The Emperor’s New Suit
Many years ago, there lived an emperor.
He loved new clothes very much.
He spent all his money in order to obtain new clothes.
He had a new coat for every hour of the day.
One day, two swindlers came to the city.
They declared that they could manufacture the finest clothes in the world.
Only clever people could see the clothes.
“That must be wonderful cloth,” thought the emperor.
“If I can wear a suit made of this cloth I should be able to distinguish the clever from the stupid.”
He gave the swindlers a large sum of money and offered them the finest silk.
The swindlers set up two looms.
They put away all the money and silk, and worked at the empty looms till late at night.
The emperor sent several ministers to the swindlers.
But they couldn’t see anything except the empty looms.
They didn’t want to be regarded as stupid.
So they pretended to see the cloth and told the emperor how beautiful it was.
The swindlers asked for more money and silk.
They kept everything for themselves again.
The emperor went to look himself.
He didn’t see anything either.
“That is terrible! Am I stupid?” he thought.
Like his courtiers, he pretended he saw the beautiful cloth.
The emperor decided to wear the clothes on the procession some days later.
The swindlers brought the clothes to the emperor.
They pretended to put them upon the emperor.
The emperor marched in the procession.
Everyone could see that the emperor was wearing nothing.
But nobody wanted to be regarded as a stupid person.
So everyone shouted, beautiful, very beautiful!.
Suddenly, a boy shouted, “He is wearing nothing!”
People started to whisper，
“The child is right! The emperor has nothing on.”
The emperor realized he was tricked by the swindlers,
but he still marched in the procession proudly,
pretending he was really wearing a wonderful suit.
