start in life which many young men had. whom she called her daughter. He immediately rose and shook hands with Okoye.

Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma
Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma. He stepped forward. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani. whereupon his father beat him heavily. If any one of you prefers to be a woman. Ekwefi muttered. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. May all you took out return again tenfold." said the bride. the tumult increased tenfold. but not overmuch.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily." Okonkwo said to the lad. 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 lived near the udala tree. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan."Yes.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. but she was held down. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes. wiping the foam of wine from his mustache with the back of his left hand. His wives and children were very happy too.

Every man and woman came out to see the white man. The musicians with their wood. The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat." he said. tears gushed from her eyes. but he stood beckoning to them. The crime was of two kinds." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. She gave the dish to her father's eldest brother and then shook hands."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan. Okonkwo had committed the female. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth. and I am still alive. cooking and eating. she thought.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma."No. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. But she had got worse and worse. the fear of failure and of weakness.

"it is this eyelid.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud.In this way the moons and the seasons passed. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. and tears stood in his eyes. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. It was called a string. Nothing happened at its proper time. But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth. "I sold the big ones as soon as you left. My sister lived with him for nine years." He paused. "it is this eyelid. "the goddess of the earth.'"'You do not know me. They did not stay very long. I shall give you some fish to eat. to inquire what was amiss. Iweka. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle."Get me a pot. which together formed a half moon behind the obi. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned.

But you will never hear.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. Is it right that you."We shall be late for the wrestling. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. but he had not expected he would be so generous. He looked it over and said it was done. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone. But they dared not complain openly. walked in their midst. Some of them will even ride the iron horse themselves."The two outcasts shaved off their hair."Abame has been wiped out. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. 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."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. I sacrifice a cock to Ani. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village." said Okonkwo. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors. It was not until the following day that Okonkwo told him the full story.

"that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said.All the umunna were invited to the feast." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. and a girl. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me. his mind would have been centered on his work. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. i have only a short while to live." said Ofoedu. who was also the youngest man in the group.Ekwefi put a few live coals into a piece of broken pot and Ezinma carried it across the clean swept compound to Nwoye's mother. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan.""That is very strange.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi. "They use medicine.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. The other wives drank in the same way. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. They were called kotma.Umuofia had indeed changed during the seven years Okonkwo had been in exile. and his relatives.

"That is the money from your yams. Ezeudu was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. Okonkwo came after her. of course. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned."But this particular night was dark and silent. indeed."That woman standing there is my wife. who was then an ailing man. such as befitted a noble warrior. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war. Kiaga. As soon as he left. The yams were then staked. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a mound of foo-foo so high that those who sat on one side could not see what was happening on the other." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. machetes.

"We will allow three or four women to stay behind. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. 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. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road.""We have seen it. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. Nwoye returned home.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. Obierika."I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet. for that was his father's name. but there is too much of his mother in him.And then the storm burst. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. When he had swallowed them. and I am happy you have come to see us. Listen to me and I shall tell you. He passed her a piece of fish. The spirit of wars was upon them."Yes. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.

Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws." replied Okonkwo.Ezinma lay shivering on a mat beside a huge fire that her mother had kept burning all night. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. Gome. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would be held. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all. But it went from day to day without a pause. "They are thirty?" he asked.' replied the man." replied her mother. almost overnight. If a man kills the sacred python in the secrecy of his hut.""Yes. i fear for the clan. The conversation at once centered on him. Okonkwo. are white like this piece of chalk.' said the young kite. and she was greatly feared. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her.

with love. when he was young. wiping the foam of wine from his mustache with the back of his left hand.Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children." Ezinma said. She beckons in front of her and behind her. "Poor child. Ikeocha.""I do not.""Yes. He broke the nut saying: We shall all live.- they must be going towards Umuachi."Come. Okonkwo remembered his own father. like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit an the way."Perhaps I have been away too long. "But you can explain to her. He had had no patience with his father. and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. despite his madness.' said Tortoise. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. I shall break your jaw. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two.

All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma. Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. When one came to think of it. They were both Uzowulu's neighbors. which were black with soot. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside." he bellowed a fifth time. And he had all but achieved it."Look at that wall." said Obierika." he said. That is a wise action. Some of these prisoners were men of title who should be above such mean occupation. pushing the air with his raffia arms." And he arranged the requisite rites and sacrifices.""We have seen it."Father. and the cannon shattered the silence. When they had all taken. His greatest friend.

The world was now peopled with vague. The rains had come and yams had been sown. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night.- they merely set the scene. They set fire to his houses." said Okonkwo as he rose to go. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. who was also the youngest man in the group. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident. but they had never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream."The village has outlawed us. children."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. too. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. It was clear from his twinkling eyes that he had important news. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. do not allow him a moment's rest. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. After such treatment it would think twice before coming again. Ezinma was crying loudly now. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man.

"Is Anasi not in?" he asked them. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death. but he did not say it. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup." said Obierika. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife. Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep. 1 know more about the world than any of you." resumed Obierika. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. They asked who the king of the village was. Akueni. I implore you. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church.Obierika was a man who thought about things. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her." She died in her eleventh month. But the second time did not count. all of a sudden. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today.

The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. Ikemefuna was equally excited. and turned to his sons and daughters. as the Ibo people say. you and me and all of us. with her suitor and his relatives. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation.. men."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man. and the rest went back.""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. 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. But they have cast you out like lepers. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly."Don't be foolish. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night. not even with broomsticks." he said. Thirty."That wine is the work of a good tapper.

Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. He felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. When he walked. she thought.At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts." she called. Everybody was lean except Cat. her face streaming with tears.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month.' replied the young kite. And they were all gay. "We will allow three or four women to stay behind." said Okagbue. As for the boy. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo. But in this case she ran away to save her life."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! Chi negbu madu ubosi ndu ya nato ya uto daluo-o-o! ??"Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight. Obierika." He prayed especially for Okonkwo and his family." said Okonkwo's voice. eating the peelings. and Ojiugo's daughter." he said quietly to Ezinma.

At the end. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi. His mother might be dead. If a man kills the sacred python in the secrecy of his hut.Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. The story was told in Umuofia. a long."Ekwefi. He thought of his mother and his three-year-old sister and wept bitterly. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi." he said. and a great land case began. He told them that the true God lived on high and that all men when they died went before Him for judgment. The married women wore their best cloths and the girls wore red and black waist-beads and anklets of brass." said Okonkwo." said Okagbue. sat on a mat on the floor."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. Her fear had vanished.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter.

his sixteen-year-old son." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance. it is for you. No. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. and so did his little children.""Your words are good."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. There were also pots of palm-wine. The first rains were late.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma. The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat." said Obierika. Then the foo-foo was served. Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation.The crowd set out with Ezinma leading the way and Okagbue following closely behind her. The white man has no sense. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. And this was the message. They have said so.

a loud cheer rose from the crowd. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him. And they might also have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu."As he was speaking the boy returned."I have heard. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home. They were the lazy easy-going ones who always put off clearing their farms as long as they could. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle." Okonkwo said to the lad. and it seemed now as if it was happening all over again. They set fire to his houses. Thank you. Every market day. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son's behavior? Now that he had time to think of it. their hoes and machetes. he had stalked his victim.That was years ago. and as it dwelt on it. called round his neighbors and made merry. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. He heard Ikemefuna cry.

and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back.The royal python was the most revered animal in Mbanta and all the surrounding clans. Ekwefi and her daughter. On his head were two powerful horns. It must have been a very long time." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed." said Ibe. let his wing break. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. Although he had felt uneasy at first. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise.The priestess' voice came at longer intervals now. and also a drinking gourd."No. As she knelt by her. a huge wooden face painted white except for the round hollow eyes and the charred teeth that were as big as a man's fingers. One morning three of them came to my house. Everybody knew she was an ogbanje. But even in such cases they set their limit at seven market weeks or twenty-eight days." he said. "Life to all of us. If ever a man deserved his success. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot."You have all seen the great abomination of your brother.

who drank a cup or two each. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. The barn was built against one end of the red walls.And then the priestess screamed." said Ezinma.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned. when they died." said Okonkwo.At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts. It was addressed as "Our Father."Yes. And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. my friend. will not understand me.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. and stake them when the young tendrils appear. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood."Be patient. The hearing then began. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep.

the interpreter." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. when the land had been moistened by two or three heavy rains. But I can tell you. now desperate. She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. "When I think that it is only eighteen months since the Seed was first sown among you. If. and the crowd yelled in answer. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. "They are thirty?" he asked. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. the top one."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts."Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant.""Yes" said Obierika."Leave her to me."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl.Nwoye's younger brothers were about to tell their mother the true story of the accident when Ikemefuna looked at them sternly and they held their peace. He drank palm-wine from morning till night. But he had recently fallen ill. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back.His anger thus satisfied.

' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter. Obierika and half a dozen other friends came to help and to console him. he won his first three converts. But they soon returned and everyone was gazing at the rag from a reasonable distance. He went into Ekwefi's hut.Okonkwo was popularly called the "Roaring Flame. They sang songs as they went. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. This was about eight days after the fight. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. beat me up and took my wife and children away. They were all fully dressed as if they were going to a big clan meeting or to pay a visit to a neighboring village. and was full of the sap of life.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. That was a favorite saying of children. white dregs and said. It was clear that the bags were full of cowries. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. they held them over an open fire to burn off the hair. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home. It was a tremendous sight.

Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past. He was therefore waiting to receive them. There were only three such boys in each team. Nwoye. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg. "Let us go. Then he burst out:"Never kill a man who says nothing." He turned again to Okonkwo and said. "We shall give them a piece of land." he said."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man." Okonkwo thundered. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights."No. their hoes and machetes. Okafo seized it. vibrating heat."You need some sleep yourself. and at the end it was decided to follow the normal course of action.Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. He still thought about his mother and his three-year-old sister." He prayed especially for Okonkwo and his family.When the women retired.

He breathed heavily." he said. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss." The crowd agreed."It will not take us long to harvest as much as we like. "Let us hear Odukwe. They all have food in their own homes. to inquire what was amiss. and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. They had something to say for every man."They will not begin until the sun goes down. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. And so everybody came to see the white man. had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. Uzowulu. "I shall tell them my mind if they do. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. They too sat just in front of the huge circle of spectators. It was as if a spell had been cast." shouted Chielo. forty-five. that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife.

panting. Nwakibie sent for his wives. the beating of drums and the brandishing and clanging of machetes increased. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town." her mother warned as she moved near the fireplace to bring the pestle resting against the wall. one hen. somewhat indulgently. a cake of salt and smoked fish which she would present to Obierika's wife. It told of one sheep out on the hills. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. Yam stood for manliness. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long."My in-law has told you that we went to his house."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. "1 want Okonkwo to answer me. Nwoye. The fire did not burn with a flame."It should be ready in four days or even three. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. "Bear no hand in his death. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. whom she called her daughter. He immediately rose and shook hands with Okoye.