim.

Surely

Basiliuswouldservehim

best;

heowedtheem-

peror

his

wealth,

his

education,

andhis

position.

Then,

onceBasiliuswasin

power,anything

heneededitwasbestto

give

to

him,

strengthening

the

bondsbetweenthetwomen.Itwas

only

onthefateful

day

whenthe

em-

peror

sawthat

impudent

smileonBasilius’sfacethatherealizedhis

deadly

mistake.

Hehadcreatedamonster.Hehadallowedamantosee

powerup

close-—amanwhothenwanted

more,

whoaskedfor

anything

and

got

it,

whofeltencumbered

by

the

charity

hehadreceivedand

simply

did

what

many

people

doinsuchasituation:

Theyforget

thefavors

they

havere-

ceivedand

imaginethey

haveearnedtheirsuccess

by

theirownmerits.

AtMichael’smomentof

realization,

hecouldstillhavesavedhisown

life,

but

friendship

andloveblind

every

mantotheirinterests.

Nobody

be—

Iieves

a

friendcan

betray.

And

Michaelwenton

disbelieving

until

the

day

hisheadended

up

ona

pike.

Lord,

protectmefrum

my

friends;

Icantakecare

qfmy

enemies.

Volmlre,

1694-1778

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

ForseveralcenturiesafterthefalloftheHan

Dynasty

{A.D.222},

Chinesehis-

tory

followedthesame

pattern

ofviolent

and

bloodycoups,

oneafterthe

other.

Army

men

would

plot

tokilla

weak

emperor,

then

would

replace

him

onthe

Dragon

Thronewitha

stronggeneral.

The

general

wouldstartanew

dynasty

andcrownhimself

emperor;

toensurehisownsurvivalhewouldkill

offhisfellow

generals.

Afew

years

later,however,

the

pattern

wouldresume:

New

generals

wouldrise

up

andassassinatehimorhissonsintheirturn.To

be

emperor

ofChinawas

to

be

alone,

surrounded

by

a

pack

of

enemies—it

wastheleast

powerful,

leastsecure

position

intherealm.

InA.D.

959,

GeneralChao

K’uang—yin

became

EmperorSung.

He

knewthe

adds,

the

probability

thatwithina

year

ortwohewouldbemur-

dered;

howcouldhebreakthe

pattern?

Soonafter

becomingemperor,

Sung

ordereda

banquet

tocelebratethenew

dynasty,

andinvitedthemost

powerful

commanders

in

the

army.

After

they

haddrunkmuch

wine,

he

somcrmcis

repaying

orkirzrlnmzxt

AFRICAN/-‘oz./41;:

LE