Words with Silent Letters

Practice

The Emperor's New Clothes

a fairy tale
by Hans Christian Anderson

Once upon a time there was an emperor who loved clothes more
than anything else in the world.

One day two swindlers came to see the emperor. They pretended to
be weavers who made the most beautiful cloth in the world.

And they said that their cloth had one amazing quality -- only an
honest person could see it. A person who was a fool couldn't see it.

The emperor thought this over. "If I have a suit made of this cloth,
I'll be able to know who is honest, and who is a fool."

So he gave the weavers gold, enough for a new suit of clothes.

In a few days, the emperor went to check on the weavers,
but he couldn't see any cloth.

"This is horrible. Maybe I'm a fool," he said to himself.
So he pretended to see the cloth.

The emperor's assistants couldn't see anything either, but they also
pretended to see the cloth. "Oh, it's wonderful, emperor!"

One day, there was going to be a parade through the city. "The
emperor's new suit of clothes is finished!" announced the weavers.

The weavers put the new suit of clothes on the emperor. The people
all pretended to see it. No one wanted to admit they were fools.

Suddenly, a small child cried out, "But the emperor has no clothes on!"
The child was right. The people began to point and whisper.

The emperor had learned his lesson. He knew the child was right.
Even though the emperor had no clothes, he still walked through
the town, with his head held high, like a real, true emperor.