Introduction
Why do fashionable ideas continue to circulate among the elite, long after ordinary people have realised that they are nonsense? Andersen’s folk-tale explains it brilliantly.
ONCE upon a time, some weavers arrived at court, and offered to make robes so fine that only men fit for the very highest offices could even see them.
The Emperor paid them handsomely, and they set to work.
By and by, the Emperor went with his ministers to learn how things were going. When he found only empty looms, he casually asked his ministers what they saw.
Fearing that he might think them unfit for their high offices, they described wonderful robes of many colours. ‘That’, replied the Emperor hastily, ‘is what I see too.’
Now the weavers suggested that he try the robes on. His chamberlains helped him off with every last stitch, and on with the clothes no one could see, and they walked red-faced back through the town.
Suddenly a common boy cried, ‘Look, the Emperor has no clothes on!’. But neither the Emperor nor his ministers dared admit to each other what all of them knew to be true.
Précis
Some dishonest weavers told an Emperor that they made robes so fine that only the best men in the land could see them. The Emperor and his ministers did not dare admit to each other that they couldn’t see them, so the red-faced Emperor paraded naked in his imaginary robes, even after a little boy blurted out what everyone knew. (59 / 60 words)
Some dishonest weavers told an Emperor that they made robes so fine that only the best men in the land could see them. The Emperor and his ministers did not dare admit to each other that they couldn’t see them, so the red-faced Emperor paraded naked in his imaginary robes, even after a little boy blurted out what everyone knew.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, if, just, may, must, otherwise, whether.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Learn. Make. True.
2 Dare. One. Pay.
3 Emperor. Handsome. Other.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Saw. 2. Court. 3. Fine. 4. Found. 5. Set. 6. Last. 7. Even. 8. Man. 9. See.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
rds (14+2)
arduous. erodes. radios. radius. raids. readies. reads. reds. reeds. rides. rids. roads. rodeos. rods.
redoes. roadies.
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
You are welcome to share your creativity with me, or ask for help with any of the exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
See more at Post Box.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Picture: By Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 21 2021
A Wolf finds a series of reasons for making a meal of a little Lamb, but it turns out he did not really need them.
Picture: Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted June 4 2021
Picture: © Sander van der Wel, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 16 2015
