Jok is a gander that Ani befriends.
Biography[]
Although the circumstances that caused Jok to get lost from his flock are uncertain, it was undoubtedly quite an adventure for the goose.
The Goose Girl[]
After two weeks of being lost, an exhausted Jok finds his way back to his flock. The geese immediately swarm him, presumably catching up with him and asking about his adventures. The goose girl Isi attempts to get close to him to check for injuries, but the other birds are defensive of Jok and forcefully keep her away.
Suddenly, a noble hunting party unconcernedly ride through the pasture, scattering the geese. Noticing that the stray goose is once again alone and too tired to attack her, Isi cautiously approaches the lone gander once more and carefully feeds him grass. Encouraged by his acceptance of the food, she names him Jok and decides to nurse him back to health. When he gently honks at her for more grass, she realizes with a start that she understood what the honk meant. She takes her new friend back to her little house and examines the poor bird, finding a deep gash in his thigh, and immediately brings him to Mistress Ideca for a salve. From then on, Jok sleeps in her room and they jabber back and forth to each other in the language of the geese, and some of it even makes sense to Isi.
When a rainstorm prevents the flock from going to the pasture, Isi takes Jok and leaves him in the pen with the other geese until the rain stops, which doesn't happen until two nights later. Jok is so offended at being left in the pen for so long, he completely ignores her as punishment.
Days later, Jok is still ignoring her. Seeing that his goose girl is being visited by someone, Jok rushes towards them as if intending to bite. Isi honks at him to stop, and Jok waddles away as if he never intended to charge them in the first place. However, the man visiting Isi suddenly chases after him, forcing Jok to waddle and flap away as fast as he can. Unfortunately, Jok isn't quite fast enough and he gets caught and brought back to Isi. The man wants the bird to apologize for behaving so rudely to his mistress, but Jok doesn't know that. All he knows is that he's been caught by some human after being chased around the pasture. Consequently, Jok bites him hard on the arm, fleeing as soon as the man drops him.
By the time the Wintermoon festival has been over for two months, Jok has found a mate. One night, Ani is particularly distraught and seeks comfort in the company of him and his mate, bringing them to her little house. The birds snugly settle down in her tiny bed, leaving no room for her, but she doesn't mind. Some hours later, the avian couple startles awake with a clamor of honking and wing beats when a mysterious man twitches aside the covers. The racket wakes up half the settlement, Ani flees amidst the chaos, and the frustrated man kicks Jok before chasing after her. Luckily, Jok is a hardy bird and isn't seriously injured. He is taken care of by the other animal workers and continues to live happily with his mate.
Trivia[]
- Isi named Jok after the man in the tale of "the wanderer who always returns".