Once upon a time, there was an emperor who loved clothes, and collected garments for every possible occasion. Some peasants thought he was vain, and one village messenger claimed he could humble him. During his travels, the messenger sought out two friends who knew how to cheat and prank anyone. Anyone could be proven a fool by this duo, and the messenger thought the emperor would be easy to trick. The emperor never focused on anything but clothes and himself, so he was pretty dumb not to notice anything or anyone else besides himself.
The two swindlers arrived at the palace, and the messenger presented them as merchants selling a rare item. The emperor took an audience with them. The cheating merchants opened an empty chest, saying it was filled with magical silk that was invisible to people who were not fit for their job. They said, “Only a worthy, wise soul can see the beautiful silk.” The emperor smiled, and agreed to have them make some clothes for him, which he would pay for later.
The dishonest duo went to work, pretending to weave the invisible nothing into nonexistent clothes. They were laughing, happy that their sham was working. One told the other to keep quiet, since someone might overhear them, then their plans would be foiled, and they would be put to death. It turned out that no one was eavesdropping.
The next day, they handed in the airy clothes to the emperor, who happily pretended to take the clothes. He said he would wear them the next day and pay them.
The next day came, and everyone anxiously awaited to see the emperor’s new clothes. The swindlers were waiting on the messenger to hand them their chest of coins. He was running a bit late, and they didn’t want to get caught and executed. The swindlers thought that they were doomed, but they would at least live to see the ruler’s humiliation. Just then, the emperor rode through the kingdom wearing his finest robe, vest, silk shirt, braided leather pants, and crown. Everyone was in good spirits except for the cheats and the messenger. They wondered what happened.
The emperor dismounted his horse and strode over to the fake merchants and said, “Thank you for the pajamas! I wore them last night. They felt like barely nothing, so comfortable! Your pay is in the chest.” The messenger finally came, and handed over the chest. Ha! They thought, at least we got paid! Once beyond the kingdom walls, the dishonest duo opened the heavy, wooden chest, and it was empty except for a note that read, “Only a worthy, wise soul can see the money.”
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