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Grade 2, Collegiate School, Richmond Virginia

Once upon a time there lived an emperor who loved clothing more than the people in his kingdom. All day long he thought about his clothing and getting new clothes. The emperor truly did not care much about what was happening in his land. He just put on one outfit after another all day long. When anyone wanted to see him, his servants would say, “The Emperor is in his dressing room.”

One day two dishonest men came to town and sent word to the emperor that they were excellent weavers. One announced, “The cloth we weave is invisible to anyone who is silly or unfit for the job they have.” The other one said, “Our woven cloth is most unusual!”

“Yes,” thought the emperor. “This will be excellent clothing for me.” The dishonest weavers took the emperor’s money. One said he would buy the glistening gold thread with which to sew. The other added he would buy the prettiest silk cloth to use.

However, the dishonest weavers jammed the money into their pockets and bought nothing. The weavers then frantically began pretending to weave magnificent cloth. They remarked as they worked so all would hear, “Won’t this be a beautiful garment?”

After some time passed, the emperor decided to review the work of the weavers. Astonished! He found he could not see anything, but didn’t want to appear silly or unfit for his job. So, he remarked, “The cloth is quite handsome.” Then he added, “Most unusual indeed, lovely patterns!” The emperor then gave the weavers a medal to wear with the title, “Knight of the Loom.”

The next week there was an eXciting parade to show the town’s people the emperor’s ravishing new clothes. On the day of the parade the weavers helped the emperor dress. They held out the new invisible trousers and coat for the emperor to put on.

The parade began. The emperor thought his new clothes would be vivid and beautiful for all to see. The people of the town cried out, “Beautiful!” “Magnificent!” “The gold zigzag stitching makes beautiful patterns.” They were ashamed to say they saw NO clothes!

Suddenly a little girl shouted, “BUT HE HAS NOTHING ON!”

Come here and put some of your old clothes on, “ said his most trusted servant. Now, the emperor and the town’s people realized how foolish they had been! All lived and worked together happily ever after.