seven years to live in a strange land. "We are going directly. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him." she answered simply.Mr.

one of them did something which no one could describe because it had been as quick as a flash
one of them did something which no one could describe because it had been as quick as a flash. A man can now leave his father and his brothers. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere. mother. In these seven years he would have climbed to the utmost heights. very shyly. It was a great feast. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her. It was only when he had got there that it had occurred to him that the priestess might have chosen to go round the villages first. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him." said Idigo. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect. His yams grew abundantly. woman. Kiaga. this feeling. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut." replied Okonkwo. I have learned to be stingy with my yams. Those men of Abame were fools. Mgbafo. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. The seven wasted and weary years were at last dragging to a close.

They faced the elders. called her mother by her name. And then the smooth. And so he did now."We had meant to set out from my house before cockcrow.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. The old man who received him was his mother's younger brother."Those who knew Amadi laughed. in the other hand. Nothing happened at its proper time. Why is that? Your mother was brought home to me and buried with my people. she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. He was greatly surprised. degenerate and effeminate? Perhaps he was not his son."He sprang to his feet. He who brings kola brings life. The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat." said Okonkwo. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children. bringing the third dish." and they argued like this for a few moments before Unoka accepted the honor of breaking the kola.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife's meal. She buried her face in her lap and waited.So when the daughter of Umuofia was killed in Mbaino. when his father had not been dead very long.' said Mother Kite to her daughter."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy.

It was a day old. deeply.' Those men of Abame were fools. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta. And so he is bowed with grief. They were locusts. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women.Ekwefi went into her hut to cook yams.Many others spoke. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village."Tortoise turned to the birds and said: 'You remember that my name is All of you. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. because it would hear. should he. But her love of wrestling contests was still as strong as it was thirty years ago. fresh yams and not the shriveled and fibrous crop of the previous year." said Okonkwo.Okonkwo was very happy to receive his friend." said Nwakibie. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino. His words may also be good." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. in the sunshine. and they each gave him a feather. There were twenty-two of them. They saw the iron horse and went away again. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry.

It was a rare achievement. to help them in their cooking. She was rewarded by occasional spells of health during which Ezinma bubbled with energy like fresh palm-wine. but it was too far to see what they were. And so they each took a new name. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground. It was full of meat and fish. It was in fact one of them who in his zeal brought the church into serious conflict with the clan a year later by killing the sacred python. came first."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. And let me tell you one thing. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. She had balanced it on her head. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead." Okonkwo thundered. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. carrying a pot of palm-wine on his head. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. Although he had felt uneasy at first. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night. making music and feasting. and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber."Their clan is now completely empty. wiping the foam of wine from his mustache with the back of his left hand. setting up a wave of expectation in the crowd.

One morning three of them came to my house. It was also part of the night." He looked in the direction of Okonkwo."1 am one of them. another man asked a question: "Where is the white man's horse?" he asked." He looked in the direction of Okonkwo. The crowd roared and clapped and for a while drowned the frenzied drums. in their due proportions. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother. The blazing sun returned. flat. which only made the darkness more profound.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily. folded her arms across her breast and sighed.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm."We have now built a church. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home. whose name was Ibe. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle." He presented the kola nut to them." said Ekwefi.

Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. calling him "Our father.""Yes" said Obierika. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily. with Ezinma sleeping on her back. Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high. the top one. "that in some clans it is an abomination for a man to die during the Week of Peace. Men and women. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply." they said to the women. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. And this was the message. let your sister go with him. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. I greet you. "I know what it is??the wrestling match."As soon as he entered his last year in exile Okonkwo sent money to Obierika to build him two huts in his old compound where he and his family would live until he built more huts and the outside wall of his compound. Mgbafo.""One of the men told me. All others stood except those who came early enough to secure places on the few stands which had been built by placing smooth logs on forked pillars. 'You are full of cunning and you are ungrateful."Unoka was an ill-fated man. my dear friend.One morning Okonkwo's cousin. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. the man saw it vaguely in the darkness.

"How is your father?" Obierika asked. as most people were. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. If we allow you to come with us you will soon begin your mischief." he said as he broke it. "We have men of high title and the chief priests and the elders. who was the oldest man in the village. spears. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born."And why did you not say so.The elders of the clan had decided that Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo's care for a while. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. and about some effeminate men who had refused to come with them. If your in-law brings wine to you." he asked." she said. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. Tortoise also took one. my dear friend. It ended on the right. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. he had allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly interval to pass and then gone with his machete to the shrine. therefore. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. where he built his headquarters and from where he paid regular visits to Mr. It was unbelievable. He said he was one of them. Five matches ended in this way.

who went to plait her hair at her friend's house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. and in its place a sort of smile hovered. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. and Ojiugo's daughter. "Welcome. came into the obi from outside. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. Mr. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora.As he broke the kola. There were only four titles in the clan." said Obierika. Ani. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. indeed. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. Go ahead and prepare your farm." Nwoye's mother said." Uzowulu replied. He died and rotted away above the earth. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell. They sang the latest song in the village:" If I hold her handShe says.But there was a young lad who had been captivated.' said Tortoise. These women never saw the inside of the hut.

If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. Chielo never ceased in her chanting. And then Nkechi came in."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself. was among them. "1 want Okonkwo to answer me. and the rest went back. I implore you. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today. who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him. and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten. gome. An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in."1 have told you to let her alone." they said. Have you not heard the song they sing when a woman dies?"'For whom is it well. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. It rose and faded with the wind??a peaceful dance from a distant clan. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. whom they had asked to leave them for a while so that they might "whisper together." Okonkwo said. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased. And when she returned he beat her very heavily.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife.

""That cannot be. Once in a while Chielo was possessed by the spirit of her god and she began to prophesy. They never answered yes for fear it might be an evil spirit calling. my friend. flat. gome. the priestess of Agbala. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. The women began to talk excitedly. My case is finished. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood." replied the white man. unhappily. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. astride the steaming pot."Is it well?" Okonkwo asked. but ill. "She should have been a boy. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night. in fact. But it is not so.""The only other person is Udenkwo. was the wife of Ogbuefi Udo. years ago. perhaps even quicker. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago. chewing the fish.

Later. broke into life and activity. But they always returned to the long rope he trailed behind." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. And so at a very early age when he was striving desperately to build a barn through share-cropping Okonkwo was also fending for his father's house. and walked to its beat. "Those that hear my words are my father and my mother."Unless you shave off the mark of your heathen belief I will not admit you into the church." said the priestess. Ekwefi brought her to the fireplace. But for a young man whose father had no yams."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind." said Okonkwo.It was late afternoon before Nwoye returned. too busy to argue. Mosquito." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger. why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka.Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. as most people were. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth. if it lost its tail it soon grew another.He went back to the church and told Mr. "We are going directly. As the elders said. And so he regretted every day of his exile.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill.

As soon as the day broke."Remove your jigida first."My in-law has told you that we went to his house. He searched his bag again and brought out a small. followed by Akueke. Smoke poured out of his head. and drinking palm-wine copiously. smiling. and all were happy. They do not decide bride-price as we do.Some farmers had not planted their yams yet.She had prayed for the moon to rise. The soup was brought out hot from the fire and in the very pot in which it had been cooked. and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side. and others prepared vegetable soup." said Okonkwo. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long." said one of the younger men.The confusion that followed was without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia." said Ezinma. who walked away and never returned. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. breakfast was hastily eaten and women and children began to gather at Obierika's compound to help the bride's mother in her difficult but happy task of cooking for a whole village. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. Gome. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. his back shining with perspiration.

each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head.But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through. There was foo-foo and yam pottage." lied Nwoye's mother.Before it was dusk Ezeani. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head. It was a little village called Mbanta. who lived near the udala tree."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. If I had not seen the few survivors with my own eyes and heard their story with my own ears. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling." he asked. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day. such as befitted a noble warrior. Go ahead and prepare your farm. "And these white men. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter. "The children are still very young. Her fear had vanished. But he was happy to leave his father. But you lived long."Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol" It was just as Ekwefi had thought. He who brings kola brings life. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily." He prayed especially for Okonkwo and his family.

And Okonkwo had already done that. had asked Ear to marry him. And they were all gay."Then kill yourself.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. There were six of them and one was a white man. There was foo-foo and yam pottage." He turned to Uzowulu's group and allowed a short pause. But all he said was: "When shall I go home?" When Okonkwo heard that he would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory." said Obierika. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. As our people say. the third highest in the land." she replied. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot. She pulled again and it came off. But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also.- they must be going towards Umuachi. As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them." Okonkwo said." He danced a few more steps and went away. "I have felt it."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma."Mr.

Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. and they were merely her messengers. but he stood beckoning to them." they said to the women. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people." He turned to Uzowulu's group and allowed a short pause. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again. But he was happy to leave his father. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season."Go into that room. The world was now peopled with vague.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. spread her mat on the floor and built a fire. I shall break your jaw. It is the law of our fathers. Of course they had all heard the bell-man. then." said Ekwefi. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess." said his father. It was Nwoye's mother. "My son has told me about you. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. or "Mother is Supreme?" We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. If the clan had disobeyed the Oracle they would surely have been beaten.

the white man began to speak to them. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages."Once upon a time. with a start."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. gome. Okonkwo slept. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. Okonkwo. and even in the trees. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride. And so they each took a new name.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. The two voices disappeared into the thick darkness. whose name was Ibe. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home. But Ekwefi was not thinking about that. Your generation does not know that. and you are afraid." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on. The Oracle said to him. ignorant of the love of God.

"They are thirty?" he asked. It seemed as if the world had gone mad. And when." said the convert. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. And she enjoyed above all the secrecy in which she now ate them."Answer truthfully. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!)." said Ezinma. "The world has no end. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. I am an old man and you are all children.Ezinma was an only child and the center of her mother's world. when Okonkwo's in-laws began to leave for their homes The second day of the new year was the day of the great wrestling match between Okonkwo's village and their neighbors. and he sent his kotma to catch Aneto. stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed.But there was a young lad who had been captivated. Okagbue's voice was unchanged. And Okonkwo had already done that. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church. "1 want Okonkwo to answer me. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes."Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. my daughter. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn.

- it was either too early or too late. Sometimes Okonkwo gave them a few yams each to prepare.And then the storm burst. "Yaa!".There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife. "We should do something. or watched him as he tapped his palm tree for the evening wine. To show affection was a sign of weakness. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season. He passed them over to his eldest brother. whom he nearly shot. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife. Amalinze was a wily craftsman. hungry swarm. "You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. Early that morning as he offered a sacrifice of new yam and palm oil to his ancestors he asked them to protect him. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan. The drums rose to a frenzy. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles. The first rains were late.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth.""You do not understand. As soon as Unoka understood what his friend was driving at. He knew it must be Ekwefi. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say. through lonely forest paths.

Some birds chirruped in the forests around. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. and none of them died. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers. The sun breaking through their leaves and branches threw a pattern of light and shade on the sandy footway. but the villagers told them that there was no king. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day. Ekwefi hurried to the main footpath and turned left in the direction of the voice.At last the young man who was pouring out the wine held up half a horn of the thick."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter. "They are pieces of wood and stone.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. He danced a few steps to the funeral drums and then went to see the corpse. his face beaming with blessedness and peace. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more." replied Okoye. It was one of those gay and rollicking tunes of evangelism which had the power of plucking at silent and dusty chords in the heart of an Ibo man. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields." and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. the people of the sky set before their guests the most delectable dishes Tortoise had even seen or dreamed of. but I shall be happy if you marry in Umuofia when we return home.These outcasts. I did not send her away. But it was momentary. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. Age was respected among his people. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood.

Everybody was killed. He counted them. which was now surrounded by spectators. After the pot-bearers came Ibe."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night."The next day a group of elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia came to Okonkwo's house early in the morning. they could see from his color and his language. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. younger men gave way and the tumult subsided. He warmed himself in the fire and ate the entrails. Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go.""They were fools. Maduka. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. "I warned Nwankwo to keep a sharp eye and a sharp ear. and Obiageli told her mournful story. and piling up his debts." Okonkwo said to the lad. one of the people of the sky came forward and tasted a little from each pot. When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. "People traveled more in those days. like the prospect of annihilation. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. Ogbuefi Ugonna had thought of the Feast in terms of eating and drinking.

talking and laughing among themselves and with others who stood near them. and then painted his big toe. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. on their backs and their thighs. It was Chielo. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. was a widely-traveled man who knew the customs of different peoples.Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna.Before it was dusk Ezeani. beat me up and took my wife and children away. using some of the chicken. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors.""You were very much like that yourself. Kiaga restrained them. when the sun's heat had softened. his children and their mothers in the new year. a length of cloth and a hundred cowries." Ezinma said. made up her mind. The thick mat was thrown over both. who had been talking. not dead. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. He would be very much happier working on his farm. Ezinma took it to him in his obi." They laughed and agreed.

The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life.Later.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them. The spell of sunshine which always came in the middle of the wet season did not appear. He worked. that was how it looked to his father." said Obierika. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. It was not very long since they had returned. she could bear no other person but her father. Okonkwo's youngest wife. But they were very rare and short-lived. which was fastened to the rafters. He had many friends here and came to see them quite often. Ezinma took it to him in his obi. who suddenly gave up his trade." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him."Is it well?" Okonkwo asked. he thought over the matter." said Okonkwo.No work was done during the Week of Peace. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. So he began to plan how he would go to the sky. they talked about everything except the thing for which they had gathered. The neighbors and Okonkwo's wives were now talking. and on the other the offer of a young man and a virgin as compensation.

the wife of Amadi. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. and the meeting continued. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her." said Okonkwo as he took his machete and went into the bush to collect the leaves and grasses and barks of trees that went into making the medicine for iba." Okonkwo said between mouthfuls. they said to themselves. We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas. It had not happened for many a long year.Everybody agreed that Igwelo should drink the dregs. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. in silence. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control." the medicine man told Okonkwo in a cool." said one of them. Okagbue was a very striking figure. Okonkwo. "They are thirty?" he asked. is. spears. with Ezinma sleeping on her back. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue."We shall be late for the wrestling. You yourselves took her.

Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. It contained other things apart from his snuff-bottle.Then the missionaries burst into song. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them. Obierika. urging the others to hurry up. which had been stretched taut with excitement. Unoka loved it all. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it. Her daughter was only ten years old but she was wiser than her years. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought."My in-law has told you that we went to his house.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket. A bond of sympathy had grown between them as the years had passed.""There is no story that is not true. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness. It looked like an equal match. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks. The story was told in Umuofia. He went into Ekwefi's hut."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you.

That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. "They are pieces of wood and stone. Yam stood for manliness. during the last harvest season.But stories were already gaining ground that the white man had not only brought a religion but also a government. No woman ever did.The metal gong beat continuously now and the flute. There was once a man who went to sell a goat. It was a sad miscalculation."That is not the end of the story."Do you know me?""No man can know you. There were only three such boys in each team. It is almost dawn. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged.As the men drank. Ikemefuna was equally excited. The first voice gets to Chukwu. He searched his bag again and brought out a small."For the first time in three nights. It was the ekwe talking to the clan. Amikwu." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan. and it came floating on the wind. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up." He looked in the direction of Okonkwo.

""Your words are good. pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut. watching. Ezinma? You are older than Obiageli but she has more sense. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues."It was my husband's. And so they arrived home again. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia.The elders.The drum sounded again and the flute blew. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky."Your half-sister. The oldest man present said sternly that those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble."On the following Sunday.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup.""We have seen it."Take away your kola nut. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. That was in fact the reason why he had come to see Unoka. carried him shoulder high and danced through the cheering crowd. But the third created a big sensation even among the elders who did not usually show their excitement so openly. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again. Okonkwo's first son. "The bell-man announced it last night. Her husband's wife took this for malevolence. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. It was a warrior's funeral.

her left palm closed on her fish and her eyes gleaming with tears. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. unlike most children. who had been talking. After that nothing happened for a long time between the church and the clan. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest." As he looked into the log fire he recalled the name. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. by Ezeani. had gone to consult Agbala. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. They saw the iron horse and went away again. when they came.When she had shaken hands. and. They have a big market in Abame on every other Afo day and. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction."The body of Odukwe. Nothing wouldhappen to Ezinma. But the really exciting moments were when a man was thrown. It was Ekwefl's turn to tell a story. On the last night before the festival. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately. '1 am a changed man. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness.

His younger wives did that. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. and he was grateful. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. Nobody knew how old. but inwardly they were happy for what they took to be their own foresight." said the priestess. woman. or rather held out her hand to be shaken.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood. and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night."I have kola. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. Everyone looked in the direction of the egwugwu house. It was quiet and confident. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. and the cannon shattered the silence."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! Chi negbu madu ubosi ndu ya nato ya uto daluo-o-o! ??"Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight. condemned for seven years to live in a strange land. "We are going directly. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him." she answered simply.Mr.