ATU 1620

“The Story of the Emperor's New Clothes.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 21-25.

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 16:38:11 +0000

“The Story of the Emperor's New Clothes.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 21-25. Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 07/14/2024 - 10:38

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.

Fairy Tale Title

The Story of the Emperor's New Clothes

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Common Tale Type

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Tale Classification

ATU 1620

Page Range of Tale

pp. 21-25

Full Citation of Tale

“The Story of the Emperor's New Clothes.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 21-25.

Original Source of the Tale

Hans Christian Anderson

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2024

Book Title

The Yellow Fairy Book

Book Author/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Publisher

Longmans, Green, and Co.

Date Published

1906

Decade Published

1900-1909

Publisher City

London
New York
Bombay

Publisher Country

United Kingdom
United States
India

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.

Traditional

White

“The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Stories from Hans Andersen with Illustrations by Edmund Dulac, Hans Christian Anderson, New York: George H. Doran Company [1923], pp. 204-218.

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:58:25 +0000

“The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Stories from Hans Andersen with Illustrations by Edmund Dulac, Hans Christian Anderson, New York: George H. Doran Company [1923], pp. 204-218. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/21/2022 - 09:58

Hans Christian Anderson

Tale Summary

There was once an Emperor who loved new clothes to the point of excess and spent all of his money and time buying and showing them off. One day, two swindlers come to the town disguised as weavers, and claim to be able to make beautiful garments with rich colors and patterns, but which are only visible to those who are worthy of the positions they hold, and are invisible to the impossibly dull and those who are not fit for their jobs. The Emperor is enthralled and gives them a large sum of money in advance to make the clothes. He wishes to check up on their progress, and, having his own reservations, sends his minister to see the weavers in his stead. The faithful old minister finds the two swindlers pretending to be hard at work at their looms, and can’t see a single bit of fabric because it is not really there. He worries that he may not be fit for the position he holds, and does not dare tell the Emperor he cannot see anything, so he pretends to be able to see it. The Emperor sends another official to see the stuff, and the same thing happens to him. Soon, the whole town is talking about how splendid the fabrics are. Wishing to see it for himself before it is taken off of the loom, the Emperor goes accompanied by the two men he had sent to check up on it. He cannot see a thing either and worries that he himself is not worthy of being the emperor. But, he lies, and exclaims that the patterns and the colors are beautiful. Everyone in the suite agrees with him, and the two swindlers are given an order of knighthood. The next day, a very big deal is made out of dressing the Emperor in his new clothes, and they tell him that they are marvelously light so that he will not feel like he is wearing anything at all. They ‘dress’ him, and he starts a procession to show off his new clothes, with chamberlains pretending to be holding up his train while he walked. The entire town pretends, also, to see the clothes, until a little boy shouts that he is naked, and everyone else begins to say the same thing. The Emperor knows that they are right, but continues with the procession anyway.

Fairy Tale Title

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Hans Christian Anderson

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Edmund Dulac

Common Tale Type

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Tale Classification

ATU 1620

Page Range of Tale

pp. 204-218

Full Citation of Tale

“The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Stories from Hans Andersen with Illustrations by Edmund Dulac, Hans Christian Anderson, New York: George H. Doran Company [1923], pp. 204-218.

Original Source of the Tale

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2022

Book Title

Stories from Hans Andersen with Illustrations by Edmund Dulac

Book Author/Editor(s)

Hans Christian Anderson

Illustrator(s)

Edmund Dulac

Publisher

George H. Doran Company

Date Published

1923

Decade Published

1920-1929

Publisher City

New York

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Medium-large sized book with a hardback cover, includes colored illustrations.

Traditional

White