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IV . The Old Minister The Emperor calls for his old minister . The old minister is a good , honest man . He is very old , and he is clever . Nobody knows the work of a minister better than he does . “ Go and see the weavers , ” says the Emperor . “ Look at the new cloth and tell me about it . ” “ Yes , Your Majesty , ” says the old minister . The Emperor watches him go . “ He is the right man for this , ” thinks the Emperor . “ He is clever . He knows his job . He will see the cloth . ” The old minister walks through the streets . He is not afraid . “ I am old , but I am not stupid , ” he thinks . “ And I am good at my job . Of course I will see the cloth . ” He walks to the weavers ’ room . The two men sit at their empty looms . They move their hands up and down . They look very busy . The old minister comes in . He looks at the looms . He opens his eyes very wide . “ Oh , dear me ! ” he thinks . “ I cannot see a thing ! There is nothing there ! ” But he does not say this out loud . “ Welcome , welcome ! ” say the two men . “ Come nearer . Look at our cloth . Do you like the pattern ? Do you like the colours ? ” They point to the empty looms . The poor old minister looks and looks . He puts on his glasses . He looks again . But he cannot see anything , because there is nothing to see . “ Oh , no , ” he thinks . “ Am I stupid ? I never thought so ! But nobody must know about this . Am I bad at my job ? No , no ! I must not say that I cannot see the cloth . ” “ Well ? ” says one of the men . He moves his hands over the loom . “ You say nothing , sir . Do you not like it ? ” “ Oh , it is very pretty ! ” says the old minister . “ It is lovely . Such a fine pattern ! Such bright colours ! I will tell the Emperor . He must hear about this cloth . ” “ We are so glad , ” say the two men . Then they tell him about the cloth . They tell him about each colour and each line of the pattern . “ Here is a red line , ” says the first man . “ Next to it is a line of gold . ” “ And here the blue begins , ” says the second man . “ It is the blue of the sky in summer . ” The old minister listens with great care . He wants to tell the Emperor all of it . He goes back to the palace . “ Well ? ” asks the Emperor . “ How is my cloth ? ” “ It is very fine , Your Majesty , ” says the old minister . “ There is a red line , and a line of gold next to it . And the blue is the blue of the sky in summer . ” He tells the Emperor everything that the two men told him . And the Emperor is very happy . The next day , the two men ask for more money . They ask for more silk and more gold thread . “ We need it for the cloth , ” they say . They get it all . And all of it goes into their bags . Not one thread goes onto the looms . But the two men sit at the empty looms all day , and they work and work .
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