Forms so rare that none will e’er despise you:
Axes, knives (so men will wish to use you)
Needles, pins (so women too, will choose you).
Come with me, your brother will not harm you,
Come with me, my smithy sure will charm you.”
[[38]]
Hearing this, Iron came out of his lurking-places and without more ado, bashfully followed the cunning Smith. But no sooner was he in the smithy than he felt himself a prisoner. The tongs of bronze gripped him and thrust him into the forge. The bellows roared, the Smith shouted, and Fire leaped joyfully out of the ashes and threw his arms around his helpless younger brother. And bashful, bashful Iron turned first red and then white, and finally became as soft as dough and as radiant as the sun.
Then the tongs of bronze drew him forth from the flames, and twirled him in the air, and threw him upon the anvil; and the hammer of stone beat him fiercely again and again until he shrieked with pain.
“Oh, spare me! spare me!” he cried. “Do not deal so roughly with me. Let me go back to my lonely hiding-places and lie there in peace as in the days of old.”
But the tongs pinched him worse than before, and the hammer beat him still harder, and the Smith answered: “Not so, not so! Be not so cowardly. We do not hurt you; you are only frightened. Be brave and I will shape you into [[39]]things of great use to men. Be brave and you shall rule the world.”