Once upon a time there was a boy named Ilya. He was already quite grown up, he was all of five years old! He was a clever and obedient boy, very curious, and was hardly afraid of anything at all. Well, he was a bit wary of the neighbour's dog, a Doberman named Graf. When Graf strutted importantly on his walk next to his owner, he was almost the same height as Ilya.
Not like the small funny little bundle—a terrier named Nordic, who bounced merrily ahead of Grandma Lisa from the third entrance when she went for a walk with him. Ilya loved to play with him. Tag. They would happily race each other through the autumn park, tumble together in the autumn leaves and play with a ball.
Ilya would throw it, and Nordic would find it and bring it back to him. And Mum and Grandma Lisa sat on a bench and admired their friendly game.
But then it happened that Ilya caught a cold and became ill. He lay at home, all hot and miserable. He looked sadly out the window and missed his friend Nordic. Mum hardly left his bedside, giving Ilya tea with honey and raspberry jam, but the doctor said he needed to have injections, otherwise he wouldn't get better.
But what Ilya was afraid of was injections. As soon as he saw a needle, you wouldn't recognise him. Usually obedient and agreeable, he would start screaming and struggling, and there was no way to hold him. No one could manage him, he wouldn't agree to any gifts and absolutely refused to have injections.
And so it was this time too. After an unsuccessful attempt to give him an injection, Mum left the room, and Ilya fell asleep in tears. All this scene was observed by the needles in Mum's sewing box, lying in a craft box on the armchair where Mum sat, keeping watch over her sick son. They whispered about something and, apparently coming to an agreement, having climbed out of the box, stood in a row around the boy's head.
The biggest Needle clapped her hands and sang a little song:
Needle fairy,
Come quickly,
And our Ilya
Make smaller, please!
We'll take him to the ball.
We'll dance merrily round and round,
We'll sing and have fun,
We'll celebrate together,
For there's no need to fear us!
Then something sparkled in the air, a light transparent cloud appeared and descended on the sleeping boy. He began to shrink rapidly and soon became just slightly taller than the biggest Needle from Mum's box.
Opening his eyes, Ilya at first didn't understand where he was. There was a large, festively decorated hall, soft music was playing, and around him Needles were walking about, politely bowing to each other. He was confused, and was just about to be frightened and cry, when a little voice called to him from behind. Ilya turned around and saw a beautiful spruce twig next to him. She was holding out her little needles to him and smiling.
Hello, Ilya! Were you invited to the ball too?
She asked.
Hello, Twig! I don't know, I was asleep, and I ended up here. What kind of celebration is this? And why are there so many needles here?
What, don't you know?! Today is the birthday of the Very First Needle, the Ancestress of all Needles on earth! That's why there are so many guests here, just look at who's here!
Then the music sounded louder and more solemn, and the doors of the hall opened wide. The Very First Needle entered the hall. She was a bone needle, not as beautiful and shiny as modern steel needles, but she was the First, and that meant something!
She was invented in very ancient times, when people lived in caves and wore clothes made from animal skins. And so that it would be more convenient to wear such clothing, people came up with the idea of fastening the skins together with thin straps and sinews. And for this, they needed to make a little hole, for which they adapted sharp bones.
This happened 35,000 years ago. And now she lives in a museum in the city of Celje, which is in Slovenia. The spruce twig told Ilya all this while the First Needle, to applause, made her way to her chair, which stood on a platform in the centre of the hall. As soon as she sat down, the master of ceremonies announced the beginning of the celebration.
Invited guests began to enter the hall. What needles there were here! All the plant needles came—spruce, pine, fir, needles from thuja and saxaul, acacia and cactus, even Roses sent their thorns to congratulate the Bone Needle. Then came the needles of porcupines, hedgehogs and echidnas.
After them came the needles of sea creatures. The needle fish arrived in a luxurious aquarium, accompanied by starfish, sea lilies and sea cucumbers. But the sea urchins preferred to walk separately, respectfully carrying their gifts for the birthday girl.
When all the representatives of the animal and plant world had passed, sewing needles entered the hall. The procession was led by the Big Gypsy Needle. She was given this name because it was with just such a needle that gypsies once sewed harnesses for their horses. Behind her came other sewing needles, arranged by size.
For each sewing needle had its own size, so that needlewomen would know which needle to use for sewing different fabrics. The procession was completed by golden thin embroidery needles. They were giggly and cheerful, they had the most joyful work, for they created Beauty!
Ilya watched this parade of needles with wide eyes. He hadn't even realised how many needles existed in the world. The doors of the hall began to close, and the music sounded louder, inviting everyone to dance and have fun. But then the voice of the Very First Needle rang out.
