the tuber. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest. who was the oldest man in the village.

""What will I see?" she asked
""What will I see?" she asked. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking.Ekwefi went into her hut to cook yams. And Okonkwo had already done that. Was it not on an Eke day that they fled into Umuofia?" he asked his two companions.Ezinma lay shivering on a mat beside a huge fire that her mother had kept burning all night." said Ekwefi. When all the birds had gathered together. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase. Ezenwa took it. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. my sons. carrying on their heads various sizes of pots suitable to their years. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them.The elders. When the pot fell down and broke she burst out laughing. He then installed his personal god and the symbols of his departed fathers. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later.

" he said. Your generation does not know that." said Obierika. and his children after him. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound. Violent deaths were frequent. he belonged to the clan as a whole.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth. endless space in the presence of Agbala.The women had gone to the bush to collect firewood. Machi. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. nearly half a day's journey away. like coco-yams. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. Then there was perfect silence.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. Okonkwo. and perhaps other women as well.

"We shall be late for the wrestling.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began. The younger of his sons. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice. It looked like an equal match. From then on. As soon as the two boys closed in. with a start. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. silencing him."You will blow your eyes out.Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales in Mbanta and did not as yet affect the relationship between the new church and the clan. "You will find a pot of wine there. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. The pots of wine stood in their midst. and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like shining star dust. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day." said one of the younger men. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back. She had got ready her basket of coco-yams and fish.

Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon."Since I survived that year. I will only have a son who is a man. some of them with their water-pots to the stream.Mr. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it. shiny pebble fell out. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. As soon as he heard of the great feast in the sky his throat began to itch at the very thought. and the planting began. egusi soup and bitter-leaf soup and pots and pots of palm-wine. full of power and beauty. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market.But Mr.As the broken kola nuts were passed round. who was the eldest of the nine sons. But the one knew what the other was thinking. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire.' 'You must return the duckling.

I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky.The festival was now only three days away."It was my husband's. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. The bride-price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand. no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan. The priestess was now saluting the village of Umuachi. And then appeared on the horizon a slowly-moving mass like a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool. I shall break your jaw.The night was impenetrably dark. Chielo was not a woman that night.When the mat was at last removed she was drenched in perspiration. The birds were silenced in the forests. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years." he said. He had a bad chi or personal god." replied the other.

" Ezinma offered. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive." he said quietly to Ezinma.""Anyway. It was a different woman??the priestess of Agbala.' said the young kite." said some of the elders. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands." he said. Nobody thought that such a thing could ever happen.As the broken kola nuts were passed round. and filled the village with excitement. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home."Thank you. who had joined in plucking the feathers. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. Ezinma took it to him in his obi.

Now and again the cannon boomed. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. "you. Each of his three wives had her own hut. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. or the children of Eru. Ezinma. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. he had stalked his victim. We must fight these men and drive them from the land.All this had happened more than a year ago and Ezinma had not been ill since. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed. malevolent. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. They asked who the king of the village was. The air. As soon as the two boys closed in. on their backs and their thighs. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. and he said so with much threatening.

made up her mind.""That cannot be. Now that she walked slowly she had time to think. "Okonkwo! Agbala ekme gio-o-o-o! Agbala cholu ifu ada ya Ezinmao-o-o-oi"At the mention of Ezinma's name Ekwefi jerked her head sharply like an animal that had sniffed death in the air. bringing the third dish. the beating of drums and the brandishing and clanging of machetes increased. he was repentant. 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. Unoka loved it all.The daughters of the family were all there. whom she called "my daughter. Unoka was. and through these Okonkwo passed the rope."Don't cry."Every year. Now and again the cannon boomed. you and me and all of us. Another one was wailing near his right ear. Nwoye. afraid of your next-door neighbor." said the bride.

When everyone had drunk two or three horns." He put it down to his inflexible will."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. you wicked daughter of Akalogoli?" Okonkwo swore furiously." And he did. An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases. Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. Kiaga. There must have been about ten thousand men there. She understood things so perfectly. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens. astride the steaming pot. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north. But he had long learned how to lay that ghost. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. her face streaming with tears. 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.

The ancient drums of death beat. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive. 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. but so great was the work the new religion had done among the converts that they did not immediately leave the church when the outcasts came in."What does it all mean?" asked Mr. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. Nothing wouldhappen to Ezinma. but they are too young to leave their mother. and so all the clan was at his funeral. But they have cast you out like lepers."She will bring her back soon. to harvest cassava tubers."It is very near now. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear." he said." She stood up and pulled out the fan which was fastened into one of the rafters. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village. We must fight these men and drive them from the land.

She did not know how long she waited. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. He was a leper. "And let there be friendship between your family and ours. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. for you people. Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut. facing the elders and grandees of the clan. Then everything had been broken. It was not very long since they had returned. 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. to her right and to her left. in fact. with sticks." he asked. As Idigo had said. and we expected a big feast. Ezeudu is dead. It was a good riddance. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed.

But it was the season of rest between the harvest and the next planting season. Her husband had brought out more yams than usual because the medicine man had to be fed." he said as he broke it. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children." he said. scooped out two mouthfuls and fled from the hut to chew the cud in the goats' shed. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal.The Feast of the New Yam was approaching and Umuofia was in a festival mood. he broke it and they ate. my hand has touched the ground. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing. The rainbow began to appear. just beyond the borders of Mbaino.The elders of the clan had decided that Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo's care for a while." Obierika replied sharply." said Ekwefi. Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly. She had already walked so long that she began to feel a slight numbness in the limbs and in the head.

as when she first set out. Okonkwo. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. Have you not heard the song they sing when a woman dies?"'For whom is it well. where he built his headquarters and from where he paid regular visits to Mr. Now you talk about his son." he said."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. women and children. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. you would still have committed a great evil to beat her." he swore. He then adjusted his cloth. Why. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. 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. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools. "They have that custom in Obodoani. as if that was paying the big debts first.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.

" said Ezinma. "The world has no end." Ezinma offered." Uzowulu replied. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. But the arrivees persevered. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. Her mother consoled her and promised to buy her her another pot. It was a sad miscalculation. It was unbelievable.Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy - inwardly of course."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. who was a prosperous farmer."Yaa!" replied the thunderous crowd.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola. quietly and deliberately. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it. through lonely forest paths. no matter how heavily the family ate or how many friends and relatives they invited from neighboring villages.

But it would be impolite to rush him. of all people.- they must be going towards Umuachi. Tortoise began to sniff aloud. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. She looked very much like her mother. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark." she began. At last Sky was moved to pity. Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory. such as befitted a noble warrior."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two. whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. especially their hair." said Obierika. But each time she had borne twins. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse.

"I will come with you. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed." He presented the kola nut to them. And what do you think the Oracle would do then?""You know very well." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again."Everybody in the assembly spoke. her voice terrible as it echoed through the dark void. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. Ikeocha. he thought.""That cannot be. The relationship between them was not only that of mother and child."They do not understand. and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. "He seemed to speak through his nose." and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. Tortoise had no wings. who were still outside the circle. Her basket was balanced on her head.

her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night." he asked Obierika. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. like a mother and her daughter." Okonkwo said. They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free." said Obierika." replied Okoye. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. she had said. slanting showers through sunshine and quiet breeze."How can I know you.- they must be going towards Umuachi.In the distance the drums continued to beat. As far as the villagers were concerned.Mr. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. Then it went nearer and named the village: " Iguedo of the yellow grinding-stone!" It was Okonkwo's village. At the opposite end of the compound was a shed for the goats. was quite harmless. and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast.

She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered." said Obierika. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. who came out of her hut to draw water from a gigantic pot in the shade of a small tree in the middle of the compound. the tumult increased tenfold." he said. buoyant maiden. only more holy than the village variety. He breathed heavily. who will hold his head up among my people. The rain became lighter and lighter until it fell in slanting showers." But Death took no notice. my dear friend. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. She was very heavy with child. was among them. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens.' Why is that?"There was silence. It was an angry. The sickness was an abomination to the earth.

trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. in silence. At the end."Two years ago. beat me up and took my wife and children away. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. like a son.Ikemefuna heard a whisper close behind him and turned round sharply." and was allowed to go wherever it chose." Okonkwo said."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. indeed. but he did not say it." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma. and four or five others in his own age group. My sister lived with him for nine years. She buried her face in her lap and waited. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. They had then drawn patterns on them in white. "If I had a son like him I should be happy.

And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom. you and me and all of us. We would then not be held accountable for their abominations. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. The sickness was an abomination to the earth."Okonkwo never did things by halves. The first voice gets to Chukwu. and allowed a brief pause. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. not dead.The world was silent except for the shrill cry of insects. unless it be the emotion of anger. Amikwu.""That is very true. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. paid regular visits to them. Amadiora or the thunderbolt. "I have heard that many years ago.

It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food." said one of the converts. she could bear no other person but her father. to roast plantains for him.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. If I were you I would have stayed at home.As Okonkwo sat in his hut that night. or Evil Spirit. The crime was of two kinds.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. Unoka." he bellowed a fifth time. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. or obi." Ezinma offered. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick.The night was very quiet. and a little hoe for digging out the tuber. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest. who was the oldest man in the village.