1Written and Illustrated by Ray Coniglio

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Copyright © by Ray Coniglio 2012

This little ditty of a story was Written and Illustrated by

Raymond Coniglio, O.C.A.D.U

Edited and Produced by his daughter

Ava Clay

Dedicated to his lovely wife Anne, so patient.

Other Books by Raymond Coniglio5 South

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A funny tale about a cook, a donkey and a whale.

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It all happened one fine day in the

plentiful land of Sicily, in the sea-side

town of Palermo...

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Raymondo Coniglio, who simply loved to cook... had decided that on

this day, he would make the Greatest Seafood Dish Ever!

After all, wasn’t he the greatest cook in all of Sicily? And, had

he not won the Grand Prize at the World’s Fair for his Pasta & Pigtails in

tomato sauce? Yes!

Raymondo was so very excited to get started and with his very big cooking cauldon, he always made enough for

everyone in the town to enjoy!

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Raymondo loaded his cauldron onto his rickety cart which was already hitched up to his trusty donkey named Romano - and off they went towards the water’s edge in search of the fresh, edible delicacies that the fishermen brought in every

day. Everything Raymondo ever cooked had to be fresh, fresh, fresh!

Romano, the donkey always seemed to mirror his master’s energy and feelings. When Raymondo was happy, Romano was happy; when Raymondo was sad, the donkey was sad and when Raymondo was upset or exceptionally cantancorus, Romano was the same.

So today, Romano was terribly excited, just like his Master, as

he skillfully pulled the rickety cart down the long narrow path towards

the sea with Raymondo running along side as the huge cauldron

bounced about within.

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There in the distance, Raymondo could see the fishermen pulling their boats up onto the sandy beach. The colourful boats were

overflowing with the many different catches of the day!

It was a beautiful morning and the salt air was cool and brisk.

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When Raymondo and Romano reached the water’s edge, Raymondo hurried from boat to boat picking out the freshest fishes and seafood he would need to fill the cauldron,

paying the fishermen as they went.

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Raymondo carefully picked out only the very best of the catch which included; squid, tuna, swordfish, clams, calamari, eel, lobster, sardines, octopus, shrimp, mussels

and many other sea-fish.

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When the seafood was all paid for, Raymondo and Romano could barely move

the weighed down cart. The cauldron inside was full to the brim with all

the seafood Raymondo had purchased from the sea-side fishermen!

As they inched their way slowly along the sea shore with their amazing bounty, a big wave suddenly spashed down around them - causing some of the fishes to fall off the cart and back

into the sea where a large whale was now enjoying an ill-gotten snack!

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Shocked and a little frightened, Raymondo and Romano pushed on as fast as they could, trying to get away from the shore and the whale’s splashing. Without warning, they saw a large shadow appear on the sand right where they stood. Raymondo and Romano ran away fast when they realized the shadow was that of the hungry whale which was seconds from crashing down upon them!

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The whale had jumped out of the sea and right onto Raymondo’s Greatest Seafood Dinner Ever (to be) which had been on the cart.

All the seafood was now gone into the whales tummy!

The greedy whale smacked his lips and then pointed to the sea. He seemed to be a lot bigger now after eating all of Raymondo’s carefully, hand-picked seafood. The whale

could hardly move, just one fin was pointing out to the sea. It was evident he wanted Raymondo and Romano to push him back into the water before the sun dried him out.

Now, Raymondo wasn’t just a great cook, he was also very clever. He instantly knew what had to be done. Romano followed Raymondo’s lead and they both began

collecting bits of wood and round stones from the beach to make a fire. A cooking fire!

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Raymondo was so happy that the fabulous dinner he had been planning had not been ruined by the whale but was made even more spectacular by adding

just one more very special ingredient - WHALE STEAKS!

Raymondo and Romano swiftly built a huge fire around the beached and very full whale and in no time the Greatest Seafood Dinner Ever was on its way to perfection!

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Wine and fresh bread was brought to the beach and the

Greatest Seafood Dinner Ever was enjoyed by all.

Raymondo and Romano were very, very happy that day.

Romano trotted to town to tell all the people to come and see what his friend Raymondo was up to. The town people gathered and were quite amazed at what they saw. A huge whale on a bed of fire being cooked. But, not only was the whale cooking but when the whale was very close to being done, it split wide open and the town’s people could see all the wonderful seafood cooking inside Raymondo’s huge

black cauldron inside the whale.

Whale steaks for everyone!