clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. followed by Akueke. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure.

That is a wise action
That is a wise action."Father. If I were you I would have stayed at home. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace." said Mr. 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. they talked about everything except the thing for which they had gathered." replied Okonkwo."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. As the evening drew near. They must have bypassed it long ago. but they never brought them into the village.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." he began. and others prepared vegetable soup. My in-law. and he never saw her again. And perhaps those not so young would be playing in pairs in less open places." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor.Okonkwo did as the priest said. She remembered that night."He said something.

" He laughed a mirthless laughter. and his happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup."Looking at a king's mouth. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. sad and pleading. The women weeded the farm three times at definite periods in the life of the yams. Darkness held a vague terror for these people. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. Amikwu. He was ill for three market weeks. It was unheard of to beat somebody during the sacred week. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. pointing with his finger. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo. It looked like an equal match. I owe them no yams. with her suitor and his relatives. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. Her suitor and his relatives surveyed her young body with expert eyes as if to assure themselves that she was beautiful and ripe. But what of our own people who are following their way and have been given power? They would go to Umuru and bring the soldiers.

Ikemefuna called him father. "Which is this god of yours."Agbala do-o-o-o!?? Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Ekwefi trudged behind. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song.Uchendu took the hen from her. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew."You will blow your eyes out. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time. And Okonkwo had already done that.As these things went through her mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. 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. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. After that nothing happened for a long time between the church and the clan. facing the elders. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before."Go and tell Akueke's mother that we have finished. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path."Don't be afraid. She thought they must be going towards the sacred cave. Her mother consoled her and promised to buy her her another pot.

Even Mgbafo took to her heels and had to be restrained by her brothers. And what do you think the Oracle would do then?""You know very well. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it." Ezinma said." replied Ekwefi. She turned round sharply and walked through Okonkwo's hut. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head. He still missed his mother and his sister and would be very glad to see them.' he said as they flew on their way. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. But what of our own people who are following their way and have been given power? They would go to Umuru and bring the soldiers. The way he said it sent cold fear down Ikemefuna's back.'"None of the birds had heard of this custom but they knew that Tortoise. They had built their church there.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. came to visit him.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. That week they won a handful more converts. That week they won a handful more converts. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night.

hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend." the others replied. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots."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. armed with sheathed machetes. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. and he was not afraid of war. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. At last Ogbuefi Ezeugo stood up in the midst of them and bellowed four times. I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts." said Ofoedu. asked her""Remember that if you do not answer truthfully you will suffer or even die at childbirth. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season.Okoye was also a musician." replied Uzowulu. She beckons in front of her and behind her. 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. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument."There is one important thing which we must not forget. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done.

" lied Nwoye's mother." he said sadly. 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. But it was the season of rest between the harvest and the next planting season. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens. It is a bad custom because it always leads to a quarrel. He knew that Nwakibie would not refuse him. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others."As he was speaking the boy returned. He still missed his mother and his sister and would be very glad to see them. Tortoise's wife sent for him and he gathered all the bits of shell and stuck them together. followed by the bride and the other women. And this was the message. was among them. dead. They were called kotma. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. as was the custom. Her back was turned on the footpath that led out of the hills. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland."Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes. my friend.

Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness. Okonkwo's son. and sometimes two rainbows. and passed the disc over to his guest. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. was the wife of Ogbuefi Udo. Umuazu. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter."Yes. the one young and beautiful. Ikemefuna was equally excited. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. "1 told you." said Mr. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark.The night was very quiet."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man. let your sister go with him.

When they had all gathered. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. a long. They danced back to the center together and then closed in." the convert maintained. in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike. a cake of salt and smoked fish which she would present to Obierika's wife. That was not luck. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. something felt in the marrow."Ezinma is dying. There were only four titles in the clan. Okonkwo. Umuofia has decided to kill him. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut. Many young men have come to me to ask for yams but I have refused because I knew they would just dump them in the earth and leave them to be choked by weeds. If there is any one among you who thinks he knows more let him speak up. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked."Perhaps I have been away too long.In this way the moons and the seasons passed." Okonkwo said to himself again. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home.

" said Okonkwo after a pause. No one had actually seen the man do it. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. And if anything happened to her could she stop it? She would not dare to enter the underground caves."You must take him to salute our father.' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach. I know it as I look at you. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma. Okonkwo worked on the outside of the wall and the boys worked from within. He searched his bag and brought out his snuff-bottle.And then the priestess screamed. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. red in tooth and claw. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife. the messenger of earth. She knelt on her knees and hands at the threshold and called her husband. There were many women. Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer. If ever a man deserved his success. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before.

At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid." answered one of Obierika's companions. The pot fell and broke in the sand. you have become a woman indeed. At the end they decided. nine wives and thirty children. It was not external but lay deep within himself. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past." roared Okonkwo. Di-go-go-di-go. Has he thrown a hundred men?He has thrown four hundred men. She had balanced it on her head.Okoye was also a musician.An iron gong sounded. and stammered. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself. He was afraid of being thought weak. twenty years or more. He is an exile. "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. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried.

and for protection against their enemies."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. He had a bad chi or personal god.The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village of Mbanta. Your mother is there to protect you. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. "when she was pregnant. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season." But she could not."For the first time in three nights.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. and the lad Ikemefuna. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. looking up from the yams she was peeling. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun. They set fire to his houses. and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten. He knew it must be Ekwefi.

" said Okonkwo. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own.At last the rain came. tangled and dirty hair. woman. 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. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. Then the group drank. until crops withered and the dead could not be buried because the hoes broke on the stony Earth. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night. and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin. long way from home. Yam stood for manliness." At the same time the priestess also said. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness. He changed them every day. Okonkwo took up his goatskin bag to go. pushing the air with his raffia arms. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark." said Okonkwo." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger. and turned to his sons and daughters.

Okonkwo called his three wives and told them to get things together for a great feast. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. whose name was Ibe. Some of these prisoners were men of title who should be above such mean occupation. You yourselves took her. but nothing came out. who was greatly perplexed. he won his first three converts. but Okonkwo sat unmoved.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise. "As for me." he bellowed a fifth time. might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springywalk of Okonkwo. And he told them about this new God. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say. Okonkwo and his family went to the farm with baskets of seed-yams. his children and their mothers in the new year. Kiaga stood firm. Most of them were sons of our land whose mothers had been buried with us. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself. They were locusts. But you were rich. 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.

""That is true. Dew fell heavily and the air was cold. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. He hoped to get another four hundred yams from one of his father's friends at Isiuzo. like the snapping of a tightened bow.'"None of the birds had heard of this custom but they knew that Tortoise. waving their palm fronds. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. He is an exile. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. were fixed on her. Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. and they.One of the men behind him cleared his throat. the shouting and the firing of guns.Nwoye's younger brothers were about to tell their mother the true story of the accident when Ikemefuna looked at them sternly and they held their peace. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls." said the woman. for Mr. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. and was full of the sap of life. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits.

At first. But Ezinma had seen clearly all the thought and hidden meaning behind the few words. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers. As she buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation.- instead of thirty there were now only fifteen." said Okonkwo's voice. The yams were then staked. "Thank you for calling us together. Thirty. He had a bad chi or personal god. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd. she returned to her mother's hut to help with the cooking. the sun is shining. His body rattled like a piece of dry stick in his empty shell." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him.When they had all gathered. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you. eating the peelings." Obierika said to his son. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper. but he did not say it.

Ekwefi was reassured. It was as quick as the other two. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky. and passed the disc over to his guest. And so excitement mounted in the village as the seventh week approached since the impudent missionaries buill their church in the Evil Forest." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her.As soon as the day broke. I want you to be there. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues."A little more?? I said a little. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. my great friend. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd. There was once a man who went to sell a goat."Every year."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. There was coming and going between them. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil. not even for fear of a goddess. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night.

but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. Okonkwo's first son. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. These people are daily pouring filth over us."Okonkwo had just blown out the palm-oil lamp and stretched himself on his bamboo bed when he heard the ogene of the town crier piercing the still night air. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. behind the crowd. who was the priest of the earth goddess.Okagbue went back into the pit. they held them over an open fire to burn off the hair. but that they had many children to feed. "It is a strange and terrible story. though his dialect was different and harsh to the enrs of Mbanta. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy." The crowd agreed. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. and the elders of his family. Then he tried to settle the matter the way he used to settle such matters when he was a little boy." Okonkwo and Obierika said together."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message."I do not know the answer.

"I am following Chielo.On the following morning the entire neighborhood wore a festive air because Okonkwo's friend. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. self-assured and confident."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers. Obiageli. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia. He changed them every day. A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match. He was greatly surprised. In short."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. and what is good among one people is an abomination with others. but they are too young to leave their mother. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. flat. And if you stand staring at me like that. He moved his hand over his white head and stroked his white beard. "Agbala greets you."As they stood there together. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them.

and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws. Nwoye turned round to walk into the inner compound when his father. so his chi agreed. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. And when. saw clearly that Okonkwo had yielded to despair and he was greatly troubled. bringing the third dish." said another woman. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. when his father had not been dead very long. His visitor was amazed. and the women had formed themselves into three groups for this purpose. and then. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend."Although they were almost the same age. pointing with his finger. He counted them. and gave it to Ibe to fill. indeed. She had balanced it on her head. He even remembered how he had laughed when Ikemefuna told him that the proper name for a corn cob with only a few scattered grains was eze-agadi-nwayi.

and she was notorious for her late cooking."Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. and had just married his third wife.""Uzowulu's body. "So you must finish this. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. in fact. and how Sky withheld rain for seven years. "As for me. His yams grew abundantly. 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 saw those who stood or sat next to them. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. "1 told you. Uchendu. The elders of the clan replied." said Obierika. He counted them. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts."The village has outlawed us. She buried her face in her lap and waited. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house.

who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle. If it does its power will be gone. Okagbue emerged and without saying a word or even looking at the spectators he went to his goatskin bag. took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. conversing with his father in low tones. without serious danger to his own health. 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. Then he tried to settle the matter the way he used to settle such matters when he was a little boy. was the wife of Ogbuefi Udo. is a beast.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. And he was already beginning to know some of the simple stories they told. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. The Lord shall have them in derision. Her fear had vanished. Obiageli. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. His name was Nwoye.

to Obierika's compound. gome. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time. the harvest of the previous year." And they dispersed." he said.Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. We have albinos among us.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup."'We know you too well. not for hearing. his three wives and eight children. Her husband's first wife had already had three sons. He had one consolation. And there were again only three."She will bring her back soon. It was said that when such a spirit appeared. "But they will understand when they go to their plot of land tomorrow morning. "Bear no hand in his death." said the interpreter.His father." he always said.

"Akueke moved to the other end of the hut and began to remove the waist-beads. There was a drinking horn in it. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields. so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. to help them in their cooking. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. almost to himself. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point. They guarded the prison. They had something to say for every man. He passed her a piece of fish. she returned to her mother's hut to help with the cooking. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. As far as the villagers were concerned. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa.Yam. It was on the seventh day that he died. But his whole life was dominated by fear. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. followed by Akueke. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure.