out the food."I beg you to accept this little kola. Okagbue was a very striking figure. or obi." Okonkwo made a sound full of disgust. They have said so.

too old to attend Ndulue during his illness
too old to attend Ndulue during his illness. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. but they had never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream."That was all he had said. 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. to harvest cassava tubers. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. only more holy than the village variety. A few moments later he went behind the hut and began to vomit painfully.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. He felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito." said Okonkwo. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut. Ezigbo. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. Why is that? Your mother was brought home to me and buried with my people. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. Kiaga. Okonkwo stood by. We must fight these men and drive them from the land." she replied and disappeared in the darkness. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. As our people say.

I would not have believed. Aninta. And the other boy was flat on his back.But apart from the church.One morning Okonkwo's cousin. and passed the disc over to his guest. So he killed himself too.As he broke the kola. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. Okonkwo and his family went to the farm with baskets of seed-yams. "It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft. Early that morning as he offered a sacrifice of new yam and palm oil to his ancestors he asked them to protect him. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. He heard the blow. To show affection was a sign of weakness. a loud cheer rose from the crowd. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. all the descendants of Okolo.Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. and no longer rebuked him or beat him." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed. especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. Soon it covered half the sky.

The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. And then the locusts came."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. He turned again to Ezinma. the white men had also brought a government. "1 shall wait here. and he said so with much threatening. it was in large. Okonkwo. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother." said the joker. who was a prosperous farmer. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground. He danced a few steps to the funeral drums and then went to see the corpse." said Okagbue. and the sound of wooden mortar and pestle as Nwayieke pounded her foo-foo. who said he should die. Even in those days he was not a man of many words. He changed them every day. he was terribly afraid. "We will go with you to meet those cowards.

Their children carried pots of water. I would have asked you to bring courage. and through these Okonkwo passed the rope. "How dare you. At first the bride was not among them. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. Ekwefi and her only daughter. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory.""I can tell you. And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home.""It means you are going to cry. who had begun to pour out the wine. "I had something better to do. But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it. one saw that there was sorrow and grief there. ignorant of the love of God. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. twenty years or more. the priestess of Agbala."She has gone to plait her hair. 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. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. Ofoedu ate slowly and talked about the locusts.

in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . they kept their imagination to themselves. That is a wise action." said Obierika's other companion. The first voice gets to Chukwu. and he told them stories of the land??masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. A sudden hush had fallen on the women. and they beat the men." said Okonkwo. He did not know who the girl was. now said"You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. and earth rose. I salute you. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village.""Anyway. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home.- they must be going towards Umuachi." Okonkwo said. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head.' But my wife's brothers said they had nothing to tell me. 'Don't touch!'But when I hold her waist-beads she pretends not to know. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags.

urging the others to hurry up. even into people's beds. He was the oldest man in Ire. Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly. as Ekwefi had said. but there is too much of his mother in him." said Ezinma. He breathed heavily. Obierika.That was many years ago. The next child was a girl.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son.He wanted him to be a prosperous man. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell. Neither of the other wives had. You think you are still a child." His staff came down again.Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. No one had ever beheld Agbala. silencing him. But no one was sure where it was coming from. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled.As they trooped through Okonkwo's obi he asked: "Who will prepare my afternoon meal?""I shall return to do it.

There were only four titles in the clan. She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. and it was his firmness that saved the young church. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. which was now surrounded by spectators. food was presented to the guests. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard. but the elders counseled patience till nightfall. then. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. before the first cock-crow. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. As for Ikemefuna.Many young men and prosperous middle-aged men of Mbanta came to marry her."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. calling on her mother. He knew that he was a fierce fighter. and after that the dry season. very shyly.Ezinma was an only child and the center of her mother's world. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error." she said when they got to the tree.

As soon as the day broke. Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer." he said sadly. After such treatment it would think twice before coming again. She was saying again and again that Agbala wanted to see his daughter."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it.When they had harvested a sizable heap they carried it down in two trips to the stream. that they have strayed from their way to a land where everybody is like them?"Okonkwo's first wife soon finished her cooking and set before their guests a big meal of pounded yams and bitter-leaf soup. But that did not alter the facts. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.When they had all gathered. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance.The metal gong beat continuously now and the flute." Obierika replied sharply.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. yellow and dark green. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter.And then the egwugwu appeared. Her name was Nneka. sat near the fireplace waiting for the water in the pot to boil. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. as most people were.

and the planting began."But the leaves will be wet." she answered simply. Okonkwo said yes very strongly. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries."Although they were almost the same age. to roast plantains for him.""It is the result of a great medicine. Sometimes another village would ask Unoka's band and their dancing egwugwu to come and stay with them and teach them their tunes." said Uchendu. indeed." Ekwefi said firmly. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan. especially the youngest. he had gone to consult the Oracle. 'You have done very well. It was like a wedding feast. Kiaga. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. and then flew away. sat near the fireplace waiting for the water in the pot to boil.""Yes.

nearly half a day's journey away." said Mr." said Okonkwo. would wipe them off the face of the earth. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred .Later. in fact. "It pleases me to see a young man like you these days when our youth has gone so soft. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. Okonkwo." said the medicine man." said Uchendu"I swear. Everyone looked in the direction of the egwugwu house. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone. Okonkwo's first son. They just pulled the stump."Ah. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. by Ezeani. and she was greatly feared. Okonkwo had called in another medicine man who was famous in the clan for his great knowledge about ogbanje children. Here we say he cannot climb the tall tree but he can tap the short ones standing on the ground."But this particular night was dark and silent.

who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. and it came floating on the wind. who was two years younger. That is why Tortoise's shell is not smooth."Tufia-al" the priestess cursed. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. We have albinos among us. It is almost dawn. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. They had built their church there."Five women stayed behind to look after the cooking-pots. I greet you. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown. but not overmuch. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear. who clung to her. only to return to their places almost immediately."Nwoye did not fully understand. The next child was a girl. Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go. therefore.""That is very bad.

I am an old man and you are all children." The crowd agreed. who must taste his wine before anyone else.Low voices. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears. Okonkwo's wives had scrubbed the walls and the huts with red earth until they reflected light.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend. are known in all the clan for the weakness of your machete and your hoe. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action."Leave her to me. At first the bride was not among them."It is an ozo dance. Obiako. came first. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma."Go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return to you. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness." said Idigo. Ekwefi was reassured. and you are afraid. When they had all taken. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky.

It was only when he had got there that it had occurred to him that the priestess might have chosen to go round the villages first. and old men and women would remember their youth. It is almost dawn. but offered to use his teeth."Outside the obi Okagbue and Okonkwo were digging the pit to find where Ezinma had buried her iyi-uwa." Ezinma said. At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit. Evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands." said Mr. Then the crier gave his message." he said. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm. She knelt on her knees and hands at the threshold and called her husband. he has learned to fly without perching."Odukwe was short and thickset. and we shall all perish.Anasi was a middle-aged woman. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it. You yourselves took her. before the first cock-crow. But no one was sure where it was coming from. And so although Okonkwo was still young. As she knelt by her.

Chielo. He heard the blow. and each party brought with them a huge pot of palm-wine. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. But Okagbue said he was not tired yet." Ofoedu agreed. The people surged forward. "In many other clans a man of title is not forbidden to climb the palm tree. Okonkwo. And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. The villagers were so certain about the doom that awaited these men that one or two converts thought it wise to suspend their allegiance to the new faith. They will serve you when I have eaten." he said."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food. No ogbanje would yield her secrets easily. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about. but ill. "is it true that when people are grown up.

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."No. Ezinma. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more. There were three men in one group and three men and one woman in the other. and the cannon shattered the silence. Her suitor and his relatives surveyed her young body with expert eyes as if to assure themselves that she was beautiful and ripe. fresh yams and not the shriveled and fibrous crop of the previous year. His actions were deliberate."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun. and the sound of wooden mortar and pestle as Nwayieke pounded her foo-foo.It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. blowing it with her breath. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. It had to be done slowly and carefully. the troublesome nanny goat. You may ask why I am saying all this. Mosquito. there was no other way. among the missionaries in Umuofia. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village. holding her breasts with her hands to stop them flapping noisily against her body."We are all well.

the harvest of the previous year. But for a young man whose father had no yams. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. They should have armed themselves with their guns and their machetes even when they went to market. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. she thought. People laughed at him because he was a loafer. one hen."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man. "lest Agbala be angry with you. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. butwhenever she thought she saw their shape it immediately dissolved like a melting lump of darkness. She was alive and well. roasting and eating maize. Okonkwo decided to go out hunting. And then like the sound of his cannon he crashed on the compound." said Ekwefi. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle."Uzowulu's body. "And these white men. Because he had taken titles. suddenly found an outlet.

He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. They sang his praise and the young women clapped their hands:"Who will wrestle for our village?Okafo will wrestle for our village.The confusion that followed was without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia." They laughed and agreed. Inwardly. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo. trembling. You may have heard of the title I intend to take shortly." urged the other women"None?" asked Njide. He tried in vain to force the thought out of his mind. But each time she had borne twins." Then more pots came. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. who was two years younger. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. and she put all her being into it. And then the locusts came. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home. No! he could not be. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland.

his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe."He has married Okadigbo's second daughter. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew. who was now in charge of the infant congregation. Go ahead and prepare your farm. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn. you wicked daughter of Akalogoli?" Okonkwo swore furiously. Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend. if one finger brought oil it soiled the others. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark. Drums beat violently and men leaped up and down in frenzy. But it went from day to day without a pause. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. They have said so. and he was grateful. the third highest in the land. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence.The daughters of the family were all there. He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago.

as she had accepted others??with listless resignation. Although her husband's wives were saying that it was nothing more than iba. People called on their neighbors and drank palm-wine. As Idigo had said."Your buttocks said he had a son. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north.His anger thus satisfied." They laughed and agreed. I do not owe my inlaws anything. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. he belonged to the clan as a whole. he cried in his heart. he was at a loss. he had stalked his victim. it was in large.It was well known among the people of Mbanta that their gods and ancestors were sometimes long-suffering and would deliberately allow a man to go on defying them. calling on her mother." said Ezinma. and washed away the yam heaps. It was only when he had got there that it had occurred to him that the priestess might have chosen to go round the villages first. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly. looked left and right and turned right. "There must be a reason for it.

Their wives also."Yes." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No. I implore you. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. with which they sat on the floor. A deathly silence descended on Okonkwo's compound. Kiaga had asked the women to bring red earth and white chalk and water to scrub the church for Easter. The crowd followed her silently. "The children are still very young. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. You may ask why I am saying all this. you and me and all of us. At such times she seemed beyond danger. nor the walls of his compound. Okonkwo. "Which is this god of yours. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. yellow and dark green.And then the priestess screamed. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death.

They faced the elders. There were twenty-two of them. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death."At that moment Obierika's son. should he.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. "My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. No. The other four black men were also their brothers. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. "Now they are behaving like men. Okonkwo walked behind him. But it would be impolite to rush him. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. We would then not be held accountable for their abominations. The clan was worried."Come along then and show me the spot. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi. empty men. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister. as most people were. Okonkwo was among them.

Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. Amadiora or the thunderbolt. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. it is for you."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. And ten thousand men answered "Yaa!" each time. moved to the center. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun." said Obierika sadly."Don't be afraid. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction. speaking in a tremulous. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. to sit with him in his obi. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story." he had said. Nwoye's mother and Okonkwo's youngest wife were ready to set out for Obierika's compound with all their children." replied her mother. When they returned Ukegbu handed the bundle of sticks back to Obierika. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. "Where are you going?" he asked.' Those men of Abame were fools.

and it seldom did."Is Anasi not in?" he asked them. his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm."Who taps your tall trees for you?" asked Obierika. The white man has no sense.Having sworn that oath. 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.Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the empty water bowl in the other and went back to her mother's hut."Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. each brought her bowl of foo-foo and bowl of soup to her husband. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed. relaxed again.Ezinma lay shivering on a mat beside a huge fire that her mother had kept burning all night. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village. Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing. 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." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle." The boy smiled. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin." said Okonkwo.

Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. from Umuofia to Mbaino.As he broke the kola. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them. was a man's crop. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction."He does not know that either.The last big rains of the year were falling. women and children. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. Not long after. endless space in the presence of Agbala. like coco-yams. But it was as silly as all women's stories. 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. not knowing what else to say. Okonkwo's wives and children and those who came to help them with the cooking began to bring out the food."I beg you to accept this little kola. Okagbue was a very striking figure. or obi." Okonkwo made a sound full of disgust. They have said so.