WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
This Circle Round episode was recorded live at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland Ohio, on March 14th 2026.
You can hear all of our live Circle Round episodes and learn more about our picture books, merch newsletter and Circle Round Club on our website, wburorg.
What does friendship mean to you?
Does it mean having someone to share secrets with or a double-decker ice cream cone?
Maybe it means having someone to play and laugh with or someone to lift you up when you're feeling down.
We're about to meet two farmers who have been friends forever until an unexpected occurrence puts their friendship on the rocks.
I'm Rebecca Shearer and welcome to Circle Round.
Live at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland Ohio.
Today our story is called A Tale of Two Neighbors.
You'll find versions of this tale from Appalachia in the mountains of eastern North America.
Joining me on stage is a trio of talented local actors Nina Domingue, Xavier Heip and Bob Keefe.
Providing musical accompaniment is the one and only Eric Shimalonis.
So circle around, everyone, for a tale of two neighbors.
Joe and Josephine had known each other all their lives.
They had grown up in the same town.
They had attended the same schools.
They had played with the same friends.
And when they grew older and struck out on their own, they went into the same line of work, farming.
Great news, Joe.
I found two farms set side by side in a beautiful valley.
I figured I could buy one of the farms.
And I could buy the other?
That's a swell idea, Josephine.
Joe and Josephine loved being farmers.
They also loved being neighbors.
And every day, after plowing their respective fields, cleaning their respective barns and feeding their respective animals.
They'd catch up over a potluck dinner in one of their respective kitchens.
So, Josephine, how are your chickens doing?
They're doing well, Joe, thanks to you.
That hole in the coop was letting all the foxes in.
I appreciate you patching it up for me.
How's your horse?
Aw, she's feeling better.
Thanks to you.
You know how upset her stomach was.
That chamomile tea you brewed up worked like a charm.
Hey, can you pass the biscuits and gravy?
Your recipe is so good, I need a second helping.
I could say the same about your mac and cheese.
Joe and Josephine got on so well.
They were like soup and crackers.
Like chicken and dumplings.
Like... Bread and butter?
No thanks, Joe.
I'm too stuffed to eat anything more.
The friends never had an argument, never exchanged a harsh or bitter word.
Little did they know that was about to change.
Early one morning they were awoken in their respective beds, in their respective houses, by an unexpected sound.
Meow!
Meow.
Is that a cow?
As it happens, neither Joe nor Josephine owned a cow.
They owned chickens and horses, but no cows.
So to be startled from sleep by a loud, brawling meow was, well, startling.
The farmers sprang from their beds, jumped into their slippers, and raced outside.
And there, munching on a patch of clover on Josephine's land, was a big brown cow.
Goodness, isn't she a beauty?
She sure is.
But where did she come from?
Not a clue.
Ours are the only farms for miles around.
And neither one of us owns a cow.
Well...
It looks like one of us owns the cow now.
Joe stared at Josephine, his mouth wide open.
Hang on a minute.
What do you mean, one of us owns the cow?
Think about it.
The cow is on my land eating my clover.
True, but we could just as easily have found her on my land.
In which case, she would have been your cow.
But she's not.
Joe's brow knotted.
His nostrils flared.
Frustration bubbled inside him like a geyser.
You know what, Josephine?
You're nothing but a no good cattle rustler.
Josephine froze.
Did you just call me a cattle rustler?
"'Russling means stealing, and I am not stealing this cow!'
"'Looks like you are to me!'
The two farmers glared at each other.
They were so mad you could practically see the steam coming out of their noses and ears.
"'You know what, Joe?' are being impossible.
Well, you are being unbearable.
And you are being intolerable.
Then maybe I should go.
Not if I go first with my cow.
Josephine shot Joe a stormy look.
Then she spun on her slippered heel and led the brown cow away.
Boy, oh boy.
I had no idea Josephine could be such a stick in the mud.
And to think I considered her my best friend.
What a load of bunk.
Well, as you might guess, there was no potluck that night.
Or the next night.
Or the next.
Not only did Joe and Josephine stop dining with each other, they stopped speaking.
They wouldn't even look at each other as they plowed their respective fields, cleaned their respective barns and fed their respective animals.
The tension grew and grew.
Then one morning, when Joe woke up and glanced out the window, he saw something that made his blood go hot.
There's a creek running between my farm and Josephine's.
She must have hitched up her plow and dug a furrow from the pond up yonder.
So now our farms are separated by water.
What a sneaky backhanded joke.
Is someone knocking at my door?
If it's Josephine, I am most definitely going to give her a piece of my mind.
Joe opened the door, but it wasn't Josephine he saw.
It was an old man with a long, thin nose, bespectacled eyes and a weathered face salted with silver stubble.
He was dressed in ragged overalls.
Slung over his shoulder was a beat-up box of tools.
Good morning, sir.
I'm a carpenter in need of a job.
I know I may look too grizzled and gray to wield a hammer or saw, but I assure you I've been in this trade longer than you've been alive and my work shows it.
Might you have anything that needs building or fixing?
Joe paused.
He didn't need anything fixed.
But now that he thought of it, he could use something built.
Something that would teach Josephine a lesson she would never forget.
What do you think Joe wants the carpenter to build?
We'll find out what it is after a quick break.
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Grown-ups, support public radio and sign up today at wbur.org slash circleroundclub.
I'm Rebecca Shear.
Welcome back to Circle Round.
Live at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland Ohio.
Today our story is called A Tale of Two Neighbors.
A Tale of Two Neighbors Thank you.
Before the break, longtime friends Joe and Josephine had a fight over who should keep the cow that wandered onto Josephine's property.
Josephine was so miffed with her neighbor that she dug a ditch between their two farms and turned it into a creek.
When an old carpenter showed up at Joe's door looking for work, Joe knew exactly what to tell him.
As it happens, sir, I believe I have a job for you.
Do you see that farm over there?
He motioned toward Josephine's property.
That farm belongs to Josephine.
She's my neighbor and my former best friend.
That creek running between our properties is brand new because just last night she put it there to spite me.
Can you believe it?
The carpenter cocked his silvery head.
It does seem a bit unusual.
It's downright antagonistic.
Josephine and I have known each other all our lives.
Then we have one little spat, and she goes and digs a creek between us.
Well...
Little does she know, but I can do one better than that.
If she really wants the two of us to be divided after all we've been through, then I am going to build a wall.
Or rather, you are.
You want me to build a wall between your farm and your best friend's farm?
My former best friend.
And I want this wall to be so tall, so high to the sky, that I won't have to see Josephine's farm anymore.
Or her face anymore.
I never want to lay eyes on that stick in the mud again.
The carpenter took off his spectacles and gave them a wipe.
I believe I can help you out, Joe.
If you have lumber and nails, I can use my tools to build something you'll like.
The two men shook on the deal.
Then, while the carpenter fetched lumber and nails from the shed, Joe climbed into his cart to run errands in town.
The carpenter labored all day long, taking measurements, sawing wooden planks, fitting them together with nails.
He worked slowly but carefully.
He was finished by sunset and when Joe came back in his cart and his farm rolled into view, he glanced toward Josephine's property, eager to catch sight of his towering, glorious new wall.
But that towering, glorious wall... wasn't there.
What in blazes?
Why didn't the carpenter build the wall?
Within moments, his question was answered.
Because, as he drew closer, he realized that the carpenter hadn't built the wall, because he had spent all day building something else.
A bridge?
Indeed, spanning the creek from one side to the other was a fine wooden bridge, solid and sturdy, with handrails and an arched cover.
Standing beside the bridge with his weathered hands stuck in his ragged pockets was the carpenter.
And on the other side, with shimmering tears trickling down her beaming face, was Josephine.
Joe, my dear, dear Joe, I dug that ditch and built that creek to separate us.
But you, you built this bridge to bring us together.
I missed you so much.
She raced across the bridge, arms outstretched, and wrapped Joe in a hug.
When he felt something wet on his cheeks, he wasn't sure if it was Josephine's tears or his own.
Oh, Josephine, I was a fool to get angry at you.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry, too.
Can we be friends again?
No.
But we can be best friends again.
Oh, Joe.
Well, the teary friends reunited.
The teary best friends.
The carpenter loaded his toolbox and hoisted it over his shoulder.
But before he could walk away, Joe stopped him.
Wait a minute, sir.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you did today.
Any chance you could stay on and help me and Josephine around our farms?
Now that I think of it, I've been wanting to expand my stables.
And I would love a bigger chicken coop.
We'd be grateful if you'd come work for us.
Just for a little while.
We'd pay you handsomely.
Joe and Josephine gazed at the carpenter with hopeful expressions.
The old man blinked his bespectacled eyes and scratched his stubbly chin.
Joe, Josephine, I appreciate the offer.
Much as I'd like to say yes, I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere.
You two be well, be good to each other.
After all, soup is much better with crackers, chicken is much better with dumplings and bread with butter.
Well, could anything be better than that?
His weathered face creased into a smile.
And then, with his silvery hair gleaming in the moonlight and his beat-up toolbox swinging by his side, he shuffled off down the road, knowing that in this tremendous topsy-turvy world where so much is beautiful and so much is broken,
He had other bridges to build, plenty of them.
And what better time to start than now?
Now it's your turn.
What's one kind thing you can do for a friend?
Can you give them a handmade card, share a book or snack?
Maybe you can offer help with schoolwork, or just offer a kind word.
Pick a kind act.
Then go out and do it.
Your friend will feel great, and you will too ¶¶.
This week's story, A Tale of Two Neighbors, was adapted by me, Rebecca Scheer.
It was edited by Dean Russell and performed by Nina Domingue, Xavier Heip, and Bob Keefe.
Eric Chimalonis composed our original music and played it live on the tenor banjo.
You can learn more about this stringed instrument originally from West Africa, and see a photo of Eric playing one on our website.
That's WBOR.org slash Circle Round.
Circle Round's artist is Sabina Han.
Sabina has created a black and white coloring page for all of our Circle Round stories and you can print them out and color them in.
Grown-ups, visit our website, WBOR.org slash Circle Round, and click on Coloring Pages.
And while you're at WBURorg slash Circle Round, you can check out our Circle Round picture books, Circle Round Club and sign up for your monthly Circle Round newsletter, The Lion's Roar.
Find it all at WBUR.org slash Circle Round.
Grownups.
If you enjoy Circle Round, please leave us a five-star rating or review on your favorite podcast app.
And if social media is your jam, please join our communities on Facebook and Instagram.
Our handle is at Circle Round Podcast.
We'd love to stay in touch.
Circle Round is a production of WBUR, Boston's NPR.
I'm Rebecca Shear.
Thanks for circling round with us.
Now that you've made it to the end of this Circle Round episode, we want to know what's your favorite Circle Round story.
Thousands of fans just like you have been telling us about the Circle Round stories they like best.
Take a listen.
Maybe one of their favorites is one of yours too.
Hello, my name is Nixon.
I live in California.
My favorite story is Lady Jack and the Leprechaun.
And my favorite part about it is when Lady Jack meets the Leprechaun.
My name is Kennedy.
I live in California and my favorite suck-around story is The Seamstress and the Dees, because I like when the dee says silence.
It's really funny.
My name's Ava.
I'm from Idaho.
My favorite story is the lamb with the golden leash.
I like the part where they tell their stories.
My name is Eloise and I live in Lewiston Idaho, and my favorite circle round story is the three-legged pot.
My favorite part is all the parts.
My name is Hazel and I'm from Seattle Washington, and my favorite Circle Round Story is Granny Snowstorm and my favorite part is when the boy says cannonball.
My name is Kate and I live in Sparks Nevada, and my favorite Circle Round Story is Misery Loves Company and I like the part where Misery keeps Alexandra company.
My name is Finn.
I'm from Las Vegas.
My favorite farm story is around Marcystone and my favorite part is when the spider gets a taste of his own medicine.
Did someone mention a story you've missed?
Not to worry.
Grownups.
You can find all of our Circle Round stories, plus links to the Circle Round Club, picture books, coloring pages and oh so much more on our website.
WBURorg slash Circle Round.
