Bengt:
So many Betty MacDonald fan club fans are waiting for Mr. Tigerli's new experiences.
Read and enjoy the new story of our famous Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli written by brilliant Betty MacDonald fan club honor member, writer and artist Letizia Mancino and translated by Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes.
Thanks a million dear Betty MacDonald fan club honor members for sharing this delightful story.
I'm one of your many devoted fans.
Yours,
Bengt
Mister Tigerli Foundation
Copyright 2012 by Letizia Mancino
translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
“You in Alaska with the salmon?”
“Yes, Betty!”
“And Mister Tigerli?”
“He stayed at home.”
“With his Russian friend?”
“I tell you, I would have liked to have employed three men to look after him.”
“Three men?”
“Yes, a cook, a hairdresser and a doctor to check that he’s in good health.”
“Oh come you’re exaggerating, cats are very robust!”
“Sure Betty, but Mister Tigerli has become so famous because of you and your fans, that I now carry a great responsibility!”
“ You do look very bent!”
“Oh don’t always be so ironical Betty!”
“And the Russian girl?”
“She didn’t want the job because her boy friend is so jealous of the cat.”
“That I can well understand.”
“She told me that her partner would only turn a blind eye if she earned a lot of money for “cat-sitting”.”
“Two eyes would be better!”
”She named an enormous sum – 1000 dollars.”
“You must be joking, Letizia!”
“It’s no joke!”
“That’s the price of a gorgeous playgirl from the “Red Onion”!”
“I know it is. The price is talked about in Russia. Alaska used to belong to Russia. Do you also know the “Red Onion” in Skagway?”
“I only know the prices of the Gold Rush Brothel!”
“It has become a museum!”
“If Mister Tigerli had wanted the Russian girl to slick down his fur with her tongue,
$1000 would have been the right price, Letizia!”
“I believe, Betty, that that is precisely what Tigerli had wanted her to do!”
“And what had she done?”
“Absolutely nothing! When I came back from Alaska and Seattle, Tigerli’s fur on both his hind legs and on his thighs and around his tail was totally matted!”
“So she had refused to lick our Mister Tigerli’s fur!”
“Exactly!”
“Then you have to pay more for his pleasures.”
“In that case we will have to establish a “Mister Tigerli Foundation!”
“Not a bad idea! Mister Tigerli has to remain beautiful for his fans, Letizia”
Three men to serve him should be enough. What do you think, Betty?”
“We could also ask the Russian girl!”
“If our very busy cat is in agreement! He doesn’t get on with her boy friend!”
“We can give her $1000: “The Mister Tigerli Foundation” can be responsible for all the costs. Grooming with the tongue is very important!”
“It is a sign of very great affection, my mother tells me. She slept for 19 years with her Siamese cat on her stomach. She loved him so much that she never turned over in bed in case she disturbed him!”
“19 years? And what did your father say?”
“Oh he knew his place. He was the cat’s night porter!”
“Roman Nose must have Egyptian ancestors in the family!”
“Certainly! My mother gave Chicco the name “Star of South America.”
“Why Star of South America and not of North America?”
“I have no idea. I never asked her! The chief wife of the Pharaoh Chicco I is a powerful woman!”
“But why was your father the cat’s night porter?”
“He had to get up in the night so that he could hold the glass door onto the balcony open. It was always a bit open but Chicco demanded that my father waited there for him until he returned from using the cat litter box. My father would say ”Avanti Chicchinello nostro” and get back into bed. Then Chicco would jump onto my mother’s stomach and go back to sleep.”
“ Bob would have certainly done the same for his 500 chickens if they had ever used a chicken litter box.”
“We could also use The Mister Tigerli Foundation to finance a night porter for Mister Tigerli.”
“That’s a good idea!”
“One has to spoil cats! When once my mother forgot that she had left a good fur coat on the bed, Chicco licked it completely clean with his tongue.”
“I’m sure she was delighted!”
“She certainly was. She said that to lick a whole fur coat was a great achievement for a cat. I can remember how she called him “Sun of the House!”
Great!
“We will buy a fur coat for Mister Tigerli.”
“We’ll have to discuss that with the other “Honour Members.”
“But we can afford to pay for Mister Tigerli to have his fur licked.”
“Yes, sure!”
“Actually it’s a great honour for the Russain girl to be allowed to lick our famous Mister Tigerli!”
“She should give us money for the honour!”
“But her friend is jealous!”
“The Mister Tigerli Foundation could finance a rehabilitation cure so that he could recover from his jealousy of cats!”
“That would certainly be expensive.”
“Oh we’d find the means for it!”
“And another question. What is Tigerli’s favourite food?”
“Alaskan salmon.”
“Doesn’t he like caparccio of mouse?”
“He leaves these specialities on the floor for me!”
“Tell me, Letizia, how did Tigerli react to you being named an Honour Member?”
“Fantastic! As a thank you present to Linde Lund he got hold of four hale and hearty Camemberts, packed them up in a box and sent them to her.”
“What did Linde say to that?”
“She is still trying to catch them all!”
The End
