to have borne over you in the procession,' announced the Master of the
Ceremonies.

'Look, I am ready,' said the Emperor. 'Doesn't it sit well!' And he
turned himself again to the mirror to see if his finery was on all
right.

The chamberlains who were used to carry the train put their hands near
the floor as if they were lifting up the train; then they did as if
they were holding something in the air. They would not have it noticed
that they could see nothing.

So the Emperor went along in the procession under the splendid canopy,
and all the people in the streets and at the windows said, 'How
matchless are the Emperor's new clothes! That train fastened to his
dress, how beautifully it hangs!'

No one wished it to be noticed that he could see nothing, for then he
would have been unfit for his office, or else very stupid. None of the
Emperor's clothes had met with such approval as these had.

'But he has nothing on!' said a little child at last.

'Just listen to the innocent child!' said the father, and each one
whispered to his neighbour what the child had said.

'But he has nothing on!' the whole of the people called out at last.

This struck the Emperor, for it seemed to him as if they were right;
but he thought to himself, 'I must go on with the procession now.' And
the chamberlains walked along still more uprightly, holding up the
train which was not there at all.

_THE GOLDEN CRAB_[5]

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who had a wife and three
children. Every morning he used to go out fishing, and whatever fish
he caught he sold to the King. One day, among the other fishes, he
caught a golden crab. When he came home he put all the fishes together
into a great dish, but he kept the Crab separate because it shone so
beautifully, and placed it upon a high shelf in the cupboard. Now
while the old woman, his wife, was cleaning the fish, and had tucked
up her gown so that her feet were visible, she suddenly heard a voice,
which said:

'Let down, let down thy petticoat
That lets thy feet be seen.'

She turned round in surprise, and then she saw the little creature,
the Golden Crab.

'What! You can speak, can you, you ridiculous crab?' she said, for she
was not quite pleased at the Crab's remarks. Then she took him up and
placed him on a dish.

When her husband came home and they sat down to dinner, they presently
heard the Crab's little voice saying, 'Give me some too.' They we