Moruga Tales

By June Khan

The author spent her early years in the village of Grand Chemin in the district of Moruga. Grand Chemin is a seaside village on the south coast of Trinidad and to this day it is still very rural in nature, forgotten by Time and the Government.

She grew up hearing the stories of the strange and supernatural creatures that haunted the area and filled the inhabitants with dread and wonder. It was with hair-raising excitement and anticipation that she listened to these stories told by school friends and others, and her imagination ran wild as she experienced vicariously the exploits of the intrepid heroes who lived to tell the tale.

The "doorstep group" in the tales is composed of young people and children. Some of the names of the people in this group are of actual people she knew in the village and she uses these people to tell the stories. However the stories they tell are pure fiction and they never really experienced whatever befell the characters in them.

With the passage of time, it is possible that the oral tradition of story-telling may die out and important folklore may be lost. The author remembers the thrill and excitement of the story-telling sessions of her childhood and in her later years has decided to share her experiences with you, the reader.

Dim your lights, turn off the television, radio and computer, shut down the cell phone and take the landline off the hook. Light a candle and surround yourself in an aura of mystery. Now, remove yourself to a time and place remote from today's hustle and bustle. Read, laugh and be entertained!

• Language: English
• Publisher: June Khan
• Release date: Nov 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9780987825612

June Khan

June Lee-Sing Khan spent her early years in the village of Grand Chemin in the district of Moruga. Grand Chemin is a seaside village on the south coast of Trinidad. She grew up hearing the stories of the strange and supernatural creatures that haunted the area and filled the inhabitants with dread and wonder. It was with hair-raising excitement and tense anticipation that she listened to these stories told by school friends and others, and her imagination ran wild as she experienced vicariously the exploits of the intrepid heroes who lived to tell the tale.

Book preview

MORUGA TALES

tmp_bbe12450cda1e2cda113393adef29da0_F4SOSz_html_m7eeafeb0.png

JUNE LEE-SING KHAN

Moruga Tales

Publishing History

First edition published November 2011

Second Printing April 2012

Smashwords Edition November 2012

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2000 – 2012 by June Lee-Sing Khan

Foreword copyright © 2008 by Wayne Lee-Sing

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN 978-0-9878256-1-2

Published by JPK Associates Inc. at Smashwords

Dedication

To my sons, Peter and Ian, who encouraged me all along to write these stories and who helped me to edit and publish this book.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Map of Moruga

Moruga Tales - Introduction

Moruga Tales - Prologue

Tale #1 - Cecil’s Story: Cecil and La Diablesse

Tale #2 - Freddie’s Story: Freddie and the Mermaid

Tale #3 - June’s Story: Douens in the Woods

Tale #4 - Rupert’s Story: ’Ti Jean & the Diablotins

Tale #5 - Chunnie’s Story: The Stranger in the Shop

Tale #6 - Angie’s Story: Big John and the Little Popo

Tale #7 - Joe’s Story: Miss Lucy’s Deal with the Devil

Tale #8 - Frankie’s Story: Frankie’s Encounter with the Lagahou

Tale #9 - Henrietta’s Story: Frangipani

Tale #10 - Kwong’s Story: Pemberton’s Ordeal

Moruga Tales - Epilogue

Glossary

Author’s Notes

About the Author

Foreword

She’s a little girl living in her own world

That’s my little girl June

Down in Moruga where the jumbies turn

Under the silvery moon

She’ll tell you of demons that prowl in the night

Of mermaids, douens, la diablesse

Of soucouyant coming to suck out your life

Her tales are as sweet as a kiss

When evening falls we gather round

With candles and pitch-oil light

No matter what the old men say

We pretend not to be in a fright

The soul of Moruga is simply a part

Of my little girl June

With tales that come from deep in the heart

Of Grand Chemin and La Lune

She’ll tell us her stories again and again

To make sure we never forget

The folklore that is a part of our lives

We’ll always be in her debt

Going to places we’ve never been

Is a thing everybody should try

And living it over and over again

It’s a world that should never die

From the song Moruga in June by Wayne Lee-Sing

Map of Moruga

tmp_bbe12450cda1e2cda113393adef29da0_F4SOSz_html_316c1a4b.png

Moruga Tales - Introduction

The author spent her early years in the village of Grand Chemin in the district of Moruga. Grand Chemin is a seaside village on the south coast of Trinidad and to this day it is still very rural in nature, forgotten by Time and the Government.

She grew up hearing the stories of the strange and supernatural creatures that haunted the area and filled the inhabitants with dread and wonder. It was with hair-raising excitement and anticipation that she listened to these stories told by school friends and others, and her imagination ran wild as she experienced vicariously the exploits of the heroes who lived to tell the tale.

The doorstep group in the tales is composed of young people and children. Some of the names of the people in this group are of actual people she knew in the village and she uses these people to tell the stories. However the stories they tell are pure fiction and they never really experienced whatever befell the characters in them. For example, June (the author) told a story of douens but, in reality, she never saw one and Cecil surely never met a real diablesse. As well, the characters in the stories that the group tells are all fictitious and bear no resemblance to anyone extant. The stories come from the author’s imagination while using the folklore of Moruga as a framework upon which to flesh out the characters and the plots. As for the tale about the mermaid, that is the author’s own story. Indeed, the only mermaid she had ever heard anything about was the one from Hans Christian Andersen.

With the passage of time, it is possible that the oral tradition of story-telling may die out and important folklore may be lost. The author remembers the thrill and excitement of the story-telling sessions of her childhood and in her later years has decided to share her experiences with you, the reader.

Dim your lights, turn off the television, radio and computer, shut down the cell phone and take the landline off the hook. Light a candle and surround yourself in an aura of mystery. Now, remove yourself to a time and place remote from today’s hustle and bustle. Read, laugh and be entertained!

****

Moruga Tales - Prologue

The 1930s has just turned the corner into the 1940s. The place is Grand Chemin in the district of Moruga. To be more precise, the place is at the back doorsteps of the Lee-Sing house.

Grand Chemin is a sleepy, little village on the south coast of Trinidad. The Moruga road runs from Princes Town to Grand Chemin, from north to south, ending at the sea. The centre of the village is at the crossroads where L’Anse