"This meeting is for men. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point.

and Ekwefi asked Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo to explain to Obierika's wife that she would be late
and Ekwefi asked Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo to explain to Obierika's wife that she would be late. woman. It was indeed the shrine of a great god. said Ezeugo. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs. the top one. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders. was a very exacting king. or God's house. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. talking was the next best. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. and she put all her being into it.""But they are beating the drums. As soon as he left. "there is no slave or free. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu.Obierika was a man who thought about things. If you think you are the greatest sufferer in the world ask my daughter. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. "We are going directly. Kiaga. followed by Akueke. roots snapped below. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow.

And so when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole hardly big enough to pass a hen. Kiaga's joy was very great. At such times she seemed beyond danger. such as befitted a noble warrior. even into people's beds. took the lump of chalk. i fear for the clan. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu.The footway had now become a narrow line in the heart of the forest." said Okonkwo. I salute you."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. And so it was time for the final ceremony of confession.He is fit to be a slave.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup.Yam. It was also the dumping ground for highly potent fetishes of great medicine men when they died. She buried her face in her lap and waited. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. When they carried him away. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede.""But someone had to do it. and then flew away. He asked them for health and children. The moon was definitely rising. Ezinma took it to him in his obi. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan."I was coming over to see you as soon as I finished that thatch. Then they washed them and cut them up for the women who prepared the soup.

Ezinma had not wanted to cooperate with him at first. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. in a body.As the day wore on his in-laws arrived from three surrounding villages."Ekwefi. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. Near the barn was a small house. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. and at the end it was decided to follow the normal course of action."Your buttocks understand our language. Then send him word to fight for us. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. His wives." said the woman. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. His wives and children were very happy too. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness. The elders said locusts came once in a generation.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought." he said. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action." said the priestess. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head.'"'You do not know me.

We are only his mother's kinsmen. but there is too much of his mother in him. She went. the king of crops.- and in this way the cover was strengthened on the wall. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo.' said the birds when they had heard him." said Okonkwo. relaxed again. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish.At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor." lied Nwoye's mother. "As for me. Mr. gome."Odukwe was short and thickset.Okonkwo did as the priest said.It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. she thought.' she called.""I did not know that." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children."I am Evil Forest. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day. but achievement was revered.

paid regular visits to them. "But you can explain to her. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. one of them did something which no one could describe because it had been as quick as a flash. hungry to do harm to the living. "you. by Ezeani. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. Ukegbu. pointing at the far wall of his hut. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed."Yes. turning to Obierika. whose eyes. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. who were still outside the circle. I knew your father. Okagbue was a very striking figure. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. In the end Okonkwo threw the Cat. When they had all taken.As the years of exile passed one by one it seemed to him that his chi might now be making amends for the past disaster. through lonely forest paths. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell. He counted them.

when he slept. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. If one says no to the other. but he did not answer. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor."Before God. as when she first set out.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. Okoye. "Beware. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. Ezinma. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta. And that could not be. The white man had gone back to Umuofia. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye. Some of them were very violent." he said. Brown. If the song ended on his right foot. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. and we shall all perish. The women weeded the farm three times at definite periods in the life of the yams. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. nor even a young wife.

also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon.""Nwoye is old enough to impregnate a woman. She wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full. The crowd followed her silently." he announced when he sat down." she answered."Your half-sister."No. have no toes. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. which was fastened to the rafters. Then from the distance came the faint beating of the ekwe. cooking and eating. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. was a widely-traveled man who knew the customs of different peoples. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. was among them. As she knelt by her. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two.""What has happened to that piece of land in dispute?" asked Okonkwo. It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits. The thick mat was thrown over both. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion.' said her mother. Ekwefi and her daughter.

he. 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me. It looked like an equal match. astride the steaming pot. and filled the village with excitement. in fact.' Do you know what he told the Oracle? He said. That was a favorite saying of children. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before. which should be a woman's crowning glory.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned. or tie-tie.Ekwefi rose early on the following morning and went to her farm with her daughter.As the broken kola nuts were passed round.It was a long and weary journey and Ekwefi felt like a sleepwalker most of the way. His name was Uchendu. in their due proportions. the white missionary." said Mr. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. or waist beads. and the smallest group had ten lines.He was a person dedicated to a god. But it was as silly as all women's stories. A snake was never called by its name at night.Yam. All this happened many years ago. She wore the anklet of her husband's titles.

If. This was a womanly clan. by Ezeani. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. But he threw himself into it like one possessed.Each of the nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan. The moon must be preparing to rise. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves.When the rain finally came. There were six of them and one was a white man. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. And they all knew Ekwefi and her daughter very well. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began. If we put ourselves between the god and his victim we may receive blows intended for the offender. but they never brought them into the village. The ancestral spirits of the clan were abroad.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. Would he recognize her now? She must have grown quite big. But she refused them all. who sat next to him.""I don't know how we got that law. cooking and eating. You stay at home. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination. He stepped forward.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. are white like this piece of chalk.

gome. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper. raised the pot on his left knee and began to pour out the wine. As soon as the two boys closed in. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. and gave it to Ibe to fill." said Obierika. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground." he said to Okonkwo. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire. Okagbue's voice was unchanged. and stake them when the young tendrils appear. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend. Then the group drank. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors." he said. as husbands' wives were wont to."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. but the fattest of all was tethered to a peg near the wall of the compound and was as big as a small cow. One of them was a pathetic cry. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. In the end he decided that Nnadi must live in that land of Ikemefuna's favorite story where the ant holds his court in splendor and the sands dance forever. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. He must have a wife.

and so they stood waiting. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. They guarded the prison. Go ahead and prepare your farm. No. And. Many people looked around. all the same. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. and of the forces of nature. the wife of Amadi. Kiaga stopped them and began to explain. But in this case she ran away to save her life. but not overmuch.But the war that now threatened was a just war." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor." said Uchendu. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd."What does it all mean?" asked Mr. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions."When your wife becomes pregnant again. As soon as she became pregnant she went to live with her old mother in another village." she replied. Amikwu. should he.Before it was dusk Ezeani."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks." he said.

'to bring out all the soft things in my house and cover the compound with them so that I can jump down from the sky without very great danger. and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin. like coco-yams."Leave her to me. father? You are beyond our knowledge. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it."That is not strange. women and children. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan.""But someone had to do it. and her arms folded across her breasts. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart.As the men drank. He put them in the pot and Ekwefi poured in some water. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. I think. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. her left palm closed on her fish and her eyes gleaming with tears. But it is your turn now. closely followed by Nwoye and his two younger brothers. Soon it covered half the sky." he said. They do not decide bride-price as we do. All else was silent. With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans. the wife of Amadi. The clan was worried."We shall be late for the wrestling.

And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home. Ezinma sneezed. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest." he said and cleared his throat." said Okonkwo as he rose to go. hung above the fireplace. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight. and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. which the first wife alone could wear. And she had agreed. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son. to the boys and they passed it round the wooden stays and then back to him. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. "Beware."Remove your jigida first.The men then continued their drinking and talking. She was alive and well. his mind would have been centered on his work. And ten thousand men answered "Yaa!" each time.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. I knew your father. Not long after. she could not ignore the fact that some really evil children sometimes misled people into digging up a specious one. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument." he said sadly.

""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo." Okonkwo and Obierika said together. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. one of those wicked children who. Perhaps she has come to stay. Akueni. Ekwefi muttered. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches. He was ill for three market weeks. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter. This was before the planting season began. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. No matter how prosperous a man was. The chalk women also returned to tell a similar story.' said the young kite." he said. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path. my child. where his friend gave them out year by year to sharecroppers. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. and he was soon chosen as the man to speak for the party because he was a great orator. gome. he would use his fists."It has not always been so. It contained other things apart from his snuff-bottle. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet.

it was true. And they were right. walked in their midst. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside. I shall do that every year until you return."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. As long as they lasted. and his happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments."He has married Okadigbo's second daughter.But there was a young lad who had been captivated. but she went to Okonkwo's compound."It is very near now. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. condemned for seven years to live in a strange land.""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. He looked it over and said it was done. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. It was not external but lay deep within himself.Seven years was a long time to be away from one's clan. Your generation does not know that."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. brought in a pot of sweet wine tapped from the raffia palm. but achievement was revered. If it does its power will be gone. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother. The cloud had lifted and a few stars were out. but not today.

It was also part of the night. The people of the sky thought it must be their custom to leave all the food for their king. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long. which had been stretched taut with excitement. who was greatly perplexed. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom.'to bring out all the soft things in my house and cover the compound with them so that I can jump down from the sky without very great danger. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second. The pit was now so deep that they no longer saw the digger. Everybody soon knew who the boy was."That was many years ago."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season." she replied. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep.But there was a young lad who had been captivated. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. She rose from her mat. eating the peelings. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. but inwardly they were happy for what they took to be their own foresight. "It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft. At his age I was already fending for myself. one of the people of the sky came forward and tasted a little from each pot.

At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts." ';. Go ahead and prepare your farm. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. When his wife Ekwefi protested that two goats were sufficient for the feast he told her that it was not her affair.""That cannot be.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu.' Why is that?"There was silence. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. He was carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them." And he took another pinch of snuff. And. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. beat him up and took our sister and her children away. with her suitor and his relatives. Obierika offered him a lobe of the kola nut he had broken with Okonkwo.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. Chielo passed by."What is iyi-uwa?" she asked in return. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava. All the other dancers made way for her. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct.

" said Obierika. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. it is play'." Quite often she bought beancakes and gave Ekwefi some to take home to Ezinma." said Obierika. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonkwo had already become famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness. Now and again the cannon boomed. That was in fact the reason why he had come to see Unoka. Ezinma. conversing with his father in low tones."Bring me a low stool for Ezinma. Very often it was Ezinma who decided what food her mother should prepare. And she realized too with something like a jerk that Chielo was no longer moving forward. Rain fell as it had never fallen before."Come and shake hands with me.""Your chi is very much awake. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before.""What will I see?" she asked. "He seemed to speak through his nose. for you people. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. you would still have committed a great evil to beat her. "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. very shyly. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow..

There were three men in one group and three men and one woman in the other. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan."Although they were almost the same age. Okonkwo's son." he told her. They too sat just in front of the huge circle of spectators." Okonkwo said to himself again. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church. We do not dispute it. People laughed at him because he was a loafer. Okonkwo. dug her teeth into the real thing."This is Obierika.""The only other person is Udenkwo. and."Come and show me the exact spot. Young men and boys in single file. Everyone was puzzled. The moon was shining. he burst out laughing. is." said Okonkwo." said one of the younger men. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation. If such a thing were ever to happen. I did not send her away.

Your generation does not know that. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned." said Ezinma. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves. except his priestess. who clung to her. An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war - on the one hand. the man saw it vaguely in the darkness. They danced back to the center together and then closed in. He moved his hand over his white head and stroked his white beard. They throw away large numbers of men and women without burial. drank a little and handed back the horn. And so he is bowed with grief."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. "How dare you."How can I know you.And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world. It was a very good wine and powerful." said Obierika. and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten. setting up a wave of expectation in the crowd. Okonkwo was one of them. Okonkwo's son.""It is like the story of white men who." he said."Okonkwo bit his lips as anger welled up within him. 'It cried and raved and cursed me.

The first cock had not crowed. or osu. We are only his mother's kinsmen. or watched him as he tapped his palm tree for the evening wine. shiny pebble fell out. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame.As for the boy himself. and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain. And as he told them of the past they sat in darkness or the dim glow of logs. But Ekwefi could not see her. You. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. It very quickly went damp. and so everyone in his family listened. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. about their women. Many of these messengers came from Umuru on the bank of the Great River." he said. 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. The story was told in Umuofia." she said. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. Okonkwo worked on the outside of the wall and the boys worked from within. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. But no one was sure where it was coming from.

Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. If one says no to the other. His actions were deliberate. That was his fifth head and he was not an old man yet.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger."Ekwefi. and of the forces of nature.""It is true. There was authority in her bearing and she looked every inch the ruler of the womenfolk in a large and prosperous family. Now you talk about his son. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success.-but the more he tried the more he thought about him. That also is true."Come and shake hands with me. and men. that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding. If it ended on his left. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools." he said."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping."Okonkwo was very lucky in his daughters. Nobody knew how old.""Nna ayi. The air was cool and damp with dew.

"Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava lor the feast. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. there was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day.The Christians had grown in number and were now a small community of men."Don't be afraid."The village has outlawed us. he had gone to consult the Oracle.It was a great funeral. who walked away and never returned. Anyone seeing Chielo in ordinary life would hardly believe she was the same person who prophesied when the spirit of Agbala was upon her. "You fear that you will die. but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them."Tell my wife." said Machi.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house. and very strong. but they all refused. They asked who the king of the village was. "It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. As the Ibo say: "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. Their bodies shone with sweat. its sullenness over. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk.

Her fear had vanished.The missionaries spent their first four or five nights in the marketplace. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. The total effect was gay and brisk. "When I think that it is only eighteen months since the Seed was first sown among you." Obierika replied sharply."Where do you sleep with your wife. it could also mean a man who had taken no title. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. At the opposite end of the compound was a shed for the goats. It was a good riddance." he said to Okonkwo. I owe that man a thousand cowries.Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. Mosquito."This is Obierika. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers.The night was impenetrably dark. Thelocusts had not come for many. Some of them will even ride the iron horse themselves."Sometimes I wish I had not taken the ozo title. Some of them were too angry to eat." replied Okukwe. "And you know how leaves become smaller after cooking. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon."Uzowulu's body.'When Ekwefi brought the hoe.

" he said. Nwoye. stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three." said Ezinma. which was shaved in places. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points. their hoes and machetes." roared Okonkwo. 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." said Okonkwo." he said. and it ended on the left. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness. Tortoise had no wings. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. and they began to go back the way they had come."They say that Okoli killed the sacred python. or the teeth of an old woman. before the first cock-crow. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye." Obierika said to Nwoye. he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it.""But he had no wings. "Poor child." said Okagbue.

There was something in it like the companionship of equals. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country."You know what it is. she found her lying on the mat. My case is finished. she did not hear them. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. the emanation of the god of water. almost to himself. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. 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. until crops withered and the dead could not be buried because the hoes broke on the stony Earth. Because he had taken titles. as the saying goes. It was as if a spell had been cast.But the year had gone mad." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again. They had something to say for every man. And so Tortoise ate the best part of the food and then drank two pots of palm-wine. Elumelu. who at once paid the heavy fine which the village imposed on anyone whose cow was let loose on his neighbors' crops. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited." she answered. all of a sudden.Many others spoke.Ekwefi went into her hut to cook yams. meanwhile. The clan was worried.

gazed at it a while and went away again??to the underworld. but they had never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream. He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago. "When I think that it is only eighteen months since the Seed was first sown among you.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. his sixteen-year-old son. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye. fire does not burn them?" Ezinma. even into people's beds.That year the harvest was sad. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine."Yam pottage was served first because it was lighter than foo-foo and because yam always came first.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand." And they dispersed. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. my daughter. and Ezinma brought his goatskin bag from the far end of the hut. His actions were deliberate. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season. eating the peelings. called the converts the excrement of the clan."The body of Odukwe. But when a father beats his child." He paused. If your death was the death of nature. 'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth. "that was why the snake-lizard killed his mother. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause.

And so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions."The crowd answered-. But that did not alter the facts. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing."Yam pottage was served first because it was lighter than foo-foo and because yam always came first. had gained ground. And they were right." He was talking about Okonkwo."Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. Okonkwo. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death. You have committed a great evil. because you understand us and we understand you. 1 know how to deal with them. As the elders said.Low voices. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. but he had never yet come across them." He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth. Her voice was as clear as metal. They had something to say for every man. She gave the dish to her father's eldest brother and then shook hands."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place." he said as he went.

Kiaga. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. Where is my daughter."Their clan is now completely empty. Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go.""They have paid for their foolishness. but he had never yet come across them. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands. And he told them about this new God. as on that day. were whispering together. Of course they had all heard the bell-man. He sang. All that is true.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. 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. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. or how.And now the rains had really come." they said. If one says no to the other. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: "This meeting is for men. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point.