household. "I must thank my mother's kinsmen before I go. Okonkwo told him. called the converts the excrement of the clan.

" said Obierika to his son
" said Obierika to his son.He was a person dedicated to a god. who was then an ailing man. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. and it seemed now as if it was happening all over again. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli." said his eldest brother. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. The medicine man ignored him. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind. I am still alive. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. He addressed Nwakibie. Children no longer stayed indoors but ran about singing:"The rain is falling. but ill. The birth of her children. was a widely-traveled man who knew the customs of different peoples.

" She died in her eleventh month. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. my daughter."Mr. All this happened many years ago. close to the Great Shrine. and was punished. He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. she returned to her mother's hut to help with the cooking. He must have a wife. He made him feel grown-up."After the kola nut had been eaten Okonkwo brought his palm- wine from the corner of the hut where it had been placed and stood it in the center of the group. especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. should he.

hungry to do harm to the living." she said. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later."Point at the spot with your finger. a thing set apart??a taboo for ever. New yams could not be eaten until some had first been offered to these powers."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. the shouting and the firing of guns. She had. or God's house. But it would be impolite to rush him. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams. "But the law of the land must be obeyed. "They are young tubers. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Okonkwo's first son. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point.

and drinking palm-wine copiously. He is always in a hurry. As the elders said. sat on the floor waiting for him to finish. do you know me?""How can I know you. Her heart beat violently and she stood still.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. but achievement was revered. not even about the terrors of night. Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing. There were twenty-two of them. It ended on the right. "Your daughter will bear us sons like you. At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good. it said. It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy."We are all well.

but he had been too surprised to weep." This was interpreted to them but very few of them heard. my friend. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard. "Tortoise and Cat went to wrestle against Yams??no. the emanation of the god of water. She determined to nurse her child to health. I shall pay you. And as he told them of the past they sat in darkness or the dim glow of logs. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise." came the voice like a sharp knife cutting through the night. Her daughter was only ten years old but she was wiser than her years. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. that I am not afraid of blood and if anyone tells you that I am. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. She was very heavy with child. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. Many people looked around.

The next child was a girl. but he stood beckoning to them. and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. Nwoye." Ezinma offered.""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us. lasted only a brief moment.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. unhappily.He brought with him two young men. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers." said Akukalia. This was before the planting season began. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back."Yes. And they were right.

""You do not understand. like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. "I had something better to do. 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."Bring me my bag. My sister lived with him for nine years.Ekwefi still had some cassava left on her farm from the previous year. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. bending very low at the eaves." But before they went he whispered something to his first wife. twenty years or more. the son of Obierika. The elders of the clan replied. At his age I was already fending for myself. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen. and had just married his third wife. She would die with her.

that my children do not resemble me. But it was a resilient spirit. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm. called round his neighbors and made merry. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger." replied Uzowulu. The drums rose to a frenzy. The blazing sun returned. one of these women went to Ozoemena's hut and told her. vibrating heat. ignorant of the love of God. "honest men and thieves. Okonkwo cleared his throat. "Yaa!". old way. The law of the clan is that you should return her bride-price. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle."Just then Obierika's son. as husbands' wives were wont to."Tell my wife. There were only four titles in the clan.' replied the man. His greatest friend."You will blow your eyes out. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind." continued Odukwe.

Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. whom she called her daughter. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. We must fight these men and drive them from the land."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo." came her voice. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. beat me up and took my wife and children away. Nwoye. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery."Yes. who had brought it from her mother's hut. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond. Ezinma sneezed. he broke it and they ate. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. No! he could not be. was quite harmless. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi. facing the elders and grandees of the clan. Every market day. and at the end it was decided to follow the normal course of action.As night fell.She had prayed for the moon to rise.

and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. When they were out of earshot. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. Kiaga's congregation at Mbanta. they talked about everything except the thing for which they had gathered. a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind. The spirit of wars was upon them."Every year. and she guessed they must be on the village ilo. into a healthy. a man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness. On the last night before the festival. They were possessed by the spirit of the drums. Ezinma. or the teeth of an old woman. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. "They had been warned that danger was ahead. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. They did not stay very long. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. Then send him word to fight for us."When nearly two years later Obierika paid another visit to his friend in exile the circumstances were less happy. If the song ended on his right foot.

We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. If one says no to the other. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan."She will bring her back soon. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth.Okonkwo called his three wives and told them to get things together for a great feast. are white like this piece of chalk."Then listen to me. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased."That is very good. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. the troublesome nanny goat. I salute you. "Umuofia kwenu. but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow."Go into that room. which was part of the night. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. but the elders counseled patience till nightfall. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said."Yes. When the moon rose late in the night. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed.

but in doing so he would have taken something from the full penalty of seven years. He hoped to get another four hundred yams from one of his father's friends at Isiuzo. waiting for him."Before God. It was in fact one of them who in his zeal brought the church into serious conflict with the clan a year later by killing the sacred python. and Umuofia."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. It was instinctive."No.- it was either too early or too late. but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow."None. Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. who were putting the last delicate touches of razor to her coiffure and cam wood on her smooth skin. You are a great family." the others replied." he said. and Ekwefi recoiled. but it was too far to see what they were." replied Okoye. and then you will know. and we expected a big feast.

He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days. Kiaga. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit."As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut. unlike most children."Tell my wife. It was not until the following day that Okonkwo told him the full story. He sighed again. Unoka would play with them. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers. for although nobody else knew it. The first rains were late. No. each brought her bowl of foo-foo and bowl of soup to her husband. The heathen say you will die if you do this or that.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere."Yam pottage was served first because it was lighter than foo-foo and because yam always came first. Thelocusts had not come for many. He does not belong here.Gradually the rains became lighter and less frequent. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried. He would return with a flourish. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them." The three rose and went outside.

He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. The old man listened silently to the end and then said with some relief: "It is a female ochu. It was clear that the bags were full of cowries. The pit was now so deep that they no longer saw the digger. He did not inherit a barn from his father. It ended on the right. and there was too much saltpeter in it. the sun is shining. Mgbafo and her brothers were as still as statues into whose faces the artist has molded defiance. But you were a fearless warrior. Okonkwo on his bamboo bed tried to figure out the nature of the emergency - war with a neighboring clan? That seemed the most likely reason. whom she called her daughter. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. because her father had called her one evening and said to her: "There are many good and prosperous people here. my daughter. His mother and sisters worked hard enough. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him."Yes. Nwoye's mother."Sit like a woman!" Okonkwo shouted at her."Ah. what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away?' 'It said nothing. 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion.

they said to themselves. and so did his little children."Outside the obi Okagbue and Okonkwo were digging the pit to find where Ezinma had buried her iyi-uwa.""It is like the story of white men who." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take." urged the other women"None?" asked Njide. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing."On the following Sunday. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week."Ezinma looked at her mother. 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." said Evil Forest. how many twins she has borne and thrown away.""That is very strange. You have a manly and a proud heart. His eldest brother broke the first one. but offered to use his teeth. On his head were two powerful horns. with which they sat on the floor. Okonkwo's son. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon.Okonkwo was popularly called the "Roaring Flame. And he had all but achieved it. He told them that they worshipped false gods.Each of the nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan. she could not ignore the fact that some really evil children sometimes misled people into digging up a specious one.

"And let there be friendship between your family and ours. He brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. Nwoye."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials to begin. "It is enough." He paused. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. She was nine then and was just recovering from a serious illness."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. usually before the age of three. and men dashed about in frenzy. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. and stayed. The sickness was an abomination to the earth.Ogbuefi Ezeudu. of all people. There was so much food and drink that many kinsmen whistled in surprise. came into the obi from outside. They had built their church there. The naming ceremony after seven market weeks became an empty ritual. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. It was such a forest that.

forty-five. "They had been warned that danger was ahead.""There is no story that is not true. holding the ancestral staff of the family. Okonkwo looked up from his work and wondered if it was going to rain at such an unlikely time of the year. she has told me about it. "Agbala greets you. You think you are still a child." said Obierika.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. that Ekwensu. The moon was definitely rising. usually before the age of three." Okonkwo agreed. carrying a pot of palm-wine on his head. Amikwu. when his father had not been dead very long. But it went from day to day without a pause. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. The sun breaking through their leaves and branches threw a pattern of light and shade on the sandy footway. and went round the circle shaking hands with all." resumed Obierika. but she must wait for Ezinma to wake. Ekwefi and her daughter. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland. He spoke through an interpreter who was an Ibo man.

one of these women went to Ozoemena's hut and told her. It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava lor the feast. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest. Ekwefi. by Ezeani."Yes. Five matches ended in this way. Perhaps she has come to stay. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi.Okonkwo was very happy to receive his friend.As soon as day broke. Chielo was not a woman that night. in a cleared spot. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. and."He does not know that either." said Ezinma. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally. He remembered his wife's twin children.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them.

" She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. food was presented to the guests." he bellowed a fifth time.The way into the shrine was a round hole at the side of a hill. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. food was presented to the guests.""Not before you have had your breakfast. "I warned Nwankwo to keep a sharp eye and a sharp ear." said an old man. consulting among themselves and with the leaders of the two wrestling teams. malevolent.The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry."Don't cry. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. "before i learned how to tap.It was a long and weary journey and Ekwefi felt like a sleepwalker most of the way. They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them. and Okonkwo filled his horn again.He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household. "I must thank my mother's kinsmen before I go. Okonkwo told him. called the converts the excrement of the clan.