Kiyochika: Russian Men and Toy Ships; The Flying Good Idea (Sold)

From the Univ of Wien Website: The flying good idea by Koppi Dōjin. Because the Russian war ships were completely sunk by the attack of the Japanese fleet, even the (ever/for a long time) arrogant Russian admiral was clueless and constantly sighed in desperation. Then one of his officers said: “Excuse me, boss, I just had a good idea on how to better our situation. So, we fasten lots of balloons at the top of our war ships and when the Japanese navy shoot at us with their artillery and torpedoes we count to three and jump into the air at once. And if that doesn't work and we are sunk we will float up again like bubbles. That's the fly-escape-technique of the war ship. What do you think?” “Hmm, well, that's pretty good... But what do we do, if they shoot at us from below while we're flying above?” “I'm afraid I hadn't thought that far yet.” Two Russians with grave faces are sitting in front of a water basin filled to the top, (above which) the war ship model is floating/flying with balloons tied to it. Right after the beginning of the war, the spirited attack of the Japanese navy in the battle of Incheon surprised the Russians. Here the officers of the Russian navy are talking about “the flying good idea”, which came to them following the severe attacks by the Japanese. The title is a pun formed by the same sound of tonda (flying) with “shocking” and meian (good idea) with “absurd, stupid idea”. Thus, the title can also be read as “the shockingly stupid idea”. The idea is that everything would be alright, if balloons were attached to the war ships because then one could simply fly away from the torpedoes of the Japanese navy. The answer to the question “But what happens, if they shoot at us from below while we're flying above?” at the end is a joke, in which the soko (up to there) usually used in the phrase “I haven't thought that far” is substituted by the same sounding soko (ground, underbelly of the ship).