circumstances were less happy." said Akukalia. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino.

He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time
He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon. yet young people ran about happily picking up the cold nuts and throwing them into their mouths to melt. The goat was then led back to the inner compound."I shall return very soon. The first voice gets to Chukwu. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head." replied Uzowulu.Okonkwo's wives. and so did his little children. Twenty.""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. Nma. His words may also be good. He turned again to Ezinma. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. Di-go-go-di-go-di-di-go-go floated in the message-laden night air. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had." she said."But the leaves will be wet. usually before the age of three.

It must be the thought of going home to his mother. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. But they dared not complain openly. Go ahead and prepare your farm. "These are now your kinsmen. roasting and eating maize. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. The clan was worried. which only made the darkness more profound."Ezinma began to cry. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. During those years no single day passed in the sky without his beating the woman. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. indeed. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word. who had felt more angry than the others. There was an immediate stir. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters." He looked at Okonkwo. i fear for the clan. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. But each time she had borne twins."Odukwe was short and thickset.

But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. Then he began to speak. why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka. and Obiageli told her mournful story. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. came to visit him. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. I did not send her away. When he had swallowed them." said Uchendu."He took down the pot from the fire and placed it in front of the stool. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup. "But I have also heard that Abame people were weak and foolish. self-assured and confident. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. living in a special area of the village. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out.His anger thus satisfied." replied her mother. and his relatives. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. If any one of you prefers to be a woman.

" The man who had contradicted him had no titles. 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.He sighed heavily. she did not hear them. But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth. She could not be expected to cook and eat while her husband starved."But this particular night was dark and silent. Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly. After such treatment it would think twice before coming again. He held up a piece of chalk. "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."Come. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. There was a drinking horn in it. This was about eight days after the fight.""Very true. and people came from far and near to consult it.' said Tortoise. especially with the children. His sons brought out the pots of palm-wine. hungry swarm.

they say. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. and she guessed they must be on the village ilo. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two. and they agreed about the beating. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava. But he was happy to leave his father. He breathed heavily. thirty-five. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland." Ezinma offered. Okoye. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. who walked away and never returned. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. Ezinma.As the men drank. white dregs and said." said Uchendu after a long silence.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries. It is the law of our fathers.

if they were stubborn.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. You are a great family. If there is any one among you who thinks he knows more let him speak up. floated on the chaos. light and gay. Her basket was balanced on her head.The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life.His anger thus satisfied. There were also pots of palm-wine. The drums rose to a frenzy. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. which was now surrounded by spectators. She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. "1 have brought you this little kola. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations. Kiaga. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family.

His mother had wept bitterly. He had had no patience with his father. They formed a circular ring with a break at one point through which the foot-track led to the center of the circle. Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time.It was well known among the people of Mbanta that their gods and ancestors were sometimes long-suffering and would deliberately allow a man to go on defying them.She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun. only more holy than the village variety. And then Nkechi came in. But Ekwefi could not see her. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. guns and cannon were fired.- the only thing worth demonstrating was strength." said Ojiugo.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. The people of the sky thought it must be their custom to leave all the food for their king. Each of them carried a long cane basket. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. talking was the next best. They saw the iron horse and went away again.

but the villagers told them that there was no king. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia."Since I survived that year. They were called kotma. He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family.""It is like the story of white men who. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. The lad's name was Ikemefuna. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season. When one came to think of it. a man of war. and Ojiugo's daughter. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. with music and dancing and a great feast. She wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full. Kiaga. working feverishly from one drum to another." he intoned. and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad.

touching the earth. passed through his obi and into Ekwefi's hut and walked into her bedroom. Neither of the other wives had. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so. She only began to weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound.""Very true. They will not allow us into the markets."Bring me a low stool for Ezinma. That week they won a handful more converts. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams.Qkonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. I shall pay my big debts first. or rather to his death. he. She put back the empty pot on the circular pad in the corner. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. 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.All this had happened more than a year ago and Ezinma had not been ill since. But it is your turn now. But all of a sudden she would go down again. afraid to go in. bending very low at the eaves.

Very soon after. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly. The crowd roared and clapped and for a while drowned the frenzied drums.The men then continued their drinking and talking. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision. but they all refused.' she called. A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match. But he left hold of Nwoye. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives.At this point an old man said he had a question. children sought for shelter. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. he thought over the matter.The men then continued their drinking and talking." he said. "If I had a son like him I should be happy. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. Earth's emissary. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself."Ekwefi.

'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. full of power and beauty.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly. Okonkwo's first son. Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly. It was powerful in war and in magic. But some of these losses were not irreparable. Okonkwo. And it began to shake and rattle. he was treated with great honor and respect. Nwoye. Rain fell as it had never fallen before."Although they were almost the same age. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. said that until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace. and they nodded their heads. Many years ago another egwugwu had dared to stand his ground before him and had been transfixed to the spot for two days. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. And he had all but achieved it.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth." replied Okonkwo. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. Uchendu's eldest daughter had come from Obodo.

who had been talking. An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases.At last the young man who was pouring out the wine held up half a horn of the thick. Then the group drank." said Obierika sadly. and two others after her.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. You may ask why I am saying all this. and each stroke is one hundred cowries." replied Obierika. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. something felt in the marrow. who was two years younger. As the elders said. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. "when she was pregnant. but to settle the dispute. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. with which he made two wings. "that was why the snake-lizard killed his mother. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death. came first. But he was happy to leave his father.

That was why he had called him a woman. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. It was powerful in war and in magic. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting.Okonkwo's family was astir like any other family in the neighborhood. 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. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland."Umuofia kwenu.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. The fire did not burn with a flame. forty. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments.His life had been ruled by a great passion??to become one of the lords of the clan. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land."Yes. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish." she said. And they all knew Ekwefi and her daughter very well.No work was done during the Week of Peace.

with which he made two wings. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. It might happen again this year. like a funeral. folded her arms across her breast and sighed. May all you took out return again tenfold. And he told them about this new God. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. he had not slept at all last night. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write." said Okonkwo as he rose to go. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. He made him feel grown-up. Ikemefuna called him father. in the other hand. He played on the ogene. It was powerful in war and in magic. when he slept. He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago. "I shall survive anything. If I were you I would have stayed at home. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. It was a full gathering of umuada.

" said one of the women. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. gome. Each of them carried a long cane basket. like splitting wood. Some of them were too angry to eat. It throbbed in the air. there was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day. I want you to be there. They had not thought about that."Who is that?" he growled. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. Tortoise's wife sent for him and he gathered all the bits of shell and stuck them together. The yams put on luxuriant green leaves. No. If you had died young. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. And then the locusts came.But stories were already gaining ground that the white man had not only brought a religion but also a government. Unoka. That was the way people answered calls from outside. 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.

"Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. looking up from the yams she was peeling. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter." Okonkwo asked himself.But some of the egwugwu were quite harmless. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. She could not see beyond her nose. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. 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." said Obierika."That is the strange part of it. when Mr.Ekwefi did not answer.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand. empty men. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. All this happened many years ago. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. Okonkwo walked behind him. came to visit him. might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springywalk of Okonkwo.

gods of wood and stone. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. afraid to go in. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night."Don't be foolish. So they made a powerful medicine.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? The same God created you and them. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look." he said. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. Ojiugo's children were eating with the children of his first wife. 'You have taken back your sister. father? You are beyond our knowledge.

Of all his children she alone understood his every mood. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body. Chielo never ceased in her chanting.""We have seen it. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi. His greatest friend. the third highest in the land. her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation."Call your wife and child." said another man. Machi." he always said. She hit her left foot against an outcropped root. his three wives and eight children. and Ikemefuna. who were still outside the circle. "We have men of high title and the chief priests and the elders. that was how it looked to his father. Then the group drank."But this particular night was dark and silent. He never stopped regretting that Ezinma was a girl.

he won his first three converts. After the pot-bearers came Ibe. the god of the sky. But the drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed. Uchendu. And this faith had been strengthened when a year or so ago a medicine man had dug up Ezinma's iyi-uwa. do you know me?" asked the spirit. through lonely forest paths. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. although one of them did not speak Ibo. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. You may ask why I am saying all this. 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." he said. it was true. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays. There was nothing new in that.

""What will I see?" she asked. He calls you his father.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. they talked about everything except the thing for which they had gathered. and was not given the first or the second burial.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. Cam wood was rubbed lightly into her skin. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night. But as they drew near to the outskirts of Umuofia silence fell upon them too. "In those other clans you speak of. unlike most children. It was a fierce contest. with music and dancing and a great feast. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. refreshed and thankful. one hen. even the bravest among them. Soon after."Look at that wall. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan.

"Bear no hand in his death. thus completing a circle with their hosts. Each of them carried a long cane basket.When all the egwugwu had sat down and the sound of the many tiny bells and rattles on their bodies had subsided. He held up a piece of chalk."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter. He is always in a hurry. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial. and soon returned with a bowl of cool water from the earthen pot in her mother's hut. It descended on him again. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. and was full of the sap of life. making music and feasting. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day." Quite often she bought beancakes and gave Ekwefi some to take home to Ezinma. Gome." he began. and then you will know. A man stood there with a machete in his hand. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. led out the giant goat from the inner compound.

Okonkwo had not bought snuff from him for a long time. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.""Yes" said Obierika." said Obierika. "Three or four of us should stay behind. It was a great feast. They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full." The boy smiled. guns and cannon were fired. who was fat and whose body shone as if oil was rubbed on it??"She broke off because at that very moment a loud and high-pitched voice broke the outer silence of the night."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma. to roast plantains for him. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess." said the convert.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. gome went the gong. and then. or waist beads. He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo's return." Okonkwo replied. It was Chielo.

but that they had many children to feed. A deathly silence descended on Okonkwo's compound. by Ezeani."I have come to you for help. and then you will know. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. Ikemefuna had an endless stock of folk tales."Abame has been wiped out. and terror seized her.Ekwefi was tired and sleepy from the exhausting experiences of the previous night. stroking her head.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. "They are pieces of wood and stone. When everyone had drunk two or three horns. She remembered that night. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head.""It is like the story of white men who."When nearly two years later Obierika paid another visit to his friend in exile the circumstances were less happy." said Akukalia. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino.