Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan.

His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why
His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. As the elders said." he said. neither getting too near nor keeping too far back. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise.When the rain finally came. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other diety. Unoka. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. There were five groups. all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave. Nwakibie sent for his wives. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. which should be a woman's crowning glory. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks. I owe that man a thousand cowries." said Obierika."But the leaves will be wet." she said. which had dozed in the noon-day haze.

and kill him there. and evil fortune followed him to the grave. 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. gome. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown. They saw the iron horse and went away again. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. She was the priestess of Agbala. Maduka. and the rest went back. It was as quick as the other two. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting."She has gone to plait her hair. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. The rainbow was called the python of the sky. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. for Mr. It was like pouring grains of corn into a bag full of holes. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange. At first they were afraid they might die. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought.

"Then kill yourself. overpowered him and obtained his first human head. There was no barn to inherit. Nobody knew how old. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. Okagbue was a very striking figure. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things.""Let them laugh. he broke it and they ate. called round his neighbors and made merry." she answered.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost.In the distance the drums continued to beat. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed. or playground. a long." asked another man. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path.""That is so.""In future call her into your obi.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. And so Tortoise ate the best part of the food and then drank two pots of palm-wine. It was said that when such a spirit appeared.

I sacrifice a cock to Ani. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village. and so they suffered. Okonkwo!" she warned. The Oracle said to him. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. You. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion." said Obierika to his son." Okonkwo said. when they died. The air was cool and damp with dew. the harvest of the previous year. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. a debtor."Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory. and then.As night fell. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song.

"Will you go?""Yes. that Chielo had stopped her chanting.The young suitor. My in-law." He turned to Uzowulu's group and allowed a short pause. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal. If you think you are the greatest sufferer in the world ask my daughter. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. I shall pay my big debts first. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal. and sleepy. smiled broadly and said to his father: "Do you hear that?" He then said to the others: "He will never admit that I am a good tapper. Nobody knew how old. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom. after the rains. his mother was alive."Ekwefi.Anasi was a middle-aged woman.

"Will you go?""Yes. in silence. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error.Ekwefi put a few live coals into a piece of broken pot and Ezinma carried it across the clean swept compound to Nwoye's mother. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause.'"'You do not know me. When she came to the main road. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky."I will come with you.Later."She has gone to plait her hair. She was Okonkwo's second wife Ekwefi. It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli."The village has outlawed us. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead. 'You have done very well. and when they had seen it and thanked him. All cooking pots. as the saying goes. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing.

you would still have committed a great evil to beat her. Okonkwo's son. If any one of you prefers to be a woman. persistent and unchanging. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. They sat in a half-moon. The heathen say you will die if you do this or that.""Let us not reason like cowards. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. some of whom now stood enthralled.' replied the man. "I shall carry you on my back. tangled and dirty hair." said the old man. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. And that could not be. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew." said Ofoedu.An iron gong sounded. Smoke poured out of his head. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination.

Ezinma rushed out of the hut. and evil fortune followed him to the grave. and four or five others in his own age group. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. holding the ancestral staff of the family. and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth. through lonely forest paths.""I did not know that. "1 do not know how to thank you. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot.The old man. The medicine man ignored him. The harvest was over. The birds were silenced in the forests. Then something had given way inside him. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. And every man whose arm was strong. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg. Why do they always go for one's ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. or ndichie. watching.

Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. She thought they must be going towards the sacred cave. When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted."We have heard both sides of the case. Obiako. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. Kiaga stopped them and began to explain. If the clan had disobeyed the Oracle they would surely have been beaten. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. The first rains were late. who will hold his head up among my people. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week.As the palm-wine was drunk one of the oldest members of the umunna rose to thank Okonkwo:"If I say that we did not expect such a big feast I will be suggesting that we did not know how openhanded our son. Aninta." said Ofoedu. they say.Ezinma led the way back to the road.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happilydiscount uggs boots with Ikemefuna and Nwoye."Answer the question at once. "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.

Obierika's son. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them. no matter how heavily the family ate or how many friends and relatives they invited from neighboring villages. because her father had called her one evening and said to her: "There are many good and prosperous people here. the farthest village in the clan." The boy smiled. Has he thrown a hundred men?He has thrown four hundred men. the emanation of the god of water. meanwhile." he said. and gave it to Ibe to fill. He had fallen ill on the previous night.""We have seen it. In the end Parrot. Perhaps she has come to stay. If they imagined what was inside." said his daughter Ezinma when she brought the food to him. She determined to nurse her child to health. Men stirred on their bamboo beds and listened anxiously. and they began to go back the way they had come. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back.

He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul.""That is so. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices. Why is it that when a woman dies she is taken home to be buried with her own kinsmen? She is not buried with her husband's kinsmen. There was a drinking horn in it. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors."And why did you not say so.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. It was slow and painful."It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr. just beyond the borders of Mbaino. But she had got worse and worse."It should be ready in four days or even three. and he never saw her again. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. I owe that man a thousand cowries. of course. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye.Ikemefuna heard a whisper close behind him and turned round sharply. before the first cock-crow.

Obierika. neither early nor late. He was therefore waiting to receive them. Three young men from the victorious boy's team ran forward.These outcasts. And there was eating and drinking till night. Would he recognize her now? She must have grown quite big. But it was useless. but he had been too surprised to weep. gome. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka. He knew that he was a fierce fighter. gome.The elders of the clan had decided that Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo's care for a while.Before it was dusk Ezeani. Such was Unoka's fate. meanwhile. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky. Machi. you and me and all of us.The priestess screamed. very shyly."When he killed Oduche in the fight over the land.

They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done.' 'You must return the duckling. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears. Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma. but they all refused. with Ezinma sleeping on her back." said Mr. and he had moments of sadness and depression But he and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other that such moments became less frequent and less poignant. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. but its vigor was undiminished. The young tendrils were protected from earth-heat with rings of sisal leaves." said Obierika." And he took another pinch of snuff.Chielo's voice was now rising continuously. 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. When he walked. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs. Okonkwo decided to go out hunting. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl."Thank you. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest."Yes.

"I beg you to accept this little kola. and the lad Ikemefuna. nor even a young wife. She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma. and no longer rebuked him or beat him. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. It was also part of the night." said Obierika."Have you?" asked Obierika. a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects. It had been early in the morning. I shall do that every year until you return."Just then Obierika's son. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. but to settle the dispute." said Akukalia. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. Ikeocha. which was fastened to the rafters. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet.

who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. Then he tried to settle the matter the way he used to settle such matters when he was a little boy. The rain became lighter and lighter until it fell in slanting showers. Chielo never ceased in her chanting. But his whole life was dominated by fear. and she put all her being into it. The other wives drank in the same way."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream.Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife. They too sat just in front of the huge circle of spectators. The water began to boil.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. "I have felt it.""He has. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. It was a gay and airy kind of rain. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays. He was to be called All oj you. the one young and beautiful. cooking and eating. he beat her until she miscarried. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach.

The clan was like a lizard. from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts. This happened in the rainy season."Have you?" asked Obierika. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere. There was a drinking horn in it.""I do not. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish. because you understand us and we understand you. the son of Obierika. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss.The daughters of the family were all there. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul??the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. 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. its sullenness over. and you are afraid. especially with the children. but ill. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last. Okonkwo's youngest wife also came out and joined the others. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood. It was as quick as the other two."Oho.

Go home and work like a man. father? You are beyond our knowledge. That was the day it happened. Okonkwo. 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. she found her lying on the mat. That was the day it happened. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now. We must cook quickly or we shall be late for the wrestling. She understood things so perfectly. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal.' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season. Mr. a length of cloth and a hundred cowries. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools.""But someone had to do it. When Ekwefi had followed the priestess. But let us ostracize these men. But some of these losses were not irreparable." He paused. I married her with my money and my yams.He sighed heavily.

"Ozoemena was. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. bringing the third dish. You are a great family. The crime was of two kinds. She beckons in front of her and behind her. was quite harmless. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. It had not happened for many a long year. among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago. will not understand me. His name was Uchendu. It must be the thought of going home to his mother."Ezeudu!" he called in his guttural voice. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. suddenly changed his mind and agreed to take the message."We are at last getting somewhere. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again.

" said one of the women. and then flew away. woman. 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. and the crowd yelled in answer. silence returned to the world."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves. are white like this piece of chalk.As night fell.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. We pray for life." she said. whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages. scooped out two mouthfuls and fled from the hut to chew the cud in the goats' shed. An evil forest was. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves.By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman. all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave."It has not always been so. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion.

"We will go with you to meet those cowards."At last the hen was plucked clean. 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. 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. That was in fact the reason why he had come to see Unoka." roared Okonkwo. The musicians with their wood. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation. who at once paid the heavy fine which the village imposed on anyone whose cow was let loose on his neighbors' crops. Kiaga's joy was very great. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. The other people were released. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market. It was Chielo. but it was too far to see what they were.""Somebody told me yesterday. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. The church had come and led many astray. They all have food in their own homes. his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe."That will not be enough."Tufia-al" the priestess cursed. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said.

" Okonkwo thought within himself. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near." lied Nwoye's mother. children. who had taken two titles." he began. People called on their neighbors and drank palm-wine. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. We did not see it. be cursed with such a son? He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or chi." he said. "Tortoise and Cat went to wrestle against Yams??no. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. nearly half a day's journey away. They then set about painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and on their backs. women and children. Old men and children would then sit round log fires.""They were fools. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew." replied the other. Unoka loved it all. Obierika.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved.

" said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh.- the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard. or tie-tie. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams."As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. they take new names for the occasion. It was like a wedding feast. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. It was like the market. and of the forces of nature. Gome. were whispering together. The man who had whispered now called out aloud.' he said as they flew on their way. "But I want all of you to note what 1 am going to say. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. She shut her eyes for a while and opened them again in an effort to see. I would have asked you to get life. As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops. Onwumbiko??"Death." Obierika replied sharply.

not dead. who then unrolled the goatskin which he carried under his arm."None. thought that it was possible that they would also be received. But they have cast you out like lepers. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan. Okonkwo came next and Ekwefi followed him. and our clan can no longer act like one. Even the enemy clan knew that." said Okonkwo. Obierika had sent one of his relatives all the way to Umuike to buy that goat It was the one he would present alive to his in-laws. Unoka. Now and again the cannon boomed. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups.Unoka. Even the very little children seemed to know.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come."When did you set out from home?" asked Okonkwo. He had finished it on the very day the locusts came. else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. Obierika had sent one of his relatives all the way to Umuike to buy that goat It was the one he would present alive to his in-laws. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan.