said Ekwefi. As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops.""I think she will stay. "I know what it is??the wrestling match.

"His name is Amadi
"His name is Amadi. guttural and awesome." He put it down to his inflexible will. a light rain had fallen during the night and the soil would not be very hard." said one of them. When they had eaten they talked about many things: about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. She was Okonkwo's second wife Ekwefi. But as the dog said. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. he is not too young. He had fallen ill on the previous night. and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. Chielo's voice now came after long intervals. There were five groups. Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. do you know me?" asked the spirit. At last the man was named and people sighed "E-u-u. "How much longer do you think you will live?" she asked.He did not sleep at night. Obiageli.

from where he had espied a fire." He laughed a mirthless laughter.Obierika was a man who thought about things. Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him." His staff came down again.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath."A little more?? I said a little. and it came floating on the wind. Thelocusts had not come for many. The water began to boil. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. as the Ibo people say."A little more?? I said a little. blowing it with her breath. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision. refreshed and thankful. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. As she knelt by her. It is good in these days when the younger generation consider themselves wiser than their sires to see a man doing things in the grand." said some of the elders. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside.

""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. and so they suffered." he said to Okonkwo. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head. I shall give you some fish to eat." he said. "There must be a reason for it. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn."I have come to you for help. They said she was coming."I am Evil Forest.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves." said Nwoye's mother." said Ekwefi. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness.""Yes" said Obierika. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head. Nwoye. But the one knew what the other was thinking.

If your in-law brings wine to you. Obiageli. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. the matter lies between him and the god. and his children the while praying to the white man's god." answered one of Obierika's companions.And so nature was not interfered with in the middle of the rainy season. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms.""Yes. But if a man caused it. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument.""You worry yourself for nothing. The first cock has crowed. because it judged a man by the work or his hands."Odukwe's body. The sound of her benumbed steps seemed to come from some other person walking behind her."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor. bending very low at the eaves. The first voice gets to Chukwu. And so they arrived home again.

That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. was among them." said Obierika.' said the young kite. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan. These men must be mad. It was like the market. He worked. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. Ezinma.The last match was between the leaders of the teams. The crowd followed her silently. But it was a resilient spirit. She did not return to Okonkwo's compound until three days before the naming ceremony. which. Okonkwo was. 'You are full of cunning and you are ungrateful. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. women and children. And when she returned he beat her very heavily.

"They are thirty?" he asked. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper.As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete.A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi as she stood gazing in the direction of the voices like a hen whose only chick has been carried away by a kite. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space.""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us." said Uchendu. But there is one more question I shall ask you. 'When people are invited to a great feast like this.""Nna ayi. a length of cloth and a hundred cowries. who was now in charge of the infant congregation. And so."He took down the pot from the fire and placed it in front of the stool.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. They were silent for a long time. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams. The birth of her children. my hand has touched the ground.

the suitor." he said when Okonkwo had spoken. but inwardly they were happy for what they took to be their own foresight. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. His actions were deliberate."It is iba." she replied. The wavering converts drew inspiration and confidence from his unshakable faith. Aninta. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman."Thank you. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. Would he recognize her now? She must have grown quite big."Ekwefi. like the snapping of a tightened bow. Amalinze was a wily craftsman. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards. who was once the village beauty. The oldest man present said sternly that those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.Ogbuefi Ezeudu.

i have only a short while to live. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned." he said."Go and burn your mothers' genitals. whom she called her daughter.The whole village turned out on the ilo."Okonkwo was very lucky in his daughters. And when. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. my hand has touched the ground." He paused. That week they won a handful more converts."Odukwe's body. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes." asked another man. "Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children." said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh.

tall and strongly built. in their proper order.Having sworn that oath. and cut them up."For the first time in three nights. and he owed every neighbor some money. But her love of wrestling contests was still as strong as it was thirty years ago.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered. during the last harvest season. for he knew certainly that something was amiss."Have you?" asked Obierika. and something seemed to give way inside him. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow." said Okonkwo after a pause. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. I implore you.' said Mother Kite to her daughter.

They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases inUGG Bailey Button Triplet ignorance. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. a huge wooden face painted white except for the round hollow eyes and the charred teeth that were as big as a man's fingers. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. There was the story of a very stubborn man who staggered back to his house and had to be carried again to the forest and tied to a tree. and the rest went back. smiling."Unoka was like that in his last days. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. "Poor child."We cannot all rush out like that. sang for mercy. for you people. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments.""That is why the drum has not been beaten to tell Umuofla. all talking in low voices. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye. There were three men in one group and three men and one woman in the other. because it would hear.

" They laughed and agreed. and it seldom did. and you can teach us the things of the new faith."Unoka was like that in his last days. Living fire begets cold.Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them. shiny pebble fell out. They did not really want them near to the clan. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families.""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us. They went back to their caves in a distant land. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. white foam rose and spilled over. At the end. had gained ground. Okonkwo." He filled the first horn and gave to his father.

As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had swallowed them. armed with sheathed machetes. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention.Okagbue went back into the pit. His greatest friend. have no toes."When they had eaten.Mr. Obierika's relatives counted the pots as they came."The crowd answered-. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. Even Mgbafo took to her heels and had to be restrained by her brothers." said Nwoye's mother." Ofoedu agreed. "How dare you."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words." replied Uzowulu. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. men.

When he had swallowed them. Women and children returning from the stream with pots of water on their heads wondered what was happening until they saw Okagbue and guessed that it must be something to do with ogbanje." But she could not. She was. the priestess. "I have never seen such a large crowd of people. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. was among them. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything." he said as he went. Between Chielo's outbursts the night was alive with the shrill tremor of forest insects woven into the darkness.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife's meal.Soon after Ofoedu left. At such times she seemed beyond danger. others said he was not the equal of Ikezue. turning to Obierika. and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death."I have come to you for help. Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly.

The glowing logs only served to light up vaguely the dark figure of the priestess. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. Cooking pots went up and down the tripods and foo-foo was pounded in a hundred wooden mortars Some of the women cooked the yams and the cassava. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. despite his madness. and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians."Another woman said. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. It is like Dimaragana. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. They sang his praise and the young women clapped their hands:"Who will wrestle for our village?Okafo will wrestle for our village. Then there was perfect silence. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. worthless."Okonkwo was very lucky in his daughters. There are only two of them. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. Some said Okafo was the better man. 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. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him.

he said to Okonkwo:"That boy calls you father. but she must wait for Ezinma to wake. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. It was called a string. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. He ran a few steps in the direction of the women. a man of war." said Okonkwo. Because he had taken titles. And so they killed him. Amikwu and his people had taken palm-wine to the bride's kinsmen about two moons before Okonkwo's arrival in Mbanta. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. and he was not afraid of war. But the drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out."Look at that wall. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three. It was Chielo. But no one was sure where it was coming from.

"The bell-man announced it last night.""They are not all that young." he said. full of power and beauty.The daughters of the family were all there. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. each brought her bowl of foo-foo and bowl of soup to her husband. He turned again to Ezinma. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. and Ekwefi asked Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo to explain to Obierika's wife that she would be late. And so when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole hardly big enough to pass a hen.""Go and bring our own. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut.Ikemefuna came to Umuofia at the end of the carefree season between harvest and planting.' said Mother Kite. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. "and her child is not twenty-eight days yet."We still have a long way to go.The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest and to build their house. Some of them were too angry to eat.

And they were all gay. and when they had seen it and thanked him. There were five groups."Call your wife and child. They were both Uzowulu's neighbors." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back. and was not given the first or the second burial. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. whom he nearly shot. Obiageli.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky. They set fire to his houses. There were only three such boys in each team. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas. The ancient drums of death beat. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. roasting and eating maize. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves. The way he said it sent cold fear down Ikemefuna's back. long way from home.

and went away. The drums begin at noon but the wrestling waits until the sun begins to sink. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man. roots snapped below.Then the missionaries burst into song.The men then continued their drinking and talking. His priestess stood by the sacred fire which she built in the heart of the cave and proclaimed the will of the god. She pulled again and it came off. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust.""It is true. This was a womanly clan. "They are pieces of wood and stone. He just hung limp. "you." said Nwakibie. "Let us not presume to do so now. Nwoye's sister. And if they could not help in digging up the yams. white dregs and said.

With a father like Unoka. It would not be long before the suitors came. gome.Then the missionaries burst into song. Di-go-go-di-go-di-di-go-go floated in the message-laden night air."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. It was not that they had been lazy. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. Her fear had vanished. she could bear no other person but her father. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. Okonkwo.Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother. had gained ground. Obiako. It was the poetry of the new religion. and the elders of his family. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him.

The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. and so did his little children. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn."Ezinma ran in the direction of the barn and brought back two yams from the dwarf wall. Ezinma. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets."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. Now that she walked slowly she had time to think. Tortoise began to sniff aloud. That is a wise action. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. But in this case she ran away to save her life. "You fear that you will die. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light. "How man men have lain with you since my brother first expressed his desire to marry you?""None. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once.Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people.

said Ezeugo. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. 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. That was not luck. She rose from her mat. Okonkwo's son. though his dialect was different and harsh to the enrs of Mbanta. and she put all her being into it. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness. 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. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death." said Obierika. And ten thousand men answered "Yaa!" each time. like coco-yams. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past."Umuofia kwenu." said Ekwefi. As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops.""I think she will stay. "I know what it is??the wrestling match.