Emperor's New Clothes

The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
Many, many years ago there was an emperor who was so terribly fond of beautiful new
clothes that he spent all his money on his attire. He did not care about his soldiers, or
attending the theatre, or even going for a drive in the park, unless it was to show off his
new clothes. He had an outfit for every hour of the day. And just as we say,"The king is
in his council chamber," his subjects used to say, "The emperor is in his clothes closet."
In the large town where the emperor's palace was, life was gay and happy; and every day
new visitors arrived. One day two swindlers came. They told everybody that they were
weavers and that they could weave the most marvellous cloth. Not only were the colours
and the patterns of theirmaterial extraordinarily beautiful, but the cloth had the strange
quality of being invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office or unforgivably stupid.
"This is truly marvellous," thought the emperor. "Now if I had robes cut from that
material, I should know which of my councillors was unfit for his office, and I would be
able to pick out my clever subjects myself. They must weave somematerial for me!" And
he gave the swindlers a lot of money so they could start working at once.
They set up a loom and acted as if they were weaving, but the loom was empty. The fine
silk and gold threads they demanded from the emperor they never used, but hid them in
their own knapsacks. Late into the night they would sit before their empty loom,
pretending to weave.
"I would like to know how farthey've come," thought the emperor; but his heart beat
strangely when he remembered that those who were stupid or unfit for their office would
not be able to see the material. Not that he was really worried that this would happen to
him. Still, it might be better to send someone else the first time and see how he fared.
Everybody in town had heard about the cloth's magic quality and most ofthem could
hardly wait to find out how stupid or unworthy their neighbours were.
"I shall send my faithful prime minister to see the weaver," thought the emperor. "He
will know how to judge the material, for he is both clever and fit for his office, if any
man is."
The good-natured old man stepped into the room where the weavers were working and
saw the empty loom. He closed his eyes, andopened them again. "God preserve me!" he
thought. "I cannot see a thing!" But he didn't say it out loud.
The swindlers asked him to step a little closer so that he could admire the intricate
patterns and marvellous colours of the material they were weaving. They both pointed to
the empty loom, and the poor old prime minister opened his eyes as wide as he could; but
it didn't help, he stillcouldn't see anything.
"Am I stupid?" he thought. "I can't believe it, but if it is so, it is best no one finds out
about it. But maybe I am not fit for my office. No, that is worse, I'd better not admit that I
can't see what they are weaving."
"Tell us what you think of it," demanded one of the swindlers.
"It is beautiful. It is very lovely," mumbled the old prime minister, adjusting his glasses."What patterns! What colours! I shall tell the emperor that I am greatly pleased."

"And that pleases us," the weavers said; and now they described the patterns and told
which shades of colour they had used. The prime minister listened attentively, so that he
could repeat their words to the emperor, and that is exactly what he did.
The two swindlers demanded more money, and more silk andgold thread. They said
they had to use it for their weaving, but their loom remained as empty as ever.
Soon the emperor sent another of his trusted councillors to see how the work was
progressing. He looked and looked just as the prime minister had, but since there was
nothing to be seen, he didn't see anything.
"Isn't it a marvellous piece of material?" asked one of the swindlers; and they...