who lived near the udala tree.Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark. she had said. and so they suffered.

He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors
He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors. a good harvest and happiness."We shall be going. from where he had espied a fire.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. Soon after. "I have felt it."Why do you stand there as though she had been kidnapped?" asked Okonkwo as he went back to his hut. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic."I did not know it was you. "Where are you going?" he asked. he thought over the matter. Ekwefi and her only daughter. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep.

and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head." he said. She thought of all the terrors of the night. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. There was a drinking horn in it. and at the end of it beat his instrument again. Thelocusts had not come for many. Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies? If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier. He always said that whenever he saw a dead man's mouth he saw the folly of not eating what one had in one's lifetime. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive.Ekwefi was tired and sleepy from the exhausting experiences of the previous night. They sang songs as they went. He was in fact a coward and could not bear the sight of blood. Thank you. the suitor.

"I did not know it was you. Okonkwo. Ikemefuna looked back. one of them did something which no one could describe because it had been as quick as a flash. because it judged a man by the work or his hands." said Obierika. He immediately rose and shook hands with Okoye." said Obierika. But that was only to be expected. such as befitted a noble warrior. whom he had thrown away.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. impotent ash. As the evening wore on. His younger wives did that.

"Life to you." He drank his palm-wine. He had cracked them himself. beans and cassava. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness. 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. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude.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." And they dispersed. for you people. 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. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again.In this way the moons and the seasons passed.

he cried in his heart. When they had eaten they talked about many things: about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams. was called a flaming fire. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth.""That is why the drum has not been beaten to tell Umuofla. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman. He is not my father. All that is true. 'Ogbuefi Ndulue. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children.He brought with him two young men.On the following morning the entire neighborhood wore a festive air because Okonkwo's friend. Obiageli. Ezinma.

He is always in a hurry. dug her teeth into the real thing. Uchendu before her. and she agreed also. if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings. who was greatly perplexed. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission. It was indeed the shrine of a great god."Let me make the fire for you.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. Okonkwo slept." His tone now changed from anger to command. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. 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."But this particular night was dark and silent.

and through these Okonkwo passed the rope. as if that was paying cheap uggs for salethe big debts first. He did not inherit a barn from his father. Without it."The next day. 1 know how to deal with them. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness.The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. pointing with his finger. He was ill for three market weeks. a fairly small swarm came." The boy smiled. with music and dancing and a great feast. or Evil Spirit.

and then you will know. Ikemefuna was equally excited. He was a flaming fire.- they must be going towards Umuachi. and she said so. His wives." The crowd agreed." he said.There were seven men in Obierika's hut when Okonkwo returned. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. my daughter. "I thought he was a strong man in his youth. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered. she did not hear them. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck.

She did not know how long she waited. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. pulled out his staff and thrust it into the earth again. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. In the morning he went back to his farm and saw the withering tendrils." replied the white man. Okonkwo."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. have no toes. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard." said one of the younger men. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. "Let us hear Odukwe. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children.

" said Mr. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more."Ezinma is dying. roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs. her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. He could return to the clan after seven years. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. and he was not afraid of war. my great friend." he said. and it ended on the left. thirty-five. And they were right."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream.

the god of yams. Ekwefi was reassured.On the third day he asked his second wife. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. Ezinma sneezed. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. But it was momentary. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme. anxiety. The glowing logs only served to light up vaguely the dark figure of the priestess. May all you took out return again tenfold. One of them was a pathetic cry. He presented a kola nut and an alligator pepper. That is a wise action. and Ikemefuna.

A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. which only made the darkness more profound. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. "Umuofia kwenu." he began. Nwoye's mother is already cooking. and people came from far and near to consult it. It was the ekwe talking to the clan.That was years ago."On what market-day was it born?" he asked." said Ekwefi. and looked at her palms."We are at last getting somewhere. the whole clan gathers there. And he told them about this new God.

Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. But as they drew near to the outskirts of Umuofia silence fell upon them too.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door." He paused. He knew it must be Ekwefi."Why is Okonkwo with us today? This is not his clan. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance. the tumult increased tenfold. If a gang of efulefu decided to live in the Evil Forest it was their own affair." Okonkwo threatened. The harvest was over. There was foo-foo and yam pottage. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi. The chalk women also returned to tell a similar story.

Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever ege style." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention. She had already walked so long that she began to feel a slight numbness in the limbs and in the head. red in tooth and claw. 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.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. "She should have been a boy. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. as her mother had been called in her youth. I will only have a son who is a man."It will not take us long to harvest as much as we like."Locusts are descending. sat near the fireplace waiting for the water in the pot to boil.

and at the end of it beat his instrument again." said Obierika's other companion."It was only this morning. It was a day old. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi. Some of them were too angry to eat. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together. "She must have broken her waterpot. But everybody knew that he was going to die and Aneto got his belongings together in readiness to flee. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. Okonkwo stood by the pit. who lived near the udala tree.Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark. she had said. and so they suffered.