Madame Askew and The Grand Arbiter

Originally posted to our Patreon

How happy I am  to introduce the gallant kitty, Signore Dante Grande Barba! Dante started life as the sauciest kitten of the litter in the town baker’s kitchen. Italian to the core, the kittens would join the baker in the mornings to sing along to various arias for the amusement of the town folk whilst the baker served his signature fresh bread.  Dante, a cheeky boy from the very first, was noted for his comedic turns during these arias and his gift for acrobatically delivering uninvited mice to the baker.

The young Dante yearned for something more exciting and challenging, however, and as a young kitty he set out for adventure in another local shop. He apprenticed to the town inventor, Signore Millejoie, and become an accomplished toy maker in his own right. Dante created not just any toys, of course. His specialty was musical amusements that could be enjoyed by both the kitties of the household and their young humans. So popular were these lovely toys, that the town developed a particularly famous reputation and became a bit of a summer destination. Between the singing cats and the singing toys,  people often claimed that a night amongst the musical cats of Cortona was better than a season at the opera.  

After years of bringing joys to the denizens of the town and visitors from abroad, Dante retired as an elder cat of great distinction, surrounded by his grand kittens. He still occasionally put in an appearance with the other musical kitties, most of them cousins, nieces and nephews as well as his grandkitties. He and his siblings would join once more with the town baker to the delight of all. Only time was his enemy and at last it caught up with him whilst he was napping in the dappled sunlight in the front window of his dear inventor’s workshop.

Dante has gone on to his forever haunt where his family might occasionally hear him singing in the early hours of the morning. No mice dare his ghostly domain!

Bravo e encora bravo to the brilliant Dante!