A Tale of Two Neighbors

This Circle Round episode was recorded live at the Cleveland Museum of Arts,

“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, W-B-R-R-Fotcasts slash Circle Round. 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 Sheer, and welcome to Circle Round,

live at the Cleveland Museum of Arts, Gartner Auditorium, and 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,

“Nita Domingue, Xavier Hype, and Bob Keef,”

providing musical accompaniment as the one and only Eric Shimologna's. So circle round everyone for a tale of two neighbors. (audience applauding) 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 Camimile tea you brewed up worked like a char. 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 parx 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. Maaah! Is that a cow? As it happens, neither Joe nor Josephine owned a cow. They owned chickens and horses.

But no cows. So they'd be startled from sleep by a loud brawling. Maaah! What a swell startling. The farmer's spring 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. Hours had only farms for miles around. And neither one of us owns a cow.

Joe stared at Josephine. His mouth wide open. Hang on a minute.

What do you mean one of us owns a 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 nodded. His nostrils flared. Frustration bubbled inside him like a geyser.

You know what, Josephine? You're nothing but a no good cattle wrestler. Josephine froze. Did you just call me a cattle wrestler? Russland 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?

You 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, boy. I had no idea Josephine could be such a stick in the mud.

“And I think I considered her my best friend.”

What a load of bunk. Well, as you might guess, there was no pop luck that night. Or the next night. Or the next. Not only did Joe and Josephine stop dining with each other.

These stops 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. 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. Be spectacle to eyes. And a weathered face assaulted with silver stubble. He was dressed in ragged overalls.

The slung over his shoulder was a beat-up box of tools. Good morning, sir. I'm carpenter in need of a job. I know I may look too grizzled and grey 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. You have anything that needs a building or a fixin'. Joe paused. He didn't need anything fixed. But nobody 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 for me.

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Welcome back to Circle Round Live at the Cleveland Museum of Arts

Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. Today our story is called a tale of two neighbors. Before the break, long-time 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 dish 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. 'Cause just last night, she put it there to spite me. Can you believe it?

The carpenter cocked his silver 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 spot 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 friends 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.

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, Joseph, if you have lumber and nails. I can use my tools to build something you're 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 capture sight of his towering glorious new wall. But that towering glorious wall wasn't there.

“What 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 built this bridge to bring us together. I missed you so much!

She raised across the bridge, arms outstretched and wrecked Joe and 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 full to get angry at you.

I'm so sorry. Can we be friends again? No. But we can be best friends again.

Well, the Terry friends reunited.

The Terry 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, 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 bespectacle to eyes

and scratched his stubble each in. Joe? Josephine? I appreciate the offer.

Much as I'd like to say yes.

I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere. You too, 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,

“top-sea-turvy world, we're so much as beautiful”

and so much is broken. He had other bridges to build. Plenty of them. And what better time to start than now? [applause]

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 and go out and do it.

Your friend will feel great. And you will, too. [music] This week's story, "A Tale of Two Neighbors" was adapted by me for Becca Share.

It was edited by Dean Russell and performed by Nina Domang, Xavier Hype and Bob Keef. Eriksha Malonis 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 on our website. That's www.org/circleround. Circleround's artist is Sabina Han. Sabina has created a black and white coloring page

for all of our circle around stories and you can print them out and color them in. Groundups visit our website www.org/circleround and click on "Coloring Pages." And while you're at www.org/circleround,

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