Once upon a time, there was an emperor who loved new clothes more than anything else.
从前，有一位皇帝，他比什么都喜欢新衣服。
He spent all his money on clothes, and didn’t care about his army or his people.
他把所有的钱都花在了衣服上，对军队和百姓都不太关心。
One day, two swindlers came to the emperor’s palace and told him they could make the most beautiful clothes in the world.
一天，两个骗子来到皇帝的宫殿，告诉他他们能做出世界上最美丽的衣服。
These clothes, they said, were so special that they would be invisible to anyone who was either unfit for their position or too stupid to understand them.
这些衣服，他们说，是如此特别，只有那些不配当官的人或愚蠢的人才能看不见。
The emperor thought this was a wonderful idea and gave the swindlers a lot of money to make the clothes.
皇帝觉得这个主意太好了，于是给了骗子们很多钱让他们做衣服。
The swindlers pretended to work very hard, but in fact, they didn’t make anything at all.
骗子们假装非常努力地工作，但实际上什么也没做。
The emperor sent his most trusted ministers to check on the progress, but when they saw the “clothes,” they were too embarrassed to admit they couldn’t see anything.
皇帝派他最信任的大臣去查看进展情况，但当他们看到“衣服”时，他们都不敢承认自己什么也没看到。
So, they praised the clothes and reported to the emperor that they were magnificent.
于是，他们称赞了这些衣服，并向皇帝报告说它们非常壮丽。
The emperor, eager to see his new clothes, went to see the “finished” work.
皇帝自己也想看看这些“衣服”。
He couldn’t see the clothes either, but he didn’t want to appear unfit for his position, so he also praised them.
他虽然什么也看不见，但不想显得不配当皇帝，于是也称赞了它们。
He paraded through the streets wearing his new clothes, and everyone, though they could see he was wearing nothing, pretended to admire his beautiful clothes for fear of being thought too stupid.
他穿着新衣服在街上游行，大家虽然看得出他什么也没穿，却都假装欣赏他美丽的衣服，生怕自己显得太愚笨。
Finally, a little child cried out, “The emperor is not wearing any clothes!”
最后，一个小孩子喊道：“皇帝没有穿衣服！”
The crowd then realized the truth, and the emperor, feeling embarrassed, tried to act as if everything was fine, but he knew deep down that he had been fooled.
人们才意识到真相，皇帝感到非常尴尬，虽然他试图装作一切都很好，但他知道自己已经被骗了。
