Hi, Rebecca Shear here. Before we get to our story, exciting news.
Circle Round is going back on tour. with live recordings across the united states our first stop Sunday, October 5th in Parker, Colorado at the Pace Center.
And Circle Round Club members are invited to a special post-show meet and greet with me and composer Eric Shimalonis.
Get your tickets at wbur.org slash circle around and click on events.
We're announcing more tour stops soon, so stay tuned.
We look forward to circling around with you live.
Produced by the iLab at WBUR Boston. The Circle Round episode you're about to hear was one of three episodes recorded live at Tanglewood. the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
It featured members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra plus an all-star cast and a terrific audience of very enthusiastic kids and grownups.
It was so great to circle around with a live audience again, and we hope to appear on stage again soon, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy the story. Think about a food that we grow, like a fruit or a vegetable, maybe. or a grain?
Now think about how that food grows. Does it ripen on a tree or a vine?
Does it grow on a bush or under the earth?
We're about to hear a legend about a very popular food and the surprising way it came. to grow.
I'm Rebecca Shear and welcome to Circle Round Live at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Today our story is called The Bags of Seeds.
Versions of this folktale come from Vietnam in Southeast Asia.
Joining me on stage is an amazing quintet of all-star actors Karen Allen, Megan Boone, Scott Cohen, Mari Heller, and Peter Riegert. and providing musical accompaniment is a world-class trio from the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Rachel Childers on horn, Cindy Myers on flute, and Suzanne Nelson on bassoon.
So circle around, everyone, for the Bags of Seeds.
. . . Did you know that one of the hardest crops to grow is rice.
Yep. First, you have to fill the rice paddy with water.
Then you have to drain it. Then you have to cut the rice plants off and by. before laying them out and drying them.
But wait, that's not all. because then you have to thresh the rice plants, or separate the grain from the stalk, again, often by hand.
And after that, you have to dry the rice a second time, and in some cases, mill it or remove its outer layers.
All in all, It is a ton of work. But according to legend, it wasn't supposed to be that way.
Nope. way, way back when the heavenly deities, the gods and goddesses, put people on this earth.
The divine beings intended growing rice to be as easy as one, two, three, Or really, just one?
Okay, my fellow gods and goddesses, let's talk about the people.
We created them not so long ago, and I want your honest opinion.
How do you think it's going so far? Oh, I think it's going great.
The people are living in harmony with the rest of the earth.
They're not polluting the air. Or the water.
Absolutely, plus they're friendly with all the animals we created.
No. If you ask me, I'm not sure why they've chosen the dogs and the cats to keep as pets.
I would have gone for something much more fun, like goats.
Oh yeah, goats are hilarious. Especially the baby ones, they're like, No, no, no, no, no.
It's more like me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
Okay, okay. I guess we're all in agreement then.
The people are... Great. So I was thinking, What if we reward them, give them something to make their lives easier?
Ooh, that's a great idea. How about an engine-powered, four-wheeled vehicle to help the people get around more quickly.
They just have to fasten their seatbelts.
No, it's too early in history for that. Remember what the narrator said.
The story takes place way, way back. Okay, okay, then how about an engine powered two wheeled vehicle to help the people get around more quickly they just have to wear a helmet no that's Too early for that one, too.
All right. powered flying vehicle with fixed wings and a weight greater than that of the air it displaces so that it can literally soar above the clouds and get people from A to B in record time.
No, no, no. I'm thinking we give them something more useful, more practical.
Something like food. Food? But we've already given them food.
Yeah, we've given them fruits and vegetables and livestock.
Right, but those things take a lot of work.
They have to prune the fruit trees. They have to plant the vegetables.
They have to fatten up the livestock. I'm thinking we give them something that is 100% nomas nofas, like rice.
Rice? What is... Rice. It's something...
I just invented. It's this tiny little grain that you can boil or bake or steam to make just about anything. anything.
Uh, messenger, would you come here please?
The divine messenger snapped to attention and came scurrying over.
Yes, your divineness. How may I help you?
Messenger, you see these two piles of seeds here?
I do. And you see these two bags? I do.
A red one and a yellow one. Super duper.
Now, I want you to take the pile of seeds on the right and put them in the red bag, and then go down to earth and deliver them to the people.
Tell them these seeds will grow the minute they touch the ground. and they'll give a plentiful harvest with very little effort.
Okay, I can do that. But what about the other seeds, the ones on the left?
I want you to put the seeds on the left in the yellow bag Tell the people that the seeds in this bag require more effort to grow, but it's worth it. for they will give the earth great Beauty.
Okay, so, right pile, red. Left pile, yellow.
Right. You mean left? Right. And by right, you mean left?
Left is right. But wait, I'm not sure I... Wait, look.
No more chit-chat, okay? The other deities and I have work to do, so we'll be off now.
But you know what to do, messenger. So get to it.
Now, the deities intended for the seeds in the red pouch to become rice. which would provide tasty nutrition to all the people on Earth and be wonderfully easy to grow.
They intended for the seeds in the yellow pouch to become grass. which would blanket the earth in beautiful brilliant green, but would take more work to cultivate.
Unfortunately, however, the messenger got a little confused.
So wait, what did the deity say? Was it right pile red? or left pile bread.
Well, I might as well take a guess. I have a 50-50 chance of getting it right, after all.
Or getting it left? So the messenger poured one pile of seeds into the red bag and the other pile into the yellow bag.
Then, holding each bag tight, he flew away from the realm of the deities and soared down. to Earth.
What do you think will happen next? Did the messenger get left and right, right?
We'll find out after a quick break. Support for Circle Round comes from Indeed.
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I'm Rebecca Shear and welcome back to Circle Round live at Tanglewood.
Today our story is called The Bags. of seeds.
Thank you. Before the break, the heavenly deities wanted to reward the people of the earth.
So they asked their messenger to fill two bags. one with rice seeds, which would be easy to grow and delicious to eat, and one with grass seeds, which would take more effort to grow, would make the world beautiful and green.
When the messenger reached the earth, he called out to the people. hey there everybody it's me your friendly divine messenger and i'm here with a gift From the deities.
As the people gathered round, the messenger held out the two bags.
Okay, so, you see these bags here? The red one and the yellow one?
Both bags contain seeds. The red bag has seeds that will grow abundantly and with very little effort.
And once they grow, you can eat them. The yellow bag has seeds that are more difficult to grow.
But if you tend them properly, they'll make the world look gorgeous and green.
The people rejoiced when they heard this news.
Graciously, they thanked the messenger, snatched up the red and yellow bags, then hurried off to plant their seeds.
Oh, I love seeing the people so happy. I just hope I got those seeds right.
Well, what do you think? Did the messenger get the seeds right?
Shout yes or no. Well, if you said no, you were correct.
The messenger did not. Or rather, he got the right seeds wrong.
He was supposed to put the rice seeds in the red bag and the grass seeds in the yellow bag, but...
He got it backwards. As a result, when the people planted the rice seeds They found the seeds required a massive amount of painstaking work and attention whereas the grass seeds freely grew everywhere.
Well, when the heavenly deities saw what was happening, they were dumbfounded.
So they called for the messenger again. Messenger?
What has happened? What have you... Why are the people struggling to grow their rice?
While their grass sprouts so freely and easily.
Immediately, the messenger realized his mistake.
I'm sorry, deities. I must have gotten mixed up.
Well, sorry won't cut it, Fred. You've left our people in quite...
The muddle. Quite the muddle. So now, we are going to make things right.
Before the messenger knew what was happening, there was a great whoosh of air.
Then suddenly, he was down on Earth again.
What happened? Where am I? And why do I see nothing but green?
Green around me, green beneath me, green above me, but wait.
What's that? The messenger leaped out of the way as something colossal came barreling down toward him.
He realized, to his surprise, that it was... A foot?
A human foot? But how did it get so big?
Or rather, how did I get so small? Looking around, the messenger realized that all the green stuff around him and beneath him and above him was grass!
And he was no longer a divine messenger.
Instead, he was a tiny, hard-shelled, Beetle, a helpless little critter who had to scamper and scurry.
Yikes! so that he could dodge the great big footsteps of human beings as they plodded through the grass.
The freely sprouting grass that, thanks to the messenger's mistake, now grew absolutely...
Everywhere. The deities were pleased to teach the messenger a lesson, but they knew his punishment didn't make things any easier for the people.
Oh, those poor souls down on Earth. They still have to labor and toil to grow their rice.
It's too much work. We must do something about it.
So? They did. The deities ordered the grains of rice to shape themselves into little round balls, then roll over to the people's homes so the people could collect them and cook them.
The rice grains did, as they were told. But when they rolled over to the people's houses...
The people were so shocked and frightened that they immediately grabbed brooms, rakes, shovels, anything they could find, and began swatting at the rice balls.
The balls tried rolling away, but it was no use.
One by one, the people struck the balls with their brooms, rakes, and shovels.
And each and every ball scattered into a thousand pieces.
After that, the rice grains were so furious that they went right back to the fields and vowed never to make things easy for the people.
And according to legend, that's why growing rice is such a difficult, complex process.
It's all thanks to a muddled messenger who left rightness up to chance.
Now it's your turn. If you could plant something all across the Earth, what would it be?
Would it be your favorite flower? Your favorite kind of fruit?
Maybe it would even be something fantastical like... trees full of pizza or bushes full of your favorite toy.
Think about what you would plant then find some paper and draw a picture of it.
Show that picture to someone you love, and then, if you'd like, show it to us.
Your grown-ups can snap a photo of you and your drawing and email it to circlearound at wbur.org.
This week's story, The Bags of Seeds, was adapted by me, Rebecca Shear. and edited by Circle Round's supervising producer, Anne-Marie Severson.
Eric Shimalonis composed our original music and conducted our trio from the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
You heard Rachel Childers on horn, Cindy Myers on flute, and Suzanne Nelson on bassoon.
Matt Reed was our sound recording engineer.
Special thanks to our actors at Tanglewood.
Karen Allen, Megan Boone, Scott Cohen, Mari Heller, and Peter Riegert.
We'll be right back. She's also an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Megan Boone is an actress known for The Blacklist and The Underground Railroad, as well as the dramatic film Leave Me Like You Found Me.
Scott Cohen has starred in such television hits as Gilmore Girls, Necessary Roughness, Allegiance, and The Tenth Kingdom. as well as the romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein.
Mari Heller is a writer, director, and actor who has helmed such films as A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me?
She also starred in The Queen's Gambit. And Peter Riegert. is an actor and director with nearly 100 film and television credits, including Animal House, Crossing Delancey, and Local Hero.
He also hosts his own podcast, Peter Riegert's vocal heroes.
Enormous thanks to the Boston Symphony Orchestra for inviting us to perform at Tanglewood's Lindy Center for Music and Learning.
Circle Round's illustrator is Sabina Han.
Sabina has drawn a black and white picture for every Circle Round story, and you can color them in while you can.
Visit our website, wbur.org, and click on Coloring Pages.
And hey, have you subscribed to Circle Round yet?
If not, find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
And please leave us a five-star review and tell your friends about the show.
Circle Around is a production of WBUR, Boston's NPR news station.
I'm Rebecca Sheer. Thanks for circling around with us.
One of the best things about creating Circle Round is hearing from listeners like you.
Circle Round fans have been telling us about their favorite Circle Round stories, and we're excited to share some of their voices with you.
Hi, my name's Hazel. I'm from North Carolina and my favorite Circle Round story is are the very busy fairies and and fiona and the fairies and Growing courage.
My name is Stella. I live in Seattle, Washington.
My favorite story is Fiona and the Fairies and...
I like it when Fiona makes the fairies all the cakes.
Hi, my name is Sophia. I'm from Singapore and my favorite circle around is share and share like. because I like the part when he thinks he fooled the rabbit, but actually the rabbit fooled him.
Hello, my name is Quincy and my favourites are Go On Story with the Laughing Canoe.
My name is Frederico and I'm from Singapore.
And my favorite episode is the Laughing Canoe.
And I like the Laughing Canoe because... they flip it.
My name is Mariana and I'm from Seattle and my favorite episode is the coyote's fling.
I like it because they work together. Did someone mention an episode you missed?
No problem. You can find every single Circle Round story on our website.
That's WBUR.org slash Circle Round, or wherever you and your grown-ups get your podcasts.
