Years later, the prince was finally able to return home, his circumstances greatly changed. He did not forget who had been kind to him, and who had been insolent, during his years of poverty. Least of all did he forget his treatment at the hands of the ruler of Cheng. At his first opportunity he assemble a vast army and marched on Cheng, taking eight cities, destroying the kingdom, and sending the ruler into an exile of his own.
Transgression III
In the fifth century B.C., Ch'ung-erh, the prince of Ch'in (in present-day China), had been forced into exile. He lived modestly even, sometimes, in poverty waiting for the time when he could return home and resume his princely life. Once he was passing through the state of Cheng, where the ruler, not knowing who he was, treated him rudely. The ruler's minister, She Chan, saw this and said, "This man is a worthy prince. May Your Highness treat him with great courtesy and thereby place him under an obligation!" But the ruler, able to see only the prince's lowly station, ignored this advice and insulted the prince again. Shu Chan again warned his master, saying, "If Your Highness cannot treat Ch'ung-erh with courtesy, you should put him to death, to avoid calamity in the future." The ruler only scoffed.
All people have insecurities, and often the best way to deceive a sucker is to play upon his insecurities. But in the realm of power, everything is a question of degree, and the person who is decidedly more insecure than the average mortal presents great dangers. Be warned: If you practice deception or trickery of any sort, study your mark well. Some people's insecurity and ego fragility cannot tolerate the slightest offense. To see if you are dealing with such a type, test them first make, say, a mild joke at their expense. A confident person will laugh; an overly insecure one will react as if personally insulted. If you suspect you are dealing with this type, find another victim.
Men like this may seem to be crusaders for justice and honesty, but they are actually immoderately insecure. Being fooled, being conned, has activated their self-doubt, and they are desperate to repair the damage. Were the mortgage on Norfleet's ranch, the collapse of his marriage, and the years of borrowing money and living in cheap hotels worth his revenge over his embarrassment at being fleeced? To the Norfleets of the world, overcoming their embarrassment is worth any price.
Natuurlijk, hier volgt een tekst over de zinsvolgorde in het Nederlands. De zinsvolgorde is een belangrijk aspect in de Nederlandse taal en bepaalt de helderheid van een zin. De Nederlandse zinsvolgorde werkt volgens een systeem dat bekendstaat als SVO (Subject - Verbum - Object) in hoofdzinconstructies, maar er zijn veel variaties en uitzonderingen, vooral in bijzinnen, waarin de werkwoorden vaak aan het einde van de zin komen te staan. Dit heet ook wel het ‘rechte’ en ‘omgekeerde’ woordvolgorde.
In de standaard hoofdzin komt het onderwerp meestal eerst, gevolgd door het werkwoord en het lijdend of meewerkend voorwerp. Een eenvoudig voorbeeld is: “Ik lees een boek.” Hierin is ‘Ik’ het onderwerp, ‘lees’ het werkwoord en ‘een boek’ het lijdend voorwerp. Echter, wanneer een zin meer informatie bevat, bijvoorbeeld over tijd of plaats, wordt dit meestal tussen het onderwerp en het werkwoord geplaatst of juist aan het begin van de zin gezet om de nadruk te verleggen. Bijvoorbeeld: “Morgen lees ik een boek in de tuin.” Hier verandert de volgorde iets door het toevoegen van een tijdsaanduiding ‘morgen’ aan het begin van de zin. Hierdoor komt het onderwerp ‘ik’ na het tijdsbepalende woord.
In bijzinnen verandert de zinsvolgorde vaak aanzienlijk. In deze gevallen wordt het werkwoord meestal naar het einde van de zin verplaatst. Dit komt vooral voor wanneer een zin door een voegwoord, zoals ‘omdat’, ‘terwijl’ of ‘als’, aan een hoofdzin verbonden is. Bijvoorbeeld: “Ik lees een boek omdat ik tijd heb.” Hier staat het werkwoord ‘heb’ aan het einde van de bijzin. Dit wordt ook wel de bijzinvolgorde genoemd. Bijzinsconstructies kunnen soms complex zijn, vooral wanneer meerdere werkwoorden betrokken zijn, zoals in “Ik denk dat hij morgen in het park zal zijn.” Hier staan de werkwoorden ‘zal’ en ‘zijn’ aan het einde van de zin.
Een ander belangrijk aspect van de Nederlandse zinsvolgorde is de positie van werkwoorden in samengestelde werkwoordstructuren. Bijvoorbeeld: “Hij heeft het boek willen lezen.” Hier zien we dat in samengestelde werkwoordgroepen het belangrijkste werkwoord aan het einde staat, terwijl de hulpwerkwoorden ervoor worden geplaatst. Dit volgt de volgorde hulpwerkwoord - tweede hulpwerkwoord - hoofdwerkwoord, wat vaak een uitdaging kan zijn.
Daarnaast speelt inversie een belangrijke rol in de Nederlandse taal. Inversie betekent dat het onderwerp en het werkwoord van plaats wisselen, wat vooral voorkomt in vragen en zinnen die beginnen met een ander zinsdeel dan het onderwerp. Bijvoorbeeld: “Morgen ga ik naar het park.” Hier wordt ‘ik ga’ omgedraaid naar ‘ga ik’ door de plaatsing van ‘morgen’ aan het begin. Dit geeft de zin een andere dynamiek en benadrukt het tijdstip waarop de handeling plaatsvindt.
Er zijn ook nog andere elementen die invloed hebben op de Nederlandse zinsvolgorde, zoals modale werkwoorden en bijwoorden van tijd, plaats, wijze en oorzaak. Deze woorden kunnen vaak op verschillende posities in de zin worden geplaatst, afhankelijk van wat de spreker wil benadrukken. Bijvoorbeeld, “Ik wil het boek vandaag lezen” en “Vandaag wil ik het boek lezen” hebben dezelfde betekenis, maar een iets andere nadruk.
dog: fork get: dot took: fade feed: gate goof: deck foot: geek took fade: gate fog: deep
toot: gook feed: goat dote: gate food: folk geek good: frog took: feed gate dock: goof
feed: fog took gate: doof geek: fork deck got: food goof: deed took gate: fog deft:
good toot: fade deck: food goat fork: geek got fed: dock gate toot: fog deft good:
toot: gate frog: deck good toot: fade feed fork: geek goat feed: foot gate dock fog:
gate took: goof food: geek deck fade: good got: deep took gate feed goat: fork dock
foot: gate geek: fog deck toot: food feed: goof gate deep: took frog: geek dock fade:
deft toot: goat feed: gate took food dock: fork gate: deep geek fade: goof fog toot:
fork feed: geek dock: good took: fade fog: gate goof feed: toot gate deep:
o : k e d g t f : o e d k g t : f k e g d : o f t k e d g : o k g e d f t
d g : f k o e d o : g t e d : o e k g f d t : k e f g o d : o k t g e d : k d o f e g
k d t : o f g e k g : d t e o k : g o e f d k : t g k d o e : o g f e k d : k e t d f g
g : o d e f t k o g : k t d o : e d g f k : t o e d f : g o k d e : k g o f e d : t g k
o e d g f k : o t k g d f e : d o e g k f t o : k e d t g : o g d k f e t o k : e d f g
k o : e g d k e : o d g f t k : o e g t d f : k o g e d f o : k g d t e o : d g k e f t
e t : o k g d e o d g f t : k o e g d : k g e o f d : g o k e d t : g f k o d e t g o
o g : d e k g f t o : d e k t o : f k g d e : o t k g d e : o g d k e t f
o : o : o : o :
k e k e k e k e
d g d g d g d g
: o : o : o : o
e k e k e k e k
g d g d g d g d
o k d : e g o k d : e g
o : e k d g o : e k d g
k d o g : e k d o g : e
: k o g d e : o k d e g
g d e o k : g d o e k :
e k : g d o e k : g d o
Interpretation
Most men accept the humiliation of being conned with a sense of resignation. They learn their lesson, recognizing that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and that they have usually been brought down by their own greed for easy money. Some, however, refuse to take their medicine. Instead of reflecting on their own gullibility and avarice, they see themselves as totally innocent victims.
After five years of hunting, Norfleet had single-handedly destroyed the country's largest confederation of con artists. The effort bankrupted him and ruined his marriage, but he died a satisfied man.
Norfleet found Furey in Jacksonville, Florida, and personally hauled him off to face justice in Texas. But he wouldn't stop there: He continued on to Denver, determined to break up the entire ring. Spending not only large sums of money but another year of his life in the pursuit, he managed to put all of the con ring's leaders behind bars. Even some he didn't catch had grown so terrified of him that they too turned themselves in.
La postura de la ministra Susana Muhamad es que este proyecto causaría una fragmentación irremediable de la Reserva Thomas Van Der Hammen. Distrito advierte sobre la gravedad de parar la obra, vital para la movilidad de la capital. Lagos de Torca reacciona.
Norfleet kept going. He tracked down another of the con artists in Montana, roped him like a calf, and dragged him through the muddy streets to the town jail. He traveled not only across the country but to England, Canada, and Mexico in search of Joe Furey, and also of Furey's right-hand man, W. B. Spencer. Finding Spencer in Montreal, Norfleet chased him through the streets. Spencer escaped but the rancher stayed on his trail and caught up with him in Salt Lake City. Preferring the mercy of the law to Norfleet's wrath, Spencer turned himself in.
Furey and his men had worked such cons a hundred times before, and the sucker was usually so embarrassed by his gullibility that he quietly learned his lesson and accepted the loss. But Norfleet was not like other suckers. He went to the police, who told him there was little they could do. "Then I'll go after those people myself," Norfleet told the detectives. "I'll get them, too, if it takes the rest of my life." His wife took over the ranch as Norfleet scoured the country, looking for others who had been fleeced in the same game. One such sucker came forward, and the two men identified one of the con artists in San Francisco, and managed to get him locked up. The man committed suicide rather than face a long term in prison.
Transgression II
In the late 1910s some of the best swindlers in America formed a con-artist ring based in Denver, Colorado. In the winter months they would spread across the southern states, plying their trade. In 1920 Joe Furey, a leader of the ring, was working his way through Texas, making hundreds of thousands of dollars with classic con games. In Fort Worth, he met a sucker named J. Frank Norfleet, a cattleman who owned a large ranch. Norfleet fell for the con. Convinced of the riches to come, he emptied his bank account of $45,000 and handed it over to Furey and his confederates. A few days later they gave him his "millions," which turned out to be a few good dollars wrapped around a packet of newspaper clippings.
Interpretation
Never assume that the person you are dealing with is weaker or less important than you are. Some men are slow to take offense, which may make you misjudge the thickness of their skin, and fail to worry about insulting them. But should you offend their honor and their pride, they will overwhelm you with a violence that seems sudden and extreme given their slowness to anger. If you want to turn people down, it is best to do so politely and respectfully, even if you feel their request is impudent or their offer ridiculous. Never reject them with an insult until you know them better; you may be dealing with a Genghis Khan.
Over the next year, Khan led a series of guerrilla-like campaigns against the shah's much larger army. His method was totally novel for the time his soldiers could move very fast on horseback, and had mastered the art of firing with bow and arrow while mounted. The speed and flexibility of his forces allowed him to deceive Muhammad as to his intentions and the directions of his movements. Eventually he managed first to surround Samarkand, then to seize it. Muhammad fled, and a year later died, his vast empire broken and destroyed. Genghis Khan was sole master of Samarkand, the Silk Route, and most of northern Asia.
Genghis Khan was sure that this was a mistake that Inalchik had acted without Muhammad's approval. He sent yet another mission to Muhammad, reiterating himself had one of the ambassadors beheaded, and sent the other two back with shaved heads a horrifying insult in the Mongol code of honor. Khan sent a message to the shah: "You have chosen war. What will happen will happen, and what it is to be we know not; only God knows." Mobilizing his forces, in 1220 he attacked Inalchik's province, where he seized the capital, captured the governor, and ordered him executed by having molten silver poured into his eyes and ears.
Muhammad did not know this upstart from the east, who, it seemed to him, was extremely arrogant to try to talk as an equal to one so clearly his superior. He ignored Khan's offer. Khan tried again: This time he sent a caravan of a hundred camels filled with the rarest articles he had plundered from China. Before the caravan reached Muhammad, however, Inalchik, the governor of a region bordering on Samarkand, seized it for himself, and executed its leaders.
In 1219 Muhammad received an embassy from a new tribal leader to the east, Genghis Khan. The embassy included all sorts of gifts to the great Muhammad, representing the finest good from Khan's small but growing Mongol empire. Genghis Khan wanted to reopen the Silk Route to Europe, and offered to share it with Muhammad, while promising peace between the two empires.
