The Emperor's New Clothes

In a faraway country beyond the mountains, forests, and wide seas, there lived an emperor who loved himself. His life and himself were the only things he cared about. He loved his clothes most of all. Changing them hundreds of times a day wasn’t anything unusual for him. He had wasted all the money from his subjects (which was really meant to be spent on the empire) on buying this most astonishing of wardrobes.

The theatre had long since shut down because the actors couldn’t afford new puppets or costumes. The army had been dissolved because the soldiers couldn’t afford weapons or training. They had to sell all their horses because there was no money for hay and even the blacksmith had not made anything in a while, because he couldn’t afford any iron. The people in the empire had learned to fend for themselves because they expected no help from the emperor.

They lived their own ordinary lives under the castle. They loved to meet at the market in town and this is how they had fun. There was always hustle and bustle at the market. Foreigners bringing in a whole array of goods, such as the people had never seen before, caused the most excitement.

Once, two sly fellows came to the town. They disguised themselves as weavers and went straight to the castle to see the emperor. The guards invited them in as honoured guests. Of course, the new fabrics would make the emperor happy! The whole court came together to greet them with a fanfare.

“What are you bringing me, weavers? I hope it’s something special because I have very high standards,” said the emperor.

One of the clever men said: “We will weave you a fabric the likes of which the world …