A Tale of Two Neighbors

Summary

Circle Round: "A Tale of Two Neighbors"

Recorded Live at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio
Host: Rebecca Sheir
Date: March 31, 2026
Cast: Nina Domingue, Xavier Hype, Bob Keefe
Music by: Eric Shyamalonis (Tenor Banjo)

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Episode Overview

This heartwarming live episode, “A Tale of Two Neighbors,” is an Appalachian folktale adaptation that explores the meaning of friendship, misunderstanding, forgiveness, and the value of building bridges — literally and figuratively. Aimed at children and adults alike, the episode follows two inseparable farmer friends, Joe and Josephine, whose bond is tested when a mysterious cow appears, leading to a heated feud and ultimately reconciliation through the wisdom of a kindly carpenter.

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Key Discussion Points and Story Breakdown

1. The Strong Bond of Friendship (00:10 – 03:52)

• Introduction to Joe and Josephine:
  Lifelong friends and now neighboring farmers, they share meals, help each other, and embody strong friendship.
• Notable Friendship Moments:
  • Sharing food: “Hey, can you pass the biscuits and gravy? Your recipe is so good, I need a second helping.” — Josephine (03:17)
  • Helping out with chores and animals.

2. The Cow Conundrum and Spark of Conflict (03:52 – 06:29)

• Incident:
  A strange cow is found grazing on Josephine's land. Both claim rightful ownership, leading to escalating tension.
• Dialogue:
  • “Well, it looks like one of us owns a cow now.” — Joe (05:02)
  • “You know what, Josephine? You’re nothing but a no good cattle rustler.” — Joe (05:41)
  • “Did you just call me a cattle rustler? Rustling means stealing. And I am not stealing this cow.” — Josephine (05:50)
• Narration:
  Host Rebecca vividly describes their anger: “The two farmers glared at each other. They were so mad, you could practically see the steam coming out of their noses and ears.” (06:03)

3. Silent Feud and Division (06:51 – 08:46)

• Escalation:
  The friends stop talking, and Josephine deepens the divide by digging a creek (formerly, just a furrow) between their lands.
• Quote:
  “So now our farms are separated by water. What a sneaky, backhanded…” — Joe (07:29)

4. The Carpenter’s Arrival and Joe’s Revenge Plan (08:46 – 12:41)

• Carpenter Introduction:
  An old, experienced carpenter in need of work arrives (08:20).
• Joe’s Request:
  In his anger, Joe asks for a wall “so tall, so high to the sky, that I won’t have to see Josephine’s farm anymore. Or her face. I never want to lay eyes on that stick in the mud again.” — Joe (12:20)
• Carpenter’s Calm Response:
  “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.” — Carpenter (12:46)

5. The Bridge, The Realization, and Forgiveness (13:43 – 15:03)

• Result of the Carpenter’s Day’s Work:
  Joe returns to discover not a wall, but a beautifully built bridge connecting the two farms (13:57).
• Tearful Reunion:
  • “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.” — Josephine (14:26)
  • “Oh, Josephine. I was a fool to get angry at you. I’m so sorry.” — Joe (14:53)
  • “I’m sorry, too. Can we be friends again?” — Joe (15:00)
  • “But we can be best friends again.” — Josephine (15:05)

6. The Carpenter’s Wisdom and Final Farewell (15:26 – 16:36)

• Request to Stay:
  The grateful friends invite the carpenter to stay and help on the farms.
• Carpenter’s Lesson:
  “Joe, Josephine, I appreciate the offer, and much as I’d like to say yes, I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere. But 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?” — Carpenter (16:04)
• Narration:
  The carpenter “shuffled off down the road… knowing that… he had other bridges to build. Plenty of them.” (16:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You know what, Josephine? You’re nothing but a no good cattle rustler.”
  — Joe (05:41). This playful but hurtful accusation sparks the struggle.
• “My dear, dear Joe… you built this bridge to bring us together. I missed you so much.”
  — Josephine (14:26). The heartfelt reunion.
• “Soup is much better with crackers… bread with butter. Well, could anything be better than that?”
  — Carpenter (16:04). A signature Circle Round metaphor about togetherness.
• "In this tremendous, topsy turvy world where so much is beautiful and so much is broken, he had other bridges to build."
  — Rebecca Sheir (16:36). The story’s moral beautifully summed up.

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Key Timestamps

• 00:10: Introduction; setting the theme of friendship.
• 03:35: Joe and Josephine’s loving banter.
• 05:41: Argument over the cow begins.
• 06:51: End of the friendship; silence and distance.
• 08:20: The Carpenter’s arrival.
• 12:20: Joe requests a dividing wall.
• 13:57: The bridge is unveiled.
• 14:26: Emotional reunion across the bridge.
• 16:04: Carpenter’s farewell and wisdom.
• 16:36: Narrator’s closing reflection on building bridges.

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Episode's Moral and Interactive Prompt

• Theme:
  True friendship can withstand misunderstandings if we’re willing to build bridges — not walls — and reach out with kindness and forgiveness.
• Listener Challenge (16:36):
  Rebecca asks children: “What’s one kind thing you can do for a friend?” Encouraging thoughtful actions like sharing, helping, or giving a kind word.

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Tone and Language

• Warm, playful, gentle: Just right for family listening.
• Rich dialogue: Characters use inviting, down-to-earth language and food metaphors.
• Empathetic narration: Rebecca Sheir draws both children and grownups into the heart of the story.

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Additional Notes

• Music performed live on tenor banjo by Eric Shyamalonis, adding to the Appalachian atmosphere.
• Listeners are encouraged to visit the Circle Round website for story-themed coloring pages and interactive activities.

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This episode masterfully transforms a classic folktale into a universal lesson about mending rifts with kindness, perfect for sparking family conversations about conflict, forgiveness, and friendship. Whether you’re 3 or 103, “A Tale of Two Neighbors” invites everyone to consider: Will you build a wall, or a bridge?

Transcript

[Joe]

Wbur podcasts, boston.

[Rebecca Scheer]

This Circle Round episode was recorded live at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 14, 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, WBUR.org CircleRound. 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. 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 Scheer, 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 Hype, and Bob Keefe. Providing musical accompaniment is the one and only Eric Shyamalonis. 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.

[Joe]

Great news, Joe. I found two farms set side by side in a beautiful valley. I figured I could buy one of

[Josephine]

the farms and I could buy the other. That's a swell idea, Josephine.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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.

[Josephine]

So, Josephine, how are your chickens doing?

[Joe]

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?

[Josephine]

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.

[Joe]

I could say the same about your Mac and cheese.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Joe and Josephine got on so well. They were like, so soup and crackers, like chicken and dumplings, like bread and butter?

[Joe]

No, thanks, Jo. I'm too stuffed to eat anything more.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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.

[Josephine]

Is that a cow?

[Rebecca Scheer]

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 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.

[Joe]

Goodness. Isn't she a beauty?

[Josephine]

She sure is. But where did she come from?

[Joe]

Not a clue. Ours are the only farms for miles

[Josephine]

around and neither one of us owns a cow.

[Joe]

Well, it looks like one of us owns a cow now.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Joe stared at Josephine, his mouth wide open.

[Josephine]

Hang on a minute. What do you mean, one of us owns a cow?

[Joe]

Think about it. The cow is on my land, eating my clover.

[Josephine]

True, but we could just as easily have found her on my land.

[Joe]

In which case, she would have been your cow. But she's not.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Joe's brow knotted. His nostrils flared. Frustration bubbled inside him like a geyser.

[Josephine]

You know what, Josephine? You're nothing but a no good cattle rustler.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Josephine froze.

[Joe]

Did you just call me a cattle rustler? Rustling means stealing. And I am not stealing this cow.

[Josephine]

Looks like you are to me.

[Rebecca Scheer]

The two farmers glared at each other. They were so mad, you could practically see the steam coming out of their noses and ears.

[Joe]

You know what, Joe? You are being impossible.

[Josephine]

Well, you are being unbearable.

[Joe]

And you are being intolerable.

[Josephine]

Then maybe I should go.

[Joe]

Not if I go first with my cow.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Josephine shot Joe a stormy look. Then she spun on her slippered heel and led the brown cow away.

[Josephine]

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 funk.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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.

[Josephine]

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. Are separated by Water. What a sneaky, backhanded Is someone knocking at my door? If it's Josephine, I am most definitely going to give her a piece of my mind.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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 feather salted with silver stubble. He was dressed in ragged overalls. Slung over his shoulder was a beat up box of tools.

[Carpenter]

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 and my work shows it. Might you have anything that needs building or fixing?

[Rebecca Scheer]

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. The reviews are in and super fans like you are loving the Circle Round Club, an exciting opportunity to support public radio and get cool stuff, including ad free episodes and a personalized birthday message from me.

[Children Fans]

What I like about the Circle Round Club is that Rebecca Shear sends extra messages and it supports the show. And there are no ads.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Grown ups support public radio and sign up [e-mail] CircleRoundClub

[Joe]

Foreign.

[Rebecca Scheer]

I'm rebecca scheer. 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. 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.

[Josephine]

As it happens, sir, I believe I have a job for you. Do you see that farm over there?

[Rebecca Scheer]

He motioned toward Josephine's property.

[Josephine]

That farm belongs to Josephine. She's my neighbor and my former best friend. That creek running between our properties is brand new. Cause just last night she put it there to spot me. Can you believe it?

[Rebecca Scheer]

The carpenter cocked his silvery head.

[Carpenter]

It does seem a bit unusual.

[Josephine]

It's downright antagonistic. Josephine and I have known each other all our lives, and 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.

[Carpenter]

You want me to build a wall between your farm and your best friend's farm?

[Josephine]

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. I never want to lay eyes on that stick in the mud again.

[Rebecca Scheer]

The carpenter took off his spectacles and gave them a wipe.

[Carpenter]

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.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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.

[Josephine]

What in blazes? Why didn't the carpenter build the wall?

[Rebecca Scheer]

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.

[Josephine]

A bridge.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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 Josephy Jo.

[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.

[Rebecca Scheer]

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 are his own.

[Josephine]

Oh, Josephine. I was a fool to get angry at you. I'm so sorry.

[Joe]

I'm sorry, too. Can we be friends again?

[Children Fans]

No.

[Josephine]

But we can be best friends again.

[Joe]

Oh, Jo.

[Rebecca Scheer]

While 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.

[Josephine]

Wait a minute, sir. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you did today. Any chance you could stay on, help me and Josephine around our farms. Now that I think of it, I've been wanting to experience.

[Joe]

And I would love a bigger chicken coop.

[Josephine]

We'd be grateful if you'd come work for us. Just for a little while. We'd pay you handsomely.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Joe and Josephine gazed at the carpenter with hopeful expressions. The old man blinked his bespectacled eyes and scratched his stubbly chin.

[Carpenter]

Joe, Josephine, I appreciate the offer, and much as I'd like to say yes, I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere. But 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?

[Rebecca Scheer]

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. Friend will feel great and you will too. This week's story, A Tale of Two Neighbors, was adapted by me, Rebecca Shear. It was edited by Dean Russell and performed by Nina Doming, Xavier Hype and Bob Keefe. Eric Shyamalanis 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 Circleround Circle Round's artist is Sabina Hahn. 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 WBUR.org CircleRound and click on Coloring Pages. And while you're [e-mail] circleround 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 [e-mail] CircleRound Grown Ups. If you enjoy Circle Round, please leave us a 5 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 CircleRound Podcast. We'd love to Stay in touch. Circle Round is a production of wbur, Boston's npr. I'm Rebecca Scheer. 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.

[Children Fans]

Hello. My name is Nixon. I live in California. My favorite story is Lazy Jack and the Leprechaun. And my favorite part about it is When Lazy Jack meets the Leprechaun. My name is Kennedy, I live in California. And my favorite stuck around story is the Seamstress and the Dee's 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 Elvis 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, I live in Sparks, Nevada. And my favorite Circle round story is Misery Love's Company. And I like the part where Misery keeps Alexandra company. My name is Finn, I'm from Las Vegas. My favorite ground story is Around Mossy Stone. And my favorite part is when the spider gets a taste of his own Medicine. My name is uc, I give an old rhyme. My favorite story is I have Time.

[Rebecca Scheer]

Did someone mention a story you've missed? Not to worry grown ups. 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, WBUR.org CircleRound.