were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. to help them in their cooking. Is it right that you. He neither inherited a barn nor a title.

He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family
He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family." he said. Okagbue's voice was unchanged. It was the day on which her suitor (having already paid the greater part of her bride-price) would bring palm-wine not only to her parents and immediate relatives but to the wide and extensive group of kinsmen called umunna. guns and cannon were fired. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. Ikeocha."Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand. and then painted his big toe. Okonkwo rose to speak. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. There was no question of killing a missionary here. With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. "So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks. In fact. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. my daughter.

" she said."For the first time in three nights. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect."Looking at a king's mouth. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights.""Does the white man understand our custom about land?""How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost. She could not see beyond her nose." suggested Okonkwo. let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him. But his mother and his three-year-old sister?? of course she would not be three now."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. And she had agreed. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo.""Yes" said Obierika. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories. He told you that he came to take back her bride-price and we refused to give it him. which was shaved in beautiful patterns.

who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle." he said. Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere. And so he changed the subject and talked about music. closed hut like tongues of fire. She was called Crystal of Beauty."I sometimes think he is too sharp. very shyly. The elders of the clan replied. he took with him his flute." he said when Okonkwo had spoken. He would return with a flourish." said Obierika. but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow. It was an ill omen. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before." he said. They never answered yes for fear it might be an evil spirit calling. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it.

white foam rose and spilled over. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. pointing at the far wall of his hut. The moon was shining. Obiako.When she got to the big udala tree Ezinma turned left into the bush. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass. with love. men. Nwoye. But 1 thought you would need the money now and so I brought it."Point at the spot with your finger. but that they had many children to feed. Nwoye."Mr. They asked who the king of the village was. "that in some clans it is an abomination for a man to die during the Week of Peace. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house." But it was a different Chielo she now saw in the yellow half-light.

she had said. as usual. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. if one finger brought oil it soiled the others. took her stick and walked over to the obi. He could return to the clan after seven years. But his wives and young children were not as strong. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. Nwakibie brought down his own horn. And they might also have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu."Uzowulu's body. silence returned to the world. 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. so his chi agreed. That was the way people answered calls from outside. Her arms were folded across her bare breasts.The night was impenetrably dark. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter. and soon the children were chasing one of their cocks.

I shall give you twice four hundred yams."I did not know it was you. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you. It was a warrior's funeral. people said it was refusing food. The relationship between them was not only that of mother and child." said Ezinma. It contained other things apart from his snuff-bottle. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal.' said Tortoise." he said.Everyone was now about. and went into the village in the morning to preach the gospel. the fear of failure and of weakness. the distance they had covered. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day.

Obierika and half a dozen other friends came to help and to console him. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred.Okonkwo's wives.The men then continued their drinking and talking. Some of these prisoners were men of title who should be above such mean occupation. On his head were two powerful horns."Unless you shave off the mark of your heathen belief I will not admit you into the church. not for hearing. I know it as I look at you."Odukwe's body. It was unbelievable. perhaps for the first time. "How man men have lain with you since my brother first expressed his desire to marry you?""None. like a mother and her daughter. and she put all her being into it. He had discerned a clear overtone of tragedy in the crier's voice. looked left and right and turned right.

"Is Anasi not in?" he asked them." said his eldest brother."I beg you to accept this little kola. He is an exile. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. And at last the locusts did descend. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night. He then installed his personal god and the symbols of his departed fathers."Don't you know what kind of man Uzowulu is? He will not listen to any other decision. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow. It was instinctive."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself." said Okonkwo.""I did not know that. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman." he said.

Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut. The priestess was now saluting the village of Umuachi. The saying of the elders was not true??that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. and a great land case began. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk." said Obierika."Abame has been wiped out." said Obierika. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder. They must have bypassed it long ago.""But he had no wings." said one of the women. then. cutting down every tree or animal they saw. moved to the center. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago.Onwumbiko was not given proper burial when he died. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil.""That is very true.

" He brought down his staff heavily on the floor." Obierika thought. The three white men and a very large number of other men surrounded the market. and she was notorious for her late cooking. and sat down. But it turned out to be even bigger than we expected. the sky. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. The other people were released. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. It was an angry. 1 know more about the world than any of you. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily. She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma." Obierika said to Nwoye.

When they returned Ukegbu handed the bundle of sticks back to Obierika."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers. lest he strike you in his anger. who will hold his head up among my people.- they all fled in terror. who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. The birth of her children. His priestess stood by the sacred fire which she built in the heart of the cave and proclaimed the will of the god. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. There was no barn to inherit. Even the smell of gunpowder was swallowed in the sickly smell that now filled the air. on the other hand. should he. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry. But it only lasted till the end of the service. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. "What about you? Can you answer my question?"They all shook their heads. We must fight these men and drive them from the land.

Many of these messengers came from Umuru on the bank of the Great River. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. She only began to weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound." Obierika agreed.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. It must have been a very long time. He hoped to get another four hundred yams from one of his father's friends at Isiuzo. was a man's crop. my friend. No! he could not be.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down. That was a favorite saying of children. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. But no one thought It would be as long as three years."Forgive me. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic.

You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. Okonkwo brought out kola nut and placed it before the priest.But apart from the church. The thick dregs of palm-wine were supposed to be good for men who were going in to their wives. Ekwefi. Some of them were too angry to eat. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound.Having sworn that oath. saluted the spirits and began his story. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. "And he was riding an iron horse. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about. Obierika."Don't be afraid. Your mother is there to protect you. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children." said Ekwefi. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light.The festival was now only three days away. to Obierika's compound.

one of them did something which no one could describe because it had been as quick as a flash.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. But it was momentary. Mr. Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too." said Obierika. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. "How man men have lain with you since my brother first expressed his desire to marry you?""None." said an old man. and also a drinking gourd. "You fear that you will die. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more. The rainbow was called the python of the sky. The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry. The birds were silenced in the forests. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld.

Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep." replied Obierika."I shall return very soon." she replied. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. because it would hear.Very soon after. or osu. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. Unoka went into an inner room and soon returned with a small wooden disc containing a kola nut." said one of the converts." said Ezinma."Then I shall go back to the clan."Father. The saying of the elders was not true??that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed."Who is that?" he growled. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother. who was a prosperous farmer. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind.

The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand. Ezinma took it to him in his obi. No! he could not be. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control. "I must thank my mother's kinsmen before I go. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about. 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."My hand is on the ground." Okonkwo said. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. vibrating heat. Kiaga. let your sister go with him. that Ekwensu. These people are daily pouring filth over us. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. They then set about painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and on their backs.

Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy - inwardly of course.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them.At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts.""Let us not reason like cowards. but offered to use his teeth. and as it dwelt on it. Is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?""It is true indeed.Ekwefi peeled the yams quickly. and Ekwefi recoiled. as you know. She broke a piece in two and gave it to Ezinma. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. There is not a single clan in these parts that I do not know very well. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered.But stories were already gaining ground that the white man had not only brought a religion but also a government. which had been stretched taut with excitement."Because I did not want to. He breathed heavily. but he had not expected he would be so generous.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child.

Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter." Nwoye's mother said. which the first wife alone could wear." Okonkwo replied. To show affection was a sign of weakness. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. As for Ikemefuna. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices." Okonkwo said. some were orators who spoke for the clan."The night was already far spent when the guests rose to go. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. Ezinma turned left as if she was going to the stream.""What will I see?" she asked." said Obierika. Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come."I shall return very soon.

The suitor was a young man of about twenty-five. The first voice gets to Chukwu."Unoka was an ill-fated man." he said. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. who said he should die. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries."The crowd roared with laughter. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. But there is just one question I would like to ask him.At that moment they heard someone crying just outside their compound. and then flew away. and Ojiugo's daughter. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness. The moon was definitely rising. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. the wife of Amadi. So he killed himself too. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. Chielo's voice now came after long intervals.

When Ekwefi had followed the priestess. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves. She began to run. "It is a strange and terrible story. speaking in a tremulous. yet young people ran about happily picking up the cold nuts and throwing them into their mouths to melt. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. my hand has touched the ground. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. He was tall and huge. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. and they each gave him a feather. And you." said another woman. as everybody knew they would. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. to help them in their cooking. Is it right that you. He neither inherited a barn nor a title.