乐播传媒

Tale Summary

There was once an Emperor who did not care for anything but clothes. One day, two impostors arrived in the city and pretended to be great weavers and said that they knew how to make the most beautiful cloth imaginable, which was so wonderful that it would appear invisible to anyone who was stupid or not fit for his office. Everyone in the kingdom heard of the incredible powers of the fabric and they were all very curious about who amongst them were smart or stupid. The Emperor heard of this and was fascinated with the idea, thinking that if he wore such clothes he would be able to see who in his kingdom were too stupid to hold their positions. He paid the two impostors well, along with the finest silk and the best gold for them to do their work. They pocketed all of this and set up their empty looms and pretended to weave invisible fabric. The Emperor wanted to hear of the progress they were making, and so he sent his honored minister to take a look, thinking that because he was intelligent and noble the fabric would not appear invisible to him. When the minister visited the two impostors he was horrified because he could not see the fabric, and wondered if he was stupid, but acted as if he thought the fabric was very splendid and listened well to the weavers' explanation of the colors and patterns and relayed the information to the Emperor. The two were given more money, silk, and gold, and soon the Emperor sent another worthy statesman to check on their work. Just like the minister, he wondered if he was fit for office, but pretended to see the cloth so that he would not lose his position and told the Emperor that it was very beautiful. He soon went to see the fabric himself, bringing along a great crowd of curious people including the two statesmen who had already visited the weavers. They talked about how marvelous the weaving was and how splendid the colors were, but the Emperor was embarrassed that he could see nothing. He masked this by giving his approval, and soon the whole court was praising the fabric as if they could see it, encouraging him to wear the clothes to a procession that was happening soon, and the imposters were made Court weavers to the Emperor. The weavers were up the whole night before the event, pretending to cut and sew until they declared the clothes completed and showed them proudly to the Emperor, saying that they were so light and comfortable he would feel as though he were wearing nothing at all. He undressed, and the impostors pretended to adorn him with his new clothes. Everyone spoke of how well they fit and how beautiful they were. He entered the procession with his chamberlains behind him, who acted as though they were carrying his train. The whole crowd declared that the clothes were marvelous, not wanting anyone to think that they were stupid for not seeing them. At last, a child yelled that he had nothing on, and soon the entire crowd began to echo him. The Emperor thought that they might be right, but carried on with the procession anyway.

听