    26

    comp

    eting for top position in the group.  The combatants confront each

    other with all the dignity of chivalric knights.  Each stands erect, his

    hair raised in a magnificent mantle about him, looking massive and

    heroic.  The pair stare into each others' eyes without flinching.

    But the manly stoicism with which the duo square off is a pose

    maintained only with an extreme exertion of self-control.  After the

    confrontation is over, both chimps march away.  When one is certain

    he is out of sight of gawkers, all the emotions he's been holding back

    suddenly rampage across his face.  His upper lip flies up, leaving his

    teeth bare--the ultimate chimpanzee sign of nervousness.  Realizing

    that another member of the tribe might spot him and note his delayed

    terror, the recent-combatant tries over and over again to pull the

    rebellious lip down over his teeth and regain his dignified appearance.

    But the stress-filled grimace simply will not leave his face.64  Under the

    dignity and confidence of a few moments before was a seething

    cauldron of insecurity.

    Hitler used to go through something similar at the height of his

    power.  He would bully an opposing head of state, shouting, fuming,

    seemingly invulnerable to the inhibitions that weaken other men.

    Then, when he was alone in his room, the indomitable leader would

    collapse into a screaming nervous wreck.  To make sure no one he

    wanted to intimidate ever saw that side of his personality, the Glorious

    Leader would carefully rehearse for major meetings in front of a

    mirror.65

    T.E. Lawrence even saw the ruse of imperturbability at work

    among the desert aristocrats of Arabia.  Lawrence described a group of

    Arab chiefs summoned to the tent of their leader, who had just

    discovered that he and his vassals were about to be given 2,000

    camels--a veritable fortune in livestock--by the British.  The chieftains

    scrambled excitedly toward the dwelling where their meeting was

    about to take place, then quickly stopped themselves outside the tent

    flap to compose their faces, their postures and their hauteur so that they

    would not march in with the silly looks of glee that the news of the

    unexpected fortune had stamped all over them.66

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