Hans AndersenThis is a story about an emperor. He loved new clothes, and he had different clothes for every hour of the day.
One day two men visited him. They liked money, but they did not want to work for it.
'We can make wonderful cloth,' they said. 'It's very beautiful cloth, so only clever people can see it.'
'I like it,' the emperor thought. 'Make this cloth - then make me some clothes,' he said to the men. 'Some people won't see them, but they're stupid people!' He gave a lot of money to the two men.
Every day the men asked the king for more money. 'We're working hard,' they said. But they did not make any cloth.
The emperor waited and waited. He wanted his new cloth, but he did not want to visit the two men. And he was afraid. 'Perhaps I won't see the cloth,' he thought. 'Then everybody will know that I'm not a clever man.'
He called a servant. 'Go and look at the new cloth. Ask them: "When will it be ready?"'
The servant went to the men's house, but what did he see? Nothing! There was no cloth. 'What are they doing?' the servant thought.
'Come nearer,' one of the men said. 'Do you like our cloth? Isn't it beautiful?'
The servant looked and looked, but he saw nothing. 'I don't understand,' he thought. 'Am I stupid? I can't tell anybody about this.' He spoke to the men: 'Oh, it's very good - very good,' he said. 'The cloth is beautiful. I'll tell the emperor.'
The emperor waited for two more weeks, then he called another servant. 'When will the cloth be ready?' he cried. 'Find those two men. Ask them!'
This servant went to the two men. They showed him the cloth, but he couldn't see anything.
'Isn't the cloth beautiful?' one of the bad men said. 'The other servant liked it.'
The man thought, 'I can't see the cloth! I'm stupid! But I don't want anybody to know.' He went back to the emperor and said, 'The cloth is wonderful!'
After two or three days, the people in the city started to talk about the beautiful cloth. 'It's very beautiful, but stupid people can't see it,' they said.