Tatlow The Sailor - Part Four by J.M.Okano

     In case you were wondering where I come from, dear readers, my mother came to Canada looking for singing Mounties.  She married my father and they moved to Switzerland and there I was born.

      

     Anyway, back to the story.  Tatlow and his friends saw a Dutch farmer on a flat-bottomed barge with three cows on board, steering his way along the canal with a pole like a Venetian gondolier.
     Tatlow finished building his raft and invited his friends and Sponsible the cow to come on board.  They navigated the canals until they reached the sea and sailed to France in the rain, studying Learn French, Young One, a book on the language for young travellers.  Stopping at Normandy, they overheard a Frenchman declare, "A Paris, le prix d'une tasse de chocolat, c'est amusant!"  ("At Paris, the price of a cup of hot chocolate is amusing!") and decided to go to Paris to find out for themselves what was so funny about it.  They left the raft behind and riding Sponsible, made their way to Paris over weeks.
     When they reached Paris, they went straight to a sidewalk shelter with tables and chairs and ordered a cup of hot chocolate for each of the dolls.  It was delicious.  When the waiter brought them the bill, though, Tatlow said, "This is not amusing.  The price of the hot chocolates is so expensive, it is the cost of our meals for a week!"
     The waiter explained that the view of the Eiffel Tour, the wonderful people of Paris, artists painting outside and the music of the accordian improved the quality of the chocolate and so they charged more.
     "Oui, oui!"  said Tatlow agreeing with him.  "Let's busk!"
     "I forgot my pppiano," said Saskia.
     "We'll buy you an upright one," said Hans.
     A while later, there was Sponsible towing a piano behind her with the three dolls on her back.
     They continued their wandering journey, going to many places, but they did not go to Romania, that much I know.  I have never been to Romania, so I wouldn't know what to write about it, though I had visited 25 countries by the age of twelve, so we have quite a few to choose from.  (My sister's been to 74 countries by the way, so if she wrote a book, it would be really good.)

TO BE CONTINUED