MANY, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of

new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his

only ambition was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his

soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; the only thing, in

fact, he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit of

clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as one would say

of a king "He is in his cabinet," so one could say of him, "The

emperor is in his dressing-room."

The great city where he resided was very gay; every day many

strangers from all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers

came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers,

and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined.

Their colours and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally

beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the

wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for

his office or unpardonably stupid.

"That must be wonderful cloth," thought the emperor. "If I were to

be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out

which men in my empire were unfit for their places, and I could

distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven

for me without delay." And he gave a large sum of money to the

swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss

of time. They set up two looms, and pretended to be very hard at work,

but they did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the

finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got they did

away with, and worked at the empty looms till late at night.

"I should very much like to know how they are getting on with

the cloth," thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he

remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it.

Personally, he was of opinion that he had nothing to fear, yet he

thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters

stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the

stuff possessed, and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their

neighbours were.

"I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought

the emperor. "He can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is

intelligent, and nobody understands his office better than he."

MANY, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of

new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his

only ambition was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his

soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; the only thing, in

fact, he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit of

clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as one would say

of a king "He is in his cabinet," so one could say of him, "The

emperor is in his dressing-room."

The great city where he resided was very gay; every day many

strangers from all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers

came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers,

and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined.

Their colours and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally

beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the

wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for

his office or unpardonably stupid.

"That must be wonderful cloth," thought the emperor. "If I were to

be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out

which men in my empire were unfit for their places, and I could

distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven

for me without delay." And he gave a large sum of money to the

swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss

of time. They set up two looms, and pretended to be very hard at work,

but they did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the

finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got they did

away with, and worked at the empty looms till late at night.

"I should very much like to know how they are getting on with

the cloth," thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he

remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it.

Personally, he was of opinion that he had nothing to fear, yet he

thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters

stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the

stuff possessed, and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their

neighbours were.

"I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought

the emperor. "He can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is

intelligent, and nobody understands his office better than he."