Once upon a time, there was a tiny sewing needle. It was originally used for sewing clothes, but because it was quite long and thin, it thought it was very special and even believed it should be an embroidery needle.
One day, someone took it out of the box. She said to the fingers, “Be careful with me, don’t lose me!If I fall on the floor, you won’t be able to find me because I’m so thin.“
The fingers smiled and said, ”So what if you’re thin?“ Then they held the little needle tightly between their fingertips.
The darning needle said proudly, ”Look, I even have a thread!” In fact, the thread was for sewing clothes, and it wasn’t tied in a knot, so it was just hanging behind the needle.
Next, the fingers took her to the kitchen to mend the cook’s slipper. The leather of the slipper had a tear and needed to be repaired.
But the sewing needle was unhappy. She said, “This is so embarrassing! You want me to mend this old slipper? I’m not doing it! If I go in there, I’ll break!”
And she really did break.
“I told you so!” she said as she broke, “I’m so thin, how can I do such rough work?”
The fingers looked at her and decided that the needle was useless now. However, they didn’t throw her away. Instead, they found a handkerchief, dripped some sealing wax on the tip of the needle, and pinned her to the handkerchief.
At this moment, the darning needle began to feel proud again. She said, “Ha ha, now I’ve become a leader! I knew I would rise to prominence. An extraordinary person will always have an extraordinary position!”
Although she was a needle and couldn’t smile, she must have been overjoyed inside. She was pinned to the handkerchief and felt like she was sitting in a luxury car, looking left and right, looking down on everyone else.
There was an ordinary safety pin beside her, and the sewing needle asked it, “Are you made of gold? You look pretty nice, but your brain doesn’t seem very big. You need to practice more. Not every needle is as lucky as me to get wax.”
After saying that, she straightened up to look more imposing. But she accidentally fell off the handkerchief and landed directly in the kitchen drain.
What a nasty fall!
But she still refused to admit defeat. She muttered, “Now I’m going to start my journey! I hope I don’t get lost.”
Unfortunately, she did get lost.
She floated on the surface of the water, looking at everything around her and thinking, “The world is so big, and I am so small. But I still know who I am, and that’s enough.”
She continued to float in the drain, passing many things—vegetable leaves, grass clippings, scraps of old newspapers… She looked at all the messy things and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow, they swim so fast!They don’t even know there’s someone like me down here! I’m just sitting here, steady as can be. Look at that stick—it thinks it’s the most powerful thing in the world. Hmph, it’s just a piece of wood! And that blade of grass, twisting and turning, pretending to be so dashing—watch out for the rocks! And this newspaper—the words printed on it are long forgotten, but it’s still there, putting on airs.”
The sewing needle grew more and more excited, thinking she was smarter and stronger than everyone else.
One day, a shiny object drifted by her. She looked at it and thought it was a diamond!
She quickly greeted it, “Hello, you’re so shiny, are you a gemstone?”
It was actually a piece of broken glass, but it was also quite conceited, so it said, “Well, sort of, anyway, it’s something valuable.”
So the needle and the piece of glass started chatting. They both thought that most people in the world were conceited.
The sewing needle shared its story: “I used to live in a box belonging to a young lady who was a cook. She had five fingers on her hands, and those fingers were very proud, thinking they were special. But in reality, they could only help me by taking me out of the box or putting me back in.”
The glass shard asked curiously, “Can they shine?”
The darning needle laughed: “Shine? They can’t even wipe themselves clean. They’re dirty all day long. But they do like to brag. There are five of them, called ‘Stupid’, ‘Soup Pot’, ‘Tall Man’, ‘Golden Fire’ and ‘Bill’.”
“The first one is called ‘Stupid’. He’s the shortest and fattest, and always walks in front.He says he’s the most important because if one of them is missing, they can’t go to war. The second one is ‘Soup Can,’ who loves sticking his head into pots to lick sweet and sour things. The third is ‘Tall Guy,’ who’s always peeking around. The fourth is ‘Golden Fire,’ because he wears a ring that looks like a golden glow. The last one is ‘Bill,’ who does nothing but thinks he’s really tough.”
“Look how boring they are,” the sewing needle continued, “I couldn’t stand them, so I fell down here.”
The glass shard nodded: “So you’ve been promoted.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a rush of water came and swept the glass shard away.
The darning needle looked at its back and sighed, “Well, it’s gone, but I’m still sitting here. I’m so thin, it’s an honor!”
She continued to float, thinking to herself, “Am I the child of the sun? Otherwise, how could I be so thin and shiny? Maybe the sun is looking for me at the bottom of the water every day!”
Thinking of this, she felt a little sad: “I wish my mother could still see me. If I still had eyes, I would definitely cry. But crying is so embarrassing, I’d better stay elegant.”
Day after day, the darning needle stayed in the drain. Until one day, a few little boys ran over and started rummaging around in the gutter. They were looking for useful things, such as old nails and coins.
Suddenly, one of the boys shouted, “Ouch, you pricked me!”
It turned out that he had touched the darning needle.
The darning needle quickly said, “Hey, hey, hey, I’m a lady, not a piece of junk!”
But no one paid any attention to her. She had turned black, the wax had long since worn off, and her entire body was stained black by the dirty water.But she wasn’t sad. She actually thought that the black color made her look slimmer.
“Hey, this eggshell is nice!” The children fished it out and stuck the darning needle into it.
The darning needle looked around and thought, “The white wall and my black body are a perfect match! Now everyone will be able to see me!”
She was still worried: “Please don’t get seasick, or I’ll break again.”
But this time she didn’t break. Instead, she stood straight up.
She thought to herself: “It seems I’m much stronger than others. As long as I have an iron will, I can withstand any test. I’m so thin, yet so strong. I’m really amazing!”
Just then, a large cart rolled over the eggshells.
“Oh my god!” cried the darning needle. “This is it, I’m definitely going to break!”
But she didn’t break. She was just flattened and lay there motionless.
She thought to herself, “I’m not just any ordinary needle. I’m the thinnest, strongest, and most unique one!”
And so she lay there, perhaps for a long, long time…
This sewing needle was originally just a small tool for sewing clothes, but she always thought she was different from the others. She looked down on ordinary work, looked down on other fingers, and even looked down on the trash in the drain.
She complained constantly along the way, boasting about herself, always thinking that others were not as good as her and that she was the most amazing one.
But in the end, she didn’t become great, nor did she turn into a real gem or a golden needle. Instead, she remained lying on the ground, unnoticed by anyone.
What does this story teach us?
It’s actually quite simple: Don’t be too proud, and don’t always think you’re better than others. Sometimes, we think we’re special, but we’re just being too self-centered.
Truly valuable people don’t boast about how great they are; they prove themselves through their actions.
