Long ago the earth was not as we know it today. It was just a big clod of dirt. It had no protection, no covering to hold it together, and the people walking on it were scuffing it slowly away. Every year it got smaller and smaller, and the people worried.
That was not the only thing the people worried about. They had no ruler, no one to watch over them. So the people announced a contest. The person with the best plan to protect the earth could become the ruler and protector of its people as well.
News of this contest travelled quickly, and travelled far. It even reached the Middle of Nowhere, to the home of four sisters. These sisters were quilt makers; their work was renowned. If they made a quilt for you when you were married, it would last to be given to your daughter at her own wedding. Everyone wanted one of their quilts. The problem was, everyone needed only one. They quilts were so well made they would last forever if they were taken care of properly.
Thus the sisters were poor. And that meant they shared everything. When they were growing up, Vasha, the oldest sister, gave her dresses to Vebka when she outgrew them. Vebka passed them on to Viri, who in turn handed them down to Vonna, the youngest. It was the same with shoes and coats and dolls and books and just about anything you could imagine.
While the other sisters were content with their lot, Vonna hated it. Being the youngest meant she was last and least for everything: last for a bath on Saturday night, last to serve herself at meals, last to have the new dress that was old by the time it reached her. But what bothered her most was the bone needle.
The needle had come from a pedlar who had arrived at the door one day In return for a bit of bread and cheese, he told them stories of far flung places. He also told them about the contest to see who could protect the earth. Then he looked around their humble home, and said, with a funny smile "Ah, quilt- makers! Then I have just the thing for you!" And he pulled out of his pack four needles: one of gold, one of silver, one of copper, and one of bone.
He gave the golden needle to Vasha, and smiled. "It suits you," he said, for Vasha had hair and skin burnished gold by the sun she loved so much. Her smile was like the sun as she accepted it. He gave the silver to Vebka, saying, "It suits you," and Vebka smiled, for with her dark blue eyes and shining black hair, she was as beautiful as a summer starry night. And the silver needle glittered in her hand like a star in the sky.
The tinker gave the copper needle to Viri and grinned. Everyone grinned back, even Vonna, because Viri’s curly hair was as bright as the needle itself. Then he gave the bone needle to Vonna, whose skin was as white as ivory. But he said nothing of this as he handed it to her. Instead he looked Vonna right in the eyes, and said severely, "Be careful you don’t hurt yourself with that." Vonna took the needle in sullen silence.
"Now, girls," he said, stepping back. "You have new needles. You are ready to enter the contest. And I’ll be off." He swung his pack to his shoulders and was gone before they knew what he was about. They hadn’t even paid him for the needles.
Not, Vonna thought bitterly, that a needle of bone was worth paying for. She watched enviously as the other girls admired their needles glimmering in the firelight. Hers lay dull in her hand. Vasha leaned over and smiled at her. "Let’s see your needle, Vonna," she said, and Vonna held it up. "It’s lovely," the other girls said. "So white and clean!" But Vonna didn’t care.
The sisters talked it over, and set out for the contest a few days later, each with her needle secure in her pocket. When they arrived, people were everywhere. Some were trying to build wooden boxes large enough to cover the earth; some were walking about on stilts to keep from scuffing the dirt away. Some were trying to cover the ground with paint.
Vasha walked into the crowd. With a temper as sudden and short as a thunderstorm, no one ever knew what she would do. Vasha surveyed the scene. She looked at her sisters. Then she took out her golden needle and pushed it, hard, into the earth.
Instantly, where her needle touched, a bit of green sprang up. As she stitched in and out of the earth, more and more of the green covering began to appear. The people gathered to watch, amazed, as the quilt of grass spread over the earth. And the singing of birds filtered into the stunned silence.
When Vasha stood up, all the people said, "This is beautiful! You be our queen!" But Vasha said, "I have three sisters, and they want to try, too."
So Vebka, the second sister, came forward.
But as she did, Vonna, the youngest, was angry. "If I had a golden needle," she thought, "I could make something that beautiful too! I hate being the youngest, only getting this stupid thing of bone! " So she said, "Vasha! Vasha! Psst! You have mud on your shoe." As Vasha bent down, Vonna stuck her hand into Vasha’s apron pocket and stole her golden needle.
Vebka was already kneeling on the grass and pushing her silver needle gently into the earth. Everything Vebka did was gentle; even her voice was as soft as summer rain. Where her needle touched, flowers bloomed, a patchwork of colour on the bed of green. Sweet perfume blew over the assembled crowd and the hypnotic humming of bees filled the air. Again the people would have made her their queen, but she indicated her two sisters.
Vonna was not impressed. "Vebka, Vebka! There is a bee in your hair!" she lied. And while Vebka brushed at it, she stole the silver needle.
Viri, the third sister, was a pensive girl with luminous brown eyes. She turned in a slow circle as if looking for a place then swooped suddenly and pushed her copper needle into the grass and flowers. Immediately a swirl of wind rustled the leaves. They changed into a symphony of colours as they began to float in lazy circles about the people. The grass rustled like a quilt being shaken, and the people were entranced. "You be queen!" they said, but Viri only turned to Vonna.
"Your turn," she smiled, and Vonna smiled back. "You should get that leaf off your dress," she purred, and while Viri brushed at her clothes, she took the copper needle.
Now Vonna was ready. Stepping confidently forward, she pushed the golden needle into the earth. Immediately all the grass died. Vonna quickly thrust the silver needle into the ground; the flowers withered and crumbled away. "That’s not fair!" Vonna cried and plunged the copper needle in; the leaves on the ground turned brittle as a fierce wind began to blow them into the faces of the assembly. "No!" shrieked Vonna and grabbed her own needle of bone. As soon as it touched the dirt, snow began to fall. It covered the ground like an eiderdown quilt as an arctic wind blew. Vonna sat and sobbed tears of ice as her sisters, one by one, stepped forward and silently reclaimed their needles.
The people hugged themselves and shivered as they watched this. "What she’s made is beautiful," they said amongst themselves, "but oh! it’s so cold! Like its maker’s heart!"
The people could not choose between the four sisters. Each covering was so beautiful that they decided each sister would rule three months in turn. But because the youngest had been a thief and a liar, she would rule last. And that is why we have Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter each in their turn. And it is still true that, if taken care of properly, the sisters’ quilts will last forever.