> Rocza's Song > Mark A. Mandel Copr. 2004 > > I fly across the jungle on silent leather wings > To seek my prey of lizards, rats, and other, smaller things. > But I much prefer the leavings of some greater hunter's kill, > To feast upon the riches left when she has had her fill. > Well-fed, she is no threat to me, and me she does not fear, > And while she takes her rest, no other predator comes near. > I hunt and scavenge, eat and sleep; at times I rest or play, > And someday I will take a mate, and I will die someday. > > Nearby I hear a struggle, and cries and panting breath. > The battle is unequal, and soon will come a death. > The scent upon the breeze is strange, but as I circle in > I hear a voice within my mind that calls to me as kin. > "Long life I offer and red meat; I ask of you your aid-- > For now, to save my life!" He sinks; I feel the contact fade. > I fly in the attacker's face, he turns to swing at me; > The other strikes him dead, then falls. I answer: "I agree." > > I stay with the Provider now, and him who is my mate. > Beyond the jungle that I knew, the world is strange and great. > I help him every way I can, he always feeds me well, > Although our minds spoke only on that day he cast his spell. > He knows my mate as "Loiosh", and "Rocza" he calls me, > And Loiosh tells me what he wants and tells him what I see. > The years have touched me lightly, though they do not pass me > by... > I think no jhereg in the world more fortunate than I. > > > Rocza: RAW-tsah > Loiosh: LOY-ohsh > jhereg: ZHEH-reg (according to meter of the spell) > > The spell (_Jhereg_, Ace edition, sixth printing, February 1987, pages > 225-226, copyright 1983 by Stephen K. Z. Brust; typo corrected): > > Come to me, blood of my House. Join me, hunt with me, find me. > > Let the winds of Jungle's night > Stay the hunter in her flight. > Evening's breath to witch's mind > Let our fates be intertwined. > Jhereg! Do not pass me by! > Show me where thy soul doth lie! > > Well done! Righteous devotion, or just too much time on your hands?