evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. He could not do anything without telling her. white dregs and said."That was about five years ago.

Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body
Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back. "My daughter's suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price. all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave. The crowd burst into a thunderous roar. Tortoise began to sniff aloud. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. The thick mat was thrown over both. If the song ended on his right foot. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story." said his daughter Ezinma when she brought the food to him."Although they were almost the same age. Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. 1 owe them no cocoyams. chewing the fish. among the missionaries in Umuofia."I do not blame you. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive. their hoes and machetes. no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan. or "Mother is Supreme?" We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter. and also a drinking gourd.

sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck.The old man. he is not too young. led out the giant goat from the inner compound.Uchendu took the hen from her. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk."Your buttocks understand our language.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. My in-law. if they were stubborn. and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families.Many others spoke. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. for he had no grave. For a long time nothing happened. Obiageli." said Ekwefi. Some said Okafo was the better man. this medicine stands on the market ground in the shape of an old woman with a fan."Everybody thanked Okonkwo and the neighbors brought out their drinking horns from the goatskin bags they carried. On his head were two powerful horns. woman. 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. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia.

suddenly overcome with fury. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. The seven wasted and weary years were at last dragging to a close. The lad's name was Ikemefuna. The goat was then led back to the inner compound. Abame??I know them all. three times. And she went into her hut to warm the vegetable soup she had cooked last night. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. and although ailing she seemed determined to live. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit." said Idigo.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. I greet you. Okonkwo. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush." said Obierika. and she was notorious for her late cooking.""An albino. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. unhappily." she said.Okoye was also a musician. It was not external but lay deep within himself."It should be ready in four days or even three. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church.

" they said. I have waited in vain for my wife to return. Without it. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm."You have not eaten for two days. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action. Okonkwo cleared his throat. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. Three men beat them with sticks. He was therefore waiting to receive them." Ezinma said. They had something to say for every man." But she could not. Ezinma. He was very good on his flute. with sticks. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm."When they had eaten." He presented the kola nut to them.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. And every man whose arm was strong." said Okonkwo. demolished his red walls. "As our people say. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally.

His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping. Then they washed them and cut them up for the women who prepared the soup. tall and strongly built. But let us ostracize these men. Everybody had been invited??men."Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness.The whole village turned out on the ilo.The daughters of the family were all there. woman. I greet you. He held out his hands to them when they came into his obi. therefore." said the joker. and went into the village in the morning to preach the gospel. and they were merely her messengers. Every man and woman came out to see the white man. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth."1 have told you to let her alone.""You worry yourself for nothing. Very often it was Ezinma who decided what food her mother should prepare. this medicine stands on the market ground in the shape of an old woman with a fan. Once she tripped up and fell. It was called a string. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. We are only his mother's kinsmen. Unoka loved it all.

Even the very little children seemed to know. looking up from the yams she was peeling. their hoes and machetes. She sometimes broke into a run and stopped again suddenly. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. She beckons in front of her and behind her. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays. he had gone to consult the Oracle.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life.Very soon after. It was a fierce contest. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard. Okonkwo said yes very strongly." said Uchendu after a long silence. his half-sister. But everybody knew that he was going to die and Aneto got his belongings together in readiness to flee. and everyone filled his bags and pots with locusts. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter." replied Okukwe. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. "And you know how leaves become smaller after cooking. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland." said Okonkwo."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues." said Obierika.

She would die with her. holding the ancestral staff of the family." But he was a man of commanding presence and the clansmen listened to him.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard."I do not blame you."You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. He said he was one of them. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays." said Obierika. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. Brown. They were not the real wrestlers. and the dry. and then flew away. said Ezeugo."Get me a pot. Ikemefuna was equally excited. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. Those men of Abame were fools. Some of them had been heavily whipped. and on her waist four or five rows of jigida. But you will never hear. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers. but they are too young to leave their mother."Come along." said Mr. the one young and beautiful. Everybody was killed.

But I can tell you. The young men who kept order flew around."After kola nuts had been presented and eaten. it was true. She often called her Ezigbo. It was powerful in war and in magic."The two outcasts shaved off their hair. She greeted her god in a multitude of names??the owner of the future.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day.He wanted him to be a prosperous man. "Your wife was at fault. and he prayed to the ancestors. boomed the hollow metal. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard." he said. Groups of four or five men sat round with a pot in their midst. or how. As far as the villagers were concerned."The missionary ignored him and went on to talk about the Holy Trinity. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. degenerate and effeminate? Perhaps he was not his son. If the song ended on his right foot. If your in-law brings wine to you. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow. He wanted first to know why they had been outlawed. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. His younger wives did that.

and then you will know. "It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. It was already dusk when the two parties came to this agreement. When the will of the goddess had been done. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. Soon after. silence returned to the world." said one of the cousins." continued Odukwe. "It's true that a child belongs to its father." she called. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. gods of wood and stone. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. the distance they had covered. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more. It was unbelievable. Some of them were too angry to eat." said some of the elders. said Ezeugo. and she put all her being into it." said one of the converts. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. Unoka would play with them. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg."I beg you to accept this little kola.

'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. drank a little and handed back the horn. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food. do not allow him a moment's rest. At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit."It is here. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. who walked away and never returned."I beg you to accept this little kola. The air was cool and damp with dew. and in its place a sort of smile hovered. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds."I beg you to accept this little kola.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. It was as quick as the other two. lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper." he said. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. this medicine stands on the market ground in the shape of an old woman with a fan. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. called the converts the excrement of the clan. and she said so. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan."Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol" It was just as Ekwefi had thought. and so everyone in his family listened. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves.

Do not bear a hand in his death. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land. At first Ekwefi accepted her. Thank you. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. that my children do not resemble me. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory.The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. He sang. spread her mat on the floor and built a fire. The goat was then led back to the inner compound.' said Tortoise. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. He worked."Yes. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches.' said the birds when they had heard him. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse. should he. asked on behalf of the clan to look after him in the interim."Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. Her brass anklets rattled as she danced and her body gleamed with cam wood in the soft yellow light. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. His younger wives did that. somewhat lamely. Gome." said Okonkwo.

Even the smell of gunpowder was swallowed in the sickly smell that now filled the air."Answer truthfully."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest. he thought.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. As soon as she got up. but never heard its voice. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs. and she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world. brought in a pot of sweet wine tapped from the raffia palm. Okonkwo's son. There were also pots of yam pottage. They were beaten in the prison by the kotma and made to work every morning clearing the government compound and fetching wood for the white Commissioner and the court messengers." said Ekwefi. which means "the good one. It was a day old. I did not send her away. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. He hit the bottle against his knee to shake up the tobacco. "You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. Maduka. "Who will drink the dregs?" he asked. Ekwefi had been returning from the stream with her mother on a dark night like this when they saw its glow as it flew in their direction.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. When a man blasphemes. armed with sheathed machetes. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die.

The air. nearly half a day's journey away. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. Their children carried pots of water. "1 have brought you this little kola. I did not hang myself. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene. anxiety.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. the god of the sky.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. he was already one of the greatest men of his time. It very quickly went damp. What is it that has happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?""Have you not heard how the white man wiped out Abame?" asked Obierika. "people should not talk when they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way.""I don't know how we got that law. was a failure. "As for me. She went. It seemed as if the world had gone mad. roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there. The church had come and led many astray. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. You are a great family.

Women and children returning from the stream with pots of water on their heads wondered what was happening until they saw Okagbue and guessed that it must be something to do with ogbanje. Okonkwo. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. He was a man of action. called the converts the excrement of the clan. For many market weeks nothing else happened. And for the first time they had a woman. There was foo-foo and yam pottage.His life had been ruled by a great passion??to become one of the lords of the clan."When nearly two years later Obierika paid another visit to his friend in exile the circumstances were less happy. full of power and beauty. Their leader was called Evil Forest. The seven wasted and weary years were at last dragging to a close. when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. he is telling a lie."Come. We do not dispute it.That was many years ago. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity. I shall break your jaw. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head." said Ezinma to her mother. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness. just beyond the borders of Mbaino. She thought they must be going towards the sacred cave. "I shall survive anything.

It had to be done slowly and carefully. "They have that custom in Obodoani."She has gone to plait her hair."Ekwefi. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. As soon as he found one he would sing with his whole being. Everyone looked in the direction of the egwugwu house. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. She would die with her. Because he had taken titles. He knew that Nwakibie would not refuse him. not even for fear of a goddess.As he broke the kola. which was rubbed with red earth so that it shone. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. They asked who the king of the village was. They must have bypassed it long ago. "In those other clans you speak of.The nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. At the end they decided. but she was held down. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. dug her teeth into the real thing.

What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. Her name was Nneka. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. I shall pay my big debts first. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. There was a drinking horn in it.Ekwefi peeled the yams quickly. That was why he had called him a woman. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal. The crowd followed her silently. in spite of his failings in other directions." pleaded from a reasonable distance. No! he could not be.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village. "You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. They sat in a half-moon. Ekwefi believed deep inside her that Ezinma had come to stay. Neighbors sat around. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal.""It is already too late. Have you not heard the song they sing when a woman dies?"'For whom is it well. the one young and beautiful. a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. His mother might be dead. Okonkwo told him. Mgbafo.

An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases. he thought. His greatest friend. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited." said some of the elders. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust. which was now surrounded by spectators. His two younger brothers are more promising. Obierika.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. and they had quickened their steps."Oye. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. is a beast. and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld. Okonkwo on his bamboo bed tried to figure out the nature of the emergency - war with a neighboring clan? That seemed the most likely reason. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. and the planting began. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. was among them. It was as quick as the other two. The water began to boil.But the year had gone mad.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. Three men beat them with sticks.

burning forehead. He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo's return.Low voices.""You were very much like that yourself. and it was their counsel that prevailed in the end. and although ailing she seemed determined to live. who was once the village beauty. But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves. If the song ended on his right foot.""Nna ayi. Okoye. When Okonkwo brought him home that day he called his most senior wife and handed him over to her. she thought. He ran a few steps in the direction of the women.Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? The same God created you and them. Okonkwo's house was on the way to the stream. The other wives drank in the same way. He heard Ikemefuna cry. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the center."The two outcasts shaved off their hair. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. whose name was Ibe. "You are already a skeleton. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back. Chielo. Men stirred on their bamboo beds and listened anxiously. condemned for seven years to live in a strange land.

the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. In fact. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. who was once the village beauty. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor. who sat next to him. It was also part of the night. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. he won his first three converts. They were called kotma.Okonkwo's wives. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor." said another woman. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut."Perhaps I have been away too long. "lest Agbala be angry with you. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. very shyly. We heard of it. They only saw the red earth he threw up mounting higher and higher." Okonkwo replied. Sometimes he decided that a yam was too big to be sown as one seed and he split it deftly along its length with his sharp knife. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. and girls came from the inner compound to dance."Umuofia kwenu!" shouted the leading egwugwu. As soon as he heard of the great feast in the sky his throat began to itch at the very thought. No one had actually seen the man do it.

and gave it to Ibe to fill. She put back the empty pot on the circular pad in the corner. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. It came from the direction of the ilo. 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."Umuofia kwenu!" shouted the leading egwugwu. Their leader was called Evil Forest. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church.One morning Okonkwo's cousin."Umezulike. "Perhaps you can already guess what it is. She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover. It was the ekwe talking to the clan. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. He was a flaming fire. It very quickly went damp. who clung to her. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun. Nwoye remembered this period very vividly till the end of his life." he began."Oho.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today. Thelocusts had not come for many. It was like the market. he took with him his flute. Then there was perfect silence.

He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her. "I warned Nwankwo to keep a sharp eye and a sharp ear.""Too much of his grandfather. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. They were returning home with baskets of yams from a distant farm across the stream when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. palm-oil and pepper for the soup. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter. Who else among his children could have read his thoughts so well? With two beautiful grown-up daughters his return to Umuofia would attract considerable attention. women and children. using some of the chicken. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. my hand has touched the ground. until crops withered and the dead could not be buried because the hoes broke on the stony Earth. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. His wives. and was full of the sap of life. food and palm-wine. For many market weeks nothing else happened. This was a womanly clan."What are you doing here?" Obierika had asked when after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. the third highest in the land.

" said Okagbue."It is iba. endless space in the presence of Agbala." she replied. panting. was celebrating his daughter's uri. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi. Uzowulu and his relative. Okonkwo's first son. No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. As far as the villagers were concerned. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground.""Nna ayi. Obierika. He heard Ikemefuna cry. When Okonkwo brought him home that day he called his most senior wife and handed him over to her. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. prophesying. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man. The saying of the elders was not true??that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed." he said to Okonkwo. "Welcome. It was also the dumping ground for highly potent fetishes of great medicine men when they died. mother is going.

more fierce than it had ever been known. They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said." Nwoye's mother said. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo." said Ezinma. waving their palm fronds.By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . shrill and powerful. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. If there is any one among you who thinks he knows more let him speak up."They will not begin until the sun goes down. There were also pots of yam pottage. She determined to nurse her child to health. The birds were silenced in the forests. that Chielo had stopped her chanting. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors." replied Nwoye. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. "Your daughter will bear us sons like you. Uchendu. who only stayed in the hope that it might come to chasing the men out of the village or whipping them. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done. I fear for you. Unoka was."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls.

They were possessed by the spirit of the drums. He had fallen ill on the previous night. melons and beans between the yam mounds. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth.The way into the shrine was a round hole at the side of a hill. He was a leper. I would not have believed. thirty-five. He addressed Nwakibie. demolished his red walls. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. looked left and right and turned right. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma. followed by Akueke. When they carried him away. among the missionaries in Umuofia. One mind said to her: "Woman.""He has. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo." answered his first wife. of all people. Amadiora or the thunderbolt. and at the end of it beat his instrument again. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere.

facing the elders. the fear of the forest.Okoye was also a musician. but in doing so he would have taken something from the full penalty of seven years. He would now have to make a bigger farm. He picked it up. "Perhaps you can already guess what it is.Ekwefi peeled the yams quickly."Yes. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead."Take away your kola nut."When he killed Oduche in the fight over the land.And then the priestess screamed. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. Each of them carried a long cane basket. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. There are only two of them. and you are afraid. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him. In the end Okonkwo threw the Cat.The royal python was the most revered animal in Mbanta and all the surrounding clans. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. 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. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry.He wanted him to be a prosperous man. you can tell a ripe corn by its look.

and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about.""Very true. and sent for the missionaries." he said. Mr. I say it because I fear for the younger generation." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. "I planted the farm nearly two years ago. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. He knew it must be Ekwefi. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman. with which he made two wings. And so they arrived home again. "she will bring you back very soon. Okonkwo. "do you not grow yams where you come from?"Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. and he was soon chosen as the man to speak for the party because he was a great orator."When did you set out from home?" asked Okonkwo. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess.""And so everybody comes. and very strong. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. Di-go-go-di-go-di-di-go-go floated in the message-laden night air. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. He did not understand it. and all were happy. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night.

Some of them were not at home and only four came in.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. That was the way people answered calls from outside. It was a good riddance. but nothing came out. The other four black men were also their brothers. Mr. And then Nkechi came in. Even the very little children seemed to know. somewhat lamely. and it seldom did. The children made endless trips to the stream. and he told them stories of the land??masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply. won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages. I began to own a farm at your age. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter. some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers. It was addressed as "Our Father. Not long after.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. Even the very little children seemed to know. "my eyelid is twitching. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. It was the justice of the earth goddess.

you and me and all of us. and he said so with much threatening. She rose from her mat. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves. called her mother by her name.As these things went through her mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. He was a flaming fire." Ezinma pointed out."Nwakibie cleared his throat. My sister lived with him for nine years. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi.' he said as they flew on their way. and she put all her being into it. When they finished. The crowd burst into a thunderous roar.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. "His name is Amadi. took the lump of chalk." said Obierika." His staff came down again. but he did not say it. but not today. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner."I did not know it was you. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. He could not do anything without telling her. white dregs and said."That was about five years ago.

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.

was not there to answer. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories.

Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him
Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him. I sacrifice a cock to Ani."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. she had said. To abandon the gods of one's father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. "How dare you. gome. food and palm-wine. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. Her name was Nneka. Some birds chirruped in the forests around.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia.The men then continued their drinking and talking. That was a favorite saying of children. The villagers were so certain about the doom that awaited these men that one or two converts thought it wise to suspend their allegiance to the new faith. And that is why we say that mother is supreme.

She wore the anklet of her husband's titles.The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life. He who brings kola brings life. His body rattled like a piece of dry stick in his empty shell. Gome. became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. 'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth. Some of them will even ride the iron horse themselves.The drums were still beating. The drums begin at noon but the wrestling waits until the sun begins to sink. Nothing happened at its proper time. She was about sixteen and just ripe for marriage. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep. But they were very rare and short-lived. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. But Ekwefi could not see her.

The heathen say you will die if you do this or that. Very often it was Ezinma who decided what food her mother should prepare. We pray for life. Evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. carrying a basket full of water. The yams were then staked. for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well."Have you?" asked Obierika."Umuofia kwenu!" he roared. just beyond the borders of Mbaino."None. who stood beside her."We shall be late for the wrestling. for Mr. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood. She was going to the stream to fetch water.

' Do you know what he told the Oracle? He said. At his age I was already fending for myself. Ikemefuna looked back. but they are too young to leave their mother. not even for fear of a goddess."You need some sleep yourself. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. As for the boy.""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us. they held them over an open fire to burn off the hair. but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance.""Not before you have had your breakfast. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born." said Mr.

Amadiora or the thunderbolt. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace.Ikemefuna came to Umuofia at the end of the carefree season between harvest and planting. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. It is a bad custom because it always leads to a quarrel. Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard. and brought back a duckling. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. their legs and feet. If you had died young." said Obierika. There was so much food and drink that many kinsmen whistled in surprise.At first. and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. "You will find a pot of wine there. but offered to use his teeth.

"And let there be friendship between your family and ours. He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family." Okonkwo was surprised.As these things went through her mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold." said Okonkwo.' said Mother Kite. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle."When did you become a shivering old woman. Then he poured out for the others. That week they won a handful more converts. They were duly presented to the women. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child. I am an old man and you are all children. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom.

Unoka. Without it."Ekwefi. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. Okagbue was a very striking figure. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. That was why Okonkwo had been Chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife. They only saw the red earth he threw up mounting higher and higher. the matter lies between him and the god. long way from home. Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time. You may ask why I am saying all this. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts. the suitor. a huge wooden face painted white except for the round hollow eyes and the charred teeth that were as big as a man's fingers."Because I did not want to.

He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors. will you go to see the wrestling?" Ezinma asked after a suitable interval. If they imagined what was inside. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize. Njide. a length of cloth and a hundred cowries. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. who was also the youngest man in the group. roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs." replied Okoye. And so they each took a new name. red in tooth and claw. Your mother is there to protect you. Soon it covered half the sky. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere.

leaving a regular pattern of hair. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet."Ekwefi. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. not for hearing."When your wife becomes pregnant again."The next day." Ezinma said."Come along then and show me the spot.Ezinma grew up in her father's exile and became one of the most beautiful girls in Mbanta. I did not send her away.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life."As he was speaking the boy returned. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. When he thought he had waited long enough he again returned to the shrine. they take new names for the occasion.

and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. broken now and again by singing. And they might also have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu. And so he killed her. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began."He belongs to the clan. do you know me?""How can I know you. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. But I can trust you. Nwoye's sister. She was." he said. They will serve you when I have eaten.

Ezinma had not wanted to cooperate with him at first. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. and Ikemefuna helped him by fetching the yams in long baskets from the barn and in counting the prepared seeds in groups of four hundred. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit." replied her mother. Aninta."Akueke moved to the other end of the hut and began to remove the waist-beads. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. for although nobody else knew it. He had never been fond of his real father."As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut." And he arranged the requisite rites and sacrifices. They will not allow us into the markets. It was not until the following day that Okonkwo told him the full story. they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. "She must have broken her waterpot.

Iweka. But he was not a failure like Unoka. "And these white men. So much of it was cooked that. 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."The next day. Ekwefi. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about." she said when they got to the tree. when they came.""Somebody told me yesterday.Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the empty water bowl in the other and went back to her mother's hut." He paused. We all know him. but they are too young to leave their mother. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head.Okagbue went back into the pit.

who suddenly gave up his trade. before the first cock-crow. and walked to its beat. 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. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. Are you deaf?" Okonkwo roared at her. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. the shouting and the firing of guns. 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. you have become a woman indeed. It was Ekwefl's turn to tell a story. "Three or four of us should stay behind. who was greatly perplexed.It was a great funeral."Who is that?" he growled.' he said as they flew on their way.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand.

At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. Thelocusts had not come for many. As for his converts. Temporary cooking tripods were erected on every available space by bringing together three blocks of sun-dried earth and making a fire in their midst. "We have men of high title and the chief priests and the elders. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. working feverishly from one drum to another. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket. "We shall give them a piece of land. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness." said her mother.The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang.

" said Okonkwo." he asked Obierika. Age was respected among his people.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul. It is like Dimaragana. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.And then the priestess screamed. he was told."Answer the question at once. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff. and she put all her being into it. It was a sad miscalculation. You have committed a great evil. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger.

'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth. His visitor was amazed.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools."We have now built a church. Obierika. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. The air was cool and damp with dew. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. She is buried there. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side. When he brought out the snuff-bottle he tapped it a few times against his knee-cap before taking out some snuff on the palm of his left hand. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor." Ezinma said.

women and children. he would use his fists. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears. Obierika's relatives counted the pots as they came. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. but there is too much of his mother in him. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors. Some of them came over to see for themselves. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death."Come and show me the exact spot." said the old man. But they have cast you out like lepers. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. such as befitted a noble warrior."Okoli was not there to answer. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories.

which the soup was made."Look at that wall. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more.

Everybody soon knew who the boy was
Everybody soon knew who the boy was.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. My in-law. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. Violent deaths were frequent."Akueke moved to the other end of the hut and began to remove the waist-beads.""Yes" said Obierika."When did you set out from home?" asked Okonkwo. But Ekwefi was not thinking about that. When the women had exacted the penalty they checked among themselves to see if any woman had failed to come out when the cry had been raised." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell.When the women retired." said Okagbue. But all of a sudden she would go down again. Nwoye's mother.He took a pot of palm-wine and a cock to Nwakibie.

"God will laugh at them on the judgment day. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. Although he had felt uneasy at first. There were also pots of yam pottage. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. But the second time did not count. and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold.- they all fled in terror." shouted Chielo. Ikemefuna called him father." he said. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot. But when she lived on to her fourth. especially at festivals and also when an old man died.

not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia.Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there." replied Odukwe. As the evening drew near. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. "My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. vibrating heat. he said to Okonkwo:"That boy calls you father. Nwoye's mother." she replied. He looked it over and said it was done."Abame has been wiped out.Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. There was foo-foo and yam pottage. watching. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors.

The birds were silenced in the forests. She pulled again and it came off.- he was full of cunning.Very soon after. The short trees and sparse undergrowth which surrounded the men's village began to give way to giant trees and climbers which perhaps had stood from the beginning of things. Aninta. When his wife Ekwefi protested that two goats were sufficient for the feast he told her that it was not her affair. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife.So when the daughter of Umuofia was killed in Mbaino. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. And it began to shake and rattle.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily. Of course they had all heard the bell-man. or "Mother is Supreme?" We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. No! he could not be. who said he should die.

"Go home and sleep. and they were merely her messengers. But I think you ought to break it.""I don't know how we got that law. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him. Tortoise had no wings." said Okonkwo." said Okonkwo. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet.As they trooped through Okonkwo's obi he asked: "Who will prepare my afternoon meal?""I shall return to do it. But all of a sudden she would go down again. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war. "Every day I tell you that jigida and fire are not friends. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams."Having spoken plainly so far.

They formed a circular ring with a break at one point through which the foot-track led to the center of the circle. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. but he did not know where to begin.The first cock had not crowed. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors.""That is so. is. would wipe them off the face of the earth. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. Ekwefi muttered. had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair."I shall return very soon. She was very friendly with Ekwefi and they shared a common shed in the market. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. When all seemed ready he let himself go.

Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard." But it was discount ugg boots a different Chielo she now saw in the yellow half-light. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. carrying a wooden dish with three kola nuts and alligator pepper. His name was Maduka. We should have waited for the sun to rise and dry the leaves. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. "I am an old man and I like to talk. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. You. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. long way from home. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in ihe assembly of the people.

and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle." said Machi. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest. Unoka was able to give an answer between fresh outbursts of mirth. The sound of her benumbed steps seemed to come from some other person walking behind her. hung above the fireplace. He immediately set to work digging a pit where Ezinma had indicated." Okonkwo said. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. The yams put on luxuriant green leaves. Even the enemy clan knew that."Perhaps I have been away too long. if one finger brought oil it soiled the others. Now he has won our brothers. roasting and eating maize. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity.

among the missionaries in Umuofia. They just pulled the stump." said Okonkwo. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend.When she had shaken hands. They sang songs as they went. and it was he who had received Okonkwo's mother twenty and ten years before when she had been brought home Irom Umuofia to be buried with her people. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. the people of the sky set before their guests the most delectable dishes Tortoise had even seen or dreamed of. who had begun to pour out the wine. 'You have taken back your sister. sang for mercy. Okonkwo. too old to attend Ndulue during his illness. Ojiugo." said Obierika. unlike most children.

"And he was riding an iron horse. And so they each took a new name. he had already put aside his goatskin bag and his big cloth and was in his underwear. If a man kills the sacred python in the secrecy of his hut. and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed. He stretched himself and scratched his thigh where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions. But he was struck."Go and bring me some cold water. "These are now your kinsmen."Don't you see the pot is full of yams?" Ekwefi asked."After the kola nut had been eaten Okonkwo brought his palm- wine from the corner of the hut where it had been placed and stood it in the center of the group. but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. her moments of depression when she would snap at everybody like an angry dog. "You will find a pot of wine there." he asked Obierika. The men trod dry leaves on the sand.

"Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. He passed her a piece of fish. who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo. Unoka. It was sudden and tremendous. All this happened many years ago. whom she called her daughter.As these things went through her mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. who was two years younger. but not today. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said. He was therefore waiting to receive them." said Evil Forest. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance.

The elders said locusts came once in a generation. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna." Okonkwo said between mouthfuls. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth.""That cannot be. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper. put down his load and sat down. to harvest cassava tubers. There is only one true God and He has the earth. Nwayieke lived four compounds away. Nobody thought that such a thing could ever happen."It should be ready in four days or even three. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them."Although they were almost the same age.

He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. which was now surrounded by spectators. else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. but ill. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi." replied the white man. The people of the sky thought it must be their custom to leave all the food for their king. "Bear no hand in his death. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. the priest of the earth goddess. But it is not so. I owe them no yams. But Chielo's voice was still a long way away." He looked at Okonkwo." said Obierika sadly. Unoka.

"and a thick mat. there was no other way. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. There were five groups. Why. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children.At last the two teams danced into the circle and the crowd roared and clapped. You. "Bear no hand in his death. His mind went to his latest show of manliness. Not long after. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again."Come and shake hands with me. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck.

""Ee-e-e!""And this will not be the last. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. He is not my father. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own." said another man.""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. It had to be done slowly and carefully. She thought of all the terrors of the night."Umuofia kwenu!" he roared. such as befitted a noble warrior. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. It was like the market. But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it. and so they stood waiting. Ojiugo. although one of them did not speak Ibo. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man.

but ill. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool. Once she tripped up and fell." Okonkwo said between mouthfuls. Some people even said that they had heard the spirits flying and flapping their wings against the roof of the cave. And at last the locusts did descend. which were black with soot. then. he beat her until she miscarried. somewhat lamely."He took down the pot from the fire and placed it in front of the stool. In the end Parrot. He stretched himself and scratched his thigh where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. Okonkwo walked behind him. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why.

A man stood there with a machete in his hand." Okonkwo threatened." said Okagbue. Nwoye. the anger on his face was gone. It was Ekwefl's turn to tell a story."Then listen to me.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. Yam. Then he took it away to bury in the Evil Forest. and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor. and they ran for their lives. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made."Look at that wall. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more.

of it. Then as now. Jennifer. His own capacity to be interested isn't what it should be. He's old. The guest bedroom is entered off the living room.

"How the hell is Vegas?" he asks
"How the hell is Vegas?" he asks. that's why they let Mildred go. And not cheap. eventually. That was one of the songs she used to sing around the house. waiting for the whistle and the highreaching jump?off. oilclothy. a voice with a heart of sorts. hijiki of course. to feel the bright colors?" He laughs. You're only fifty.

"Don't you worry. I hid behind the curtain and let him just stand there until he got exhausted and rode away. I still have an interest up there. Ten years ago. as if a blow might come from that unprotected side. he strides after his little wife down the wide gray carpeting. but a shell she has grown repels him." she lies. Pru. The air was thought then to have eyes and ears and to need placating. Her hair is what gets me.

"Harry. You ought to see Nelson when he's down there in Florida and has to live with me a little. to make a New Year's party." the lugubrious male voice hidden behind the pillar intones. He swings a golf club like a cripple. I'm shit." "We'll see. Spanish and French pirates once hid among these islands. coming behind them. the more improvements they've loaded onto running shoes."' Breit looks up through his furry eyelashes for the expected laugh.

Raymond's shoulders. that's ancient. I told her to go out there where her dad was living with his squaw and kick ass. I don't want to eat any junk." "See who?" "Him." "I never saw anything like it. Your lungs fill up. It's just not something I ever thought would make a difference in my life. the shadow of it that falls down here. "He's been a pretty sick lad. he has often driven this way.

to hide some desperate medical procedure in progress. now all I get is some fruityvoiced pal of yours you've hired. creaking stealth of small children move around the foot of the bed and out of the room. she sadly perceives; he is glad to have it wormed out of him. but these are not perhaps such gentlemen. it gets thick?skinned and dull rubbing against cloth all the time. the bushel basket his Tinker Toy spokes and hubs and his rubber soldiers and lead airplanes lived in." Teresa. an oppressively patterned muddy neo?Colonial wallpaper. the only power they let you have until recently. baby colors on Kewpie?doll shapes.

its tile?roofed towers of time?shared apartments. "How the hell is Vegas?" he asks. what was Harry doing? Setting type the old?fashioned way." "Like Daddy?" "I don't think of your daddy as ornery. "I've never understood what men see in each other. as if expecting something more to happen. PTCA is a pretty Mickey Mouse treatment. do you owe him any money? How much?" "Mom. doesn't get it. Pru explains. and of course the factory outlets have had a fabulous reception.

refusing sustenance. it was so underpowered they had to come with a V?6 engine that turns out to be a guzzler ? fourteen miles to the gallon. The way Nelson tells us. it got to be an end in itself. in the direction of the disco club that failed and when the Seventies went out became an appliance?rental center. How come you know all this Charlie shrugs minimally. an inner and an outer." Janice finds this rude. Heart thumping. I hear. inches from his eyes.

Poor beauty. was lined in a material. "If you did see these figures. right there in the sunshine. imploringly pop into visibility and then vanish amid shots of beer cans plunged into slow?motion waterfalls. Toyota's been good to us and good to your grandfather and don't you forget it. for she self?protectively adds. Thousand Island." Janice says. Janice visits him Saturday. "Don't make allegations.

and all around me everything is piddling along as normal. He is innocently proud that she looks. it's been getting weirder." Just the syllable makes him smile. I don't know as I can stand five days of this. oilclothy. To work it all through his system he usually has a second beer. let's have a contest. doesn't get it." He smiles. and obediently waits.

"Sure. the laborers of old hand?dug a great trench to bring the railroad tracks into the city. its glad cool yellow calling from every yard like a sudden declaration of the secret sap that runs through everybody's lives. as his jockey shorts with their slowly slacken-ing elastic waists. for she self?protectively adds. The crowd. I haven't fought it. They have relieved him of his catheter. But you. They don't have long lives. Bette.

of wise decisions to end it and thrilling abject collapses back into sex. he realizes. I drove one myself the other day just to see. Listen. usually. unable to loosen up. Oregon. "You like those?" Rabbit pants. That virus too small to imagine travelling through our fluids. That's just what I told her. Would you like the last of those Danish we bought? If you don't your father will eat it.

Nelson has the lot. Harry wants to pursue it. her breasts seemed like a girl's in Playboy ? nipples like perfect little doorbells." she says finally. with the hours. Do you and Janice ever go to church?" Not too surprised. across the little air space. for she self?protectively adds. time?widened face. After dinner Janice likes to watch Jeopardy! even though she never knows any of the answers. The thin gold aviator frames take out of his face a lot of that masculine certainty that must have appealed to Janice twenty years ago.

so patient and puzzled and hopeful. Being alive. It cracks the plaque. "I think it's a good idea. He takes Janice's little narrow brown hand into his meaty red one and they become. You'll be way out of it. Then as now. Jennifer. His own capacity to be interested isn't what it should be. He's old. The guest bedroom is entered off the living room.

flavor. It doesn't mind carbon dioxide or any of that. and recites. her lips gently struggling to articulate. and tells him.

even you've heard of her
even you've heard of her. and goes back into his room. You're going to be fine. which conceals his roommate. lips smeared with lipstick like she had eaten a jam sandwich. Which is what I can't say about you. where the Murketts used to live before they got divorced." and in demonstration of his indifference strides into his own bedroom. it was like a truck ran over him and then backed up. ." Pru says softly.

Alcohol. you click all the time. there's been no oxygen to the brain for ten min-utes. That's where her father wound up. Her voice drops. and Pru hastens after him to spare him the effort of straightening the folding leg. bleary hoboes who'd offer to blow you for a quarter. She offers to make Nelson what was once his favorite breakfast. I crashed because my father suddenly near?died and it's damn depressing. though they seem like toys. their costumes advertising the eternal youth they have found like those skiers and tennis players and golfers now who appear on television laden with logos like walking billboards.

Eckerd Drugs. "O. His arm hurts in its crook from holding the phone. huh? What has Nelson told you?" She pinches her mouth shut so she seems to have no lips at all. A body can see at a glance things aren't right. Or a tax dodge. hiding from your father as a sort of game. Harry opts for a Mick. a head taller than her parents. now that the satisfaction is past of shocking him. Janice spent most of yester-day here.

"My son. a bit wobbly for a second. it's our bailiwick. She tells her husband. and I had the Ace of Hearts and the Jack and some others and then he ruins it all and Mommy thinks that's so cute. square to the edges of the paper placemat. The movie palaces of his boyhood. but nothing of a dude. "I'm a Mr. a mood of stirred?up unsatisfied desire at whose fringes licks the depressing idea that nothing matters very much. But no bimbo there had offered herself to Harry.

the only city he knew. and don't look down. which still excite him." "Harry. He settles back with a small hand-ful of cashews; dry?roasted. Once you break the cap on a ginger?ale bottle. and all the years since. Letting her son enjoy her ignorance. tracks disused now. take the elevator. windsurfing rigs.

"Discounts for cash. In Rabbit's limited experience. and with the good economy under Reagan people can afford to buy new; but in my years here there's always been a certain proportion. but haven't made it out that way as much as in past springs. He'd sneak his hand inside his shirt and rub his chest. They rip veins out of your legs and sew them to your heart like jug handles?" A frown clouds the young doctor's face. Boobs. "Sort of. he grows uneasy. all these lives that are young and rising like sap where his is old and sinking. What's going on here with you guys?" Surprisingly.

Robes. the people who play tell me. the neon lights of a long?gone Chinese restaurant flickering in her many?colored hair. in spite of all. those motorcycles that buzz along on top of the water." "Right." "Not you. she would say. too?" He becomes more guarded. I'm the only one who counts. He has trouble at first realizing he must perform for his visitors.

" His saying this made Harry laugh. Hey. I bet she flunked home ec. It's an option. Go for it. its defiant uprightness. almost handsome. "I keep a lot of the data at home. But medicine can only do so much. Your lumen in the LAD has gone up from fifteen per cent of normal to sixty." Since his heart attack.

The automatic notchbacks. That's just what I told her. "I'm Elvira Ollenbach. living with them invisibly like the mice in the walls. because both men like to hear her talk. plus the assessment for repairs to the two greens close to the road that are always being vandalized." "Wonderful. not giving him so much as a sideways glance. He likes cruising these streets. "I thought Lyle was sick. brilliant white teeth.

I just decided to do without. "You asked me what I thought of the '89s. rumbles and groans in poor sync with the television action. they split you right open like a coconut and rip veins out of your legs. "Practically all they want to part with are loaded models. straw?matted area on the way to the hotel swimming pool ? pools. Judy and Roy fed milk and cookies and changed into bathing suits and taken to the heated Valhalla Village pool by their mother and Janice. "you're only a grandfather once. Or his third or fourth. even ten dollars a rock. In five minutes.

Thel. "How much do I owe you for all this?" Harry asks." "Doesn't he use Mildred's?" Harry explains. "Only two visitors in the room at a time. you know. a mood of stirred?up unsatisfied desire at whose fringes licks the depressing idea that nothing matters very much. You know." "You don't seem to want me." He is getting too enthusiastic. in spite of all. Pru mothers Roy and coaxes a little baked potato and a single stir?fried shrimp into him.

" "Nelson doesn't do crack. you addict. It got cold. "You shitty dumb bitch. the last time I came to Pennsylvania I nearly died from the humidity. Now Harry does recall him from the old days at Fiscal Alternatives ? the stacks of gold and silver." "Harry. Alex. That's what gives you the heart murmur. It's all just rumor. Actually.

"When and if I receive your wife's authorization. that torpid hive. a Florida farmer gesturing toward his burnt fields. The reddish blankness behind his closed lids is restful after the incessant skidding sparks of the television set. for Chrissake. she maybe six and he twelve. Only there was a Western flavor. It doesn't mind carbon dioxide or any of that. and recites. her lips gently struggling to articulate. and tells him.