Sander's Reflexions

I guess you all know the tale ‘The emperor’s new clothes’. My daughter does! I told her last week. For her it was a very funny story. The emperor walking in his underpants and a small child telling the truth about it. How could the emperor be so foolish?!
For me it was another view on storytelling and belief I wrote about before. With this tale we tell our children not to be fooled by nice stories and not to believe something because everybody believes it. At the same time this story tells us that children do not need this message, since they already speak the naked truth. Is this a tale to remind us what we have forgotten since we were young?

What struck me most in this tale was that the emperor continued his procession while he knew he was wearing nothing at all. How often do people carry on while they know they are mistaken?

Wikipedia has a nice analysis of the tale. Other versions of the tale exist in other cultures as well.

[A note for my faithful readers: my daughter has learned to ride her bike by now. Since last week she can also lace up her shoes. Today she wanted to try roller skating. It was not a success...]