English Original
There was once a Darning-needle who thought herself so fine that she believed she was an embroidery needle. "Take great care to hold me tight!" she said to the Fingers. "Don't let me fall! If I fall, I shall never be found again, I am so fine!"
"It is all right!" said the Fingers, seizing her. "Look, I am coming with my train!" said the Darning-needle, drawing a long thread after her. The Fingers used her to sew a cook's shoe. "This is common work!" she complained. "I shall never get through it. I am breaking!" And she did break.
"Now she is good for nothing!" said the Fingers. The cook then dropped sealing-wax on the broken needle and stuck it in her dress. "Now I am a breast-pin!" said the Darning-needle proudly. "I always knew I should be promoted." She sat up proudly and spoke to a Pin beside her: "May I ask if you are gold? You have a peculiar head, but it is too small!" Raising herself up too proudly, she fell out of the dress into the sink.
"Now I am off on my travels!" she said, ending up in a gutter. "I am too fine for this world! But I know who I am." She watched shavings, straw, and newspaper scraps float by, criticizing their pride while maintaining her own.
One day, she saw something glittering and thought it a diamond. It was a piece of bottle-glass. Each believed the other was costly and boasted of their worth. The Darning-needle spoke of coming from a cook's work-box and described the proud Fingers—five brothers named Thumb, Dip-into-everything, Longman, Goldband, and Playman. "There was too much ostentation, so I came away."
Water washed the bottle-glass away. "Ah! He has been promoted! I remain; I am too fine," said the needle. She imagined herself born a sunbeam, too fine for even her mother to find.
One day, street urchins found her. One pricked himself and cried, "He is a fine fellow!" "I am not a fellow; I am a young lady!" she retorted, unheard. The wax was gone, and she was black. "Black makes one look slim," she thought, feeling finer. The boys stuck her into an egg-shell boat. "White walls and I, black—what a pretty contrast!"
The egg-shell was crushed by a wagon-wheel. "Oh! I am breaking!" she cried. But she did not break. She lay there at full length, and there she may lie.
中文翻译
从前有一根织补针，她自视甚高，以为自己是一根绣花针。“一定要把我抓紧了！”她对捏着她的手指说。“别让我掉下去！我一掉到地上就再也找不到了，我太纤细了！”
“好的！”手指说着，抓住了她。“瞧，我还带着随从呢！”织补针说着，身后拖着一根长线。手指用她来缝补厨娘的鞋子。“这真是粗活！”她抱怨道。“我肯定干不了。我要断了！”她果然断了。
“这下她没用了！”手指说。厨娘于是在断针上滴了点封蜡，把她别在衣服前襟上。“现在我是胸针了！”织补针骄傲地说。“我早就知道我会高升的。”她骄傲地挺直身子，对旁边的别针说：“请问你是金的吗？你的头很特别，但太小了！”她骄傲地挺起身子，结果从衣服上掉进了水槽。
“现在我要去旅行了！”她说，最后掉进了水沟。“这个世界配不上我！但我知道我是谁。”她看着刨花、稻草和旧报纸碎片漂过，一边批评它们的骄傲，一边保持着自己的骄傲。
一天，她看到一个闪闪发光的东西，以为是一颗钻石。那其实是一块玻璃瓶碎片。他们都以为对方很贵重，互相吹嘘着自己的价值。织补针说起自己来自厨娘的针线盒，并描述了那些骄傲的手指——五个名叫拇指、食指、中指、无名指和小指的兄弟。“他们太爱炫耀了，所以我就离开了。”
水流冲走了玻璃碎片。“啊！他高升了！我留在这里；我太纤细了，”针说。她幻想自己是阳光所生，纤细得连母亲都找不到。
一天，街头顽童发现了她。一个孩子被扎了一下，叫道：“这家伙真不错！”“我不是家伙；我是位年轻女士！”她反驳道，但没人听见。封蜡没了，她变得漆黑。“黑色让人看起来苗条，”她想，觉得自己更优雅了。孩子们把她插进一个蛋壳小船里。“白色的墙壁和我，黑色的——多么漂亮的对比！”
蛋壳被马车轮子压碎了。“哦！我要断了！”她喊道。但她并没有断。她直挺挺地躺在那里，也许就一直躺在那里了。