The Emperor's New Clothes...?

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Have you ever heard of the tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?

It is a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson…

Once upon a time, there lived an emperor who was obsessed over his appearance and attire.  He cared little for everything else, including his own country.  Money collected from taxes was spent on making new clothes for him.  One day, two imposters arrived who pretended to be weavers.  They claimed to be able to weave a very special cloth.  This cloth would not only be amazingly beautiful, but it would be invisible to anyone who was unfit for his position, or who was just hopelessly stupid.  The emperor was ecstatic upon hearing this, and immediately ordered a set of clothes to be made out of this special cloth.  After the “weavers” began working, the emperor sent some ministers to find out how the work was progressing.  Upon their arrival, the ministers found that none of them were able to see the cloth.  Afraid that the emperor would deem them unfit for their positions or hopelessly stupid, they reported that the cloth was unbelievably beautiful.  The emperor was very pleased, and after the set of clothes was finished, the emperor went to try the clothes on.  He was dismayed when he found that he was unable to see the clothes, but not wanting to appear as if he was unfit to be emperor or hopelessly stupid, he pretended to be able to see them anyway, and declared that he would wear them while marching in procession before his subjects.  Everyone in the streets saw that the emperor was wearing nothing, yet no one dared to point it out.  The procession continued, until at last, a child in the crowd said loudly, “But the emperor isn’t wearing anything at all!”  The emperor overheard this, and started to feel uncomfortable; however he had no choice but to hold up his head and continue walking proudly.

…Is this really the end of the story?

Usual versions of the tale end here.  But I think that this story is still unfinished.  What happened to the emperor, his country, and that child in the end?

In my opinion, that child, who so loudly spoke the truth, was probably beheaded.  The child had humiliated the emperor in front of his people…Do you think the emperor would still have mercy on the child?  Even if the emperor knew that the child had only spoken the truth and was innocent, the emperor would still have condemned the child in an effort to save his prestige.  The emperor might also have ordered his courtiers to spread the news to the people that this child was actually a “retard”, that this child was trying to defame the country, and stir up the people to rebel against their emperor.  The emperor might also have labeled this child as a saboteur, one who did not love the country, who was immoral, and who was not thankful to the country for providing a home for so many years.

It would be hard for some of the people of the country to avoid being brainwashed, after hearing the emperor’s courtiers repeat this day after day.  Slowly, those brainwashed people would start to believe that what they heard was right, that the child should not have said such truth in public, and should not have criticized the emperor in front of so many people, as this would only defame the country.  Some people even felt that if the child could not, no matter what, hold back the truth, then the child should have privately gone to the palace, and whisper in the emperor’s ear, “Your Majesty…You aren’t wearing any clothes.”

But before this the child had already seen some people go to the palace to give the emperor some advice, and yet the emperor had never changed.  Some of those who went were not only rejected, but they were told that they were “unsuitable to live in this country”.  Whereas other more unfortunate people would go to the palace with their good intentions, but after going in, they did not come out, and were never seen again.

If the child was to be captured by the inept emperor and his treacherous courtiers, and asked, “Why could you not just keep your mouth shut?!”, then, I suppose, the child’s answer would be something like this: “Imposters have come into the country and deceived you, but not only have you failed to protect your own country, you have aided and abetted these imposters in hoodwinking others, and you praise the beauty of this cloth far and wide.  You insist that the set of clothes that has been made is unmatched in beauty, yet I remain doubtful…Why is it that you have spent so much time and money on making this set of clothes, but the emperor that we see is clearly naked?  Why can I not see any results of your so-called hard work at all?”

Nevertheless, all these events did not happen in this story of Anderson’s.  Was the child beheaded in the end?  What became of the emperor?  Most importantly of all, would the country and its people have a happy ending?

To be continued…