“The Emperor’s New Clothes”

There was a vain emperor who just loved clothes. More than ruling his land wisely, he
seemed interested only in changing into a new suit every hour. He would visit the theatre and go
out in his carriage so that the people would get to see his new sit every day. He loved to show off
his new clothes to all the people. He always asks the minister about his new clothes and he
always feels the clothes he wears are better than yesterday’s clothes. The emperor’s love story
for clothes is widespread and heard by two cunning people. The cunning fellows landed up at the
emperor’s court one day and asked to meet the emperor. The minister asks them what work they
have because the emperor is busy and cannot meet everyone. Then they said they were good
weavers and can weave clothes like none other in the kingdom. The minister said the emperor
has got so many suits made of so many different clothes, what is so different in your cloth? Then
the two cunning people said our cloth is so light and delicate, that it is almost invisible. In fact, it
is visible only to those who are fit to do the jobs they are doing, and fools most certainly cannot
see our cloth. When the courtier heard this, he rushed to tell the emperor about this amazing new
cloth that the two weavers were talking about and the emperor was very interested in hearing it
and he told the courtier to bring the weaver before him. After that, the emperor gave everything
the weaver needed and told them to spin cloth in the palace. The emperor ordered two looms to
be set up in a room. The weavers asked for golden thread and the finest of silks, all of which they
did away in their bags, and pretended to be working away at the looms. Because the emperor
wondered what the weaver was doing, then he sends his trusted minister to have a look. The
minister went to the room where the weavers were busy working but the minister cannot see
anything. The minister was confused and because he did not want to be said to be an idiot and
not suitable to do his work, the minister told the emperor that the colour and design were not like
what he had seen. The emperor asked the minister what I should wear a suit of that cloth to the
grand procession I shall be leading soon? The minister answered, of course, your Majesty.
Everyone will be looking at you. Meanwhile, the weavers continued pretending to work on the
looms. They asked for more gold thread and more of the finest silk available, and of course put
all this away in their bags. After some time, the emperor again grew curious about the new cloth
the weavers were weaving. The emperor thought will send his trusted courtier to see how those
two are progressing. The courtier made his way to the room where the weavers were busy on
their looms. The courtier was as confused as the minister. He could see absolutely nothing. Like
the minister, he had no intention of being labelled a fool. Then, the courtier described in great
detail the pattern and colours, exactly as the weavers had told him. The emperor couldn’t wait to
see for himself, so he thought tomorrow he would go see the suit. The next day, the emperor
went to the room where the weavers were pretending to be busy weaving, but the emperor could
see nothing. For fear of being considered a fool, the emperor also went along with what the
others had said, and greatly admired the suit. The day of the procession, the weavers pretended to
help the emperor wear the suit, pretending to handle it carefully. The emperor stood in front of
the mirror, and though he could still not see any clothes, he pretended to admire them and
himself while striking different poses before the mirror. Finally, when the emperor made an
entry, the crowd became absolutely silent on seeing him. And then suddenly, the voice of a small
child was heard and he said that the emperor is wearing nothing. All the people then started
shouting he is wearing nothing. The emperor was extremely embarrassed and all he could do was
lead the procession as he was with as much dignity as he could.