The Emperor's New Clothes

Once upon a time there lived a wealthy and powerful Emperor who ruled over many colonised lands. He could have anything he wanted and he regularly did, but this often made him bored and dissatisfied. To amuse himself he would often order army regiments to march off the edge of a high cliff. Failure to follow the order would lead to the soldier being shot.

One day two confidence tricksters entered his palace claiming they could make clothing out of a material so fine, only the cleverest and wisest of people could see it. Excited by the idea of procuring this enviable and rare fabric, the Emperor ordered an outfit to be made immediately. The confidence tricksters agreed and told him they required thread made from pure gold which they will use to weave the special material.

The Emperor gave them three sacks of gold thread and the confidence tricksters took them to a room in the palace to begin work.

Two weeks passed and the Emperor was becoming impatient.

'Where is my new suit?' he asked one of his noblemen. 'Go and see how they are coming along.'

The nobleman went to the room where the tricksters were working and knocked on the door. He asked to see how the Emperor's new suit was coming along.

'Very well,' replied one of the tricksters. 'Would you like to have a look?'

'Yes, please!' replied the nobleman and the confidence trickster pretended to hold up a piece of fabric.

'Only the wisest of people can see this fine material,' he said. 'Stupid people will see right through it.'

The nobleman could not see anything at all! Unwilling to admit his stupidity he replied, 'Oh yes! It's beautiful! The Emperor shall be very pleased indeed. It is the finest material I have ever seen!'

'Good,' replied the second confidence trickster, 'but we need more gold thread to finish the job.' and he pretended to weave more of the fabric on the Emperor's loom.

The nobleman returned to the Emperor and described how magnificent and wonderful the special fabric was. Elated by the news, the Emperor granted the tricksters five more sacks of gold thread which was delivered to them immediately.

Of course, the confidence tricksters weren't weaving any special fabric. Instead, they stole the gold thread, smuggling it out of the palace during the night.

Another two weeks passed and again the Emperor grew restless.

'I want to know how my new suit is coming along,' he said and he sent his lawyer down to see how the tricksters were progressing.

The lawyer visited the men and asked when they were likely to finish the new suit.

'Not long now,' replied one of the tricksters. 'We have nearly finished the suit. Would you like to have a look?'

'Yes please,' replied the lawyer.

The confidence tricksters both pretended to hold up garments made from their magical material. The lawyer, of course, could see nothing at all, but being a learned man, he was unwilling to admit he was too stupid to see the clothing. He smiled and nodded saying, 'Yes, yes, fine work. Very fine work. The Emperor will be over the moon!'

'We just need a little more gold thread,' said one of the tricksters.

'Of course,' said the lawyer.

When the lawyer described how beautiful the costume was, the Emperor became extremely excited and ordered seven more bags of gold thread to be sent to the tricksters.

Two week later, the confidence tricksters claimed to have completed the Emperor's new clothes. They brought them to the Emperor and held them up for him to admire.

The Emperor could see nothing but he could not bare to believe he, with all his wealth and power, was a stupid man. He frowned seriously and nodded his head and said, 'Splendid work! These garments are very fitting for an Emperor. I am very pleased.'

Everyone in the palace spoke of the suit's beauty and magnificence. Excited by this, the Emperor ordered everyone in the city to attend a parade so his people could also admire his splendid new costume.

Lots of propaganda was circulated, telling of the Emperor's greatness and his new wondrous suit made from the rare and magical fabric only the wisest of people can see. The citizen's became very excited and eager to see the new special costume.

On the day of the parade, everyone in the city lined up on each side of the grand avenue to watch the impressive parade the Emperor had ordered to be organised.

Eventually the Emperor arrived in his golden coach. A coachman opened the door and the Emperor stepped out wearing his special new suit.

The people in the crowd gasped at the splendidness of the clothes, cheering and remarking how majestic the Emperor looked. They too did not want to admit they were too stupid to see the material, so they too pretended they could see the Emperor's new clothes.

While all this was going on, the two confidence tricksters left quietly across town, carrying all the sacks of gold the Emperor had given them. Not only had they managed to fool the Emperor, they fooled his court, his palace and they had managed to fool an entire city too. Everyone in the city had fallen for the tricksters' plan.

As the Emperor strolled along, waving to his subjects, a little boy looked at him, puzzled. A notion had occurred to him:

'Look at the Emperor!' he said aloud. 'He's not wearing any clothes!'

The people around the boy who heard what he said looked at him with furious expressions.

'Don't be stupid!' said one man. 'Of course he's wearing clothes!'

The citizens continued to enjoy the parade.