SHIP TO EL DORADO

 I am a retired company official and live with my wife and son Jimmy who is a stock broker. I had just completed renovation of our house which proved very costly. That day even as I was reviewing my financial position, my wife came home saying “The pot ḥoles on our roads are deadly.”  I braced myself to hear about some calamity. She said “The man was riding alone and he fell off the scooter. Lucky, I avoided him.”

I said “I suppose you hit the scooter.”

“He was one who makes a mountain out of a molehill. He claimed that my car had knocked down his scooter and he was calling the police. He also wanted his medical expenses to be borne by me.”

I said “I know. You had to pay him a tidy sum.”

“I gave him the money he wanted. Only the car’s left fender and one of the headlights have suffered a little damage.”

I said “This means extra expenditure at a time when I’m hard pressed for money. You know Jimmy…….”

She said “I’m aware that Jimmy had lost a big amount on the share market and you had to give him the money to tide over his loss.”

I sighed.

She said “Let me get you some coffee.”

She was trying to mollify me! I sat staring at the wall clock wondering about bridging the shortage of funds. I watched a lizard jumping down on the ship in bottle [SIB) mounted near the clock. My mind went back several years. I remembered my granddad telling me about the SIB. He wasn’t sure about how our family had come by it. It was a large glass bottle which had once probably contained rum. It had a narrow neck and small handle. Into it was fitted a sailing ship with hull, masts and large sails, a flag and so on. Some expert had built the ship into the bottle and corked it. It was nice to look at. Granddad had said “It’s said to be a talisman auguring good luck.”

My wife brought me the coffee and as I sipped it I said “Jimmy is getting married next month. You’ve already spent a tidy sum on the trousseau. I suppose for us to survive I would've to borrow……..”

“It’s your habit to exaggerate expenditure.” After a pause she said “Why don’t you get rid of some of the extra furniture? The big sofa sets are unnecessary.”

I said “True. I’ll think about it.”

I knew Angela who owned Oriental Auctions and called her. She said “I’ll visit you tomorrow at 9 AM.”

Angela came as she had said. She refused any courtesy offerings like tea saying “My partner at Oriental has been offered some vellum documents for sale and we’ve to go and see them. I can now be here only 15 minutes.”

I said “Angela there’re too many furniture items here. See those massive sofa sets? They were part of perks while in service. My old sofas are also here. That is a carved roll top desk. Once someone offered me a fancy price for it but I didn’t sell.”

She looked at the furniture items and said “These are no doubt good. But they can’t compete with what IKEA has to offer. People are willing to pay fancy prices for modern furniture. I suggest that you arrange a garage sale of your surplus items. I can send a couple of dealers of used furniture and also a specialist in furniture renovation. There is an antique restorer who could be interested. May be I could also get him to see the furniture here.”

I was a bit disappointed as my furniture was little used and carefully maintained. My wife said “Angela, would you appraise that old bottle with ship in it? It has been in our family for generations.”

I got up and using a step ladder tried to reach for the glass bottle but it couldn’t be moved from its mount on the wall. With some effort I lifted it off and brought it to Angela. She examined the piece and said “It is an antique no doubt. The ship has been christened ALKMAAR and this is perhaps a model. Undoubtedly very nicely made. The name De Boer on one of the sails probably indicates the maker of the model or of the one who owned the SIB. It is really difficult to make a ship witḥ so many details and fit it in through the mouth of the bottle wḥich is only about 20mm in diameter. This kind of art was popular in the days when sḥips moved on sails.”

My wife asked “Do you think this could be sold say in an auction?”

Angela said “I don’t think so as maritime art isn’t popular. Modern versions of SIB have been made with parts of the ship within painted in vibrant colours. These are sold by Amazon for decoration  at low prices. This piece is faded and is only a keepsake of olden times.”

We thanked Angela for her visit and advice but were profoundly disappointed.

I said to my wife “For sentimental reasons I would like this bottle to be up there.”

My wife said “You climb the ladder and I’ll lift this bottle to you. You can let it rest in its pedestal.”

But my wife had difficulty lifting the bottle and I said “Let me get the gardener to do it.”

“He hasn’t yet come.”

The gardener arrived at midday and I called him in to lay the bottle in its rest. He climbed the ladder and after feeling the clamps said “These are all rusted. That bottle is quite heavy. It isn’t safe there.”

But I said “I’ll get it attended to soon” and he rested the bottle on the wall.

I told my wife “No luck, no respite.”

She nodded and said “We can’t help it.” After a moment’s silence she said “As I had told you our would- be daughter-in-law is coming to lunch on Sunday. I’ll be busy.” Her message was “Not my problem!”

On Sunday we were at lunch when there was a loud noise. I rushed to see and found the SIB had fallen and the bottle was broken. The ship however remained intact and wedged in its hull were 4 large diamonds! I couldn’t believe my eyes. As my wife was explaining to Jimmy’s would- be I rushed to a diamond merchant with my find. He examined them and said “Such large diamonds are rare.” The amount he was willing to pay for them was considerable.

I came home and informed my wife. She said “Our luck is changing! We must celebrate.” We did.

END

 SHIP TO EL DORADO      

I am a retired company official and live with my wife and son Jimmy who is a stock broker. I had just completed renovation of our house which proved very costly. That day even as I was reviewing my financial position, my wife came home saying “The pot ḥoles on our roads are deadly.”  I braced myself to hear about some calamity. She said “The man was riding alone and he fell off the scooter. Lucky, I avoided him.”

I said “I suppose you hit the scooter.”

“He was one who makes a mountain out of a molehill. He claimed that my car had knocked down his scooter and he was calling the police. He also wanted his medical expenses to be borne by me.”

I said “I know. You had to pay him a tidy sum.”

“I gave him the money he wanted. Only the car’s left fender and one of the headlights have suffered a little damage.”

I said “This means extra expenditure at a time when I’m hard pressed for money. You know Jimmy…….”

She said “I’m aware that Jimmy had lost a big amount on the share market and you had to give him the money to tide over his loss.”

I sighed.

She said “Let me get you some coffee.”

She was trying to mollify me! I sat staring at the wall clock wondering about bridging the shortage of funds. I watched a lizard jumping down on the ship in bottle [SIB) mounted near the clock. My mind went back several years. I remembered my granddad telling me about the SIB. He wasn’t sure about how our family had come by it. It was a large glass bottle which had once probably contained rum. It had a narrow neck and small handle. Into it was fitted a sailing ship with hull, masts and large sails, a flag and so on. Some expert had built the ship into the bottle and corked it. It was nice to look at. Granddad had said “It’s said to be a talisman auguring good luck.”

My wife brought me the coffee and as I sipped it I said “Jimmy is getting married next month. You’ve already spent a tidy sum on the trousseau. I suppose for us to survive I would've to borrow……..”

“It’s your habit to exaggerate expenditure.” After a pause she said “Why don’t you get rid of some of the extra furniture? The big sofa sets are unnecessary.”

I said “True. I’ll think about it.”

I knew Angela who owned Oriental Auctions and called her. She said “I’ll visit you tomorrow at 9 AM.”

Angela came as she had said. She refused any courtesy offerings like tea saying “My partner at Oriental has been offered some vellum documents for sale and we’ve to go and see them. I can now be here only 15 minutes.”

I said “Angela there’re too many furniture items here. See those massive sofa sets? They were part of perks while in service. My old sofas are also here. That is a carved roll top desk. Once someone offered me a fancy price for it but I didn’t sell.”

She looked at the furniture items and said “These are no doubt good. But they can’t compete with what IKEA has to offer. People are willing to pay fancy prices for modern furniture. I suggest that you arrange a garage sale of your surplus items. I can send a couple of dealers of used furniture and also a specialist in furniture renovation. There is an antique restorer who could be interested. May be I could also get him to see the furniture here.”

I was a bit disappointed as my furniture was little used and carefully maintained. My wife said “Angela, would you appraise that old bottle with ship in it? It has been in our family for generations.”

I got up and using a step ladder tried to reach for the glass bottle but it couldn’t be moved from its mount on the wall. With some effort I lifted it off and brought it to Angela. She examined the piece and said “It is an antique no doubt. The ship has been christened ALKMAAR and this is perhaps a model. Undoubtedly very nicely made. The name De Boer on one of the sails probably indicates the maker of the model or of the one who owned the SIB. It is really difficult to make a ship witḥ so many details and fit it in through the mouth of the bottle wḥich is only about 20mm in diameter. This kind of art was popular in the days when sḥips moved on sails.”

My wife asked “Do you think this could be sold say in an auction?”

Angela said “I don’t think so as maritime art isn’t popular. Modern versions of SIB have been made with parts of the ship within painted in vibrant colours. These are sold by Amazon for decoration  at low prices. This piece is faded and is only a keepsake of olden times.”

We thanked Angela for her visit and advice but were profoundly disappointed.

I said to my wife “For sentimental reasons I would like this bottle to be up there.”

My wife said “You climb the ladder and I’ll lift this bottle to you. You can let it rest in its pedestal.”

But my wife had difficulty lifting the bottle and I said “Let me get the gardener to do it.”

“He hasn’t yet come.”

The gardener arrived at midday and I called him in to lay the bottle in its rest. He climbed the ladder and after feeling the clamps said “These are all rusted. That bottle is quite heavy. It isn’t safe there.”

But I said “I’ll get it attended to soon” and he rested the bottle on the wall.

I told my wife “No luck, no respite.”

She nodded and said “We can’t help it.” After a moment’s silence she said “As I had told you our would- be daughter-in-law is coming to lunch on Sunday. I’ll be busy.” Her message was “Not my problem!”

On Sunday we were at lunch when there was a loud noise. I rushed to see and found the SIB had fallen and the bottle was broken. The ship however remained intact and wedged in its hull were 4 large diamonds! I couldn’t believe my eyes. As my wife was explaining to Jimmy’s would- be I rushed to a diamond merchant with my find. He examined them and said “Such large diamonds are rare.” The amount he was willing to pay for them was considerable.

I came home and informed my wife. She said “Our luck is changing! We must celebrate.” We did.

END