The Emperor's New Clothes

Many   years   ago   there   lived   an   emperor   who   loved   clothes.   He   liked   them   so   much   he   was  always  in  his  dressing  room  changing  his  clothes.  He  also  loved  to  show  off  to  his   people.    

One   day   two   thieves   heard   about   the   vain   emperor   and   decided   to   come   to   the   city.   They   said   they   could   make   clothes   from   fabric   with   beautiful   colours   and   wonderful   patterns.    And  more  importantly,  the  fabric  was  invisible  to  anyone  who  was  stupid.      

When  the  emperor  heard  this  he  said,  "I'll  buy  some  of  these  clothes  and  then  I'll  know   who  is  clever  and  who  is  stupid  in  my  city".    So  the  emperor  gave  the  thieves  lots  of   money  to  buy  silk  threads  for  his  new  clothes.  But  the  thieves  did  not  buy  anything.  They  pretended  to  work  on  their  looms,  but  their   looms  were  empty,  there  was  no  fabric  of  beautiful  colours  with  wonderful  patterns.  

After   a   few   days,   the   emperor   wanted   to   see   his   clothes   so   he   sent   an   important   minister  to  visit  the  thieves.  When  the  minister  looked  at  the  looms  he  was  confused  -­   he  couldn't  see  anything!    But  he  thought,  "If  I  say  that  I  can't  see  the  fabric,  everyone   will  think  I'm  stupid!"  So  he  said,  "The  fabric  is  beautiful  and  the  colours  are  wonderful!"   And  this  is  what  he  told  the  emperor.    

The  emperor  decided  he  would  go  and  see  the  fabric  and  the  clothes  for  himself.      When   he   looked   at   the   looms   he   thought,   "Am   I   stupid?   I   can't   see   anything."   But   he   said   "What  amazing  clothes!  I  will  wear  them  for  the  procession  in  the  city."  

On   the   day   of   the   procession   the   thieves   helped   the   emperor   put   on   his   new   clothes.     The  ministers  said  how  wonderful  they  were.  Then  the  emperor  went  out  into  the  streets   and  all  the  people  said,  "The emperor's   new  clothes  are  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world!"   Everyone  said  they  could  see  the  clothes  because  nobody  wanted  to  be  called  stupid.  But  then  a  child  shouted,  "He hasn't  got  anything  on!"  And   everyone  started  saying,  "It's  true!  The  emperor  is  naked!"     The   emperor   shivered,   because   he   knew   the   people   were   right,   he   had   no   clothes   on.   But   he   continued   to   hold   his   head  up  high  and  finished  the  procession.