这篇故事写于1837年，和同年写的另一起童话《海的女儿》合成一本小集子出版。这时安徒生只有32岁，也就是他开始创作童话后的第三年（他30岁时才开始写童话）。但从这篇童话中可以看出，安徒生对社会的观察是多么深刻。他在这里揭露了以皇帝为首的统治阶级是何等虚荣、铺张浪费，而且最重要的是，何等愚蠢。骗子们看出了他们的特点，就提出“凡是不称职的人或者愚蠢的人，都看不见这衣服”。他们当然看不见，因为根本就没有什么衣服。但是他们心虚，都怕人们发现他们既不称职，而又愚蠢，就异口同声地称赞那不存在的衣服是如何美丽，穿在身上是如何漂亮，还要举行一个游行大典，赤身露体，招摇过市，让百姓都来欣赏和诵赞。不幸这个可笑的骗局，一到老百姓面前就被揭穿了。“皇帝”下不了台，仍然要装腔作势，“必须把这游行大典举行完毕”，而且“因此他还要摆出一副更骄傲的神气”。这种弄虚作假但极愚蠢的统治者，大概在任何时代都会存在。因此这篇童话在任何时候也都具有现实意义。
The Emperors New Suit皇帝的新装
Many，many years ago lived an emperor，who thought so much of new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them，his only ambitionambition n.野心，雄心 was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his soldiers，and the theatre did not amuse him，the only thing，in fact，he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit of clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day，and as one would say of a king “He is in his cabinet”，so one could say of him，“The emperor is in his dressingroom”。
很多年以前有一位皇帝，他特别喜欢穿好看的新衣服。他为了要穿得漂亮，把所有的钱都花到衣服上去了，他一点儿也不关心他的军队，也不喜欢去看戏。除非是为了炫耀一下新衣服，他也不喜欢乘着马车逛公园。他每天每个钟头都要换一套新衣服。提到皇帝时人们总是在说，“皇上在会议室里”。但是当人们一提到他时，总是说：“皇上正在更衣室里”。
The great city where he resided was very gay，every day many strangers from all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers came to this city，they made people believe that they were weavers，and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined. Their colours and patterns，they said，were not only exceptionally beautiful，but the clothes made of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonablyunpardonably adv.不可原谅地，不可宽恕地 stupid.
在他住的那个大城市里，生活很愉快，很轻松。每天都有许多外国人到来。有一天来了两个骗子。他们说他们是织工。他们说，他们能织出谁也想像不出的最美丽的布。这种布的色彩和图案不只是非常好看，并且用它缝出来的衣服还有一种奇异的作用，那就是凡是不称职的人或者愚蠢的人，都看不到这件衣服。
“That must be wonderful cloth.” thought the emperor. “If I were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their places，and I could distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven for me without delay.” And he gave a large sum of money to the swindlers，in advance，that they should set to work without any loss of time. They set up two looms，and pretended to be very hard at work，but they did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the finest silk and the most precious goldcloth，all they got they did away with，and worked at the empty loomsloom n.织布机，织机v.隐现，迫近 till late at night.
“那正是我最喜欢的衣服！”皇帝心里想。“我穿了这样的衣服，便可以看出我的王国里有哪些人不称职：我就可以辨别出哪些人是傻子，哪些人是聪明人。是的，我要叫他们马上织出这样的布来！”他向这两个骗子付了许多现款，叫他们立刻开始工作。他们摆出两架织机来，装作是在工作的样子，可他们的织机上什么东西也没有。他们接二连三地请求皇帝给他们发一些最好的生丝和金子。他们把这些东西都装进了自己的腰包，却假装在那两架空空的织机上忙碌地工作着，一直忙到深夜。
“I should very much like to know how they are getting on with the cloth.” thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it. Personally，he was of opinion that he had nothing to fear，yet he thought it advisableadvisable adj.可取的，明智的 to send somebody else first to see how matters stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the stuff possessed，and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbours were.
“我很想知道他们织布究竟织得怎样了”。皇帝想。可是，他马上就想起了愚蠢的人或不称职的人是看不见这布的。他心里的确觉得有些不大自在。他相信他自己是用不着害怕的。即使如此，他还是觉得先派一个人去看看会比较妥当。全城的人都听说过这种布料有一种奇异的力量，所以大家都很想趁这机会来测验一下，看看他们的邻居到底有多傻，有多笨。
“I shall send my honest old minister tominister to v.照顾 the weavers.” thought the emperor. “He can judge best how the stuff looks，for he is intelligent，and nobody understands his office better than he.”
“我要派诚实的老部长到织工那儿去看看。”皇帝想。“只有他能够看出这布料是个什么样子，因为他这个人相当有头脑，而且谁也比不上他那样称职。”
The good old minister went into the room where the swindlersswindler n.骗子 sat before the empty looms. “Heaven preserve us！” he thought，and opened his eyes wide，“I cannot see anything at all.” but he did not say so. Both swindlers requested him to come near，and asked him if he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the beautiful colours，pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried his very best，but he could see nothing，for there was nothing to be seen. “Oh dear，” he thought，“can I be so stupid？ I should never have thought so，and nobody must know it！ Is it possible that I am not fit for my office？ No，no，I cannot say that I was unable to see the cloth.”
因此这位善良的老部长就到那两个骗子的工作地点去了。他们正在空空的织机上忙忙碌碌地工作着。“这是怎么一回事儿啊？”老部长把眼睛睁得有碗口那么大，想，“我什么东西也没看见！”然而他不敢把这句话说出来。那两个骗子请他走近一点儿，同时问他，布的花纹是不是很美丽，色彩是不是很漂亮。他们指着那两架空空的织机。这位可怜的老大臣的眼睛越睁越大，然而他还是看不见任何东西，因为确实没有什么东西可看。“我的天啊！”他想。“难道我是一个愚蠢的人吗？我从来没有怀疑过我自己呀。我决不能让别人知道这件事。难道我不称职吗？——不成：我决不能让人知道我看不见布料。”
“Now，have you got nothing to say？” said one of the swindlers，while he pretended to be busily weaving.
“哎，难道您没有一点儿意见吗？”一个正在织布的织工说，同时假装忙碌地工作着。
“Oh，it is very pretty，exceedingly beautiful！” replied the old minister looking through his glasses. “What a beautiful pattern，what brilliantbrilliant adj.灿烂的，闪耀的，有才气的 colours！ I shall tell the emperor that I like the cloth very much.”
“啊，美极了！真是美妙极了！”老大臣说。他戴上眼镜仔细地看。“多么美的花纹！多么美的色彩！是的，我将向皇上呈报说我对于这布感到非常的满意。”
“We are pleased to hear that.” said the two weavers，and described to him the colours and explained the curious pattern. The old minister listened attentively，that he might relate to the emperor what they said，and so he did.
“嗯，我们听到您的话真是高兴极了。”两个织工一齐说。他们把这些稀有的色彩和花纹描述了一番，还加上些名词儿。这位老大臣听得很仔细，以便回到皇帝那儿去时，可以照样背得出来。实际上他也就这样办了。
Now the swindlers asked for more money，silk and goldcloth，which they required for weaving. They kept everything for themselves，and not a thread came near the loom，but they continued，as hithertohitherto adv.迄今，至今，to work at the empty looms.
这两个骗子又要了很多的钱，更多的金子和生丝，他们说这是为了织布的需要。他们把这些东西全装进自己腰包里，没有放到织机上去一根线。不过他们还是继续在空空的机架上工作着。