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Once upon
a time...
Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so fond of new
clothes that he spent all his money on them in order to be
beautifully dressed. He did not care about his soldiers, he did not
care about the theatre; he only liked to go out walking to show off
his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and just
as they say of a king, 'He is in the council-chamber,' they always
said here, 'The Emperor is in the wardrobe.'
In the great city in which he lived there was always something going
on; every day many strangers came there. One day two impostors
arrived who gave themselves out as weavers, and said that they knew
how to manufacture the most beautiful cloth imaginable. Not only
were the texture and pattern uncommonly beautiful, but the clothes
which were made of the stuff possessed this wonderful property that
they were invisible to anyone who was not fit for his office, or who
was unpardonably stupid.
'Those must indeed be splendid clothes,' thought the Emperor. 'If I
had them on I could find out which men in my kingdom are unfit for
the offices they hold; I could distinguish the wise from the stupid!
Yes, this cloth must be woven for me at once.' And he gave both the
impostors much money, so that they might begin their work.
They placed two weaving-looms, and began to do as if they were
working, but they had not the least thing on the looms. They also
demanded the finest silk and the best gold, which they put in their
pockets, and worked at the empty looms till late into the night.
'I should like very much to know how far they have got on with the
cloth,' thought the Emperor. But he remembered when he thought about
it that whoever was stupid or not fit for his office would not be
able to see it. Now he certainly believed that he had nothing to
fear for himself, but he wanted first to send somebody else in order
to see how he stood with regard to his office. Everybody in the
whole town knew what a wonderful power the cloth had, and they were
all curious to see how bad or how stupid their neighbour was.
'I will send my old and honoured minister to the weavers,' thought
the Emperor. 'He can judge best what the cloth is like, for he has
intellect, and no one understands his office better than he.'
Now the good old minister went into the hall where the two impostors
sat working at the empty weaving-looms. 'Dear me!' thought the old
minister, opening his eyes wide, 'I can see nothing!' But he did not
say so.
Both the impostors begged him to be so kind as to step closer, and
asked him if it were not a beautiful texture and lovely colours.
They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister went
forward rubbing his eyes; but he could see nothing, for there was
nothing there.
'Dear, dear!' thought he, 'can I be stupid? I have never thought
that, and nobody must know it! Can I be not fit for my office? No, I
must certainly not say that I cannot see the cloth!'
'Have you nothing to say about it?' asked one of the men who was
weaving.
'Oh, it is lovely, most lovely!' answered the old minister, looking
through his spectacles. 'What a texture! What colours! Yes, I will
tell the Emperor that it pleases me very much.'
'Now we are delighted at that,' said both the weavers, and thereupon
they named the colours and explained the make of the texture.
The old minister paid great attention, so that he could tell the
same to the Emperor when he came back to him, which he did.
The impostors now wanted more money, more silk, and more gold to use
in their weaving. They put it all in their own pockets, and there
came no threads on the loom, but they went on as they had done
before, working at the empty loom. The Emperor soon sent another
worthy statesman to see how the weaving was getting on, and whether
the cloth would soon be finished. It was the same with him as the
first one; he looked and looked, but because there was nothing on
the empty loom he could see nothing.
'Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?' asked the two impostors, and
they pointed to and described the splendid material which was not
there.
'Stupid I am not!' thought the man, 'so it must be my good office
for which I am not fitted. It is strange, certainly, but no one must
be allowed to notice it.' And so he praised the cloth which he did
not see, and expressed to them his delight at the beautiful colours
and the splendid texture. 'Yes, it is quite beautiful,' he said to
the Emperor.
Everybody in the town was talking of the magnificent cloth.
Now the Emperor wanted to see it himself while it was still on the
loom. With a great crowd of select followers, amongst whom were both
the worthy statesmen who had already been there before, he went to
the cunning impostors, who were now weaving with all their might,
but without fibre or thread.
'Is it not splendid!' said both the old statesmen who had already
been there. 'See, your Majesty, what a texture! What colours!' And
then they pointed to the empty loom, for they believed that the
others could see the cloth quite well.
'What!' thought the Emperor, 'I can see nothing! This is indeed
horrible! Am I stupid? Am I not fit to be Emperor? That were the
most dreadful thing that could happen to me. Oh, it is very
beautiful,' he said. 'It has my gracious approval.' And then he
nodded pleasantly, and examined the empty loom, for he would not say
that he could see nothing.
His whole Court round him looked and looked, and saw no more than
the others; but they said like the Emperor, 'Oh! it is beautiful!'
And they advised him to wear these new and magnificent clothes for
the first time at the great procession which was soon to take place.
'Splendid! Lovely! Most beautiful!' went from mouth to mouth;
everyone seemed delighted over them, and the Emperor gave to the
impostors the title of Court weavers to the Emperor.
Throughout the whole of the night before the morning on which the
procession was to take place, the impostors were up and were working
by the light of over sixteen candles. The people could see that they
were very busy making the Emperor's new clothes ready. They
pretended they were taking the cloth from the loom, cut with huge
scissors in the air, sewed with needles without thread, and then
said at last, 'Now the clothes are finished!'
The Emperor came himself with his most distinguished knights, and
each impostor held up his arm just as if he were holding something,
and said, 'See! here are the breeches! Here is the coat! Here the
cloak!' and so on.
'Spun clothes are so comfortable that one would imagine one had
nothing on at all; but that is the beauty of it!'
'Yes,' said all the knights, but they could see nothing, for there
was nothing there.
'Will it please your Majesty graciously to take off your clothes,'
said the impostors, 'then we will put on the new clothes, here
before the mirror.'
The Emperor took off all his clothes, and the impostors placed
themselves before him as if they were putting on each part of his
new clothes which was ready, and the Emperor turned and bent himself
in front of the mirror.
'How beautifully they fit! How well they sit!' said everybody. 'What
material! What colours! It is a gorgeous suit!'
'They are waiting outside with the canopy which your Majesty is wont
to have borne over you in the procession,' announced the Master of
the Ceremonies.
'Look, I am ready,' said the Emperor. 'Doesn't it sit well!' And he
turned himself again to the mirror to see if his finery was on all
right.
The chamberlains who were used to carry the train put their hands
near the floor as if they were lifting up the train; then they did
as if they were holding something in the air. They would not have it
noticed that they could see nothing.
So the Emperor went along in the procession under the splendid
canopy, and all the people in the streets and at the windows said,
'How matchless are the Emperor's new clothes! That train fastened to
his dress, how beautifully it hangs!'
No one wished it to be noticed that he could see nothing, for then
he would have been unfit for his office, or else very stupid. None
of the Emperor's clothes had met with such approval as these had.
'But he has nothing on!' said a little child at last.
'Just listen to the innocent child!' said the father, and each one
whispered to his neighbour what the child had said.
'But he has nothing on!' the whole of the people called out at last.
This struck the Emperor, for it seemed to him as if they were right;
but he thought to himself, 'I must go on with the procession now.
And the chamberlains walked along still more uprightly, holding up
the train which was not there at all.
The Emperor's New
Clothes
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
