Work in pairs. Discuss the message of the story in Activity 3. The Blacksmith and the King Once, there lived a blacksmith named Wakaluga. He was the very finest blacksmith in the land, and every day a small crowd of people would gather at his blacksmith shop just to watch him at work. One day, a messenger from the King came to Wakaluga's workshop. The messenger brought an order from the King. Wakaluga was requested to see the King to accept a certain task. Wakaluga was proud and prepared to see the King immediately. He put on his best white robe wondering what the king wanted him to do. He passed many of his friends and shouted happily, "The King has several works for me to do. Wish me luck!" After arriving at the palace, Wakaluga was ushered to the inner courtyard where theKing waited for him. The King said, "I wantto see you, the most skillful blacksmith in the entire land becauseI have a very special task to give you.Take this iron and change it into a man. Not just a statue, but a living iron man who can walk and talk and think, and who has blood in his veins." Hearing this, Wakaluga stared at the King to find whether he was joking, but he wasn't. Wakaluga spent the rest of his day thinking about the impossible task from the King. He thought that he might give up. Then, he met his old friend who was now living alone in the wilderness. His old friend was considered strange by most people for his lifestyle. Wakaluga asked advice from his friend about his problem. His friend told Wakaluga, "Go to the king and tell him that in order to make the kind of man he requires. you must have very special kinds of ingredients. You will need a special kind of charcoal and you will need a very special kind of water. Ask him to make all his people shave their heads and bring their hair to be burnt into charcoal and when you have one thousand loads of such charcoal, that will be enough. Then, tell the king that you must have one hundred pots of water made upfrom the tears of the king's people, since only such water may be used to keep your fire burning at exactly the right temperature." After listening to the advice, Wakaluga realized how his friend gave him the most possible solution for hisproblem. The next morning,he met the King and told him exactly what his friend advised him to. The King ordered all of his peopled to bum their hair to be made into the charcoal and shed their tears into one hundred pots. The task was proven to be impossible. No matter how many hairs burnt and tears dropped, they were never enough. The King then declared that it was impossible to make the iron man. He, then, asked Wakaluga to return home. Wakaluga thanked his friend and asked him to live with him in his workshop. (Adaptedfrom: https://www.storiestogrowby.org/story/blacksmiths-dilemma/ (September 22, 2019))

Question

Work in pairs. Discuss the message of the story in Activity 3.

The Blacksmith and the King

Once, there lived a blacksmith named Wakaluga. He was the very finest blacksmith in the land, and every day a small crowd of people would gather at his blacksmith shop just to watch him at work.

One day, a messenger from the King came to Wakaluga's workshop. The messenger brought an order from the King. Wakaluga was requested to see the King to accept a certain task. Wakaluga was proud and prepared to see the King immediately. He put on his best white robe wondering what the king wanted him to do. He passed many of his friends and shouted happily, "The King has several works for me to do. Wish me luck!"

After arriving at the palace, Wakaluga was ushered to the inner courtyard where the King waited for him. The King said, "I want to see you, the most skillful blacksmith in the entire land because I have a very special task to give you. Take this iron and change it into a man. Not just a statue, but a living iron man who can walk and talk and think, and who has blood in his veins." Hearing this, Wakaluga stared at the King to find whether he was joking, but he wasn't.

Wakaluga spent the rest of his day thinking about the impossible task from the King. He thought that he might give up. Then, he met his old friend who was now living alone in the wilderness. His old friend was considered strange by most people for his lifestyle. Wakaluga asked advice from his friend about his problem.

His friend told Wakaluga, "Go to the king and tell him that in order to make the kind of man he requires. you must have very special kinds of ingredients. You will need a special kind of charcoal and you will need a very special kind of water. Ask him to make all his people shave their heads and bring their hair to be burnt into charcoal and when you have one thousand loads of such charcoal, that will be enough. Then, tell the king that you must have one hundred pots of water made up from the tears of the king's people, since only such water may be used to keep your fire burning at exactly the right temperature."

After listening to the advice, Wakaluga realized how his friend gave him the most possible solution for his problem. The next morning, he met the King and told him exactly what his friend advised him to. The King ordered all of his peopled to bum their hair to be made into the charcoal and shed their tears into one hundred pots.

The task was proven to be impossible. No matter how many hairs burnt and tears dropped, they were never enough. The King then declared that it was impossible to make the iron man. He, then, asked Wakaluga to return home. Wakaluga thanked his friend and asked him to live with him in his workshop.

(Adapted from: https://www.storiestogrowby.org/story/blacksmiths-dilemma/ (September 22, 2019))