Title: The Emperor's New Suit
Written in 1837
Summary: A long time ago there lived an Emperor who had a passion for clothes. He didn't care for anyone or anything more than he cared for his clothes. He had so many clothes that he had a coat for every hour of the day. The city that he lived in was a place that many people visited. There was always people there from all over the world. One day, two swindlers came pretending to be weavers of cloth! The professed that they had a special cloth that they make that only the truly worthy could see. If you could not see it, you were either unfit for your post or you were too stupid. Well, the Emperor, upon hearing about this new fabric, new that he must have it spun for him immediately. The Emperor provided the swindlers with silk and gold in order for them to spin this fabric. The whole time the swindlers were pretending to be busy making this fabric when in reality, they weren't doing anything. After a while the Emperor sent in a trusted old minister to see how the production was coming, sure that if anyone was worthy to see the fabric, he was. The minister went in, but of course he saw nothing. Fearing what would happen to him if he admitted he couldn't see it, he admired the patterns and the beautiful colors that he made up. HE reported that the Emperor's clothes were magnificent and beautiful. A few days later, the Emperor sent in another honest courtier to check on the progress and the same thing happened to him. HE didn't want to appear that he was unfit for his office so he admired the cloth and reported how beautiful it was to the emperor. Finally, the day came that it was time for the emperor to try on his new suit which also happened to be the day of procession. The whole town would be there to see this new cloth. The Emperor also couldn't see it, for obvious reasons, but even he pretended to be able to because he didn't want people to think he was unfit to rule. So, the swindlers put the "light as cobwebs" suit onto the emperor and the emperor proceeded to parade around the town in nothing but his underwear. No one would say that the Emperor was not wearing anything for fear of looking stupid... except one little girl who was confused because the Emperor really wasn't wearing anything, and she said so. Eventually people began to realize that she was right and they were all laughing. Even the Emperor had a suspicion.. But what could he do? He had to continue his procession as if nothing was going on.
Who would benefit from reading this?/Who would I recommend this to?
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh. It is really funny and very cleverly written.
What problems/conflicts would this book potentially cause?
This could cause problems to parents who like to shield their kids from anything even slightly crude. The only crude thing about this fairy tale is, the emperor is naked at the end walking around for everyone to see. But it doesn't go into detail about anything.
My Reaction:
I think it is hilarious! I hadn't read this is a long time so it was a nice laugh. It explains humans very well. Each of us doesn't want other people to think badly of us and so we will do anything to gain acceptance even if it means pretend that there is fabric there that really isn't.
Other Tales that I read:
The Princess and the Pea
The Ugly Duckling
The Little Mermaid
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