The Monkey’s Disgrace
Posted by: Josef EssbergerThree monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing things as they’re said to be.
Said one to the others: “Now listen you two,
There’s a certain rumour that can’t be true
That man descended from our noble race –
Why, the very idea is a disgrace!
“No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies and ruined her life;
And you’ve never known a mother monk
Leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to another
‘Til they scarcely know who is their mother.
“And another thing you’ll never see –
A monk build a fence round a coconut tree,
Forbidding all other monks to taste
And letting the coconuts go to waste.
Why! if I built a fence round a coconut tree
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
“Here’s another thing a monk won’t do:
Go out at night and get in a stew,
Or use a gun or club or knife
To take some other monkey’s life.
Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss,
But brother he didn’t descend from us!”
Author unknown
Voiced by Josef Essberger
man (noun): human beings; the human race
descend 1 (verb): come from something that happened before; (you are descended from your parents and grandparents)
noble (adjective): of excellent quality
race (noun): a major division of living creatures
disgrace (noun): something regarded as shameful and unacceptable
desert (verb): abandon
starve (verb): cause (somebody) to die from having no food
ruin (verb): cause great damage to
monk (noun): [informal] – short for monkey
bunk (verb): sleep in a bunk or bed
forbid (verb): not allow; refuse to allow
starvation (noun): death or suffering caused by having no food
get in a stew (idiom): get into a difficult situation that causes great worry
descend 2 (verb): go down; decline or deteriorate in quality; degenerate
ornery (adjective): bad-tempered; difficult to deal with
cuss (noun): an annoying or unpleasant person
Comments from monkeys welcome below…
Posted by Josef Essberger May 2020
Josef founded EnglishClub for learners and teachers of English in 1997
12 comments
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Arthur says:
I agree with Shirley comments. I remember this poem from the early seventies.
I had lost my written copy so was thankful that this was posted.
Thsnks -
Shirley says:
Over seventy years ago I saw this poem written on it. Mom bought one and was hung in our house for many years. I thought it was funny then and still do. I memorized it when I was young and was glad others remembered too.
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Lorraine Pankhurst says:
Thanks for reproducing this treasure. Would you believe I’m going to use it in my
Lenten Studies. -
Francis jewell says:
I remember most of the real poem from the early sixties and it rhymes. Although this is part of the message, it is not the real poem. If you want the poem I will look through my materials and find it for you. This does not do this poem justice. Francis
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J. M. says:
Upon realizing that, as a young girl, I’d stopped memorizing this at the “babies”, I was curious to know the poem’s ending and am delighted to find it here. Thank you so much Josef Essberger!
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Hector says:
I love the poem. Would you know how to find out who´s the author?
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Adrian says:
@Gierman
This page does not claim authorship for this poem. It specifically says “Author unknown” at the end. -
Gierman says:
We have 489 letters from my Dad 1918-2007 written between 1940 and 1944. Many letters included a poem about my Mother, or his Mother or where he was located or what was happening. A 1941 letter includes the poem about 3 monkeys in a coconut tree. It is similar to the his other poems in many ways. In some letters he writes more than one line and crosses it out to change a word or phrase. SO we always thought he wrote the poem. I have checked out all the other poems, searching the internet, and found none that is claimed by any one EXCEPT this one. Would like to know the truth. Thank you.
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James Little says:
My Uncle Ralph H. Little (1908-1999), Days Creek, Oregon was an self taught poet. He wrote Monkey’s Disgrace in the 1940s. I am published a book about him this year…Sweet and Sour Uncle.
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Bijan says:
Hello, Teacher Josep,
Thank you so much.Best wishes,
Bijan
from the Persian Gulf -
Piroska says:
It is very nice to read something from Josep Essberger
after a long time. -
NotAClue says:
Yeah, obviously someone didn’t do their homework… ‘Cause monkeys are not as nice as the writer thinks. It’s common that the new leader kills infants that are not his. Even infant kills by the mother have been documented in the wild. Generally speaking is aggression used in establishing and maintaining dominance hierarchies. (I’m not talking about the poor creatures living in Zoos and Circuses, which of course show all signs of compulsive behavior caused by this captivity.) Well, at least they haven’t tried to destroy their planet like humans do every day…
Greetings from an unknown monkey 😉