Tiny/small/minimalist Python?

[rtk]

I'm looking for information on building a tiny/small/minimalist/
vanilla python interpreter.  One that implements the core language and
a few of the key modules but isn't tied to any specific operating
system.

I guess I'm asking for the smallest subset of the standard Python
source code files that is necessary to get a working interpreter using
a plain C compiler.

Is this even possible?  If so, has someone done it already?  I've
looked on Google and in comp.lang.python but nothing comes up.

Thanks!
Ron