00:01
It was the early 60s. Mum wanted to join Dad, who had gone to the Mother Country, but she had a dilemma: what to do with her two young children, Earl and Faye. She decided to ask her mother in Spalding, not far from Mandeville, to look after the young brood. So we were sent to Granny.
00:39
When we got there, Granny had her duties for us. I, being the boy, was set to sweep the yard, go and tie out the goat and feed the pig. My sister, who was younger by about three years, had the job of feeding the chickens and the rooster.
01:09
As a reward, Granny gave us a little bit of land at the back there to plant our little produce. We planted carrots, some peas, and on the land there was a mango tree and some bananas. What we had decided was maybe we could gather all the produce and take it to the market in Chapelton and get some extra money.
01:46
So, on a Saturday morning, my sister was rubbing her tummy. She had a tummy ache. What to do? I decided, look, I'm going to go anyway. So I got the two baskets and I was going to take the shortcut.
- Storyteller
- Desmond Thompson
- Recording date
- 30 Jul 2026
- Location / community
- Jamaica
- Duration
- 06:30
- Card label / subtitle
- The higher monkey climb, the more he expose his tail.
- Themes
- Morals & Lessons, Nature & Animals, Trickery & Wit
- Language / dialect
- English
- Cultural / community context
The story grew from Desmond’s memories of childhood in Jamaica at a time when many parents travelled to Britain in search of a better life, leaving children in the care of grandparents. It reflects the responsibilities often given to young children while drawing on the animal characters, humour and moral lessons found throughout Caribbean oral storytelling traditions. Desmond describes the story as being about trust and honesty, with its animal protagonists echoing traditions including Ananse stories and other trickster tales.
- Archive permission
- Consent given by Desmond Thompson
10 Sep 2026, 10:53
