thought the old minister , opening his eyes wide , ' I can see nothing ! ' But he did not say so . Both the impostors begged him to be so kind as to step closer , and asked him if it were not a beautiful texture and lovely colours . They pointed to the empty loom , and the poor old minister went forward rubbing his eyes ; but he could see nothing , for there was nothing there . ` Dear , dear ! ' thought he , ` can I be stupid ? I have never thought that , and nobody must know it ! Can I be not fit for my office ? No , I must certainly not say that I can not see the cloth ! ' ` Have you nothing to say about it ? ' asked one of the men who was weaving . ` Oh , it is lovely , most lovely ! ' answered the old minister , looking through his spectacles . ` What a texture ! What colours ! Yes , I will tell the Emperor that it pleases me very much . ' ` Now we are delighted at that , ' said both the weavers , and thereupon they named the colours and explained the make of the texture . The old minister paid great attention , so that he could tell the same to the Emperor when he came back to him , which he did . The impostors now wanted more money , more silk , and more gold to use in their weaving . They put it all in their own pockets , and there came no threads on the loom , but they went on as they had done before , working at the empty loom .
The XXXXX soon sent another worthy statesman to see how the weaving was getting on , and whether the cloth would soon be finished .
Emperor cloth colours eyes impostors make men money texture weavers