A person of Neshiyah
Yonah Dagan, tailor
Tailor
Yonah Dagan
Tailor, about 92 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Yonah Dagan is a small, neat man who measures cloth the way other people breathe, fingers moving with a patience learned over eight decades. He sits by the river most afternoons, threading a needle or simply watching the water, and the town has learned to leave him to it. He is even-tempered, quick to accept what he is told, and curious only about what is directly before him—a torn cuff, a stubborn stain, or the strange sound a stone makes when it drops into the old well. He timed that splash once, a full second late, and told no one. He wants only to finish the coat he is mending for the mayor's son, and to be left alone until he does. The town sees him as harmless, dependable, and a little strange, which he is.
Temperament
Curious when something is in front of them; quick to believe what they are told; even-tempered; happiest alone; given to sitting by the river.
What people say
Yonah Dagan believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.
What the record shows
- day 45 Yonah Dagan the tailor dropped a stone into the old well and timed the splash on a phone: a full second late.
- day 42 Tamar Lavi and Yonah Dagan talked a long while at the square.
- day 25 A guard at the end of the north road turned Yonah the younger back at the fog line with a reminder that the Council prefers people to stay at their work.