“Why yes，something of the kind.”he replied，and so each believed the other to be very valuable，and then they began to talk about the world，and the conceited (conceited adj.自以为是的，逞能的，狂想的)people in it.
“嗯，对啦，差不多吧。”于是双方就相信自己都是价值很高的物件。他们开始了谈论，说世上的人一般全是认为自己非常了不起。
“I have been in a ladys workbox，”said the darningneedle，“and this lady was the cook.She had on each hand five fingers，and anything so conceited as these five fingers I have never seen，and yet they were only employed to take me out of the box and to put me back again.”
“我曾经住在一位小姐的匣子里，”织补针说，“这位小姐是一位厨子。她每只手上有五个指头。我从来没看到像这五个指头那样骄傲的东西，不过他们的作用只是捏着我，把我从匣子里放进去和取出来罢了。”
“Were they not highborn？”
“他们都出身高贵吧？”瓶子的碎片问道。
“Highborn！”said the darningneedle，“No indeed，but so haughty (haughty adj.傲慢的).They were five brothers，all born fingers，they kept very proudly together，though they were of different lengths.The one who stood first in the rank was named the thumb，he was short and thick，and had only one joint in his back，and could therefore make but one bow；but he said that if he were cut off from a mans hand，that man would be unfit for a soldier.Sweettooth，his neighbor，dipped himself into sweet or sour，pointed to the sun and moon，and formed the letters when the fingers wrote.Longman，the middle finger，looked over the heads of all the others.Goldband，the next finger，wore a golden circle round his waist.And little Playman did nothing at all，and seemed proud of it.They were boasters (boaster n.自夸的人)，and boasters they will remain，and therefore I left them.”
“高贵！”织补针说，“什么也没有，不过自以为了不起罢了。他们是五个兄弟，全属于手指这个家族。虽然他们是长短不齐，但他们互相标榜：最前面的一个是‘笨摸’，又短又肥，后背上只有一个节，他走在最前列，所以他只能同时鞠一个躬；不过他说，如果他从一个人身上砍掉的话，这人就不够资格服兵役了。第二个指头叫做‘甜罐’，他伸到甜东西和酸东西里面去，他指着太阳和月亮；当大家在写字的时候，他拿着笔。第三个指头是‘长人’，他在别人的头上看东西。第四个指头是‘金火’，他腰间围着一条金带子。最小的那个是‘比尔——玩朋友’，他不做什么事，但自己还为此而感到骄傲呢。他们什么也不做，只是吹牛，因此我才离开他们。
“And now we sit here and glitter！”said the piece of broken bottle.
“不过我们坐在这儿并金光闪闪！”瓶子的碎片说。
At the same moment more water streamed into the gutter，so that it overflowed，and the piece of bottle was carried away.
这时排水沟里冲进了更多的水，漫得遍地都是，结果是把瓶子的碎片冲走了。
“So he is promoted，”said the darningneedle，“while I remain here，I am too fine，but that is my pride，and what do I care？”And so she sat there in her pride，and had many such thoughts as these，—“I could almost fancy that I came from a sunbeam，I am so fine.It seems as if the sunbeams were always looking for me under the water.Ah！I am so fine that even my mother cannot find me.Had I still my old eye，which was broken off，I believe I should weep，but no，I would not do that，it is not genteel genteel adj.上流社会的to cry.”
“瞧，他倒是升级了！”织补针说。“但是我还坐在这儿，我是那么细。但是我也正由此感到骄傲，我还在乎什么呢？”于是她骄傲地坐在那儿，发出了许多感想。“我应该是从日光里出生的了，因为我是那么细呀！我觉得日光总是到水底下来寻找我。啊！我是这么细，就连我的母亲都找不到我了。假如我的老针眼没有断了的话，我想我是要哭出来的——可是我不能这样做：哭不是一桩文雅的事情！”One day a couple of street boys were paddling in the gutter，for they sometimes found old nails，farthings，and other treasures.It was dirty work，but they took great pleasure in it.“Hallo！”cried one，as he pricked himself with the darningneedle，“Heres a fellow for you.”
有一天几个野孩子在排水沟里找东西——他们有时候在这里能够找到铜板，旧钉和类似的物件。这是一件很脏的工作，但是他们却非常乐意去做这类的事儿。“哎哟！”一个孩子说，因为他让织补针扎了一下，“原来是你这个家伙！”
“I am not a fellow，I am a young lady.”said the darningneedle，but no one heard her.
“我不是一个家伙，而是一位年轻小姐啦！”织补针说。可是谁也不理她。
The sealingwax had come off，and she was quite black，but black makes a person look slender，so she thought herself even finer than before.
她身上的那滴封蜡早已没有了，所以全身已经变得漆黑。不过黑颜色能使人变得苗条，所以她相信她比以前更细嫩。
“Here comes an eggshell sailing along.”said one of the boys，so they stuck the darningneedle into the eggshell.
“瞧，一只蛋壳漂来了！”孩子们说。他们在蛋壳上插上了织补针。
“White walls，and I am black myself，”said the darningneedle，“that looks well，now I can be seen，but I hope I shall not be seasick，or I shall break again.”She was not seasick，and she did not break.“It is a good thing against seasickness to have a steel stomach，and not to forget ones own importance.Now my seasickness has past，delicate (delicate adj.精巧的，精致的，病弱的，灵敏的，精密的)people can bear a great deal.”
“四周的墙是白色的，而我是黑色的！这倒配得很好！”织补针说。“现在谁都可以看到我了——我只希望我不会晕船才好，因为这样我就会折断的！”但是她一点也不会晕船，并且也没有折断。“一个人有钢做的肚皮，是不怕晕船的，同时还不能忘记，自己与一个普通人比起来，是更高一招的。我现在一丁点毛病也没有。一个人越纤细，能承受的东西便越多。”
Crack went the eggshell，as a waggon passed over it.“Good heavens，how it crushes！”said the darningneedle.“I shall be sick now.I am breaking！”but she did not break，though the waggon went over her as she lay at full length，and there let her lie.
“砰！”这时蛋壳突然裂开了，因为一辆载重车正在它上面碾过去。“它把我碾得真厉害，我的天！”织补针说。“我现在有些晕船了——我要折断了！我将折断了！”虽然那辆载重车在她身上碾过去了，她却没有折断。她直直地躺在那儿——并且她尽可以一直地在那儿躺下去。
