“Were they very distinguished?” asked the piece of glass.
“Distinguished!” said the darning needle. “No, but they were conceited and haughty. They were five brothers and were always together one by the side of the other, though they were of different lengths. The first was Mr. Thumb. He was short and thick, and had only one joint in his back, so he could only make one bend when he bowed. Foreman, the second, dived into all the foods, both sweet and sour, to test them, pointed to the sun and moon, and pressed on the pen in writing. Middleman, the third, looked right over the heads of all the others. Ringman, the fourth, wore a golden girdle round his waist. Littleman, the fifth, did nothing at all and was proud of it. The whole five were constantly bragging and boasting, and therefore I left them.”
“And now we lie here and shine,” said the piece of glass.
Just then there was a rush of water in the gutter that carried the piece of glass away. “She has risen in the world,” said the darning needle, “but I remain here. I am too fine. However, that is my pride, and I have good reason for it.”
So there it proudly lay and had many great thoughts. “I am almost inclined to believe I am the child of a sunbeam, I am so fine,” it said. “Indeed, it seems to me as if the sun was always looking for me here under the water. But I am so fine that my own mother cannot find me. If I only had my eye, which broke off, I think I should cry; but that I shall not do—it is not considered well-bred to cry.”
One day some boys were rummaging around in the gutter hunting for half-pence, old nails, and such-like treasures. It was dirty work, but it gave them great pleasure. One of them pricked himself with the darning needle. “Oh!” he cried, and took up the needle and showed it to his comrades, saying, “Look at this fellow.”
“I am no fellow at all, but a young lady,” the needle said; but no one heard it.
The sealing-wax had come off, and the needle had turned black, but that made it look thinner, and therefore it thought itself finer than ever.
“Here comes an egg-shell sailing along,” said the boys, and they put the needle into it.
“White walls, and I myself black,” said the darning needle. “That is very becoming, and people cannot help seeing me now. I hope I shall not be seasick.”