Think about a time you felt afraid.

Fear is a normal and common emotion; we all feel it! And talking with someone about what scares us can really help. In fact, as we’ll hear in today’s tale, when we talk with someone about our fears it can be downright magical!

Our story is called “Copper and Dumplings.” You’ll find versions of this tale from the East Asian island nation of Japan.

We recorded this episode before a live audience of excited kids and grown-ups at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland, OH. Joining host Rebecca Sheir on stage was a talented trio of local actors: Nina Domingue, Xavier Heipp, and Bob Keefe. And playing live music on the koto (learn more about this Japanese stringed instrument below) was Eric Shimelonis.

This episode was adapted for Circle Round by Rebecca Sheir. It was edited by Dean Russell. Original music and sound design is by Eric Shimelonis. Our artist is Sabina Hahn.

(Sabina Hahn for WBUR)

GROWN-UPS! PRINT THIS so everyone can color while listening. We’re also keeping an album so please share your picture on Facebook and Instagram, and tag it with #CircleRoundPodcast. To access all the coloring pages for past episodes click HERE. Our resident artist is Sabina Hahn and you can learn more about her HERE.

Now It’s Your Turn

When you feel afraid, what can help you feel safe?

Can you hug a stuffed animal? Sing your favorite song? Maybe you can cuddle with a grown-up and tell them what’s on your mind.

Find some index cards – or cut some paper into rectangles – and make your own Courage Cards! On each card, draw one thing that gives you courage and makes you feel safe. Next time fear pays a visit, take a breath, pull out a Courage Card, and use it to help you through!

Musical Spotlight: Koto

Eric Shimelonis plays the Japanese zither known as the koto at the Cleveland Museum of Art. (image courtesy of Rebecca Sheir)

The koto is derived from the Chinese zither known as the zheng, which was introduced to Japan during the Nara period (710–794). Now one of Japan’s most iconic traditional instruments, the koto was first played by the upper class only (imperial court members and aristocrats) and formed a crucial part of the classical court music known as gagaku.

Over time, the instrument spread beyond royalty and became popular among common people. During the Edo period (1603–1868), the koto evolved into the version we see today, with thirteen strings and a series of movable bridges.

The koto’s long wooden body (74 inches/190 centimeters) has been compared to a dragon. To play the koto, traditionally you would kneel or sit on the floor, with the instrument held up by two legs or a bridge-storage box. In most modern concerts, the instrument is placed on a stand and the performer sits on a chair.

You play the koto by plucking the strings with picks. The picks are traditionally made from bamboo, ivory or bone and are worn on the thumb, index and middle fingers of your right hand. Your left hand damps the vibrations and changes the pitch by pressing down on the strings beyond the movable bridges.

Script:

NARRATOR: The baker lived in a cottage at the far edge of the forest. Every morning she would rise at dawn, then bustle to the kitchen and whip up batch after batch of her specialty: sweet, sticky, rice dumplings.

The baker sold her dumplings at the village market. Her customers adored her – not just because her rice dumplings were the most delicious they had ever tasted, but because her prices were the lowest they had ever seen!

BAKER: (as if talking to customers) You would like one-dozen rice dumplings, sir? That’ll be one copper piece, please! … That’s right! Just one copper piece! (beat) And madam! You’d like two-dozen rice dumplings? That’ll be two copper pieces! …That’s right! Just two copper pieces!

NARRATOR: The baker was nowhere near as rich as her sweets, but she was comfortable. Content with her lot in life.

And yet, with each passing year, things began to change. As the baker grew older, her eyes began to fade. Her fingers became stiff and sore. And standing over a hot stove made her back and feet ache.

The baker was slowing down – and her business was, too! Before long, she couldn’t afford to buy ingredients to make her dumplings… or food to fill her belly!

One chilly autumn night… as the baker huddled in her cottage, hoping her hearth’s crackling flames would drown out her stomach’s rumbling groans…she heard two voices bellowing outside the door.

TENGU 1: Hey you!

TENGU 2: It’s freezing out here!

TENGU 1: We saw smoke rising from your chimney!

TENGU 2: Let us sit by your fire!

NARRATOR: The baker struggled to her feet and shuffled to the window. The moment she peered outside, her blood turned cold. For lurking at her door were two hulking, hairy tengu! Evil, winged goblins with red faces, tangled eyebrows, and bulbous noses the size of rolling pins!

BAKER: Oh dear! I mustn’t let the tengu come inside! If I do, they’re sure to cast a spell on me! They’ll either bewitch me into mindlessly carrying out their whims… or they’ll make me disappear – forever!

TENGU 1: Hello?!!!????

TENGU 2: We know you’re in there!

TENGU 1: And since you won’t let us in…

TENGU 2: …we’ll let ourselves in!

NARRATOR: The door flung open and in barged the tengu, their wings flapping and their eyes blazing as they barreled to the hearth.

TENGU 1: You need to work on your hospitality, human!

TENGU 2: Yeah! How dare you let us shiver outside like that?

TENGU 1: We should cast a spell on you!

TENGU 2: Yeah! A spell!

NARRATOR: The baker’s heart hammered so loud she could hear it in her ears. But she did her best to smile.

BAKER: (nervous, but trying to remain calm/appease them) Clearly you two gentlemen are upset! AND cold! (beat) So please! Make yourselves cozy by the fire. I’ll brew up some tea.

NARRATOR: She rushed to the kitchen. And though her trembling hands slowed down her process, she came back with a steaming hot pot of tea.

BAKER: (nervous, but trying to appear calm) Here you go, gentlemen! I would offer you a snack, but times have been hard and my cupboards are unusually bare.

NARRATOR: The tengu slurped the tea, then wiped their shaggy mouths with the backs of their hairy hands.

TENGU 1: Mmmm! That was the best tea we’ve ever tasted!

TENGU 2: Downright delicious!

TENGU 1: But it wasn’t nearly ENOUGH!

TENGU 2: So make us MORE!

TENGU 1: Before we CAST A SPELL on you!

NARRATOR: The baker shuddered and fetched more tea. Her hands were shaking so hard she nearly dropped the pot in the tengu’s laps.

TENGU 1: Boy oh boy, human!

TENGU 2: You seem nervous!

TENGU 1: All jittery and jumpy!

TENGU 2: Do the two of us… SCARE you????

NARRATOR: The tengu’s red faces broke into menacing grins, so wide and broad the baker could count every sharp, yellow tooth.

BAKER: Do you… scare me…?

NARRATOR: The baker had no idea what to say next. And then, before she knew what she was doing…

BAKER: NO! You DON’T scare me.

NARRATOR: The tengu were thrown for a loop.

TENGU 1: We don’t scare you???

TENGU 2: But we’re tengu!

TENGU 1: We’re big and mean and cast spells!

TENGU 2: And trust us: we’re about to cast a doozy of a spell! (beat) After we finish this delicious tea!

NARRATOR: The baker felt a rush of relief. Thankfully, she had bought more time!

BAKER: (continuing to hatch her plot) I’m glad the tea is to your liking! (beat) And believe me, gentlemen: I know all about your powers. …But I don’t really see you as “big and mean!”

TENGU 1: / TENGU 2: You DON’T???

BAKER: No! I see you as travelers who needed to come in from the cold! (beat) You are my guests! And I’m not afraid of guests! (beat) Unlike some other things…

NARRATOR: The baker wasn’t sure where she was going with this. But the tengu seemed intrigued.

TENGU 1: What KINDS of other things?

TENGU 2: Yeah! If we tengu don’t SCARE you, then what DOES???

NARRATOR: The baker bit her lip.

BAKER: I shouldn’t say. It’s too embarrassing.

NARRATOR: The tengu were REALLY intrigued now.

TENGU 1: Come on, human!

TENGU 2: You’ve GOT to tell us what scares you!

TENGU 1: If you DO… we won’t cast a spell on you today!

TENGU 2: Yeah! Instead we’ll come back tomorrow! Give you time to say your goodbyes and whatnot.

NARRATOR: The baker felt another wave of relief.

BAKER: Alright. You’ve persuaded me. I will tell you what I’m afraid of.

NARRATOR: She glanced around the cottage. Her eyes fell on an empty bag of rice.

BAKER: I am afraid…. of RICE DUMPLINGS!

TENGU 1: / TENGU 2: RICE DUMPLINGS???

BAKER: Yes! Sweet, sticky rice dumplings! They TERRIFY me!

NARRATOR: The tengu scanned the baker’s face, seeking a glimmer of a smile or some other hint that she might be joking.

TENGU 1: You’re telling us you’re actually afraid of rice dumplings???

TENGU 2: WHY???

NARRATOR: The baker thought fast.

BAKER: Well… When I see sweet, sticky rice dumplings, I wind up eating so many that I’m sick for days! Weeks! Sometimes MONTHS! (beat) But… while rice dumplings may scare me, there’s something ELSE that scares me even MORE!

NARRATOR: The tengu leaned forward.

TENGU 1: What is it?

TENGU 2: Yeah! What scares you more than rice dumplings?

NARRATOR: The baker paused and looked around again. This time, her gaze landed on her coin purse. Her empty coin purse.

BAKER: What scares me even more than rice dumplings… are COPPER PIECES!

TENGU 1: / TENGU 2: COPPER PIECES???

BAKER: (getting more and more emotional as she speaks) Yes! What I am petrified of, more than anything, are copper pieces!

TENGU 1: Whatever for??

TENGU 2: Yeah! What’s so scary about a copper piece?

BAKER: Only EVERYTHING! (beat) Do you know what would happen if I had a mess of copper pieces in this cottage? I’ll tell you what would happen! Villagers would be knocking at my door all day long and begging to borrow from me – or sell me things I neither want nor need! Robbers and thieves would come sneaking over at night… it would be AWFUL!

NARRATOR: The baker let out a long, shaky breath.

BAKER: (as if composing herself) But hey! Enough about ME! (beat) What are you two afraid of?

NARRATOR: The tengu folded their brawny arms across their burly chests.

TENGU 1: We aren’t afraid of anything!

TENGU 2: We told you! We’re big and mean and cast spells!

TENGU 1: Like the spell we’re going to cast on YOU!

TENGU 2: …TOMORROW!!!

BAKER: Right. I get it. The two of you are powerful. SO powerful that you’re going to come back here tomorrow and cast a spell on yours truly! (beat) But come now. Everyone is afraid of SOMETHING. Surely there’s one thing that scares you…? And you might as well tell me about it. ‘Cause once you cast your spell, I won’t be able to breathe a word!

NARRATOR: The tengu grew quiet. Judging by the sheepish looks on their faces, the baker knew she had struck a nerve.

TENGU 1: Alright fine.

TENGU 2: If you must know…

TENGU 1: …there IS one thing that scares us.

TENGU 2: And that thing is… Oh I can’t say it! It gives me the creeps!

TENGU 1: Well I can’t say it either!

TENGU 2: Then how are we going to tell her?

TENGU 1: How about we say it together?

TENGU 2: That could work!

TENGU 1: Okay. The one thing that scares us… iiiiiis…???

NARRATOR: Oh! You know what that music means! We’ll find out what scares the pants off those tricky tengu, after a quick break!

[BREAK]

NARRATOR: I’m Rebecca Sheir and welcome back to Circle Round, live at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio!

Today our story is called “Copper and Dumplings.”

Before the break, the baker convinced the hairy, winged goblins known as tengu to put off casting a spell on her by one day.

The clever old woman somehow shifted the conversation to things that scared her – or supposedly scared her. Her two worst fears, she claimed, were copper pieces… and the sweet sticky rice dumplings she once baked and sold for a living.

When it was time for the tengu to admit THEIR worst fear, they were so petrified they had to say it together.

TENGU 1: The one thing that scares us iiiis…?

TENGU 1: / TENGU 2: …THICKETS!

NARRATOR: The baker tilted her head.

BAKER: Thickets???? You’re afraid of thickets?

TENGU 1: (getting more emotional as exchange goes on) Yes!

TENGU 2: (getting more emotional as exchange goes on) Do you have to say it so many times???

BAKER: (playing dumb) Say what? THICKETS???

TENGU 1: (getting more emotional as exchange goes on) You did it again!

TENGU 2: (getting more emotional as exchange goes on) You’ve got to understand! Those dense clumps of twisty, thorny brambles and brush are dreadful!

TENGU 1: (getting more emotional) They get all tangled in our wings!

TENGU 2: (getting more emotional) AND our hair!

TENGU 1: (getting more emotional) They catch us and trap us!

TENGU 2: (getting more emotional) It’s terrible!

TENGU 1: (getting more emotional) It’s horrible!

TENGU 2: (getting more emotional) It’s no good AND very bad!

NARRATOR: The baker handed the tengu a tissue. They blew their rolling-pin-sized noses so loudly, it shook the walls.

TENGU 1: / TENGU 2: (ad-lib loud nose-blowing sound)

BAKER: I hear what you’re saying, gentlemen. If I were in your shoes, I TOO would be afraid of (stage-whisper) THICKETS!

TENGU 1: Ugghh!

TENGU 2: Even whispering it is scary!

BAKER: Anyway… I should call it a night, gentlemen. This old gal needs some sleep. …And YOU do, too! If you’re going to cast a doozy of a spell on me tomorrow, a little REST is just the TICKET!

TENGU 1: She said it AGAIN!

TENGU 2: No you doof! She said TICKET!

TENGU 1: Oh.

NARRATOR: The tengu wiped their noses, then lumbered out the door. And once they had disappeared into the forest, the baker bundled into her coat and boots, grabbed a pair of gardening shears, and stepped outside.

She meandered through the trees, using her shears to cut through the thickly-tangled underbrush. Then, one armful at a time, she hauled the brambles back home.

The baker worked hard. And when the tengu came back at sunrise to cast their evil spell, they made a terrifying discovery. Every inch of the baker’s cottage and yard was covered with twisty, thorny… thickets!

TENGU 1: Uggh! She said the word!!!

TENGU 2: Who cares about the WORD? We’ve got the REAL THING! It’s all over the cottage! All around it, too!

TENGU 1: There’s no way I’m touching that stuff!

TENGU 2: Me either! (beat) But we can’t cast a spell on the baker if we can’t GET her!

TENGU 1: You’re right! So we WON’T get her! Instead …we’ll get REVENGE!

NARRATOR: The baker, who could see and hear everything through a gap in the window, watched the tengu fly off. When they returned, each one held a very large, very full sack. The goblins beat their wings and fluttered into the air, hovering over the chimney on the bramble-covered roof.

TENGU 1: I’ll EMPTY my sack into the chimney first! And when the baker sees what’s inside, she’ll be scared out of her wits!

NARRATOR: The baker shuffled to the hearth and waited. The fire had long since died down. And when she saw what came cascading down the chimney, she smiled.

Though she pretended to scream.

BAKER: (feigning fear) EEK! My fireplace is filling up with RICE DUMPLINGS! Sweet, sticky rice dumplings! It’s my second-worst nightmare come true!

NARRATOR: Up on the roof, the tengu grinned as they called down the chimney.

TENGU 1: You think that’s bad, human?

TENGU 2: ‘Cause we’re about to send your WORST nightmare!

NARRATOR: The tengu emptied the other sack down the chimney. And can you guess what came tumbling into the baker’s hearth?

[audience reaction]

NARRATOR: That’s right!

COPPER PIECES!

BAKER: (feigning fear) Oh no! Oh dear! I’m scared out of my wits! I’m quaking in my boots! I wish those copper pieces would stop pouring down! Someone make them stop! Please!

NARRATOR: But the copper pieces kept coming, clinking and clanking as they formed a big shiny pile.

Now that the baker’s hearth was bursting with rice dumplings and copper pieces, the tengu flew away, satisfied with their supposed “revenge.”

As for the baker, well… SHE was satisfied, too!

After all: thanks to the hairy, winged goblins, she now had thousands of rice dumplings to sell at the market – and thousands of copper pieces to save for a rainy day.

And from then on she lived in comfort and contentment – and never tangled with the tengu again!