Author's Note Rata pata scata fata is an old time Virgin Islands way of talking nonsense Caribbean gobbledy gook It might be imitation Spanish since the islands are close to Puerto Rico or perhaps it comes from one of the many West African languages that influenced local English Creole At one time there were sixteen African languages spoken in St Thomas alone The conch horn the fisherman blows conch is pronounced conk is made from a big beautiful pink and white shellfish shell The pot fish Junjun wishes for is a reef fish that is small enough to be caught in a fish pot a cagelike trap and big enough to fit in a cooking pot The tamarinds he wishes for are the sour fruit of the tamarind tree originally imported to the tropics from India You can suck on tamarinds though not too many or your tongue will hurt They are also used in making preserves beverages and
P G and to David Gershаtor for the happy ending an Tingley for the fresh start As To my Oung nephew Jacob Meade maker of rew his book is for you H M Pict
Junjun liked to daydream He liked to night dream And he liked to dream in-between when the birds sang and the lizards came out to bask in the morning sun D a
But Junjun s dreams were often interrupted There was always so much work to do
