Once upon a time there was a boy named Ilyusha. He was already quite grown up—all of five years old! He was a clever and obedient boy, very curious, and hardly afraid of anything at all. Well, he was a bit wary of the neighbour's dog, a Doberman named Graf. When Graf strode importantly on his walk beside his owner, he was almost the same height as Ilyusha.
Not like the small, funny little bundle—a terrier named Nordic, who bounced merrily ahead of Grandmother Liza from the third entrance when she took him for a walk. Ilyusha loved to play with him. Tag. They ran races happily through the autumn park, tumbled together in the autumn leaves and played with a ball.
Ilyusha would throw it, and Nordic would find it and bring it back to him. And Mum and Grandmother Liza sat on a bench and admired their friendly game.
But then it happened that Ilyusha caught a cold and fell ill. He lay at home, all feverish and miserable. He looked sadly out the window and missed his friend Nordic. Mum hardly left his bedside, giving Ilyusha tea with honey and raspberry jam, but the doctor said he needed injections, otherwise he wouldn't get better.
But what Ilyusha was afraid of was injections. As soon as he saw a needle, he became unrecognisable. 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 Ilyusha fell asleep in tears. All of this was observed by the needles in Mum's needle case, lying in a sewing box on the armchair where Mum sat, keeping watch over her sick son. They whispered something to each other 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, I pray,
And our dear Ilyusha
Please shrink right away!
We'll take him to the ball.
We'll dance round and round with glee,
We'll sing and we'll merry be,
We'll celebrate together, you see,
For there's nothing to fear from we!
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 only slightly taller than the biggest Needle from Mum's box.
Opening his eyes, Ilyusha at first didn't understand where he was. There was a large, festively decorated hall, soft music was playing, and Needles were walking about, politely bowing to each other. He was bewildered, and was just about to become frightened and cry when he heard a little voice behind him calling his name. Ilyusha turned around and saw beside him a beautiful little spruce branch. She was holding out her little needles to him and smiling.
Hello, Ilyusha! Were you invited to the ball too?
She asked.
Hello, Branch! 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, you don't 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 all 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 hides. And so that it would be more convenient to wear such clothing, people came up with the idea of fastening the hides together with thin straps and sinews. And to do 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 little spruce branch told Ilyusha all of this whilst the First Needle, to applause, walked to her chair, which stood on a raised 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 kinds of needles were here! All the plant needles came—spruce, pine, fir, yew and saxaul needles, 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 kingdoms had passed, sewing needles entered the hall. Leading the procession was the Big Gypsy Needle. She was called that because it was with such a needle that, long ago, gypsies 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, delicate embroidery Needles. They were giggly and cheerful; theirs was the most joyful work, for they created Beauty!
Ilyusha 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.
