` Now I am off on my travels ! ' said the Darning-needle . ' I do hope I sha 'n' t get lost ! ' She did indeed get lost . ' I am too fine for this world ! ' said she as she lay in the gutter ; ` but I know who I am , and that is always a little satisfaction ! ' And the Darning-needle kept her proud bearing and did not lose her good-temper . All kinds of things swam over her -- shavings , bits of straw , and scraps of old newspapers . ` Just look how they sail along ! ' said the Darning-needle . ` They do n't know what is underneath them ! Here I am sticking fast ! There goes a shaving thinking of nothing in the world but of itself , a mere chip ! There goes a straw -- well , how it does twist and twirl , to be sure ! Do n't think so much about yourself , or you will be knocked against a stone . There floats a bit of newspaper . What is written on it is long ago forgotten , and yet how proud it is ! I am sitting patient and quiet . I know who I am , and that is enough for me ! ' One day something thick lay near her which glittered so brightly that the Darning-needle thought it must be a diamond .
But it was a bit of bottle-glass , and because it sparkled the XXXXX spoke to it , and gave herself out as a breast-pin .
Darning-needle bearing day good-temper patient satisfaction stone thought travels twirl