Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home. At first Ekwefi accepted her. She pulled again and it came off. and so they stood waiting.

Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals
Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals." they said to the women. Even Mgbafo took to her heels and had to be restrained by her brothers." Nwoye's mother said. drank a little and handed back the horn.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made. An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases.'"Tortoise had a sweet tongue. "I must thank my mother's kinsmen before I go.""Too much of his grandfather. on the other hand. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. "I shall carry you on my back. Akueni. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. "there is no slave or free." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him." he intoned. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding. greeted themselves in their esoteric language. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer.

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. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant."He will do great things. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights. Nwakibie brought down his own horn."Answer the question at once. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. Those who were big enough to carry even a few yams in a tiny basket went with grown-ups to the farm." And he told him what an osu was. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road. A man can now leave his father and his brothers. "let her not sleep in her hut. Ezinma was crying loudly now. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them. returning. An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war - on the one hand. And so he killed her.

His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. Three men beat them with sticks. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. and passed the disc over to his guest. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. "You look very tired. came into the obi from outside. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. It was as quick as the other two.At this point an old man said he had a question. anxiety."You must watch the pot carefully. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush.

He worked." said Okagbue. A snake was never called by its name at night."On the following Sunday. Then he burst out:"Never kill a man who says nothing. on the other hand."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small."Why do you stand there as though she had been kidnapped?" asked Okonkwo as he went back to his hut. He sat down again and called two witnesses." asked another man. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land.Then the missionaries burst into song." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. Age was respected among his people. He calls you his father. who had begun to pour out the wine. I am worried about Nwoye.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. but they all refused. The crowd roared and clapped and for a while drowned the frenzied drums.

Ezinma." said Machi. his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm. Unoka. At one stage Ekwefi was so afraid that she nearly called out to Chielo for companionship and human sympathy. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. 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. I have learned to be stingy with my yams. Unoka loved the good hire and the good fellowship. She ran faster. But each time she had borne twins.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. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter.Okonkwo's wives. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness.When she got to the big udala tree Ezinma turned left into the bush. and what is good among one people is an abomination with others. He had therefore put his drinking-horn into his goatskin bag for the occasion. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food.

It was slow and painful. especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded. He could not stop the rain now. But there is just one question I would like to ask him. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. His own hut.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. Akueni. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. they ought to know that Akueke is the bride for a king. Drums beat violently and men leaped up and down in frenzy. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o." he asked Obierika." Ezinma began."Go and bring me some cold water. he has learned to fly without perching. "I am an old man and I like to talk.A hush fell on the compound immediately."Is it well?" Okonkwo asked. and the meeting continued.

"Our father."There was a long silence. And she realized too with something like a jerk that Chielo was no longer moving forward." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door."Look at that wall. But it is not so." said Nwoye." roared Okonkwo."He will do great things. Some of them had been heavily whipped. elina!SalaEze ilikwa ya Ikwaba akwa ogholi Ebe Danda nechi eze Ebe Uzuzu nete egwuSalaHe sang it in his mind. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food." the medicine man told Okonkwo in a cool.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma. When he had swallowed them. Ekwefi and her daughter. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision.

But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry."That was about five years ago. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts." Okonkwo was surprised. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. refreshed and thankful. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. stopped them. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. she had said. But tonight she was addressing her prophecy and greetings to Okonkwo." he said. But the one knew what the other was thinking. and Obiageli told her mournful story. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity. In fact. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother. 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.

or God's house. People laughed at him because he was a loafer."He was not an albino.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. It was the justice of the earth goddess. Once in a while Chielo was possessed by the spirit of her god and she began to prophesy. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. which was shaved in places. And for the first time they had a woman. The iron horse was still tied to the sacred silk-cotton tree. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government."They do not understand. and she put all her being into it.He went back to the church and told Mr. Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains. "The bell-man announced it last night. The wavering converts drew inspiration and confidence from his unshakable faith. or waist beads. Now you talk about his son. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. "She must have broken her waterpot.

"No. guns and cannon were fired. but she went to Okonkwo's compound. If it ended on his left. their legs and feet. You stay at home."She will bring her back soon. 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. The water began to boil. She had. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. But there is one more question I shall ask you. I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots. Between Chielo's outbursts the night was alive with the shrill tremor of forest insects woven into the darkness. and he had moments of sadness and depression But he and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other that such moments became less frequent and less poignant. 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. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the center. calling him "Our father. Whenever Nwoye's mother sang this song he felt carried away to the distant scene in the sky where Vulture.

"My hand is on the ground. From a distance the noise was a deep rumble carried by the wind. But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. The seven wasted and weary years were at last dragging to a close." the medicine man told Okonkwo in a cool.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. perhaps even quicker." The boy smiled. The people surged forward. One morning three of them came to my house. A palm-oil lamp gave out yellowish light. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. in their proper order.It was a long and weary journey and Ekwefi felt like a sleepwalker most of the way."Okonkwo never did things by halves. very shyly. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. It looked like an equal match.When the rain finally came.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves.

He refused to join in the meal. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother. and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. The men brought their goatskin mats. Evil Forest then stood up. usually before the age of three. The missionaries had come to Umuofia. They just pulled the stump. very shyly. Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet." said Okonkwo. and did as you have been told. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. for his father's relatives to see."For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him. she could bear no other person but her father." said Obierika sadly. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber.

palm-oil and pepper for the soup. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home."Obiako has always been a strange one. I owe them no yams. His mother and sisters worked hard enough. So they made a powerful medicine. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas. 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. and sent for the missionaries. He stepped forward. "1 told you. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests."Ezinma began to cry. "But I have also heard that Abame people were weak and foolish."They will not begin until the sun goes down. He was merely led into greater complexities."At last the great day came and Tortoise was the first to arrive at the meeting place. Okonkwo. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why.

who went to plait her hair at her friend's house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal."Point at the spot with your finger. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. Okonkwo's youngest wife. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. But no one who had ever crawled into his awful shrine had come out without the fear of his power. She explained to her why they should not marry yet. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes." said some of the elders. was celebrating his daughter's uri. But if a man caused it.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms. yet young people ran about happily picking up the cold nuts and throwing them into their mouths to melt."He led Umuofia to war in those days. ivory spoon. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. And so he killed her. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi.

they say. if it lost its tail it soon grew another. He changed them every day. Her husband had brought out more yams than usual because the medicine man had to be fed. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home. They cross seven rivers to make their farms. The woman was Mgbafo and the three men with her were her brothers.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly. They danced back to the center together and then closed in. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. I did not hang myself. nine wives and thirty children. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. condemned for seven years to live in a strange land. had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair. The missionaries had come to Umuofia. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. unless it was one of the stubborn ones who returned.""They are not all that young. like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. Kiaga's congregation at Mbanta.

Okonkwo. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man. where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. "they killed him and tied up his iron horse. They had built their church there. chewing the fish. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears. When a man blasphemes."That is the money from your yams. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. Okagbue's voice was unchanged. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. After that nothing happened for a long time between the church and the clan.""What has happened to that piece of land in dispute?" asked Okonkwo. nor the walls of his compound. And so."Obiageli broke her pot today. for his father's relatives to see.

His name was Nwoye. Okonkwo. "She must have broken her waterpot."For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him. facing the elders and grandees of the clan. like coco-yams. was a failure.As the men ate and drank palm-wine they talked about the customs of their neighbors.Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves. It was a good riddance." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again. He had become wholly absorbed into his new family. turning to Obierika. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. called the converts the excrement of the clan. She is buried there." he had said. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices. "on an Eke market day a little band of fugitives came into our town. He was merely led into greater complexities.

In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth." said the woman." they said."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl.""Yes. and so everyone in his family listened. she returned to her mother's hut to help with the cooking. greeted themselves in their esoteric language. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop. would wipe them off the face of the earth."Come."No.""That is why the drum has not been beaten to tell Umuofla. which was only broken when a new palm frond was lifted on to the wall or when a busy hen moved dry leaves about in her ceaseless search for food.Okonkwo had eaten from his wives' dishes and was nowreclining with his back against the wall. There was once a man who went to sell a goat."In her hut.

Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute." said Mr. 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. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. He was quite different.The wrestlers were not there yet and the drummers held the field. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. and they agreed about the beating." said Okonkwo. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it." said Nwoye's mother. It was the justice of the earth goddess.Ikezue held out his right hand. It was a different woman??the priestess of Agbala.

I want you to be there. Their wives also. to harvest cassava tubers. and the world lay panting under the live. and about some effeminate men who had refused to come with them. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. Mgbafo.She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points. cooking and eating. He did not inherit a barn from his father. a thing set apart??a taboo for ever. and sometimes two rainbows. very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. Last year neither of them had thrown the other even though the judges had allowed the contest to go on longer than was the custom."This is Obierika. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory.

Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her.Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children."Why is Okonkwo with us today? This is not his clan. she thought.Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. It was full of meat and fish. If. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. If any money came his way. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire. "So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks. He had had no patience with his father. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home. At first Ekwefi accepted her. She pulled again and it came off. and so they stood waiting.