compound. to her right and to her left. but they all refused.Uchendu had been told by one of his grandchildren that three strangers had come to Okonkwo's house.

" said another man
" said another man.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. Let her go and stay with her people. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. taking each string separately. But I think you ought to break it. and asked no questions. my daughter. There were only three such boys in each team. It was like the pulsation of its heart. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. as was the custom. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. It was even heard in the surrounding villages.

Surely the earth goddess would not visit the sins of the missionaries on the innocent villagers?But on one occasion the missionaries had tried to over step the bounds." And he did. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. The first cock has crowed. "It is a strange and terrible story. A man stood there with a machete in his hand. the interpreter. Sometimes Okonkwo gave them a few yams each to prepare." said Ezinma at last." she said. "We will go with you to meet those cowards. "You are our teacher. That was not luck." said Ezinma.At first." She stood up and pulled out the fan which was fastened into one of the rafters. She rose from her mat. Kiaga. It told of one sheep out on the hills.

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.And then the egwugwu appeared. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. or how.""Too much of his grandfather. "And he was riding an iron horse." said Obierika. he had allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly interval to pass and then gone with his machete to the shrine. Okonkwo slept. sat on the floor waiting for him to finish." He turned to Odukwe. raised the pot on his left knee and began to pour out the wine. No one had ever beheld Agbala. We did not see it. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. No matter how prosperous a man was. And what was more. my friend.Everyone was now about."At last the great day came and Tortoise was the first to arrive at the meeting place.

We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow."On what market-day was it born?" he asked. slanting showers through sunshine and quiet breeze. he was not a hunter. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. Twenty.""That means you will see something."What are you doing here?" Obierika had asked when after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy. the owner of all land. about their women."It has not always been so. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. He went into the obi and saluted his father. "1 told you. but not today. "Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. by Ezeani.

Unoka. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground."Father. Some of them were not at home and only four came in." they said. of how his father. and none of them died. But in this case she ran away to save her life. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. Unoka. Okonkwo came after her. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately. my daughter. She put back the empty pot on the circular pad in the corner.An iron gong sounded. The yams were then staked. He had discerned a clear overtone of tragedy in the crier's voice. forty." said Okonkwo. She would wait at the mouth.

were whispering together. and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. and he loved this season of the year. Akueni. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. Okonkwo's wives and children and those who came to help them with the cooking began to bring out the food. and the crowd followed her. into a healthy. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. He had cracked them himself."The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. Rain fell as it had never fallen before. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light.

I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. But tonight she was addressing her prophecy and greetings to Okonkwo. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. but achievement was revered. he kept it secret." ';."The next day a group of elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia came to Okonkwo's house early in the morning. They said she was coming."Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart."I do not blame you. 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. He remembered his wife's twin children. welcoming it back from its long. Inwardly. People called on their neighbors and drank palm-wine. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. and drinking palm-wine copiously.""I think she has.

And Okonkwo had already done that. The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a mound of foo-foo so high that those who sat on one side could not see what was happening on the other. And the other boy was flat on his back. Now and again a full-chested lamentation rose above the wailing whenever a man came into the place of death. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives.As the men ate and drank palm-wine they talked about the customs of their neighbors.Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. do you know me?""How can I know you. eating the peelings. Ezinma placed her mother's dish before him and sat with Obiageli. Okonkwo.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. Ani."Answer the question at once. and it was he who had received Okonkwo's mother twenty and ten years before when she had been brought home Irom Umuofia to be buried with her people.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. We would then not be held accountable for their abominations. When he had swallowed them. But before he could answer."That is not strange.

The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul??the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh. It was a fierce contest. will you go to see the wrestling?" Ezinma asked after a suitable interval. trembling. waiting for the women to finish their cooking. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. Such was Unoka's fate. He passed her a piece of fish.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day. And she went into her hut to warm the vegetable soup she had cooked last night.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. gazing into a log fire. It was indeed the shrine of a great god." said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh. my daughter. in a body. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked.

white foam rose and spilled over. During those years no single day passed in the sky without his beating the woman." the men said among themselves. "there is no slave or free."On the following Sunday. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. 'but tell me. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. took the lump of chalk. and for protection against their enemies. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. I do not owe my inlaws anything." lied Nwoye's mother. Her arms were folded across her bare breasts. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. Okonkwo. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. 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. The medicine man ignored him. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands.

" At the same time the priestess also said. She trudged slowly along. and stake them when the young tendrils appear. who were still outside the circle. She was full of the power of her god. Thirty. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. gome. and was not given the first or the second burial. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife. smiled broadly and said to his father: "Do you hear that?" He then said to the others: "He will never admit that I am a good tapper. They sang songs as they went. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. or waist beads. But 1 thought you would need the money now and so I brought it. and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. This year they were the wise ones. There were six of them and one was a white man.

long ago. who was the eldest of the nine sons. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn. And as he told them of the past they sat in darkness or the dim glow of logs. some of them with their water-pots to the stream.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. and the crowd followed her. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. Okonkwo looked up from his work and wondered if it was going to rain at such an unlikely time of the year. who had taken two titles."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! Chi negbu madu ubosi ndu ya nato ya uto daluo-o-o! ??"Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight. The clan was worried. There were six of them and one was a white man. If they imagined what was inside. ivory spoon. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish. called him by his name and went back to her hut. Everybody had been invited??men. "that was why the snake-lizard killed his mother. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman.

The white man had gone back to Umuofia. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. watching. It had to be done slowly and carefully. and you are afraid." He turned to Odukwe." replied Ekwefi.In the morning the market place was full."Ezinma is dying.In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo's household. that was how it looked to his father.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky. self-assured and confident. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled. As our people say." replied Ekwefi. who must taste his wine before anyone else.Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. and was now accorded great respect in all the clan. Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness.

"When your wife becomes pregnant again.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo. Uzowulu and his relative. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed." replied Ekwefi. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head.""An albino. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. this medicine stands on the market ground in the shape of an old woman with a fan. He could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves." Okonkwo said. "Life to you." said one of them.

In fact. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. and so all the clan was at his funeral. "I remember now. because it judged a man by the work or his hands. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said. There was no question of killing a missionary here. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them.But Mr. conversing with his father in low tones. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife."One of them passes here frequently. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. not for hearing. silencing him.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family. and allowed a brief pause. They will serve you when I have eaten. the whole clan gathers there.

all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave.He is fit to be a slave."Answer me!" he roared again. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country. or old woman. We did not see it. 'You have taken back your sister. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass. Those men of Abame were fools."Who is that?" he growled. malevolent. If it does its power will be gone."Yes. panting." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. and the tuber was pulled out. Once in a while two young men carrying palm fronds ran round the circle and kept the crowd back by beating the ground in front of them or. the king of crops.

without serious danger to his own health. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body. And perhaps those not so young would be playing in pairs in less open places. Ezinma went with her and helped in preparing the vegetables. "You are already a skeleton. But when a father beats his child. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place."When nearly two years later Obierika paid another visit to his friend in exile the circumstances were less happy. one hen. And so he killed her.Okonkwo did as the priest said."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. a loud cheer rose from the crowd.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. beginning with the eldest man. He had had no patience with his father." he said.

with a start.Sometimes a man came to consult the spirit of his dead father or relative."It was only this morning. All was silent. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. Only a few of them saw these white men and their followers." he said. 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. could not shelter under his roof." said his daughter Ezinma when she brought the food to him. In the end Parrot. boomed the hollow metal. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. My sister lived with him for nine years. I implore you." said Okonkwo."Father." she said. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind. with a start.

Is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?""It is true indeed." said Obierika sadly. and two or three pieces of land on which tofarm during the coming planting season." said Okonkwo. sat on a mat on the floor. she returned to her mother's hut to help with the cooking. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands. the harvest of the previous year. my daughter. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers. the priestess of Agbala.As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it."There must be something behind it." said Okonkwo. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. called round his neighbors and made merry. Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans.

"Do what you are told. go home before Agbala does you harm. But each time she had borne twins. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. It had been early in the morning. and Maduka brought in a pot of palm-wine. It is against the will of God. but they are too young to leave their mother. And that could not be. The musicians with their wood."That wine is the work of a good tapper. it was in large. he was treated with great honor and respect. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonkwo had already become famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness. as the Ibo people say. carrying a wooden dish with three kola nuts and alligator pepper. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound. to her right and to her left. but they all refused.Uchendu had been told by one of his grandchildren that three strangers had come to Okonkwo's house.