obi from outside.""It is indeed true.""But he had no wings. "I shall tell them my mind if they do. the owner of all land.

But Mr
But Mr.""Your chi is very much awake. i fear for the clan." she said. It was a full gathering of umuada. its sullenness over. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes.No work was done during the Week of Peace. in their proper order. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo. vibrating heat. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. and he had moments of sadness and depression But he and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other that such moments became less frequent and less poignant. that my children do not resemble me." she said." came her voice. not even with broomsticks. Nwakibie brought down his own horn.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger."I have kola. "You are already a skeleton. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. she could bear no other person but her father. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again." said Uchendu. But you are still a child. perhaps even quicker.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu.

Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. But this is a matter which we know. she had said.The wrestlers were not there yet and the drummers held the field. malevolent."There was a long silence. And then after another lifetime these men opened the caves again and the locusts came to Umuofia.Onwumbiko was not given proper burial when he died." said Okagbue. And she had agreed. she thought. "They use medicine."Then I shall go back to the clan. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. A snake was never called by its name at night. "I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them. that is a boy's job." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. a debtor. But you were a fearless warrior. from Umuofia to Mbaino.That was many years ago. and sleepy. was a man's crop. Uchendu before her.Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. as her mother had been called in her youth.Dusk was already approaching when their contest began.

which was part of the night.As for the boy himself. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. who walked away and never returned. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before.As the men ate and drank palm-wine they talked about the customs of their neighbors. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. and she put all her being into it. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown. She is buried there. Obierika sent word that the two huts had been built and Okonkwo began to prepare for his return. saluted the spirits and began his story. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly. in the sunshine. Nwoye was there.- instead of thirty there were now only fifteen.""It is already too late. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. The men brought their goatskin mats. She was going to the stream to fetch water. waiting for the women to finish their cooking. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. was quite harmless. As soon as Unoka understood what his friend was driving at. It was one of those gay and rollicking tunes of evangelism which had the power of plucking at silent and dusty chords in the heart of an Ibo man. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups.

"Those who knew Amadi laughed."Their clan is now completely empty."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. which only made the darkness more profound. They were very fat goats. Okonkwo. young and old. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels. There is not a single clan in these parts that I do not know very well. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning.As Okonkwo sat in his hut that night. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. You are a great family. conversing with his father in low tones."Father. Okonkwo brought out kola nut and placed it before the priest. He counted them. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes.' 'You must return the duckling. 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. he was not afraid now. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. something felt in the marrow. She could no longer think. The first cock has crowed. The youngest of them was four years old.

whom he had thrown away." said the old man. and men dashed about in frenzy. Then send him word to fight for us. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman. She was nine then and was just recovering from a serious illness. His younger wives did that. He broke the nut saying: We shall all live. Nwoye. who was greatly perplexed. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself. "But I have also heard that Abame people were weak and foolish. tangled and dirty hair. '1 am a changed man. as her father and other grownup people did." said Ofoedu. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. The air was cool and damp with dew. Let her go and stay with her people. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse." The man who had contradicted him had no titles. too busy to argue. she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under its shade. "Let us go. She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him.

He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. "Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme."The next day." said another man. but they never brought them into the village. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. 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."Answer me!" he roared again. which was shaved in places. He sang the song again." said one of the priests. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. and about some effeminate men who had refused to come with them."We have heard both sides of the case. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. turning to Obierika. It was a great feast. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. Kiaga had asked the women to bring red earth and white chalk and water to scrub the church for Easter. woman.But the year had gone mad. When they had all taken. But in spite of these disadvantages. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. Okonkwo.

Then he began to speak. But now she found the half-light of the incipient moon more terrifying than darkness. These women never saw the inside of the hut.""I pray she stays. Unoka was never happy when it came to wars."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. had gone to consult Agbala."You will blow your eyes out. and in its place a sort of smile hovered. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. Earth's emissary."That is not strange. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits." Okonkwo said. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine."At last the hen was plucked clean. It was then uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came from above or below. is. you would still have committed a great evil to beat her.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. who was the oldest man in the village. the top one. He told them that they worshipped false gods."The body of Odukwe. Nwoye." suggested Okonkwo. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials to begin.

I would have asked you to get life. Yam stood for manliness. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man. Now he has won our brothers.'When Ekwefi brought the hoe. Okonkwo. "I remember now. I have none now except that young girl who knows not her right from her left. It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. He was therefore waiting to receive them." he said. she found her lying on the mat. "So look after him."Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand.""What has happened?" asked Okonkwo. let your sister go with him. Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success. and at the end he had been taken out and handed over to a stranger. The pot fell and broke in the sand. talking was the next best." lied Nwoye's mother."No. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply." Okonkwo said to himself again. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. But I can trust you. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje.

" said Uchendu after a long silence. on their backs and their thighs. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. and his children after him. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. was celebrating his daughter's uri. You stay at home. he was told. May all you took out return again tenfold. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. and asked no questions.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo.' said Tortoise. If. He counted them. living in a special area of the village. I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots. roots snapped below." they said. "We do not ask for wealth because he that has health and children will also have wealth. rubbing off the grains of sand that clung to his thighs.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost. "If I had a son like him I should be happy. As long as they lasted. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more. "I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them.

He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago. watching. "But they will understand when they go to their plot of land tomorrow morning. We have albinos among us. It was said that when such a spirit appeared. I have already spoken to you about him. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. She called her by her name. came to visit him. Di-go-go-di-go.""It is true.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. with which he carried the brown snuff to his nostrils."Your buttocks understand our language. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. She would wait at the mouth. whereupon his father beat him heavily. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago. sang for mercy." said Mr. Her mother consoled her and promised to buy her her another pot. The first cup went to Okonkwo. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her." he began.

"people should not talk when they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu." he began. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase. But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness.""I think she will stay. Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. took out two leaves and began to chew them. burning forehead. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity."The body of Odukwe. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed."When your wife becomes pregnant again. If one says no to the other."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. They only saw the red earth he threw up mounting higher and higher. who sat next to him. "it is this eyelid.When the women retired. and was not given the first or the second burial. Machi. Such a man was Ogbuefi Ugonna.Everyone was now about.He did not sleep at night. Unoka."One of them passes here frequently. She turned round sharply and walked through Okonkwo's hut.

the harvest of the previous year. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. If such a thing were ever to happen. If. "In those other clans you speak of. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. Unoka. smiling. Okonkwo. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. light and gay. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. who had begun to pour out the wine.Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors." and they argued like this for a few moments before Unoka accepted the honor of breaking the kola. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit. and so everyone in his family listened. Unoka. it said.""In future call her into your obi. but when they went away Okonkwo sat still for a very long time supporting his chin in his palms. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat.

" And he did.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. who sat next to him. in spite of his failings in other directions." At the same time the priestess also said. But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves." said Obierika sadly. Such a man was Ogbuefi Ugonna. So I have brought the matter to the fathers of the clan. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death.The last match was between the leaders of the teams. and the dry. and then flew away. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep. No one had actually seen the man do it. the in-laws began to arrive. "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye. He did not inherit a barn from his father. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind. others Abame or Aninta." he said. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend."Uzowulu's body. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. someone else rose and filled it.

The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. and they ran for their lives. But it would be impolite to rush him. But as they drew near to the outskirts of Umuofia silence fell upon them too. on the other hand. more fierce than it had ever been known. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams. She understood things so perfectly. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. "They are pieces of wood and stone.The festival was now only three days away. We pray for life. "Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children. his face beaming with blessedness and peace. His wives." said Obierika's other companion. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. It had been early in the morning." said Obierika."Do what you are told.- they all fled in terror. She was going to the stream to fetch water. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so."What does it all mean?" asked Mr.' Those men of Abame were fools. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more. 1 know you will not despair.It came slowly.

Ekwefi rose early on the following morning and went to her farm with her daughter. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. Okonkwo stood by. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan. Some of them were very violent. 'You are full of cunning and you are ungrateful.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. That had been his life-spring." Okonkwo asked himself." He turned to Uzowulu's group and allowed a short pause.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts. and Ezinma brought his goatskin bag from the far end of the hut. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan.The Feast of the New Yam was approaching and Umuofia was in a festival mood. came to visit him.The festival was now only three days away. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. Their bodies shone with sweat. "We will allow three or four women to stay behind. and washed away the yam heaps. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. Was it not on an Eke day that they fled into Umuofia?" he asked his two companions. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there. "when she was pregnant.

"You are right. Okonkwo.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend. silencing him. But the song spread in Umuofia. Only the word of our God is true. gazing into a log fire. the top one."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it. She knelt on her knees and hands at the threshold and called her husband. took her stick and walked over to the obi. They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. Her daughter was only ten years old but she was wiser than her years. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut. She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover. I shall pay you."Your buttocks understand our language. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out.Everyone was now about."Remove your jigida first."Umezulike. And in fairness to Umuofia it should be recorded that it never went to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle - the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children."What is iyi-uwa?" she asked in return.

I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself.' replied the man. Even the very little children seemed to know." he swore. and in a basket beside her were green vegetables and beans." he said. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. go home before Agbala does you harm. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. No matter how prosperous a man was. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.His life had been ruled by a great passion??to become one of the lords of the clan. "they killed him and tied up his iron horse.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young."Everybody in the assembly spoke. But Ekwefi was not thinking about that.That was years ago. and she said so."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind.Perhaps it never did happen. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said."That is not the end of the story. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village.

Each of them carried a long cane basket. I want you to be there."There was immediate excitement and those who were sitting jumped to their feet.""But someone had to do it. The chalk women also returned to tell a similar story. guttural and awesome. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. It had not happened for many a long year."He belongs to the clan. about their women. But his mother and his three-year-old sister?? of course she would not be three now. and his children after him. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. She shut her eyes for a while and opened them again in an effort to see.""Yes. when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind. When they had all taken. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. In the center of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood."Don't you see the pot is full of yams?" Ekwefi asked."Come and show me the exact spot. There were five groups. And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man's government or the consequences of killing the Christians. Okonkwo's youngest wife. Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood. who suddenly gave up his trade.

' Maduka has been watching your mouth. Ezinma sneezed. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun. Ezinma. He turned again to Ezinma. I am still alive. male and female. women and children." she said when they got to the tree. "people should not talk when they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way. We must cook quickly or we shall be late for the wrestling." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. '1 am a changed man. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. prophesying. and Ezinma brought his goatskin bag from the far end of the hut.- they must be going towards Umuachi. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . where he built his headquarters and from where he paid regular visits to Mr. in turn. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli. who also counted them and said:"We had not thought to go below thirty. New yams could not be eaten until some had first been offered to these powers. 'It cried and raved and cursed me.""Once upon a time. That was not luck.

"I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy."No. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. And so at a very early age when he was striving desperately to build a barn through share-cropping Okonkwo was also fending for his father's house. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments.Ikemefuna heard a whisper close behind him and turned round sharply. She was called Crystal of Beauty." He filled the first horn and gave to his father. the in-laws began to arrive." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan. and she was greatly feared."Yes. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head. and did as you have been told. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions. It was very much like Obiageli. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. He looked it over and said it was done.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. that I am not afraid of blood and if anyone tells you that I am. It was unbelievable."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. Even the smell of gunpowder was swallowed in the sickly smell that now filled the air. and each stroke is one hundred cowries. The thick mat was thrown over both.

' But my wife's brothers said they had nothing to tell me.But. my daughter. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic.And then the egwugwu appeared. Would he recognize her now? She must have grown quite big. as usual.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. He did not know who the girl was. but she was held down. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said.""It is so indeed. His name was Nwoye." she replied. love returned once more to her mother. they set off in a body."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth. And so he did now. May all you took out return again tenfold. I did not hang myself. it would have been impossible to eat.Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. She had." Okonkwo said.

Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere. "I am an old man and I like to talk. He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion."Before God.No work was done during the Week of Peace. "Whoever has a job in hand. and it seemed now as if it was happening all over again. spread her mat on the floor and built a fire. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. The custom here is to serve the spokesman first and the others later." said Mr. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. 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. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly." said Akukalia." she replied. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like shining star dust. someone else rose and filled it.' replied the man. his mind would have been centered on his work. Obierika. "And these white men.

Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. Who knows what may happen tomorrow? Perhaps green men will come to our clan and shoot us. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. But it was a resilient spirit. and it seemed now as if it was happening all over again." At the same time the priestess also said."Don't cry. My mother was one of you. The people of the sky thought it must be their custom to leave all the food for their king. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. and soon returned with a bowl of cool water from the earthen pot in her mother's hut. His younger wives did that.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow." said the convert. he thought. The other wives drank in the same way. Ezinma was crying loudly now."Don't be afraid. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. "And he was riding an iron horse. Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma." she called. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine." said Okonkwo as he rose to go. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.

"That is not strange. Because he had taken titles. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path.""One of the men told me. and they. He held out his hands to them when they came into his obi.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard. And if anything happened to her could she stop it? She would not dare to enter the underground caves. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. And they were right. "do you not grow yams where you come from?"Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said.Dusk was already approaching when their contest began. the owner of all land. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions.""That is true." But she could not. killed his animals and destroyed his barn."You need some sleep yourself. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. May all you took out return again tenfold. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. She started to cry. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. And so they fled into Umuofia with a woeful story." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No. It was a warrior's funeral.

Ojiugo. who will hold his head up among my people. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. Ikemefuna called him father. "What we are eating is finished. guns and even his cannon. facing the elders and grandees of the clan. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them." said Okonkwo. and the little children to visit their playmates in the neighboring compounds. They have a big market in Abame on every other Afo day and."Once upon a time. silence returned to the world."Bring me a low stool for Ezinma. You have committed a great evil. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. carrying a basket full of water. Unoka stood before her and began his story. He then adjusted his cloth.""Yes.Okonkwo's wives. "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. No one had ever beheld Agbala."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. When everyone had drunk two or three horns.

"Okonkwo was very lucky in his daughters. he broke it and they ate."Be patient. she could bear no other person but her father."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter."My hand is on the ground. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name." This was interpreted to them but very few of them heard. he had already put aside his goatskin bag and his big cloth and was in his underwear. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. who was the eldest of the nine sons. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches."I am following Chielo." she replied. The women weeded the farm three times at definite periods in the life of the yams. His body rattled like a piece of dry stick in his empty shell. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too.He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household. was among them. Di-go-go-di-go-di-di-go-go floated in the message-laden night air. And. took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi."What does it all mean?" asked Mr. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure. She wore the anklet of her husband's titles." And they dispersed.

"Father."Forgive me.Unoka. astride the steaming pot. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. There was no barn to inherit. when the sun's heat had softened. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. who had taken two titles."Once upon a time. cutting down every tree or animal they saw. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna. Obierika.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup. They do not decide bride-price as we do."That is the strange part of it. somewhat lamely." they said to the women."There was a long silence. The story was told in Umuofia." said Ekwefi. I would have asked you to bring courage. and so everyone in his family listened. if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings. When they returned Ukegbu handed the bundle of sticks back to Obierika. he was not a hunter. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. All else was silent.

And if anything happened to her could she stop it? She would not dare to enter the underground caves." he said and cleared his throat. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. And what was more. white foam rose and spilled over."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you. Each of them carried a long cane basket. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. called her mother by her name. Who knows what may happen tomorrow? Perhaps green men will come to our clan and shoot us. they said to themselves."Three moons ago. You stay at home." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. We have albinos among us.The old man. "So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased." said her mother. and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. "Perhaps you can already guess what it is. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. came into the obi from outside.""It is indeed true.""But he had no wings. "I shall tell them my mind if they do. the owner of all land.