slave. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet."You must take him to salute our father.

" said the priestess
" said the priestess. She wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. We pray for life. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. to the boys and they passed it round the wooden stays and then back to him. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. That was why he had called him a woman."Abame has been wiped out. The crowd followed her silently. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night."This is Obierika." said Obierika.It came slowly.""It is true.

" said Okagbue. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. and a little hoe for digging out the tuber. If they imagined what was inside. The pot fell and broke in the sand.""It is indeed true.'"None of the birds had heard of this custom but they knew that Tortoise. Nwakibie brought down his own horn. became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. "It is enough. the messenger of earth. their hoes and machetes. But Ekwefi could not see her. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin.The crowd set out with Ezinma leading the way and Okagbue following closely behind her."She has gone to plait her hair. Then everything had been broken. The pit was now so deep that they no longer saw the digger. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. But when a father beats his child. And so they arrived home again. who laughed uneasily because."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms.

We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. "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. But when a father beats his child. the one young and beautiful. The Oracle said to him. not dead.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. He then invited the birds to eat. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last. It was a very good wine and powerful. who was then an ailing man."Although they were almost the same age. He was always alone and was shaped like a coffin. by Ezeani. and they had quickened their steps. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors. hungry swarm. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it. armed with sheathed machetes. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in ihe assembly of the people. If the clan had disobeyed the Oracle they would surely have been beaten.

""That means you will see something. And so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting.Everybody agreed that Igwelo should drink the dregs. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat.Ekwefi went into her hut to cook yams. 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. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. Even the very little children seemed to know. It was such a forest that.Some farmers had not planted their yams yet. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive. was marrying a new wife. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle. 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."Ezinma looked at her mother. I am still alive.

especially with the children. gome. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. "that in some clans it is an abomination for a man to die during the Week of Peace. and we would be like Abame. because you understand us and we understand you. The white man had gone back to Umuofia."Unless you shave off the mark of your heathen belief I will not admit you into the church. he said to Okonkwo:"That boy calls you father. afraid to go in. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. Here we say he cannot climb the tall tree but he can tap the short ones standing on the ground." But he was a man of commanding presence and the clansmen listened to him. He was in fact a coward and could not bear the sight of blood. All the grass had long been scorched brown. They set fire to his houses. She understood things so perfectly.""That cannot be."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. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. She remembered that night. and.

Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. "You fear that you will die. But I can trust you."There is one important thing which we must not forget. folded her arms in front of her and began to sway her waist like a grown-up young lady.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. called on Okonkwo in his obi. Unoka."Umuofia kwenu!" shouted the leading egwugwu. The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle."Our father. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth. a man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish."It is near that orange tree. all of a sudden. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears."Two years ago. but not today. this feeling.

I shall break your jaw. and all were happy.Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. old way. I forgot to tell you another thing which the Oracle said. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. his sixteen-year-old son." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. 'It just walked away. 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. and does not lose it even if he steals. burning forehead." said the bride.Some farmers had not planted their yams yet. who were still outside the circle. But they have cast you out like lepers. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. It was also part of the night. "You fear that you will die. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head.

Three men beat them with sticks.""Oho. Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. Amikwu. The bride-price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply. as the Ibo people say. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored." said Ojiugo. It was the poetry of the new religion.As soon as the priestess stepped into this ring of hills her voice was not only doubled in strength but was thrown back on all sides. and the cannon shattered the silence."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest."Umezulike. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize. There was nothing new in that. If any one of you prefers to be a woman." she replied. They were duly presented to the women. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant. the emanation of the god of water..

Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her. and she said so. But no one was sure where it was coming from." he said. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. It was unbelievable. We pray for life. They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. boomed the hollow metal. Ukegbu counted them.But some of the egwugwu were quite harmless. It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits. "and her child is not twenty-eight days yet. tears gushed from her eyes. Although he had felt uneasy at first. Sometimes another village would ask Unoka's band and their dancing egwugwu to come and stay with them and teach them their tunes. and people came from far and near to consult it.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip."That is not strange. warming their bodies. closed hut like tongues of fire. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors.

They were the lazy easy-going ones who always put off clearing their farms as long as they could." replied Okukwe. 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." the convert maintained. "Those that hear my words are my father and my mother. He is always in a hurry.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma." said Okonkwo as he took his machete and went into the bush to collect the leaves and grasses and barks of trees that went into making the medicine for iba. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. among the missionaries in Umuofia. It was not done earlier because the rains were too heavy and would have washed away the heap of trodden earth." Obierika said to Nwoye.Ekwefi went into her hut to cook yams.Ekwefi was tired and sleepy from the exhausting experiences of the previous night. "He hardly ever walks."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water."It is near that orange tree. pointing with his finger.As for the boy himself."Ee-e-e!"The kola was eaten and the drinking of palm-wine began. meanwhile." said Uchendu." She went into the hut again and brought down the smoke-black basket in which she kept her dried fish and other ingredients for cooking soup.

she was dead.As Okonkwo sat in his hut that night. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path. they became the lords of the land. The men trod dry leaves on the sand. 'It just walked away. As soon as he left.As they trooped through Okonkwo's obi he asked: "Who will prepare my afternoon meal?""I shall return to do it. They were both Uzowulu's neighbors."The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. The men brought their goatskin mats. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. and we would be like Abame. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day. It told of one sheep out on the hills." replied the other.The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life." he said. her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. somewhat lamely. and was now accorded great respect in all the clan.

His mind went to his latest show of manliness."Another woman said. Some of them came over to see for themselves. Go ahead and prepare your farm. armed with sheathed machetes. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. The crowd roared and clapped and for a while drowned the frenzied drums. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun."Then listen to me. "Your wife was at fault."1 have told you to let her alone. who had been talking. She was.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery. If it does its power will be gone. They were silent for a long time. He then invited the birds to eat.Ekwefi did not answer.'When Ekwefi brought the hoe. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass. When one came to think of it.

It was the day on which her suitor (having already paid the greater part of her bride-price) would bring palm-wine not only to her parents and immediate relatives but to the wide and extensive group of kinsmen called umunna. my friend.The drums were still beating. But for a young man whose father had no yams. And so he is bowed with grief.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard."You are a big man now. Okonkwo stood by. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. as was the custom. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. Okafo seized it. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. hungry to do harm to the living. from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts."You are right. not even with broomsticks.

They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them. The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue. They had not thought about that. It was even heard in the surrounding villages. His mind went to his latest show of manliness." pleaded from a reasonable distance.Qkonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand."Obiako has always been a strange one. Her heart jumped painfully within her. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt. It came from the direction of the ilo. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. for you people. and she was notorious for her late cooking.She had prayed for the moon to rise. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories. When the will of the goddess had been done. became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. At such times she seemed beyond danger."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks. the shouting and the firing of guns. You yourselves took her.' said Tortoise.

"One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed."Sit like a woman!" Okonkwo shouted at her. the priestess of Agbala. usually before the age of three. And there were again only three."Remove your jigida first.' Why is that?"There was silence."It is near that orange tree. "They are thirty?" he asked. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. It was like the desire for woman. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians. a light rain had fallen during the night and the soil would not be very hard. In fact. We have tried to settle their quarrels time without number and on each occasion Uzowulu was guilty??""It is a lie!" Uzowulu shouted. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about." Ekwefi said firmly. The children made endless trips to the stream. a man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."Who taps your tall trees for you?" asked Obierika. when they came. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting.""Very true.

who lived near the udala tree. and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like shining star dust. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. 'but tell me. The world was now peopled with vague. He would return with a flourish. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens. and it was said that. roasting and eating maize. Do not bear a hand in his death. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. There were three men in one group and three men and one woman in the other. whom she called "my daughter. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. and they beat the men. when he saw Nwoye among the Christians."On what market-day was it born?" he asked. others Abame or Aninta. and stayed. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. Umuazu.

Their leader was called Evil Forest. On the last night before the festival. The people surged forward. But tonight she was addressing her prophecy and greetings to Okonkwo. or tie-tie." said his eldest brother. forty."A little more?? I said a little. Ezeudu was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. and the women sat on a sisal mat spread on a raised bank of earth.- it was either too early or too late. Spirits always addressed humans as "bodies. Somebody was dead. let your sister go with him. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory. The moon was definitely rising."Remove your jigida first. It was a fierce contest. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. There was something in it like the companionship of equals. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo.

and I am happy you have come to see us. she had said.Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. and she put all her being into it. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church."Yes. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family. And then Nkechi came in.The confusion that followed was without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia. 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. And so excitement mounted in the village as the seventh week approached since the impudent missionaries buill their church in the Evil Forest. Ezinma had not wanted to cooperate with him at first. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed.""I don't know how we got that law. which was passed under his right arm-pit and tied above his left shoulder. 1 know how to deal with them. And he was afraid to look back. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road. from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts. The next child was a girl. When all seemed ready he let himself go."You are right.

Uzowulu and his relative. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. the sky. But it went from day to day without a pause.""Somebody told me yesterday. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. They had something to say for every man." said Okagbue. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there. seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations. Anyone seeing Chielo in ordinary life would hardly believe she was the same person who prophesied when the spirit of Agbala was upon her.Mr."Although they were almost the same age."My hand is on the ground. "let her not sleep in her hut."It will not take us long to harvest as much as we like. the shouting and the firing of guns. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. She then went down on one knee. hungry swarm.

all talking in low voices. or the teeth of an old woman. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars." he said. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot.But Mr. you wicked daughter of Akalogoli?" Okonkwo swore furiously." And he arranged the requisite rites and sacrifices. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation.""That cannot be." Mosquito went away humiliated. I think. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. who must taste his wine before anyone else. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day." he said. They set fire to his houses. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. Their leader was called Evil Forest. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. Her mother consoled her and promised to buy her her another pot.

" he said and cleared his throat. and did as you have been told. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. the interpreter. looked left and right and turned right.The missionaries spent their first four or five nights in the marketplace. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. Obierika."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries.Mr." said another man. Each of his three wives had her own hut. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. She was about sixteen and just ripe for marriage. But it is not so. of how his father. when they died. The first cup went to Okonkwo. whom he nearly shot. floated on the chaos. and Maduka brought in a pot of palm-wine. 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.

and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement. panting."One of them passes here frequently. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth.Okonkwo was also feeling tired. They throw away large numbers of men and women without burial. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. and they began to go back the way they had come. He pushed the thought out of his mind. And there was eating and drinking till night.""Very true. 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. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. was celebrating his daughter's uri. Obiageli brought up the rear. Tortoise began to sniff aloud.

The other wives drank in the same way. Ukegbu counted them. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. Ezinma. "But I am greatly afraid."We are at last getting somewhere. Okonkwo's son. It was addressed as "Our Father. the suitor. but offered to use his teeth." roared Okonkwo.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. Smoke poured out of his head. Two elderly neighbors were sent for. And it was not too hot either. the white man began to speak to them." said Ezinma. which means "the good one."On the following Sunday. Why.He is fit to be a slave. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet."You must take him to salute our father.