In the Throes of The Emperor's New Clothes!
In 1837, one hundred and seventy years ago, Hans Christian Anderson shared some timeless truths in this now universally famous story- The Emperor’s New Suit.
We all know how it goes.
Emperor loves new clothes. Two swindlers come to town. They convince him their fabulous clothes cannot be seen by anyone ‘unfit for his office’ or ‘unpardonably stupid’. Not just the emperor, but two of his trusted, ‘honest’ courtiers and the whole wide kingdom can plainly see that there are no clothes. But no one can admit, even to themselves, that there are no clothes and the ‘tailors’ are actually swindlers. The fear that they could actually be ‘unfit for their office’ or ‘unpardonably stupid’ is so overwhelming that it clouds their vision, even in broad daylight out on the street.
The emperor parades before his kingdom, all dressed in His Royal Underwear. As Anderson puts it “Never emperor’s clothes were more admired.”
“But he has nothing on at all,” said a little child at last. “Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,” said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. “But he has nothing on at all,” cried at last the whole people.
Most people think the story ends here. But the ending of this story is very sad indeed- “That made a deep impression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they were right; but he thought to himself, “Now I must bear up to the end.” And the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carried the train which did not exist.”
Maybe this ending shuts up many more courtiers and common people in the kingdom. Maybe they think that all the bravado of the innocent child and the whispered exclamation of the crowd are simply not enough to get the emperor to drop his pride and pick up his clothes.
There’s a time for everything, they say. And this is the time for it to be so overwhelmingly unacceptable to say “Listen to the voice of an innocent child” or to even say that “a child is innocent”.
And as the noise of the restless crowd competes with the silence of their conscience, my whole body, soul and mind screams out “The emperor has no clothes! The emperor has no clothes! The emperor has no clothes!”
And I can hear the crowd whispering to each other and I can see the look of confusion in the courtiers’ eyes and I feel oh so so sorry for the otherwise wise Emperor who really must be feeling quite cold in his underwear.
And I really don’t care what happens to the swindlers, as long as my Emperor can be dressed in righteousness and truth.
And somewhere in this frozen moment of time, I can hear the ending of the rebellious Sinead O’Connor’s song:
Whatever it may bring
I will live by my own policies
I will sleep with a clear conscience
I will sleep in peace
Maybe it sounds mean
But I really don't think so
You asked for the truth and I told you
Through their own words
They will be exposed
They've got a severe case of
The emperor's new clothes
The emperor's new clothes
The emperor's new clothes
We all know how it goes.
Emperor loves new clothes. Two swindlers come to town. They convince him their fabulous clothes cannot be seen by anyone ‘unfit for his office’ or ‘unpardonably stupid’. Not just the emperor, but two of his trusted, ‘honest’ courtiers and the whole wide kingdom can plainly see that there are no clothes. But no one can admit, even to themselves, that there are no clothes and the ‘tailors’ are actually swindlers. The fear that they could actually be ‘unfit for their office’ or ‘unpardonably stupid’ is so overwhelming that it clouds their vision, even in broad daylight out on the street.
The emperor parades before his kingdom, all dressed in His Royal Underwear. As Anderson puts it “Never emperor’s clothes were more admired.”
“But he has nothing on at all,” said a little child at last. “Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,” said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. “But he has nothing on at all,” cried at last the whole people.
Most people think the story ends here. But the ending of this story is very sad indeed- “That made a deep impression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they were right; but he thought to himself, “Now I must bear up to the end.” And the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carried the train which did not exist.”
Maybe this ending shuts up many more courtiers and common people in the kingdom. Maybe they think that all the bravado of the innocent child and the whispered exclamation of the crowd are simply not enough to get the emperor to drop his pride and pick up his clothes.
There’s a time for everything, they say. And this is the time for it to be so overwhelmingly unacceptable to say “Listen to the voice of an innocent child” or to even say that “a child is innocent”.
And as the noise of the restless crowd competes with the silence of their conscience, my whole body, soul and mind screams out “The emperor has no clothes! The emperor has no clothes! The emperor has no clothes!”
And I can hear the crowd whispering to each other and I can see the look of confusion in the courtiers’ eyes and I feel oh so so sorry for the otherwise wise Emperor who really must be feeling quite cold in his underwear.
And I really don’t care what happens to the swindlers, as long as my Emperor can be dressed in righteousness and truth.
And somewhere in this frozen moment of time, I can hear the ending of the rebellious Sinead O’Connor’s song:
Whatever it may bring
I will live by my own policies
I will sleep with a clear conscience
I will sleep in peace
Maybe it sounds mean
But I really don't think so
You asked for the truth and I told you
Through their own words
They will be exposed
They've got a severe case of
The emperor's new clothes
The emperor's new clothes
The emperor's new clothes
posted by Adele @ 2:05 AM
1 comments
