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What's the podcast? 
It's all going to be all right 

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in the end. 
You've got some worries, my 

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dearly. 
Rest your busy minds, because 

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it's finally time. 
The Stories from Now. 

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Hello, everybody, and welcome 
back to Stories From Now and 

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Then. 
My name is Captain Blunderface, 

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and we're back in the old 
library here going through a 

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bunch of books about fashion 
right now. 

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So we've got, what do we have 
here? 

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OK, Pants for ants looks 
interesting. 

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What about this one, Coats for 
goats. 

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That seems warm. 
What about this one? 

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Hats for cats? 
Yeah, I thought so. 

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You might like the pictures in 
this one, Deprecatus. 

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Also, whatever happened to your 
Robin Hood hat that I made you? 

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You put it through the washing 
machine? 

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Actually, that's fine. 
The washing machine's OK. 

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But wait, did you put it through
the dryer? 

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Oh, let's see. 
Yeah, it shrunk. 

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Maybe we could find a mouse to 
give it to now. 

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Well, before we do that and 
before we get suited up for 

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today's story, we have a shout 
out for Simon in Guelph ON. 

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He loves building things with 
tools, Lego, and anything else 

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he can get his hands on. 
Simon, this story is for you. 

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Oh, and it looks like we just 
got a message from our sponsor. 

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Today's episode is sponsored by 
Guest Getter. 

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They help restaurants bring in 
guests and keep them coming 

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back, which is great because I 
personally forget where I like 

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to eat unless someone reminds 
me. 

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Guest Getter helps restaurants 
do that, but you know, on 

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purpose. 
Check them out, Guest getter.co.

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00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,960
And with that, it is now story 
time. 

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Nicola, please take it from 
here. 

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Thank you very much, Captain. 
Today we've got a story about 

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dressing up, which can be very 
fun. 

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And it's also a story about 
worrying. 

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Worrying what people will think 
of you. 

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Have you ever done that? 
I do it sometimes. 

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OK, get cosy and let's start the
Emperor's new clothes. 

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Many, many years ago, there 
lived an emperor who was so 

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monstrously fond of fine new 
clothes that he spent all his 

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money on being really smartly 
dressed. 

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He didn't care about his army. 
He didn't care for going to the 

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theatre or even for driving 
around the park in his carriage,

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unless it was to show off his 
new clothes. 

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He had a different coat for 
every hour of the day. 

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And just as people say about a 
king that he's holding a meeting

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with his council, in this 
country, they would always say 

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the emperor is in his dressing 
room. 

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In the great city where he 
lived, life was very pleasant. 

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Lots of strangers travelled 
there every day and one day 

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there arrived 2 swindlers. 
A swindler is another word for a

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trickster, so they aren't very 
good people now. 

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These swindlers said that they 
were weavers and said they knew 

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how to make the loveliest 
clothes and fabrics that could 

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possibly be imagined. 
Not only were the colours and 

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patterns extraordinarily pretty,
but the clothes that were made 

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of the stuff had this marvelous 
quality to them that they were 

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invisible to anyone who was 
either not good enough for his 

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job or else was not smart or 
clever at all. 

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Very excellent clothes those 
must be, thought the Emperor. 

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If I wore them, I could tell 
which are the men in my Kingdom 

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who aren't fit for the jobs they
hold. 

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I could tell clever people from 
the not very smart ones. 

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To be sure. 
That stuff must be made for me 

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immediately. 
Accordingly, he gave the two 

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swindlers a large sum of money 
in advance so that they might 

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begin their work. 
They set up two looms and 

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pretended to be working, but 
they hadn't a scrap of thread on

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the looms. 
In hot haste they demanded the 

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finest of silk and the best of 
gold, which they stuffed into 

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their own pockets, and they 
worked away at the empty looms 

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till very late at night. 
I should like to know how 

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they're getting on with the 
stuff, thought the Emperor. 

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But to tell the truth, he had a 
little hesitation when he 

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thought that anyone who was not 
clever or not good at his job 

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wouldn't be able to see the 
cloth. 

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Of course he was confident that 
he didn't need to be afraid for 

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himself, but all the same he 
decided to send someone else 1st

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to see how things were. 
Everybody in the whole city had 

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heard what a marvellous power 
was in this cloth, and everybody

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was so curious to see how 
incompetent and how silly 

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everybody else might be. 
I'll send my good old minister 

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down to the weavers, thought the
Emperor. 

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He can quite well see how the 
stuff is coming together. 

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He's an intelligent man, and no 
one is better at his job than 

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he. 
So the worthy old minister went 

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into the hall where the two 
swindlers were sitting working 

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at the empty loom. 
Heaven help us, thought the old 

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minister, staring with all his 
eyes. 

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I can't see a thing. 
But he didn't say so both the 

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swindlers begged him to please 
step nearer, and asked if here 

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was not a pretty pattern and 
beautiful colours. 

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And they pointed to the empty 
looms, And the poor old minister

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kept staring at it, but he 
couldn't see anything, because 

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there was nothing to be seen. 
Gracious goodness, thought he, 

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am I not very smart? 
I never thought so, and nobody 

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must get to know it. 
Can I be bad at my job? 

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No, no, it won't do for me to 
say that I can't see the stuff. 

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Well, have you nothing to say 
about it, Said the one who was 

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weaving. 
Oh, it's charming, most 

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delightful, said the old 
minister, looking through his 

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spectacles. 
The pattern, the colour. 

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Yes indeed, I must tell the 
Emperor. 

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I am infinitely pleased with it.
We are glad indeed to hear it, 

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said both the weavers, and 
proceeded to describe the 

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colours and the unusual pattern.
The old minister listened 

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carefully so that he might be 
able to repeat it when he went 

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back to the Emperor. 
And so he did. 

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The swindlers now demanded more 
money and more silk and more 

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gold to be used in the weaving. 
They took it all for themselves.

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Not a thread was put up, but 
they went on as before, weaving 

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at the empty loom. 
Very soon the Emperor sent 

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another honest official over to 
see how the weaving progressed 

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and whether the stuff would be 
ready soon. 

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He fared just like the minister.
He looked and looked, but as 

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there was nothing there but the 
empty loom, nothing could be 

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seen. 
Well, isn't that a fine piece of

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stuff? 
Said both the swindlers, 

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exhibiting and explaining the 
lovely patterns that weren't 

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there at all. 
I am clever, thought the man. 

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It must be my nice job that I'm 
not good enough, for that would 

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be a terrible thing. 
But I mustn't let people notice 

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anything. 
Whereupon he praised the stuff 

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which he couldn't see, and 
assured them of his pleasure in 

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the pretty colours and the 
exquisite pattern. 

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Yes, it is positively stunning, 
he told the Emperor. 

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Everybody in the city was 
talking of the splendid stuff. 

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At last the Emperor decided to 
see it while it was still on the

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loom, with a large team of his 
assistants, among them the two 

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worthy officials who had been 
there before. 

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He went over to the two clever 
swindlers who were now weaving 

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with all their might, only 
without a scrap of a thread. 

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Now is not that magnificent, 
Said both the worthy officials. 

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Will your Majesty just look at 
the beauty of the pattern and 

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the colours? 
And they pointed to the bare 

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loom for the guest, that all the
rest of the people there could 

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certainly see the stuff. 
What's the meaning of this, 

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thought the Emperor? 
I can't see a thing. 

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This is terrible. 
Am I not a clever man? 

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Am I not fit to be Emperor? 
That would be the most frightful

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thing that could befall me. 
Oh, it's very pretty. 

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It has my utmost approval, said 
he, nodding complacently and 

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gazing at the empty loom. 
Of course he wouldn't say he 

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could see nothing. 
The whole of the team he had 

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with him looked and looked, but 
got no more out of that than the

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rest. 
However, they said, as the 

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Emperor had said, oh, it's very 
pretty. 

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And they advised him to put on 
this splendid new stuff for the 

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first time for the occasion of a
great procession or parade which

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was to take place shortly. 
Magnificent, exquisite, 

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excellent, went from mouth to 
mouth. 

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The whole company was in the 
highest state of gratification. 

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The Emperor gave each of the 
swindlers a Knight's Cross medal

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to pin on his jacket and the 
title of Gentleman in weaving. 

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The whole night before the day 
of the procession, the swindlers

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stayed up and had dozens of 
candles lit so they could keep 

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working while it was dark. 
People could see they were hard 

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pressed to get the Emperor's new
clothes finished. 

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They pretended to be taking the 
stuff off the loom. 

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They snipped with scissors in 
the air, they sewed with a 

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needle without thread, and 
finally they said, look, now the

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clothes are finished. 
The Emperor, with the noblest of

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his personal attendants, came 
there himself. 

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Each of the swindlers raised an 
arm in the air, as if holding 

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something up, and said, See, 
here are the trousers, this is 

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the coat, this is the Cape, and 
so on. 

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It is as light as a spider's 
web. 

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You would feel like you had 
nothing whatever on, but that 

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is, of course, the beauty of it.
Yes, said all the attendants, 

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but they couldn't see anything, 
for there was nothing to be 

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seen. 
Will your Imperial Majesty be 

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graciously pleased to take off 
your clothes, said the 

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swindlers. 
We can then put the new ones 

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upon you here before the large 
mirror. 

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The Emperor took off all his 
clothes, and the swindlers 

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behaved as if they were handing 
him each piece of the new suit 

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which was supposed to have been 
made, and they put their hands 

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around his waist and pretended 
to tie something securely. 

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It was the long train. 
The Emperor turned and twisted 

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himself in front of the mirror. 
Oh, how well it fits, how 

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beautifully it trails, said 
everyone. 

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The pattern, the colours, it is 
indeed a noble outfit. 

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They are waiting outside with 
the canopy which is to be borne 

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over your Majesty in the 
procession, said the chief 

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master of the ceremonies. 
Very well, I am ready, said the 

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Emperor. 
Doesn't it set well? 

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Once more he turned about in 
front of the mirror so that it 

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looks like he was really 
admiring his clothes. 

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The Lords in waiting, who were 
to carry the train, fumble with 

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00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,360
their hands in the direction of 
the floor, as if they were 

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picking the train up. 
They walked on, holding the air.

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They didn't want anyone to 
notice that they could see 

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nothing at all. 
So the Emperor walked in the 

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00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,760
procession under the beautiful 
canopy, and everybody in the 

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00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,360
streets and at the windows said,
Ah, how splendid the emperor's 

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new clothes are. 
What a lovely train he has on 

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00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,720
his coat, what a beautiful fit 
it is. 

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00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,960
Nobody wanted to be the one who 
could see nothing. 

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00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,640
That would mean that he was no 
good at his job, or that he 

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00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,880
wasn't very clever. 
None of the emperor's outfits 

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00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:34,920
had ever been such a success. 
But he hasn't got anything on, 

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00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:39,000
said a little child. 
Oh, just listen to the child, 

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00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,080
said his father. 
But people began to whisper to 

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00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,200
each other what the child had 
said. 

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00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,640
That little child there says he 
hasn't got anything on. 

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00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:56,640
Why he hasn't got anything on? 
The whole crowd was shouting at 

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last, and the Emperor got a 
sudden chill all over, for he 

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felt they must be right. 
But all the same, he thought to 

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00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,880
himself, I must go through with 
the procession. 

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00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,960
So he held himself more proudly 
than before, and the Lords in 

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00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,880
waiting walked on behind him, 
carrying the train. 

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00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,960
The train that wasn't there at 
all. 

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00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,880
Can you believe that those 
swindlers managed to trick the 

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00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,560
entire Kingdom? 
The only one who was brave 

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00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,120
enough to just say what he saw 
was that little child at the 

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parade, and that was when 
everybody started to realise the

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00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,080
trick that had been played on 
them. 

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00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:57,480
Poor Emperor was so focused on 
having the best clothes and 

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00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,880
being the most beautifully 
dressed that he forgot what's 

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00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:06,120
really important. 
I like to think that he learned 

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00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,720
a really good lesson from this 
and he stopped spending all his 

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money on silly things like 
invisible clothes. 

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But what do you think? 
Thanks Nicola. 

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00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,120
I'm curious about what you all 
think as well. 

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00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,040
Why don't you send us a message 
to let us know? 

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00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,920
Would you be like the kid who 
spoke up and said what everybody

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00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:32,840
was thinking? 
What would you say? 

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00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,720
Drop us a message on Instagram 
at Stories from now and then. 

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You could also get a shout out 
on a future episode. 

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Our show is narrated by Nicola 
Ward, music by yours truly, and 

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the show is listened to by the 
coolest kids on the planet. 

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Stay sharp out there and we'll 
see you next time on Stories 

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00:16:58,400 --> 00:16:59,040
from Now and Then.