Programmer, I would like to see a question mark. * Behold, there is more to me than you might think when you read me the first time. * Symbol for hydrogen? * A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V * Now show me the twenty-fourth letter of the alphabet. * ONCE upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always some_thing about them that was not as it should be. So he came home a_gain and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess. One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and light_ning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it. It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious!! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out a_gain at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real prin_cess. "Well, we'll soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she said no_thing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bed_stead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses. On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept. "Ohh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarce_ly closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on some_thing hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!" Now they knew that she was a real prin_cess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds. Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that. So the prince took her for his wife. THE-END. * MANY, many years ago lived an emp_eror, who thought s_o much of new clothes that he spent all his money i_n order to obtain t_hem; his only ambition was to be always well dressed. H_e did not care for his soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; th_e only thing, in fac_t, 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 "H_e is in his cabinet," so one could say of him, "Th_e emperor i_s in his dressing-room." Th_e 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 peop_le belie_ve that they were weavers, and declared they could manufa_cture t_he finest cloth to be imagined_. Their colour_s and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally beautiful, bu_t the clothes made of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid. "T_hat must be wonderful cloth," th_ought the emperor. "If I were to b_e dressed in a suit made o_f this cloth I should be able to find out which men in m_y empire were unfit fo_r their places, a_nd I could distinguish th_e clever from the stupid. I must hav_e this cloth woven for me without delay." And he gave a lar_ge sum of m_oney to the swindlers, in adva_nce, that they should set to work without any loss of time. Th_ey set u_p two looms, and pretended t_o be very hard at work, but they did nothing whatever on t_he looms. They asked f_or the * finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got they di_d away with, and worked at the empty looms till late at night. "I should very much like to know how they are getting on with th_e cloth," thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when h_e remembered that he who was not fit for hi_s office could not see it. Personally, he was of o_pinion that he h_ad nothing to fear, yet he thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters stood. Everybody in the t_own knew what a remarkable quality the stuff possessed, and all wer_e anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbours were. "_I shall s_end my honest old minister to the weavers," though_t the emperor. "He can judge b_est how the stuff looks, for he i_s intelligent, and nobody u_nderstands his office better than he." The good old minister went into t_he room where the swindlers 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 d_id not admire the exquisite pattern a_nd the beautiful colours, pointi_ng to the empty looms. The poor ol_d minister tried his very best, but he could see nothing, for t_here was nothing to be seen. "Oh dear," he thought, "ca_n I be so stupid? I should never hav_e thought so, and nobody mu_st know it! Is it possible that I am not fit for my office? No, no, I cannot sa_y that I was unable to see the cloth." "_Now, have you got nothing to say?" said o_ne of the swindlers, while he pretended to be busily weaving. "Oh, it is very pretty, exceedingly beautiful," replied the ol_d minister looking through his glasses. "What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colours! I s_hall tell the emperor that I like the cloth very much." "We are pleased to hear that," said the two weavers, an_d described to him the colours and explained the curious pattern. The old minister listened attentiv_ely, that he might rela_te to the emperor what they said; and * so he did_. Now the swindlers asked fo_r more money, silk and gold-cloth, which they required for weaving. They kept everything for themselves, and not a thread came near the loom, but they continued, as hitherto, to work at th_e empty looms. Soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest cou_rtier to the weavers to see how they were getting on, and if the cloth was nearly finished. Like the old minister, he looked and lo_oked bu_t could see nothi_ng, as there was nothing to be seen. "Is it no_t a beautiful piece of cloth?" as_ked the two swindlers, s_howing and explaini_ng the magnif_icent pattern, which, however, did not exist. "I am not stupid," said the ma_n. "It is therefore my good appointment for which I am not fit. It is very strange, but I must n_ot let any one know it;" and he praised the cloth, which he di_d not see_, and expressed his j_oy at the beautiful colour_s and the fine pattern. "It is very excellent," he said to the emp_eror. Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth. A_t last the emperor wished to se_e it himself, while it was still on the loom. With a number of courtiers, including the two who had already been there, he went to the two clev_er swindlers, w_ho now worked as hard as they could, but without using * any thread. "Is it not magnificent?" said the two old statesmen who had been there before. "Your Ma_jesty must admire the colours and the pattern." And then they pointed t_o the empty looms, for they imagined the others could see the cloth. "What is t_his?" thought the emperor, "I do not see anything at all. T_hat is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me." "Really," he said, turning to the weavers, "your cloth has our most gracious approval;" and nodding contentedly h_e looked at the empty loom, for he did not like to say that he saw nothing. All his attendants, who were with him, looked and looked, and althou_gh they could not see anything more than th_e others, they said, like the emperor, "It is very beautiful." And all advised him to wear t_he new magnificent clothes at a great procession which was soon t_o take place. "It is magnificen_t, beautiful, excellent," one heard them say; everybody seemed to be delighted, and the emperor appointed th_e two swindlers "Imperial Court weavers." The whole night previous to the day on which the pro_cession was to take pla_ce, the swindlers pretended to work, and bur_ned more than sixteen candles. People should see that they were busy to finish the emperor's new suit. They * pretended to take the cloth from the loom, and worked about in the air w_ith big scissors, a_nd sewed with needles without thread, and said at last: "The emperor's new s_uit is ready now." The emperor and all his barons then came to th_e hall; the swindlers held their arms up as if they held somet_hing in their hands and said: "These are the trousers!" "T_his is the coat!" and "Here is the cloak!" and so on. "They are a_ll as light as a cobweb, and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but that is just the beauty of them." "Indeed!" said a_ll the courtiers; but they could not see anything, for there was nothing t_o be seen. "Does it please your Majesty now to graciously undress," said the swindlers, "that we may assist your Majesty in putting on the new suit before the large looking-glass?" The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put the n_ew suit upon him, one piece after another; and the emperor looked at himself in t_he glass from every side. "How well they look! How well they fit!" said all. "What a beautiful pattern! What fine colours! That is a magnif_icent suit of clothes!" The master of the ceremonies announced that the be_arers of the canopy, w_hich was to be carried in the procession, we_re ready. "I am ready," said the emperor. "Does not my suit fit me marvellously?" Then he turned once more to the looking-glass, that people should think h_e admired his garments. Th_e chamberlains, who were to carry the train, stretched their hands t_o the ground as if they lifted up a train, * and pretended to hold something in their hands; they did not like people to know that they could not see anything. The emperor marched in th_e procession under the beautiful canopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exc_laimed: "Indeed, the emperor's new suit is incomparable! What a long train he has! How well it fits him!" Nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing, fo_r then he would have been unfit for his office or too stupid. Never emperor's clothes were more admired. "Bu_t he has nothing on at all," said a little child at last. "Good heavens! listen t_o the voice of an innocent child," said the father, a_nd one whispered to the other what the child had said. "But he has nothing on at all," cried at last the whole people. That made a deep impr_ession upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they were right; but he thought to himself, "Now I must bear up to the end." And the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if th_ey carried the train which did not exist. * < 1> < 1> < 1> < > < 1> < 1> < 1> < 1> < > < 1> < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < 1> < > < 1> < > < > < 1> < > < > < 1> < > < > < 1> < 1> * #