Long, long time ago, there lived a very fancy king. The king changed his clothes 12 times a day. He really liked to show off to his subjects. "My clothes are the best in the world."
One day, two tailors planned a trick. "Why don't we teach that stupid and extravagant king a lesson. He doesn't even worry about his starving people." "That's right! He thinks he's the best."
The two men went to see the king. "Oh, the world's most marvelous king! We have brought the most beautiful cloth in the whole world." "However, not everyone is able to see the cloth. Those that tell lies and have bad hearts are not able to see this fine cloth."
After the king heard those words, he became very interested. "Could there really be such a cloth? If I can make clothes out of those cloths, my clothes will be the best in the whole world. Hurry and show me the cloth." The king began to get more and more greedy.
The tailors pretended that the cloth was real, as they showed it to the king. The king and the fine-spoken subjects could not see anything before them. But, none of them could show that they could not see it.
The king and his fine-spoken subjects just looked at each other. Then, the tailor quickly spoke in a arrogant manner. "Well, is there no honest man here? How can you look at this beautiful cloth and not praise it." Among the subjects, one of them made a flattering comment out loud. "Wow! This is the first time that I have seen such a wonderful cloth." All the subjects tried to be the first to praise the cloth. Then, the king was amazed with the beauty of the cloth, too.
The king gave the money and ordered them to make his clothes. For several days, the tailors pretended to be making the clothes. The king became worried and told one of his subjects to go and see how the clothes was coming along.
The subject could not say how much the clothes had been completed. As hard as he looked, he could not see it. But, he could not say that he was unable to see it. Instead, he pretended to be amazed at how beautiful it was coming along.
A few days later, the tailors came back with the King's clothes. "Here you are, try on this clothes." The king was not able to honestly say that he could not see the clothes. He, too, pretended to look over it.
One man said, "Your majesty, lets go and show off this finest clothes in the world." The subjects all agreed at the same time. "Yes, that is a good idea."
The king walked out to the street very proudly and walked with pride. All the people in the land came out to see the king's new clothes. They were all surprised, though.
Just then, a little girl shouted out, "Our king is naked!" Then everyone said,"He's naked, he's naked!"
The king now realized the truth. However, with only his undergarments on, he still walked in a dignified manner. Even though he was embarrassed, he could not stop walking. Why not? Because he was the king.
翻譯
很久很久以前，有壹位非常漂亮的國王。國王壹天換12次衣服。他真的很喜歡向他的臣民炫耀。“我的衣服是世界上最好的。”
壹天，兩個裁縫策劃了壹個惡作劇。“為什麽我們不給那個愚蠢而奢侈的國王壹個教訓。他甚至不擔心他的人民挨餓。”“沒錯！他認為自己是最好的。”
這兩個人去見國王。“哦，世界上最神奇的國王！我們帶來了全世界最美麗的布料。”“但是，不是每個人都能看到布料。那些說謊和心懷惡意的人看不到這塊漂亮的布料。”
國王聽到這些話後，變得非常感興趣。“真的會有這樣的布嗎？如果我能用這些布做衣服，我的衣服將是世界上最好的。快把布給我看看。”國王開始變得越來越貪婪。
裁縫們向國王展示這塊布時，假裝它是真的。國王和說話流利的臣民在他們面前什麽也看不見。但是，他們沒有壹個人能證明他們看不見它。
國王和他說話流利的臣民只是互相看著。然後，裁縫很快傲慢地說。“好吧，這裏沒有誠實的人嗎？妳怎麽能看著這件漂亮的衣服而不贊美它呢？”其中壹個被調查者大聲說了壹句奉承的話。“哇！這是我第壹次看到這麽漂亮的布料。”所有的受試者都爭先恐後地稱贊這塊布料。然後，國王也對布料的美麗感到驚訝。
國王給了錢，命令他們給他做衣服。幾天來，裁縫們假裝在做衣服。國王開始擔心，並告訴他的壹個臣民去看看衣服是怎麽回事。
受試者無法說出這些衣服完成了多少。盡管他使勁看，他還是看不見。但是，他不能說他看不見它。相反，他假裝驚訝於它是多麽美麗。
幾天後，裁縫帶著國王的衣服回來了。“給妳，試試這件衣服。”國王不能誠實地說他看不見衣服。他也假裝看了看。
壹個人說：“陛下，讓我們去炫耀壹下這世界上最好的衣服。”所有的臣民都同時表示同意。“是的，這是個好主意。”
國王非常自豪地走到街上，驕傲地走著。全國人民都出來看國王的新衣。不過，他們都很驚訝。
就在這時，壹個小女孩喊道：“我們的國王是裸體的！”然後每個人都說，“他是裸體的，他是裸體的！”
國王現在意識到了真相。不過，他只穿了內衣，走路還是很端莊。盡管他很尷尬，他還是不能停止走路。為什麽不呢？因為他是國王。