Once upon a time, there was an emperor-to-be who was preparing for his coronation. He was certain he would be the next emperor as the people loved him and every one told him how smart and how grand he was. He had asked many people for lots of money so he could buy himself a new campaign cloak, one that was wondrous and more expensive than any that had gone before. And the people had given him their money. They thought he was most merciful and sent them their bread money and their savings. The emperor-to-be used this money for delicious meals of lobster and champagne. His helpers claimed they made a cloak for him which they told everybody was the most amazing cloak ever made. They spun him an imaginary cloak. They kept all of the money and said anybody who could not see the cloak was a fool. As nobody around the emperor-to-be wanted to be called a fool, they all marveled and told him and everybody else how great it was. It was the most marvelous thing they had ever seen. The emperor-to-be thought to himself that he didn’t see anything but he didn’t think he was a fool – this was just all such a new experience to him. Everyone around him had more experience than he and they said they saw it, too, so he just smiled and agreed. His wife looked at him and said it’s the first time she’s ever been proud. He decided he must go out amongst the people and show off his new cloak. So out he went, with nothing but himself and his cloak. As he walked, the people saw him and were bewildered, but nobody dare say a word, lest they be called a fool by the courtiers. Then, in one stop, one boy, Joey the Plumber’s son, had the courage to walk up to him and tell him he was naked. The courtiers saw this encounter and realized how they had been taken in. Courtiers had helped him defeat the Queen of the last Emperor and couldn’t be shown to be fools. They were no fools and they acted quickly. They found where Joey lived and went through his garbage and asked everybody who knew him to tell them anything bad about Joey. And the courtiers came back and told the people not to worry because Joey was a bad little boy. They accused him of not paying his share of the tribute to the emperor and that he had no license to question the emperor.
The people wondered, “How could this be?” Could this really be the same emperor who the people saw among the splendid columns and spectacular fireworks?The people gathered and decided they must do the right thing about their emperor. And they did.
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