s may be lacking in strength. A tree carrying fruits may
be difficult of climbing; and sometimes trees with unripe fruits look
like trees with ripe fruits. Seeing all these facts a king should not
allow himself to be depressed. If he conducts himself in such a way, then
he would succeed in upholding himself against all foes. The king should
first strengthen the hopes (of those that approach him as suitors). He
should then put obstacles in the way of the fulfilment of those hopes. He
should say that those obstacles are merely due to occasion. He should
next represent that those occasions are really the results of grave
causes. As long as the cause of fear does not actually come, the king
should make all his arrangements like a person inspired with fear. When,
however, the cause of fear comes upon him, he should smite fearlessly. No
man can reap good without incurring danger. If, again, he succeeds in
preserving his life amid danger, he is sure to earn great benefits.[423]
A king should ascertain all future dangers; when they are present, he
should conquer them; and lest they grow again, he should, even after
conquering them, think them to be unconquered. The abandonment of present
happiness and the pursuit of that which is future, is never the policy of
a person possessed of intelligence. The king who having made peace with a
foe sleeps happily in truthfulness is like a man who sleeping on the top
of a tree awakes after a fall. When one falls into distress, one should
raise one's self by all means in one's power, mild or stern; and after
such rise, when competent, one should practise righteousness. The king
should always honour the foes of his foes. He should take his own spies
as agents employed by his foes. The king should see that his own spies
are not recognised by his foe. He should make spies of atheists and
ascetics and send them to the territories of his enemies. Sinful thieves,
who offend against the laws of righteousness and who are thorns in the
side of every person, enter gardens and places of amusement and houses
set up for giving drinking water to thirsty travellers and public inns
and drinking spots and houses of ill fame and holy places and public
assemblies. These should be recognised and arrested and put down. The
king should not trust the person that does not deserve to be trusted nor
should he trust too much the person that is deserving of trust. Danger
springs from trust. Trust should never be placed wi