Arrrh! Here be a riddle for Talking like a Pirate Day. Good luck, me mateys!
According to an old legend, bloodthirsty pirates once attacked a ship. But their attacked failed because the ship they attacked was carrying paper. One can reasonably suppose, however, that if such an attack were to occur today the pirates would surely succeed, even if the ship was carrying the same paper. Why did this pirate attack reportedly fail in the past, but would not now in 2023?
Is the difference related to the type of paper?
The type of ship?
Some other technology?
Is it something involving fire? Like, the pirate attack back when caused the paper to fuel the flames catastrophically, so there was no loot to plunder — but, these days, such an attack would get the win without being quite so destructive?
(Oh, and for a lateralism: is it a watercraft, or some other kind of ship entirely?)
No to all.
reply to The_Other_Waldo_Pepper:
Is it something involving fire? No. Like, the pirate attack back when caused the paper to fuel the flames catastrophically, so there was no loot to plunder — but, these days, such an attack would get the win without being quite so destructive? No
(Oh, and for a lateralism: is it a watercraft, or some other kind of ship entirely?) watercraft.
Was there something relevant written on the paper? Something to do with record-keeping?
reply to Ana_Byrd:
Was there something relevant written on the paper? No. Something to do with record-keeping?
No
Lest ye think me a scallywag, I freely admit to embellishing on the somewhat scant details of the old story and flat-out hypothesizing on such a theoretical encounter today. But the lateral thinking aspect is valid IMHO. Yo ho ho!
Was the paper in question used? Like for example banknotes. Or was it blank paper?
reply to Saint_Cad:
Was the paper in question used? Like for example banknotes. Or was it blank paper?
None of the above.
Did the attack fail because of a pirate superstition?
Was paper the primary cargo of the ship? Was the paper destroyed in the attack?
Was the target ship damaged in the attack? Destroyed?
Did the pirates have a ship? Was it damaged in the attack? Destroyed?
reply to Rhodes:
Did the attack fail because of a pirate superstition? No.
Was paper the primary cargo of the ship? I think that is fair to say. Was the paper destroyed in the attack? No
Was the target ship damaged in the attack? Destroyed? No to both.
Did the pirates have a ship? Aye Was it damaged in the attack? No Destroyed? No
Were the pirates trying to get the paper, already knowing it was there?
Were they just attacking some likely-looking ship they happened upon, thinking something of value would be aboard?
Was the paper itself somehow actively used in defense of the target ship? (I don’t know how that would have worked; just trying to find a direction for lateral thinking.)
Are we talking about a single piece of paper? A document or collection of documents? A cargo hold with tons of paper?
Is anything printed on the paper? By hand, by press, or by more modern methods?
Was the paper valuable to the pirates at the time? Would it be valuable to the pirates if they were able to steal it today?
Did the pirates simply fail to recognize a valuable cargo?
Maybe they thought the paper was worthless, and released the ship, cargo and crew, but it had a value they didn’t know about.
When did this take place?
This century? 20th? 19th? 18th? 17th? 16th? Roman times? Pre Roman? Between Roman and 16th?
Is the paper something we’re used to thinking of as paper, as in thin sheets of paper suitable for writing things on; or is it some other sort of thing that’s made out of paper?
Did the attack fail because the crew of the target ship destroyed the paper so it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands?
Did the paper have something legal printed on it that convinced the pirates that it would be in their best interests to abort the attack?
The way I’m thinking here is that the ship was a messenger delivering a document that would not have interested the pirates at the time. But if pirates today were able to intercept what is now an original historical document, it would fetch a nice ransom. [ETA: So apparently I missed post #1187.]
reply to dirtball:
Were the pirates trying to get the paper, already knowing it was there? Don’t know pirate’s motivation.
Were they just attacking some likely-looking ship they happened upon, thinking something of value would be aboard? Don’t know. Pirates just are going to pirate.
Was the paper itself somehow actively used in defense of the target ship? (I don’t know how that would have worked; just trying to find a direction for lateral thinking.)
No, not exactly.
reply to Peter_Morris:
Did the pirates simply fail to recognize a valuable cargo? No knowledge of pirate’s motivation.
Maybe they thought the paper was worthless, and released the ship, cargo and crew, but it had a value they didn’t know about. It’s not given information in the tale.
When did this take place?
This century? 20th? You could make the case for this one (20th), though the century is not important.19th? 18th? 17th? 16th? Roman times? Pre Roman? Between Roman and 16th?
No, neither.