I've never met a blacksmith, but I've met people in similar jobs (welders, etc) and I'm not sure I'd describe them as having "fun and joy at his craft". The be

I've never met a blacksmith, but I've met people in similar jobs (welders, etc) and I'm not sure I'd describe them as having "fun and joy at his craft". The best ones make it a point to be good at their work, for sure, but they make it a point to do their best at everything they do. I've met people at the top of their game who have won awards for their work, who tell me they have no passion for their profession. It's just what they happen to do for money. I'm probably reading too much into this, like someone complaining that computers in a Hollywood movie are not technically accurate. Bloggers have re-invented fables, only this time with medieval trade unions instead of animals. Aesop got this right. Nobody thinks he's making a judgment on the work ethic of tortoises. You use animals in morality stories for the same reason programmers use "foo" and "bar" in sample code. Write about blacksmiths and you risk naive people like me thinking that you actually mean a real blacksmith.