Zenlogic's Place

There are many versions of this story, I bring you two.  Enjoy!  Especially you machinists.

King Solomon and the Blacksmith.

The legend of the smith is one of great antiquity, as it can be recognized in the mythology and folklore of India, Greece and Rome, as well as in the tales of Scandinavian and Teutonic origin.  According to the Rabbinical tradition , King Solomon prepared a feast for the chief craftsman and artificers who had labored on the newly completed Temple.  The throne of the king was on a raised dais facing the head of the table; at his right hand was a seat of honor for that craftsman who might be pronounced most worthy among all who had wrought on the famous structure.  The legend goes on:
“And when all was ready, he called unto him his chief architects and master overseers, and the head –artificiers who were cunning workers in gold and silver, and bronze and ivory, and wood and stone, yea,  all who had labored in building the Temple of the Most High, and he said unto them, — ‘Come now with me and partake of the feast which I have prepared.  Stretch forth your hands; eat, drink and be merry.  The skillful artificer is worthy of honor.  Is not the laborer worthy of his hire?  Muzzle not the ox that treadeth out the corn upon the threshing-floor.’
“And when Solomon and his guests had arrived at the place of the feast they beheld a man, clad in the garb and covered with the soil of labor, seated in the chair of honor not yet awarded.  And the king waxed wroth, and said, ‘What manner of man art thou?  Why comest thou thus unseemingly and unbidden to our feast, where none are invited save the chief workers on the temple?’ And the man answered and said,’ Please you, I came not unbidden.  Was it not proclaimed that this day the chief workmen of the Temple dined with the king?  Therefore am I come.’
“And when the man had thus spoken, the guests talked with each other and he who carved the cheruhim spake aloud and said, ‘This fellow is no sculptor.  I know him not.’ And he who inlaid the roof with pure gold said ‘Neither is he of those who work in refined metals.’ And he who wrought in raising the walls said, ‘He belongs not with those who are cutters of stone.’ And one who laboured in shaping the timbers for the roof said, “We who are cunning in cedar wood, and know the mystery of joining strange timbers together, know him not.  He is not of us.’
“Then said King Solomon, ‘How sayest that thou now?  Wherefore should I not have thee plucked by the beard, scourged with a scourge and stoned with stones, even unto death? ‘ But the man was nowise daunted, and he rose from the seat and came to where the wine was set, and took a cup of the wine and raised it high and spake aloud, saying, ‘O, king! live forever!’ He then drank long until the cup was emptied.
“He now returned to the seat and spake to the guests who had rebuked him, and said unto the chief of the carvers in stone, ‘Who made the instruments with which you carve?  And he answered, ‘The Blacksmith.,’ And to the chief of workers in wood he said,’ Who made the tools with which you felled the cedars of Lebanon, and shaped the them into pillars and roof for the Temple?’ And he also answered, ‘The Blacksmith.’ Then he spake unto the artificer in gold and ivory and precious stones, saying, ‘Who fashioned the instruments with which you wrought beautiful ornaments for my lord the king!’ And he too made answer the same, ‘The Blacksmith.’
‘Then said the man to Solomon, ‘Behold, O king!  I am he whom, when men deride, they call Blacksmith, but when they would honor me, they call me Son of the Forge.  These craftsmen say truly that I am not of them.  I am their superior.  Without my labor first, their labor could not be.  The great Tubal Cain, who are all men honor, taught those who in turn taught me my handicraft, and the mighty Vulcan, who wrought in fire and smoke and sweat, as I do, was it not deemed he should have even the Queen of Beauty to wife?’
“’Son of the forge,’ said Salomon, ‘I, too, honor thee, thou worthy successor of the great master, Tubal Cain.  Take thou this seat at my right hand prepared for the most worthy.  It is thy due. ‘Thus it came to pass at the feast of Solomon, the wise king of Israel, and from that time forth the smiths were held in high esteem, and greatly increased and multiplied in all lands.”

Hail…Blacksmith!

The trade of blacksmith had been considered one of the most honorable in all times. This small story relates to one legend dating from three millennia back.
When the construction of King Solomon’s temple ended in Jerusalem, the King gave a feast to which he invited all the workmen who had been engaged on the tremendous construction site. When the guests were seated and ready to try impress, King Solomon suddenly said, ‘who is the main builder here? Whose was the greatest contribution to the creation of the magnificent temple?’
A mason got up and answered- the temple work is of our hands. We masons built it stone by stone. See how strong are the walls, the arches and the vaults. It will stand for ages to the glory of King Solomon.
A carpenter intervened saying that we, carpenters, can rightly consider ourselves to be the genuine creators of this beautiful temple.
Immediately, a digger cut in stating that if we had not dug the foundation ditch, your beautiful walls would have crumpled with mahogany finishings like a house of cards.
The wise King Solomon did not agree and asked both trio-‘who made your tools?
The trio got surprised and answered – the Blacksmith of course!’
Then the King rose and went up to the inconspicuous blacksmith who has not boasted so much about himself. The King led him to the centre of the hall and declared that-the blacksmith is the main builder of the temple.
The wise King Solomon seated the Blacksmith beside himself on the broacaded cushions to treat him to a cup of fine wine.