Both the rogues begged him to be so good as to step a little closer, and asked him if he did not think the pattern and the colors beautiful. They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister walked forward, rubbing his eyes; but he could see nothing, for there was nothing there. “Mercy on us!” thought he; “can I be so stupid? I have never thought so, and nobody must know it. Can it be that I am not fit for my [[20]]office? No, it will certainly never do to say that I cannot see the cloth.”
“Have you nothing to say about it?” asked one of the weavers.
“Oh, it is beautiful! quite charming!” answered the old minister, looking through his spectacles. “What a fine pattern! and what colors! Yes, I will tell the Emperor that it pleases me very much.”
“Now we are delighted to hear you say so,” said both the weavers, and then they named all the colors, and described the peculiar pattern.
The old minister paid great attention, so that he might be able to repeat it to the Emperor when he got back.
Then the rogues wanted more money, more silk, and more gold, to use in their weaving, but they put it all into their own pockets; not a single thread was ever put on the loom, but they went on working at the empty looms as before.
Soon the Emperor sent another worthy statesman to see how the weaving was [[21]]getting on, and how soon the cloth would be finished. It was the same with him as with the first one: he looked and looked, but as there was nothing on the loom he could see nothing.
“Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?” asked the rogues, and they pointed to and described the splendid material that was not there at all.
“I am not stupid,” thought the man, “so it must be that I am not fit for my good office. It is very strange, but I must not let it be noticed.”
So he praised the cloth which he did not see, and expressed to them his delight in the beautiful colors and the charming pattern.