THE
PSONGS
OF
NICHOLAS THE SENIOR
The rapture of Power
Psong 53
And what shall the Master of Money do when he tires of pleasure? What new excitement can he find to make life less tedious?
2bIs it possible that life has only a finite quantity of enjoyment to offer any man? Is even the Master of Money to be held hostage by the poverty of creation itself!
3Verily, this cannot be so: for when the senses have been sated, the wise man learns to reap the pleasures of the mind.
4Yea, these are pleasures which are greater than the mere candy for which the senses long: cfor how can bonbons and French pastry compare to the transcendent rapture of Power?
5The weak man may believe himself in the lap of the gods when he gives himself over to passive immersion in the delights of the flesh; dbut the strong man knows that it is much more fun to make the ground tremble beneath his feet when he walks.
6eThere may be many who rise to become Masters of Money; but how many have the strength to become the Master of All?
7fHow many have the sheer Power to reduce other Masters of Money to penury, and to take their territories from them, just for the thrill of doing it?
8gHow many can disdain the consequences of the risks they take in the name of increased Power? How many are so great that such risks are repaid by the knowledge of another’s fear, another’s defeat, another’s abject surrender, especially when such others are impudent hWop scum from the wrong side of the tracks?
9Yes, behave wisely in the presence of the Master of All: he cannot be bought off with mere Money, nor seduced with mere Pleasure; he must be given the Power he demands.
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Psong 53 / 66