...material I have ever seen," declared the councillor to the emperor. Everyone in town was talking about the marvellous cloth that the swindlers were weaving. At last the emperor himself decided to see it before it was removed from the loom. Attended by the most important people in the empire, among them the prime minister and the councillor who had been there before, the emperor entered the room where the weavers were weaving furiously on their empty loom. "Isn't it magnifique?" asked the prime minister. "Your Majesty, look at the colours and patterns," said the councillor. And the two old gentlemen pointed to the empty loom, believing that all the rest of the company could see the cloth.
"What!" thought the emperor. "I can't see a thing! Why, this is a disaster! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? Oh, it is too horrible!" Aloud he said, "It is very lovely. It has my approval," while he nodded his head and looked at the empty loom. All the councillors, ministers, and men of great importance who had come with him stared and stared; but they saw no more than the emperor had seen, and they ... [continues »]

Hans Christian Andersen

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