WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

Documentary filmmaker, explorer and author Tahir Shah once said,

Stories are a communal currency of humanity.

In other words, storytelling, sharing tales, it's something we all have in common

and something I've been honored to do with you these past nine years.

This week, Mark Smai and Eric Shimolones' last episode of Circle Round.

The world of Circle Round will continue to live on here at WBUR, but Eric and I are starting a new chapter with some exciting things in the works.

So today's tale isn't so much a goodbye as a see you soon.

It's a story about stories and the magical ways they bring us together.

I'm Rebecca Shear, and welcome to Circle Round, where story time happens all the time.

Our story is called The Storyteller.

Versions of this tale come from the Azores, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Sea, over 900 miles off the coast of Portugal.

Some really great people came together to bring you our version of this folktale, including award-winning film, television, and theater actress Maria Christina Olivares, whom you grown-ups can see in the Tony Award

nominated Broadway comedy The Ballisters. So circle round, everyone. For The Storyteller.

Princess Cecilia lived with her father the king in a resplendent palace by the sea.

The princess wore the most fabulous clothes, ate the most sumptuous foods, and attended the most lavish parties, banquets, and balls.

She also owned the most beautiful jewels, an extravagant set of rings.

She had inherited the rings from her mother, a wise, benevolent queen whose recent passing

left Cecilia and her father all alone.

The princess kept her mother's rings in an opal box.

And each morning, before breakfast, Cecilia would go out to her balcony, open the box, and admire the treasures inside.

Oh, see how Mother's Sapphire ring sparkles in the sun

...