and the people whom they bother will say to them kindly and meekly, as that man in the long overcoat, “Please, do not bother us.” And all the messengers and senders will have to follow that good advice, that is, stop riding with arms akimbo among the people, bothering them, and get down from their hobbies, take off their attire, listen to what people have to say, and, joining them, take hold with them of the true human work.
The time is coming, and will inevitably come, when all the institutions of violence of our time will be destroyed in consequence of their too obvious uselessness, silliness, and even indecency.
The time must come, when with the men of our world, who hold positions that are given by violence, will happen what happened with the king in Andersen’s fable, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” when a small child, seeing the naked king, naively called out, “Behold, he is naked!” and all those who had seen it before, but had not expressed it, could no longer conceal it.
The point of the fable is this, that to the king, a lover of new garments, there come some tailors who promise to make him an extraordinary garment. The king hires the tailors, and they begin to sew, having informed him that the peculiarity of their garment is this, that he who is useless in his office cannot see the garments.
The courtiers come to see the work of the tailors, but they see nothing, as the tailors stick their needles into empty space. But, mindful of the condition, all the courtiers say that they see the garment, and they praise it. The king does the same. The time arrives for the procession, when the king is to appear in his new garment. The king undresses himself and puts on his new garments, that is, he remains naked, and goes naked through the city. But, mindful of the condition, no one dares to say that there are no garments, until a small child calls out, “Behold, he is naked!”