I have come from a lady 's work-box , ' said Darning-needle , ` and this lady was a cook ; she had five fingers on each hand ; anything so proud as these fingers I have never seen ! And yet they were only there to take me out of the work-box and to put me back again ! ' ` Were they of noble birth , then ? ' asked the bit of bottle-glass . ` Of noble birth ! ' said the Darning-needle ; ` no indeed , but proud ! They were five brothers , all called '' Fingers . '' They held themselves proudly one against the other , although they were of different sizes . The outside one , the Thumb , was short and fat ; he was outside the rank , and had only one bend in his back , and could only make one bow ; but he said that if he were cut off from a man that he was no longer any use as a soldier . Dip-into-everything , the second finger , dipped into sweet things as well as sour things , pointed to the sun and the moon , and guided the pen when they wrote . Longman , the third , looked at the others over his shoulder . Goldband , the fourth , had a gold sash round his waist ; and little Playman did nothing at all , and was the more proud . There was too much ostentation , and so I came away . ' ` And now we are sitting and shining here ! ' said the bit of bottle-glass . At that moment more water came into the gutter ; it streamed over the edges and washed the bit of bottle-glass away . ` Ah ! now he has been promoted ! ' said the Darning-needle . ' I remain here ; I am too fine .
But that is my pride , which is a sign XXXXX respectability ! '
against although as at from in into of over to