The Shipbuilders

Once there was a group of shipbuilders in an imaginary kingdom, far, far, away. They worked hard for one year and the ship was beginning to take shape. It had a frame with a mast, sail, and deck. Excited about their new ship, they decided to organize an election to elect a captain and team of co-captains. It was a success and everyone was ready to follow the command of the newly elected captain. Yet the captain never came to see the ship and never contacted the shipbuilders. Despite their disappointment, the shipbuilders kept working. 

Not easily discouraged, the shipbuilders organized another election one year later. The first captain stepped down and apologized to all shipbuilders in a moving speech. One of the co-captains from the first year was elected as captain. 

Unfortunately, the newly elected captain knew neither how to contact the shipmates, nor how to sail. The same thing happened as the previous year. Despite the absence of leadership, the shipbuilders kept working. In fact, they worked harder than ever and by the end of year the ship was nearly ready to set sail but they still didn’t have a captain. 

After three years of hard work, they organized their third election. Everyone on the ship voted and it was very successful. All of the shipmates expressed their excitement to have elected such a motivated and dedicated team of captain and co-captains. Everyone was happy, except for one person: The previous captain. He had been so certain of winning a third chance that he did not campaign for the election. He was extremely angry that he did not win. 

The unelected captain decided that the ship was his. He proclaimed that he had built the ship alone. He informed other captains, of larger ships, in kingdoms far away, that thieves had stolen his ship. He threatened the elected captain that he would never step foot on any ship, in any kingdom, if he did not step down. The elected captain laughed in his face, which perhaps he should not have done. 

Meanwhile, the shipbuilders watched in amazement. They wondered quietly, why the unelected captain didn’t just build a new ship. Since he proclaimed to have built the ship, he could easily build another. Yet no one said anything. Perhaps the shipbuilders didn’t believe that the ship was valuable. Or maybe they were tired of building for three years, without ever sailing into the deep sea. They all quit working and refused to board the ship. 

The unelected captain sailed off alone, with no crew members for his ship. The ship sank instantly and could not be salvaged. The other captains of larger ships sent their condolences to the unelected captain, expressing their sadness at the loss of his beautiful ship. The shipbuilders were discouraged and they gave up sailing and shipbuilding. 

At the same time, the elected captain and co-captains started building a new ship with the same name. They found new shipbuilders and worked steadily on their ship. It was much smaller than the first, but they tested it every day and it sailed like foam in a glass of attaya. They didn’t care if no one saw them sailing; they sailed for themselves. They took the boat far into the sea and saw fish of many colors and sizes that they had never seen before. Their adventures were shown on television and soon everyone in the kingdom knew the name of their ship. 

The other captains called them to a meeting and told them they must stop sailing or change the name of their ship. They didn’t listen to this advice but instead sailed even further out to sea. Eventually, they discovered unknown islands and they each proclaimed one as their own. While they were living in their separate islands, there was no one to sail their small, powerful ship and it was abandoned at the harbor. The following year there were no shipbuilders, sailors, ships, or sea.