had shaken hands. Obierika. he was not a hunter. The rain became lighter and lighter until it fell in slanting showers. but not today.Many others spoke. He knew it must be Ekwefi.

so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame
so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame.Okagbue went back into the pit. The bush was alive with the tread of feet on dry leaves and sticks and the moving aside of tree branches. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. "As our people say. because there was no humanity there." ';. She walked numbly along. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were.Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the empty water bowl in the other and went back to her mother's hut. and then flew away. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. Today Okonkwo was not bringing his mother home to be buried with her people. and the crowd yelled in answer. Okonkwo was among them. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil.

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. Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet." said the woman. Ezinma was crying loudly now. especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. he was told. Some people even said that they had heard the spirits flying and flapping their wings against the roof of the cave."There is one important thing which we must not forget. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist.' 'You must return the duckling." he said. She rubbed each string downwards with her palms until it passed the buttocks and slipped down to the floor around her feet. she thought. Nwoye. mother."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor."Where do you sleep with your wife.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi.

It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. whom she called "my daughter."I will come with you. there was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day."Answer me. So much of it was cooked that. Ekwefi believed deep inside her that Ezinma had come to stay. He had discerned a clear overtone of tragedy in the crier's voice. lest he should be found to resemble his father. the owner of all land.""One of the men told me. As long as they lasted. You have many wives and many children??more children than I have. a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance. and a girl.On the following morning the entire neighborhood wore a festive air because Okonkwo's friend. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again. to inquire what was amiss. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song.

"He was not an albino. and he loved this season of the year. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass.Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound.""I did not know that. somewhat indulgently. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. Another one was wailing near his right ear. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. watching. Then it occurred to her that they could not have been heading for the cave."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. and of the forces of nature. Five matches ended in this way. as most people were.But. i have only a short while to live.

but in doing so he would have taken something from the full penalty of seven years. and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast. Okonkwo rose to speak. His name was Uchendu. in silence. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light.""It means you are going to cry. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. I married her with my money and my yams.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper. Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains. Ekwefi quickly took her to their bedroom and placed her on their high bamboo bed. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. "But I want all of you to note what 1 am going to say. Thelocusts had not come for many. and they were merely her messengers. 1 know you will not despair. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna.

" said Nwakibie." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. The rains had come and yams had been sown. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood. Uchendu.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. It was then uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came from above or below. After waiting in vain for her dish he went to her hut to see what she was doing. Then from the distance came the faint beating of the ekwe.And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. only to return to their places almost immediately. Okonkwo told him. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. But it was momentary. brought in a pot of sweet wine tapped from the raffia palm. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head.

Such was Unoka's fate. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. but he did not answer." he always said. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. You have committed a great evil. Some of them will even ride the iron horse themselves. The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle. The first people who saw him ran away. who was a prosperous farmer. very shyly."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind." said Mr. Ezinma's fire was now sending up thick clouds of smoke."Listen to me."The village has outlawed us. Kiaga restrained them. He would teach her! But Nwoye resembled his grandfather. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. If we put ourselves between the god and his victim we may receive blows intended for the offender.

It was always quiet except on moonlight nights. The younger of his sons. And they began to shoot. buoyant maiden. We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers. 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.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums.""Yes. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. And ten thousand men answered "Yaa!" each time." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger.""It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind. But they dared not complain openly. Kiaga. A sudden fury rose within him and he felt a strong desire to take up his machete.""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. Marriage should be a play and not a fight so we are falling down again." he said." replied the white man. He had had no patience with his father." replied the white man.

"I shall survive anything. He could not ask another man to build his own obi for him.But the war that now threatened was a just war. but they grew women's crops." she replied. carrying a basket full of water. Fortunately. But his whole life was dominated by fear. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come."Then listen to me. their hoes and machetes. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death."At last the hen was plucked clean. when he slept. And it was not too hot either. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. returning. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out.So when the daughter of Umuofia was killed in Mbaino."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done. He.

"When nearly two years later Obierika paid another visit to his friend in exile the circumstances were less happy." he said. He searched his bag and brought out his snuff-bottle. a debtor. Evil Forest then stood up. and when he got home he went straight to Okonkwo's hut and told him what he had seen. Ezinma sneezed. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle. I salute you. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig."Yam pottage was served first because it was lighter than foo-foo and because yam always came first. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family. All the family were there and some of the neighbors too." he said. smiling.Mr. The priestess in those days was a woman called Chika. They asked who the king of the village was. he fled to Aninta to escape the wrath of the earth.

Age was respected among his people."Thank you." he said."It has not always been so. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow. as on that day. and we shall all perish."Umuofia kwenu!" he roared. with love. The inhabitants of Mbanta expected them all to be dead within four days. the one young and beautiful. They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. Neighbors sat around."We have now built a church.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. but he had been too surprised to weep.

He did not know who the girl was. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit. The children stood in the darkness outside their hut watching the strange event. But they soon returned and everyone was gazing at the rag from a reasonable distance." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No.As they trooped through Okonkwo's obi he asked: "Who will prepare my afternoon meal?""I shall return to do it. Okonkwo came after her.The metal gong beat continuously now and the flute. An oil lamp was lit and Okonkwo tasted from each bowl. and he sent his kotma to catch Aneto. The first people who saw him ran away. But it only lasted till the end of the service.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. I sacrifice a cock to Ani. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors.The wrestlers were not there yet and the drummers held the field. father? You are beyond our knowledge." said another woman. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry. Earth's emissary.

You have committed a great evil. who was also the youngest man in the group. feeling with her palm the wet.And then the storm burst. The kola nut was given him to break.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down. thought that it was possible that they would also be received. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year.When the heat of the sun began to soften. He asked Okonkwo a few questions about the dead child. He stepped forward. It was also the dumping ground for highly potent fetishes of great medicine men when they died. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. Brown. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. Okonkwo. women and children. Kiaga."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. Njide.

and looked at her palms. Inwardly."We still have a long way to go. A deathly silence descended on Okonkwo's compound.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky. But in absence of work. The yams were then staked. 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. and did as you have been told. and there was too much saltpeter in it.""That cannot be. They can steal your cloth from off your waist in that market. but not overmuch. But Ekwefi was not thinking about that." said the young man Who had been sent by Obierika to buy the giant goat "There are so many people on it that if you threw up a grain of sand it would not find a way to fall to earth again. She beckons in front of her and behind her. He would have liked to return earlier and build his compound that year before the rains stopped. years ago.""Why?" asked Obierika and Okonkwo together. And not only his chi but his clan too. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting.

Sometimes a man came to consult the spirit of his dead father or relative. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. But she had got worse and worse. was a very exacting king. and the tuber was pulled out." said Okonkwo's voice. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell.He did not sleep at night.' 'You must return the duckling. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth."You have all seen the great abomination of your brother.The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. who had felt more angry than the others. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago. for you people."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. Evil Forest then stood up. "You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the children.All this had happened more than a year ago and Ezinma had not been ill since.

in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches. turning to Obierika. They will not allow us into the markets.As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more." said his father. women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight. But all of a sudden she would go down again. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi.-but the more he tried the more he thought about him. "They are thirty?" he asked. and men dashed about in frenzy. watching. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude.""Very true. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame." He filled the first horn and gave to his father. They had something to say for every man.

Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed. with a full beard and a bald head. in fact." said Obierika. and drinking palm-wine copiously.It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta." he said. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. At last Sky was moved to pity. He would remember his own childhood. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. burning forehead. He looked it over and said it was done. That was the way people answered calls from outside. The birth of her children."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.- it was either too early or too late." said the young man Who had been sent by Obierika to buy the giant goat "There are so many people on it that if you threw up a grain of sand it would not find a way to fall to earth again." asked another man. Kiaga stood firm.

It had to be done slowly and carefully. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son's behavior? Now that he had time to think of it. passing back the disc. Okonkwo. the men returned with a pot of wine. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. They must have bypassed it long ago.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it. He had had no patience with his father. It was Chielo. he was terribly afraid." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine.- they merely set the scene."Point at the spot with your finger. like a mother and her daughter." replied Okonkwo. the suitor." This was interpreted to them but very few of them heard. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid.

and it seldom did." As he looked into the log fire he recalled the name. He sang the song again. They sat in a half-moon. the harvest of the previous year. Okonkwo rose to speak." said Okagbue.""They were fools. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights. Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. which should be a woman's crowning glory. all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. "My son has told me about you. which had been dutifully eating yam peelings. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame. But he was not a failure like Unoka. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running.At last the rain came. His name was Maduka.

my child."Go home and sleep. She could no longer think." said Okonkwo."That was all he had said. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels. Three converts had gone into the village and boasted openly that all the gods were dead and impotent and that they were prepared to defy them by burning all their shrines. thirty-five. I will only have a son who is a man. waiting for him. But in spite of these disadvantages. "But I want all of you to note what 1 am going to say. We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers. Okonkwo. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. and stammered. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity. "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. and sleepy. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination.

"Unoka was an ill-fated man. And so they arrived home again." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take.- instead of thirty there were now only fifteen. of how his father. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. "So look after him. and none of them died.The way into the shrine was a round hole at the side of a hill. When he had swallowed them. and there was too much saltpeter in it. It was the justice of the earth goddess. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother.When she had shaken hands. Obierika. he was not a hunter. The rain became lighter and lighter until it fell in slanting showers. but not today.Many others spoke. He knew it must be Ekwefi.