Encore: The Lumps of Clay

Summary

Circle Round Podcast Summary
Episode: Encore: The Lumps of Clay
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Host: Rebecca Shear

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Introduction

In this special encore episode of WBUR's Circle Round, host Rebecca Shear invites listeners to a live recording event at Boston's Symphony Hall featuring new episodes and a star-studded cast. The episode, titled "The Lumps of Clay," adapts a beloved Indian folktale that highlights the importance of truth and perspective in resolving conflicts.

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Story Background

"The Lumps of Clay" centers around Birbal, the wise and witty chief advisor to a mighty emperor. Renowned for his problem-solving skills, Birbal often mediates disputes not only for the emperor but also for the citizens of the empire. In this episode, Birbal faces a perplexing case involving a jeweler and a merchant.

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Conflict Presentation

At a lavish dinner party hosted by the jeweler to celebrate her birthday, she proudly unveils a stunning golden elephant statue—a treasure she intended to add to her personal collection rather than sell. However, the next morning, the statue mysteriously disappears. The jeweler swiftly accuses the merchant of theft, while the merchant vehemently denies the allegation.

Notable Quote:

• Jeweler (03:30): "The merchant stole from me."
• Merchant (07:37): "There's no way I could have, your honor, because there wasn't an elephant to steal."

Birbal listens attentively, noting discrepancies in their stories. He questions the number of guests present and the nature of their relationships, subtly hinting that more information is needed to uncover the truth.

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Investigation

Determined to uncover the reality, Birbal commands his guards to bring the other three guests from the jeweler's party, along with three large pieces of cloth and three lumps of clay.

Notable Quote:

• Birbal (09:17): "Listen men, I want you to go out and find the other three guests from the jeweler's birthday party. Bring them to the palace along with three large pieces of cloth and three big lumps of clay."

Birbal instructs the guests to sculpt exact replicas of the golden elephant using the clay, emphasizing precision and detail. After an hour, the guests return with their unique interpretations of the statue.

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Resolution

Upon unveiling the clay sculptures, Birbal observes that each elephant varies significantly in size and detail:

• The first is small, with its trunk hanging down.
• The second is larger, with its trunk sticking straight out.
• The third is even bigger, showing the elephant rearing up.

Additionally, each sculpture has distinct differences—one has tusks, another lacks a tail, and the third is depicted in motion. These inconsistencies reveal that the golden elephant never truly existed; it was a fabrication by the jeweler to malign the merchant's reputation.

Notable Quote:

• Birbal (16:50): "It's clear from these three very different sculptures that there was no golden elephant."

Birbal concludes that the jeweler's accusation was based on a lie, leading to the dismissal of the case and exonerating the merchant.

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Lessons and Insights

Birbal's ingenious method demonstrates the importance of thorough investigation and viewing problems from multiple perspectives. This approach not only resolves conflicts but also uncovers deeper truths.

Concluding Message: Rebecca Shear emphasizes the lesson of empathy and perspective-taking in problem-solving:

"Putting yourself in someone else's shoes... can help you find solutions you never dreamed of. So next time you're struggling with a problem, step into someone else's shoes and give it a try."

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Supporting Elements

• Adaptation and Production: Rebecca Shear adapted the story, with original music and sound design by Eric Shimalonis and artwork by Sabina Hahn.
• Cast Highlights: Features Malik Pancholi, known for his roles in Phineas and Ferb, Sanjay and Craig, and his upcoming projects.
• Listener Engagement: The episode includes heartfelt reviews from listeners, showcasing the podcast's impact on its diverse audience.

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Conclusion

"The Lumps of Clay" is a captivating tale that not only entertains but also imparts valuable life lessons on honesty, integrity, and the power of perspective. Birbal's wisdom serves as an inspiring model for tackling personal and interpersonal challenges, making this episode a memorable addition to the Circle Round series.

For more stories and resources, visit WBUR.org/CircleRound.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Jeweler (03:30): "The merchant stole from me."
• Merchant (07:37): "There's no way I could have, your honor, because there wasn't an elephant to steal."
• Birbal (09:17): "Listen men, I want you to go out and find the other three guests from the jeweler's birthday party..."
• Birbal (16:50): "It's clear from these three very different sculptures that there was no golden elephant."

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Special Thanks: Thank you to all the actors and contributors who bring Circle Round to life, providing enriching stories that resonate with listeners of all ages.

Transcript

[Rebecca Shear]

Hi, Rebecca Shear here with some really Fun News. On February 8th, Circle Round LIVE is coming to Symphony hall in Boston and you're invited. Join us for a live recording of two new episodes featuring me, composer Eric Shyamalonis, plus Boston Symphony Orchestra players and a star studded cast. Get your tickets [e-mail] CircleRound WBUR podcasts Boston. Hi, Rebecca Scheer here. If you're a Circle Round super fan, then you know we've got some exciting events coming up in Boston, Massachusetts, including a live recording with players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony hall this Saturday, February 8th. As we gear up for our Symphony hall debut this week, we're bringing you an encore edition of Circle Round, a really fun episode you may have missed the first time around. We'll be back with the first of our Symphony hall episodes next week. To stay in the loop about all upcoming events, Visit our website, WBUR.org CircleRound and click on events. And now, on with the story. Famous playwright and poet William Shakespeare once wrote, the truth will out. What he meant was in most cases, in one way or another, the truth gets uncovered. And in today's story, we'll catch up with a favorite Circle Round character who finds an ingenious way to bring the truth to light. I'm Rebecca Scheer, and welcome to Circle Round, where storytime happens all the time. Today, our story is called the Lumps of Clay. This Indian tale features a wise and witty character we've met in several other Circle Round episodes. Beer Ball Some really great people came together to bring you our story, including film, TV and Broadway actor Malik Pancholi, whom you kids may recognize from animated favorites like Phineas and Ferb and Sanjay and Craig. Malik's currently starring in Two My Girls at Second Stage Theater in New York. His second young adult novel, Nikhil Out Loud, is out this October. So circle around everyone for the lumps of clay. Long ago, there lived a mighty emperor. The emperor's sprawling palace held treasures beyond compare. Diamonds and pearls, sapphires and rubies, emeralds and amethysts. But the emperor's greatest treasure was his chief advisor, a clever, cunning man named Birbal. Birbal was legendary for the sly and skillful ways he solved problems. And not just the emperor's problems. When everyday citizens faced a dilemma or dispute, they often journeyed to the palace to seek Birbal's wisdom and judgment. One day, Birbal was visited by two women from the capital city. A jeweler.

[Jeweler]

Greetings, Birbal.

[Rebecca Shear]

And a merchant, Salutations Birbal. And as the jeweler explained, the two women were business associates.

[Jeweler]

The merchant and I have been working together for some years now. You see, I go about collecting all sorts of jewels. Then the merchant buys them so she can travel the land and sell them at market. And she's always been a trustworthy colleague and friend. Until now.

[Merchant]

Oh, no, no, no.

[Rebecca Shear]

The merchant shot the jeweler a withering look.

[Merchant]

It's you who's always been a trustworthy colleague and friend until now.

[Jeweler]

That's not true.

[Merchant]

Yes, it is.

[Jeweler]

It's not is true.

[Rebecca Shear]

Ladies, ladies. Birbal held up his hand the jeweler and the merchant fell silent.

[Birbal]

Jeweler, since you started to explain your case, I'll allow you to finish. What happened between you and the merchant?

[Jeweler]

Well, to be brief, the merchant stole from me.

[Merchant]

I most certainly did not.

[Jeweler]

Did too.

[Birbal]

Now, jeweller, please tell me your story.

[Jeweler]

Well, you, Honor, yesterday was my birthday. So last night I hosted a dinner party for a handful of friends, including the merchant. As it happens, before my guests arrived, I received a new shipment of jewels. And included in this shipment was a golden elephant.

[Birbal]

A golden elephant?

[Jeweler]

Yes, a statue of an elephant made entirely of gold. Not a life sized statue, of course, but like something you could place on a table for display. But, oh, it was beautiful. So beautiful that I decided I wouldn't sell it. Instead, I would keep it in my personal collection. But when I woke up this morning, the golden elephant was missing. I couldn't find it anywhere.

[Birbal]

And you believe the merchant stole it?

[Jeweler]

I sure do. Last night at my birthday party, I proudly showed the elephant to my guests. And I made it very clear that the statue wasn't for sale. But the merchant asked if she could hold it to get a better look. And as she handled the twinkling treasure, I swear I saw a glint in her eye. Little did I know it was a glint of pure greed. Because now the elephant is gone.

[Rebecca Shear]

The jeweler jabbed a finger at the merchant.

[Jeweler]

And this woman has it.

[Merchant]

But that's impossible.

[Jeweler]

No, it isn't.

[Birbal]

Ladies, I implore you to behave yourselves or I'll have this case dismissed.

[Rebecca Shear]

Birabal turned to the jeweler.

[Birbal]

Jeweler, you say you invited a handful of guests to your dinner party. How many guests were there?

[Jeweler]

Well, including the merchant, there were four guests.

[Birbal]

So, given that the merchant was joined by three other people, how do you know one of the other three didn't steal the golden elephant?

[Jeweler]

Well, that's easy, your Honor. Whereas the merchant and I didn't meet until we were all grown up. I've known the other three guests since I was a girl. They've always been my closest friends. They've always had my back.

[Rebecca Shear]

Beerball nodded.

[Birbal]

I see. And I thank you for sharing your side of the story, jeweler.

[Rebecca Shear]

So now his eyes rested on the merchant.

[Birbal]

Lets hear your side, merchant. After all, the jeweler is accusing you of theft. That's a serious crime. Yet you insist you did not steal the elephant.

[Merchant]

There's no way I could have, your honor, because there wasn't an elephant to steal.

[Rebecca Shear]

Beerball cocked his head.

[Birbal]

What do you mean there wasn't an elephant to steal?

[Merchant]

Well, the jeweler did invite me and three other guests to her party last night, but she never showed us an elephant. We ate dinner, we had birthday cake, then all the guests went home.

[Birbal]

Alright.

[Rebecca Shear]

Birbal folded his arms.

[Birbal]

So if there was no elephant as you say, then why would the jeweler accuse you of stealing one?

[Merchant]

Maybe because she's jealous of me. I've been selling her jewels for some time now and I've made a nice profit. That's how it works when you're a merchant. You buy goods for one price, then you mark them up. You charge more than you paid for them. That's good business.

[Jeweler]

I'm sorry. Jealous of you?

[Merchant]

Please.

[Jeweler]

I'm not jealous of you. You're jealous of me because I wouldn't sell you that golden elephant and you couldn't make a profit off of so you stole it.

[Merchant]

But like I said, there's no way I could have possibly stolen it.

[Birbal]

Ladies, I appreciate you sharing both sides of your story, but before I can make a judgment on this case, I'm going to need a few things. Guards.

[Rebecca Shear]

Birbal snapped his fingers and a pair of uniformed men snapped to attention.

[Birbal]

Listen men, I want you to go out and find the other three guests from the jeweler's birthday party. Bring them to the palace along with three large pieces of cloth and three big lumps of clay. Once we have the guests, the cloth and the clay, then maybe, just maybe, the truth will start to take shape.

[Rebecca Shear]

Cloth, Clay. What is Beerball up to and whose story do you believe? The jewelers or the merchants? The truth will out. Or so we hope. After a quick break.

[Advertiser]

Support for Circle Round comes from Indeed. You just realized that your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates Fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. There's no need to wait. You can speed up your hiring with Indeed and Circle Round listeners will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs. More visibility@inn Indeed.com circleround just go to indeed.com circleround right now and support the show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.comCircleround terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Rebecca Shear]

Circle Round Superfans have been raving about the Circle Round Club, an exciting way to support our public radio podcast and get ad free episodes, exclusive swag, early access to events and bonus bedtime stories. Check out this rave review.

[Listener]

One thing I like about Circle Round Club is all the bedtime stories. It's really fun and they're almost like a mini sort of Circle Round story, except they're much shorter.

[Rebecca Shear]

Grown ups get your Circle Round superfans signed up [e-mail] CircleRoundClub welcome back to Circle Round. I'm Rebecca Scheer. Today our story is called the Lumps of Clay. When we left off wise, witty Beerball was presented with a curious case. A jeweler had hosted a birthday party for four guests, including her business associate, a merchant. The jeweler claimed she had shown her guests her newest acquisition, a golden elephant skin statue, and the merchant had stolen it. The merchant, on the other hand, claimed there was no golden elephant and that the jeweler was just jealous of her success. After Birebal heard both sides of the story, he asked his guards to bring him the three other party guests, plus three pieces of cloth and three lumps of clay.

[Birbal]

Thank you guards, and welcome guests. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask the three of you some questions First. Is it true that last night you attended the jeweler's birthday party?

[Rebecca Shear]

The guests faces lit up with smiles.

[Jeweler]

It's true, your honor, we attended the jeweler's birthday party.

[Birbal]

And what a party it was. Mmm. Okay. And is it true that at this birthday party, the jeweler showed you a golden elephant?

[Rebecca Shear]

The guest's smiles grew wider.

[Merchant]

Ah, she did show us a golden elephant, your honor.

[Birbal]

We got a nice long look at it and what a beauty it was, all right. And the merchant here, did you see her hold the golden elephant in her hands?

[Rebecca Shear]

The guest's smiles faded.

[Jeweler]

Oh, she was holding the golden elephant all right.

[Rebecca Shear]

She was practically drooling over it.

[Birbal]

She said it was the finest statue she'd ever seen and she knew it would fetch a fortune at the marketplace. I see, and I appreciate your testimony, but we still have a bit more work to do. Guards.

[Rebecca Shear]

Again. Beerball snapped his fingers. Again. The uniformed men snapped to attention.

[Birbal]

Guards, please take our three party guests here and escort them to three separate rooms in the palace.

[Rebecca Shear]

The guards did as they were told and ushered the three guests out of Birbal's chamber, down the palace corridor and into three separate rooms. When the guards returned, Birbal gave them a nod.

[Birbal]

Thank you, men. Now, I want you to bring each guest a piece of cloth and a lump of clay. Tell each guest to use the clay to sculpt an exact replica of the golden elephant they saw at the jeweler's house. Tell them to capture as many details as possible. Then tell them to cover their sculpture with cloth and wait for you to come back and get them. Tell them they have exactly one hour to complete their task.

[Rebecca Shear]

The guards bustled out of the room and delivered each guest to the cloth, the clay and Birbal's instructions. Ten minutes went by. Then 30, and finally, after one hour had passed, the guards led the three party guests back to Birbal's chamber. Each guest was holding their cloth covered clay in their hands.

[Birbal]

Welcome back. Hello, friends. Now, let's take a look at those clay elephants of yours. At the count of three, I want you to remove your cloths. Ready? 1. 2. 3.

[Rebecca Shear]

As the guests pulled their cloths away from their sculptures, the jeweler's face fell.

[Jeweler]

Oh no.

[Rebecca Shear]

But the merchant's face broke into a grin.

[Jeweler]

Oh, yes.

[Rebecca Shear]

And do you know why? Well, the clay sculptures the party guests held in their hands. They were all very different. Oh, sure, each one looked more or less like an elephant. But the first elephant was small, about the size of an orange with its trunk hanging down toward the ground. The second elephant was bigger, the size of a grapefruit with its trunk sticking straight out from its body. And the third elephant was even bigger, the size of a cantaloupe, say, with its trunk twisting and curving up to the sky. Not only that, but the first sculpture had tusks. The second sculpture was missing a tail. And the third sculpture showed the elephant rearing up on its hind legs. There was a gleam in Beerball's eye as he looked at the jeweler.

[Birbal]

Well, jeweler, you did say your three friends have always had your back. But in this case, they backed you up on an out and out lie.

[Rebecca Shear]

Birebald gestured toward the clay elephants.

[Birbal]

It's clear from these three very different sculptures that there was no golden elephant. You made the whole story up just to ruin the merchant's good name. But now, because of your dishonesty, I'm afraid you've ruined nobody's name but your own. This case is dismissed.

[Rebecca Shear]

The jeweler threw up her hands and stomped out of Beerball's Chamber in a huff. The merchant, on the other hand, stayed behind and thanked Birbal for proving her innocence. Because once again, the brilliant advisor had used his legendary wit and wisdom, cunning and cleverness to help the truth take shape. Now it's your turn. It can be hard to solve problems. So next time you encounter a problem, try putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Someone you admire. It could be a teacher, a friend, a really cool character from a book or a movie or podcast. Whoever it is, pretend you're them. Think about how they would approach this problem. What options might they consider? They handle it. Looking at problems from someone else's point of view can help you find solutions you never dreamed of. So next time you're struggling with a problem, step into someone else's shoes and give it a try. This week's story, the Lumps of Clay, was adapted by me, Rebecca Shear. It was edited by Circle Round's supervising producer, Anne Marie Sivertson. Our original music and sound design is by Eric Shimalonis. Our artist is Sabina Hahn. Sabina has drawn a black and white picture for every Circle Round story and you can color them in Grown Ups. You can print out more than 160 coloring pages on our website, WBUR.org CircleRound Special thanks to this week's actors, Ryan Delousung, Erica Rose, David Swanson, Alexia Trainor, Dawn Ursula and Malik Poncioli. Grown Ups. Check out Malik Poncholi in Murders in the Building on Hulu and in Two My Girls, now playing at Second Stage Theater in New York. And kids, listen for Malik in Phineas and Ferb and Sanjay and Craig. Malik is the chair and co founder of the anti bullying nonprofit acttochange.org his second young adult novel, Nikhil Out Loud is out this October. Our featured instrument this week was the sitar. You can learn more about this plucked stringed instrument from the Indian subcontinent and see a photo of Eric Shyamalonis playing one on our website. Once more, that's WBUR.org CircleRound. Love the stories you hear on Circle Round. Please take a moment to give us a five star review on your favorite podcast app and tell your friends to follow us wherever they get their podcasts. Circle Round is a production of wbur, Boston's NPR News station. I'm Rebecca Scheer. Thanks for circling around 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.

[Listener]

Hello, my name is Roland. I live in Montreal, Canada. My favorite story is the Basilic Stair. I like the part where Conrad turns to stone. My name is Alto. I live in Cupotino, California. My favorite circle around story is Laughing and Crying. My favorite part is when the carpenter solves the riddle. Hello, my name is Alvin, I live in California. And my favorite circle round is the Head and the Heart. My favorite moment is when Gabriel picks up the tin cup and finds out that it transforms into a silver cup. Hi, my name is Halsey and I'm from Annapolis, Maryland. My favorite circle round story is a biscuit basket because I like the part when owner said another basket and the owner wants it and then he gets all mosquito bitened. My name is Aiden and I live in Boston, Massachusetts. And my favorite circle round story is the Devil of a Job. And my favorite part is when Kantuna takes a rock out of the wall. My name is Roger and I live in Maine. And my favorite circle round is Mashup and the the Sun. I'm Reena. And I'm Elliot. We live in New York City. My favorite story is the Crystal Story Box. And my favorite part is when Anansi wraps Python with his vines. And my favorite story is pulling strings. And I like the part where his waist gets so small.

[Rebecca Shear]

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, WBUR. Org CircleRound.