0:00

W-B-U-R podcasts.

0:03

Boston. Think about

0:06

one of your

0:08

strengths. Do you

0:10

have an ear for

0:12

music? a flare for telling

0:15

jokes. Perhaps you have a

0:17

special talent for writing or

0:19

sports or baking the most

0:22

delicious cookies ever. We all

0:24

have special strengths, and as

0:26

we'll hear in today's story, sometimes

0:28

they come in handy in the

0:31

most unexpected ways. I'm Rebecca

0:33

Shear, and welcome to Circle

0:35

Round, where story time happens

0:38

all the time. Today our story

0:40

is called Marsha and the Shark.

0:42

It comes from the Wampanog,

0:45

an indigenous tribe in

0:47

North America, who have

0:49

inhabited present-day Massachusetts and

0:51

Eastern Rhode Island for more than

0:54

12,000 years. Some really great

0:56

people came together to bring

0:58

you our version of this

1:00

folk tale, including Roman Zaragoza,

1:02

who stars in the CBS

1:04

hit comedy series, ghosts. So

1:06

circle around everyone, for mushup

1:08

and the shark. Way,

1:25

way back in time. There

1:27

lived a kind and helpful

1:29

giant named Moshep. Moshep made

1:31

his home in the crystal-clear

1:33

waters of a sparkling bay,

1:35

and he cared for the

1:37

people who lived by the

1:40

bay, showing them how to

1:42

use the earth's gifts to

1:44

make what they needed. My dear

1:46

people, see how you can cut

1:48

and sow deerskin to make

1:50

clothing. How you can

1:52

hollow out trees to

1:54

make canoes. You can build

1:57

houses from saplings and

1:59

bark. Vines and Reeds,

2:01

and you can use stones

2:03

and woodsticks to make

2:05

fish traps, so you

2:07

can catch and eat fish

2:10

from the bay. Masha

2:12

was all about helping the

2:14

people, but Masha pet a

2:17

twin brother, who was

2:19

all about harming them.

2:21

His name was Matadou, and

2:23

he made it his

2:25

business to bring dangerous things

2:28

to the earth, treacherous things,

2:30

like... disease. Yes, I

2:32

shall create illnesses and

2:34

ailments to make the people

2:37

sick and weak. I

2:39

shall create confusion to muddle

2:41

and mix up their minds.

2:44

And I shall create

2:46

fear to unsettle and

2:48

unerve their hearts. Among

2:51

Matadu's other creations was a

2:54

creature that dwelled in the

2:56

sea. A big sneaky fish

2:59

with razor-sharp teeth and tough

3:01

scaly skin, whom Matadu named

3:03

Shark. Now, unlike modern day

3:06

sharks, this shark didn't have

3:08

a triangle-shaped dorsal fin on

3:11

its back. Still, shark was

3:13

a strong, swift swimmer who

3:16

loved feasting on the other

3:18

creatures of the sea. especially

3:21

the fish in the people's

3:23

traps. He would swim into

3:25

the bay, whiz over to

3:28

a trap, teeming with fish,

3:30

then use his pointy teeth

3:33

to tear it apart and

3:35

swallow the bounty inside. The

3:38

people did not like this

3:40

one bit, nor did their

3:43

benevolent helper mosh up. Oh

3:45

dear, it sounds like my

3:48

brutish brother has created a

3:50

cold-blooded bully. I think it's

3:52

time Shark and I had

3:55

a little chat. Perhaps I

3:57

can talk some sense into

4:00

him. So, Mashup went to

4:02

the shore and called out.

4:05

Shark! Shark! I like a

4:07

word with you, please! Within

4:10

moments, Moshep saw Shark's body

4:12

skimming through the water. The

4:15

creature paused, then stuck his

4:17

head above the surface and

4:19

fixed Moshep with a scornful

4:22

sneer. Well, well, well, well,

4:24

look who it is. It's

4:27

my brilliant creator's goody, goody

4:29

brother, Mosheup. Always going out

4:32

of his way to help.

4:34

the people and save the

4:37

people yes shark that's exactly

4:39

what I do and that

4:41

is why I am here

4:44

the people are in trouble

4:46

because of little old me

4:49

no because of big old

4:51

you and your big old

4:54

appetite listen shark The people

4:56

appreciate that an immense animal

4:59

like you needs to eat,

5:01

but they do not appreciate

5:04

you tearing up their traps

5:06

and gobbling up their fish.

5:08

So, could we please make

5:11

an agreement? You may eat

5:13

as much as you'd like,

5:16

provided it doesn't come from

5:18

the people's traps. Shark gave

5:21

mosh up a long, hard

5:23

look. Hmm. That's a fascinating

5:26

proposition you make Marshup. You've

5:28

given me a lot to

5:31

chew on. But you know

5:33

what? I'd rather chew on

5:35

something else. Like the people's

5:38

fish. So goodbye Marshup. See

5:40

you around. Marshup's face was

5:43

grim as he watched Shark

5:45

dart away. Boy, oh boy,

5:48

that did not go as

5:50

I hoped as I hoped.

5:53

I'll try again tomorrow. So

5:55

he did. But after he

5:57

made his impassioned plea, will

6:00

you please stay away from

6:02

the people's fish? Shark made

6:05

another hasty retreat turning his

6:07

finless back on mush-up and

6:10

swimming off. Toodlew, mosh-up. The

6:12

same thing happened the next

6:15

day. Tata! And the next.

6:17

Bye! And soon, mosh-up was

6:20

so sick and tired of

6:22

shark blowing him off. See

6:24

ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!

6:27

That he reached for his

6:29

spear! Held it up high!

6:32

then hurled it in Shark's

6:34

direction. The pointy weapon sailed

6:37

through the air, before landing

6:39

right in the middle of

6:42

Shark's smooth back. Moshop could

6:44

see the spear's triangular blade

6:47

sticking out of the water

6:49

as Shark swam away. Well,

6:51

at least now the people

6:54

will see Shark coming by

6:56

the blade that sticks up

6:59

and cuts through the waves.

7:01

But that doesn't exactly solve

7:04

their problem. I must figure

7:06

this out. I must. Mashup

7:09

put his mind to work,

7:11

pondering his options. He only

7:13

came up with one. Oh,

7:16

I was hoping it wouldn't

7:18

come to this. But I'll

7:21

go and talk with my

7:23

twin brother. While I doubt

7:26

he will take pity on

7:28

the people. Perhaps we can

7:31

reach an understanding. But the

7:33

moment Matadou heard, Moshep's plea?

7:36

Pugh! Are you kidding me?

7:38

He gave his twin the

7:40

brush off. Look, Moshep. My

7:43

spectacular new creation may eat

7:45

whatever he wants, wherever he

7:48

wants, and you can't do

7:50

a thing about it! Marsha

7:53

was at the end of

7:55

his rope. He knew he

7:58

must find a way to

8:00

help the people. And as

8:02

we'll soon hear, he did.

8:05

By thinking outside the box.

8:07

and under the C. How

8:10

will mosh up solve the

8:12

people's problem? What would you

8:15

do if you were mosh

8:17

up? We'll find out what

8:20

happens after a quick break.

8:22

What are circle round listeners

8:25

saying about the circle round

8:27

club? The newest membership opportunity

8:29

for Superfans like you. Here's

8:32

a taste. I love being

8:34

in the Circle Round Club

8:37

because the snuckle times are

8:39

perfect for when you want

8:42

to listen to Circle Round,

8:44

but you don't have that

8:47

much time. Grown-ups get your

8:49

Circle Round super fan signed

8:52

up today at w-b-u-r.org/Circle Round

8:54

Club. and the shark. Before

8:56

the break, Moshep's twin brother

8:59

created shark, a menacing creature

9:01

that kept stealing fish from

9:04

the people's traps. The people

9:06

asked Moshep for help. The

9:09

benevolent giant tried reasoning with

9:11

shark and his twin brother,

9:14

but it was to no

9:16

avail. So Moshep put on

9:19

his thinking cap. He sat

9:21

on the shore, staring at

9:24

the sea, hoping for a

9:26

burst of inspiration. And within

9:28

moments, he got one. Or

9:31

rather, he got three. Last

9:33

one to the shore is

9:36

a rotten squid. You are

9:38

going down, buddy. You'll never

9:41

beat us! Mush-up smiled as

9:43

a trio of porpoises swam

9:46

into the shallow waters of

9:48

the shore. Porpoises are marine

9:51

mammals, like their cousins, the

9:53

cousins, the dolphins, the dolphins.

9:56

but porpoises heads are shorter

9:58

and rounder. And their bodies

10:00

are smaller and thicker. Made

10:03

it. Looks like both of

10:05

you are rotten squids. So,

10:08

which game should we play

10:10

next? I don't know. How

10:13

about hide and seek? Or

10:15

follow the leader. Or freeze

10:18

tag. Or Simon says. Or

10:20

how about you play? Jump

10:23

the shark. The porpoises were

10:25

so busy brainstorming games. They

10:27

hadn't noticed the gentle giant

10:30

on the shore. Oh, hi

10:32

Mosha! What is Jump the

10:35

Shark? We've never heard of

10:37

that game. And you know

10:40

us. We spend all day

10:42

playing games. We're some of

10:45

the most playful creatures in

10:47

the sea. I know you

10:50

are, but Jump the Shark

10:52

is a new game, actually.

10:55

I've just invented it. A

10:57

new game? Cool! How do

10:59

you play? Well... To win

11:02

this game, you need to

11:04

do one thing. You must

11:07

get shark to stop eating

11:09

the people's fish. If you've

11:12

ever seen a porpoise, then

11:14

you know they have kind

11:17

of a smile on their

11:19

face, right? Well, when these

11:22

porpoises heard moshop's idea, their

11:24

smiles vanished. Nobody messes with

11:27

shark moshop. That fish is

11:29

so mean and nasty. I

11:31

won't listen to anybody. And

11:34

have you seen his teeth?

11:36

Those jumpers could tear us

11:39

apart. No's to tail. There's

11:41

no way we could fight

11:44

him. But I'm not asking

11:46

you to fight him. I'm

11:49

asking you to persuade him

11:51

to leave the people's fish

11:54

alone by using your strength.

11:56

Using our strength. But shark

11:59

is... Bigger than we are!

12:01

And faster! And again, those

12:03

teeth! I'm not talking about

12:06

strength as in force, or

12:08

heft, or even teeth. I'm

12:11

talking strength as in skill,

12:13

ability. Something you're especially good

12:16

at. A strong suit. And

12:18

as porpoises, what might your

12:21

strong suit be? What do

12:23

you do best? Well, like

12:26

we said before. We love

12:28

playing games. So what we

12:30

do best is have fun.

12:33

Yeah, we are experts in

12:35

playing and having fun. Then

12:38

use that strength to your

12:40

advantage and convince that shark

12:43

to leave the fish traps

12:45

alone and find his meals

12:48

somewhere else. The

12:50

next time Shark came skulking

12:52

into the bay, the porpoises

12:54

were ready. The moment he

12:56

made a B-line for the

12:59

fish traps, the porpoises made

13:01

a B-line for him. Hi,

13:03

Shark! Want to play? Yeah!

13:05

Let's play! Before Shark knew

13:08

what was happening, the porpoises

13:10

were circling around him, leaping

13:12

in and out of the

13:14

water, and laughing with Lee.

13:17

Get away from me, you

13:19

clown! Can't you see I'm

13:21

busy? Leave me alone! But

13:23

we don't want to leave

13:26

you alone! We want you

13:28

to play with us! Yeah,

13:30

shark, play with us! The

13:32

porpoises circled faster. Play with

13:35

us! And faster? Play with

13:37

us! Until shark was down

13:39

right dizzy. How many times

13:41

do I have to tell

13:44

you? I don't want to

13:46

eat! Now beat it! But

13:48

the purposes did not beat

13:50

it. Instead, they took turns

13:52

rushing at shark. Here I

13:55

come! Leaping over his body.

13:57

Here I go! Then splashing

13:59

into the water on the

14:01

other side. There I went!

14:04

From there, they dove down

14:06

and swam beneath him, using

14:08

their dorsal fins to tickle

14:10

his belly as they passed.

14:13

Oh, oh, stop that! I'm

14:15

telling you, get away! Well,

14:17

as you can very well

14:19

guess, the purposes did not

14:22

get away. They kept leaping

14:24

and splashing and tickling, until

14:26

Shark couldn't take it anymore.

14:28

He plunged under the water,

14:31

far below the frisky, fun-loving

14:33

porpoises, and swam as fast

14:35

as he could to the

14:37

deepest, farthest part of the

14:40

sea. The porpoises were smiling

14:42

wider than usual as they

14:44

watched him go. Maybe he

14:46

wants us to chase him.

14:48

Like tag. Or follow him,

14:51

like follow the leader. Or

14:53

seek him, like hide and

14:55

go seek. Or he wants

14:57

you to leave him alone,

15:00

since your strong suit definitely

15:02

is not his. The porpoises

15:04

gazed at Mashup, who had

15:06

come waiting into the water.

15:09

I was watching everything from

15:11

the shore, my friends. You

15:13

did an excellent job. You

15:15

scared shark off. with your

15:18

fun. Speaking of which, these

15:20

long legs of mine have

15:22

been known to run really

15:24

fast. Last one to the

15:27

sandbar is a rotten herring!

15:29

Thanks to the fun-loving corpuses,

15:31

mean old shark thought twice

15:33

before returning to the bay

15:36

and snatching the people's fish.

15:38

In fact, it's been said

15:40

that even now, if you

15:42

head to the sea, and

15:45

you see corpuses playing offshore...

15:47

Chances are good that shark

15:49

won't be coming by anytime

15:51

soon because as far as

15:53

he's concerned When it comes

15:56

to fun and games, it's

15:58

basically game over. Now it's

16:00

your turn. What are some

16:02

of your strong suits? Find

16:05

a piece of paper and

16:07

down the left-hand side, write

16:09

your name. Now, use those

16:11

letters as the starting point

16:14

to list your strengths. So,

16:16

if your name is Cal,

16:18

C might stand for creativity.

16:20

A might stand for always

16:23

willing to try hard, and

16:25

L could stand for loving

16:27

or leader or learning new

16:29

things is my jam. Share

16:32

your strong suits with someone

16:34

you have fun with, and

16:36

if you like, share them

16:38

with us. Have a grown-up

16:41

snap a photo of you

16:43

and your strengths and send

16:45

it to Circle Round at

16:47

w-b-u-r.org. With your permission we

16:49

may feature you in the

16:52

Lions Roar, the monthly newsletter

16:54

of the Circle Round Club.

16:56

More on this super fun

16:58

club for Superfans like you

17:01

in just a moment. But

17:03

first... This week's episode, Moshep

17:05

and The Shark, was adapted

17:07

by me, Rebecca Shear. It

17:10

was edited by Dean Russell.

17:12

Our original music and sounds

17:14

design is by Eric Shimelonis.

17:16

Eric's featured instrument this week

17:19

was the acoustic guitar. You

17:21

can learn more about this

17:23

popular string instrument whose earliest

17:25

versions date back over 3,000

17:28

years and see a photo

17:30

of Eric playing one on

17:32

our website w-b-u-r.org/Circle Round. Circle

17:34

Round's artist is Sabina Han.

17:37

Sabina has created a black

17:39

and white coloring page for

17:41

every circle round story, and

17:43

you can print them out

17:45

and color them in. Grown-ups,

17:48

visit our website, wu-b-u-r.org/circle round,

17:50

and click on coloring pages.

17:52

Special thanks to this week's

17:54

actors, Theodorchen, Zaki Hamid, Joe

17:57

Hernandez, Anthony Palmini, Jessica Rao.

17:59

and Roman Zaragoza, who stars

18:01

as Sassapis in the hit

18:03

CBS comedy ghosts. Love Circle

18:06

Round and want to circle round

18:08

with us in even more ways.

18:10

Join the Circle Round Club and

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get ad-free episodes, bonus bedtime stories,

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round. And grown-ups, if you have

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a moment, please leave us a

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find the show so we

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can make the circle round

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circle even bigger. Circle round

18:47

is the production of w-b-b-u-u-r,

18:50

Boston's n-r-r-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n- I'm

18:54

Rebecca Shear. Thanks for circling

18:56

round with us. Now that you've made

18:58

it to the end of this circle

19:01

round episode, we want to know.

19:03

What's your favorite circle round story?

19:05

Thousands of fans, just like you,

19:07

have been telling us about the

19:10

circle round stories they like best.

19:12

Take a listen. Maybe one of

19:14

their favorites is one of yours,

19:17

too. My name's Sisha and I

19:19

live in England. And my favorite

19:21

story is Viaga on the Fairies.

19:23

My favorite part is when she

19:26

says that they have to bring

19:28

her a pot. My name is

19:30

Rachel and I'm from Texas and

19:33

my favorite circle found story is

19:35

the magic horn, the magic hat,

19:37

and the coin purse. Hi, my

19:40

name is Abby. I live in

19:42

Patona, Maryland and my favorite story

19:44

is a biscuit and a basket

19:47

and a basket and a

19:49

basket and a basket. My

19:51

favorite part is one. The

19:53

girl helps to take her

19:55

out of the hunting net.

19:57

My name's huge from Idaho

19:59

Falls. My favorite

20:01

story is granny snowstorm. My

20:04

favorite part is when the

20:06

shake like the mattress. Hi,

20:08

my name is Siena. I

20:10

live in Los Angeles, California.

20:13

My favorite circle around is

20:15

the Basilis guy. I like

20:17

the part where the Basilis

20:19

clerks in the tone of

20:21

red eyes and turns into

20:24

stone. My name is Kaye

20:26

and I live in Tennessee.

20:28

My favorite suck around story

20:30

is Amos and the ogre.

20:32

My favorite part is when

20:35

the ogre says ready to

20:37

get your butt kicked. And

20:39

Amos says if compete is

20:41

what you mean. My name

20:44

is Dolfo. I live in

20:46

Tennessee. My favorite story is

20:48

the through like a pot

20:50

and my favorite part is

20:52

when the through like a

20:55

pasta. They skip to the

20:57

North Pole. Did someone mention

20:59

a story you've missed? Not

21:01

to worry. Grown-ups, you can

21:03

find all of our Circle

21:06

Round stories, plus links to

21:08

the Circle Round Club, picture

21:10

books, coloring pages, and oh

21:12

so much more on our

21:15

website. w-b-u-r.org/Circle Round.