It tells the story of a girl that is destined to marry a seemingly dead man, who is, in reality, under a curse, his body prickled by numerous needles.
Later, as the girl approaches her 12th years, the Suka bird tells the merchant Kajalrekha's fate is to marry a dead husband, and convinces him to abandon her in the forest.
With a heavy heart, the merchant takes his daughter to the forest to leave her there, but the girl is perceptive enough to realize the situation she is in, and bemoans her fate.
Eventually, her brother Ratneswar, now a merchant, rescues her on his ship and brings her back home intent on marrying her, due to not recognizing her.
Kajalrekha agrees to a marriage, but asks for the Dharma-mati bird (a parrot) to be brought to the wedding to reveal her origin and caste.
Back to the Needle Prince, he becomes obsessed with finding the girl he believes to be a servant, to no avail, until he hears the drums announcing the marriage of Ratneswar and the bird from the forest being brought to the ceremony.
Then, he recalls the origins of the Needle Prince: how his merchant prince father, Hiradhar, could not have children, until a sannyasi appeared and gave the couple a mango to cure the queen's barrenness; the queen, however, gave birth to a dead son, which the sannyasi said was to be pierced with needles and placed in a temple, for the gods allowed him to grow to youth.
The bird finishes his tale by relating how Kajalrekha restored the Needle Prince to life, was replaced by the servant and is about to marry her own brother.
With this, the Dharma-mati bird vanishes, Ratneswar apologizes to his sister, the Needle Prince marries Kajalrekha and buries the Maid of the Bracelet alive.
[3] Bengali folklorist Ashraf Siddiqui considered that its contents resembled a folktale from the international Cinderella tale type.
[4] Similarly, in his introduction to the story, Dinesh Chandra Sen referred to it as a "folk-tale,"[5] and stated it was written in the dialect of the eastern parts of Mymensingh.