Ezinma. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. It was like a wedding feast.

He broke the nut saying: We shall all live
He broke the nut saying: We shall all live."When he killed Oduche in the fight over the land. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. And so when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole hardly big enough to pass a hen. very shyly."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. Okonkwo worked on the outside of the wall and the boys worked from within. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers. the interpreter. Then there was perfect silence. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him." he asked Obierika. But his mother and his three-year-old sister?? of course she would not be three now. The kola nut was given him to break.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. Ekwefi was reassured. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky." Okonkwo thundered. and the crowd yelled in answer. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. and the world lay panting under the live. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back.

"Obiageli broke her pot today. Many of these messengers came from Umuru on the bank of the Great River. That is all I am good for now. as the saying goes.He went back to the church and told Mr. 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. and so they stood waiting. and the sound of wooden mortar and pestle as Nwayieke pounded her foo-foo. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them." the men said among themselves.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. The first cup went to Okonkwo. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. The water began to boil. The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is returned. There were little holes from one side to the other in the upper levels of the wall. gome. the king of crops. as Ekwefi had said." said Obierika. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season. Only the word of our God is true."Come along then and show me the spot.

" said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. beat him up and took our sister and her children away. Three young men from the victorious boy's team ran forward. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high. Nwoye's sister." she said. There were five groups. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.""It means you are going to cry. The rain fell in thin. and they had quickened their steps.The elders of the clan had decided that Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo's care for a while." she said.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.'"'You do not know me.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. His priestess stood by the sacred fire which she built in the heart of the cave and proclaimed the will of the god. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. It was not very long since they had returned. "Life to you. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor." replied Okonkwo. the messenger of earth. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky.

Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before. that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories. That was not luck. He calls you his father. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!). Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. as was the custom. He held out his hands to them when they came into his obi. tapped it on his kneecap. "I warned Nwankwo to keep a sharp eye and a sharp ear. only more holy than the village variety.- it was either too early or too late. But he was struck. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together. the suitor. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. except his priestess. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion." he said." said Okonkwo. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart. They were the lazy easy-going ones who always put off clearing their farms as long as they could. We do not dispute it.

If you had died young."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them.""Too much of his grandfather. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation." said Obierika's other companion.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. That was the day it happened. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day. but ill. long ago. unhappily. He could neither marry nor be married by the free-born."Forgive me. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said. for he knew certainly that something was amiss."That is not strange. and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi as she stood gazing in the direction of the voices like a hen whose only chick has been carried away by a kite. No one had actually seen the man do it. impotent ash. emerged from her hut. behind the crowd. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth.

"Sometimes I wish I had not taken the ozo title. pointing with his finger. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth." But Death took no notice."Because I did not want to. my great friend. Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever ege style." said Obierika's eldest brother."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place.The Oracle was called Agbala. When everything had been set before the guests." answered his first wife. and walked to its beat. she had said. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night."Ekwefi. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries."When did you become a shivering old woman. "before i learned how to tap. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen. who was laid on a mat. All others stood except those who came early enough to secure places on the few stands which had been built by placing smooth logs on forked pillars. And what was more.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head.

"You are right. It would not be long before the suitors came. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. It was called a string."Don't you see the pot is full of yams?" Ekwefi asked." said Obierika." said Ibe.""That is true. He counted them." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell. His name was Uchendu. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. Maduka. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together. And at last the locusts did descend. waiting for the women to finish their cooking. She went."Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart."It was my husband's. You are a great man in your clan. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. "I shall tell them my mind if they do. Ekwefi then became defiant and called her next child Onwuma??"Death may please himself. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points.

"Swear on this staff of my fathers.Chielo's voice was now rising continuously. go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it. All the other dancers made way for her. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. "All the gods you have named are not gods at all. a fairly small swarm came." he asked. like coco-yams. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed. refreshed and thankful. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough.Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves. This one had only one hand and it carried a basket full of water. Ezenwa took it. Maduka. 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. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. "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. had died ten years ago.

called her mother by her name." he answered. and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.""I shall wait too. Obierika's son. If ever a man deserved his success. It rose and faded with the wind??a peaceful dance from a distant clan." he answered. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. hungry swarm. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. There was no question of killing a missionary here.""You were very much like that yourself. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out. Okonkwo's first son. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads.- they merely set the scene. Ezinma rushed out of the hut.""And so everybody comes." he said. Now you talk about his son.

" he said. women and children. With the help of his mother's kinsmen he built himself an obi and three huts for his wives. We pray for life. "1 do not know how to thank you. I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow. My mother was one of you. then. She could hear the priestess' voice. I owe that man a thousand cowries." Obierika agreed. The yams were then staked. The bride-price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed. said Ezeugo. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price." said Obierika."Do you know me?""No man can know you. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. He did not know who the girl was." he said and cleared his throat. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields. They were duly presented to the women."On the following Sunday. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. who walked away and never returned.

Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. But he had recently fallen ill. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. or God's house. but he had been too surprised to weep. There was the story of a very stubborn man who staggered back to his house and had to be carried again to the forest and tied to a tree. my hand has touched the ground.And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world."He has married Okadigbo's second daughter. that I am not afraid of blood and if anyone tells you that I am. He asked the birds to take a message for his wife."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done. lest he strike you in his anger." said Okonkwo. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness." said Okonkwo's voice. Nwoye's mother and Okonkwo's youngest wife were ready to set out for Obierika's compound with all their children. His name was Nwoye." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village.""I did not know that. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried.

he was not afraid now. From then on. and the crowd followed her. The next child was a girl."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. and she put all her being into it. who clung to her. But it turned out to be even bigger than we expected."Your half-sister. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown."Yes. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. She understood things so perfectly." said Obierika to his son. A man stood there with a machete in his hand.But."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. At such times she seemed beyond danger. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu. but she must wait for Ezinma to wake." Nwoye's mother said.

had gone to consult Agbala. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time."No. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night. "Welcome."Thank you. It was as if water had been poured on the tightened skin of a drum."But this particular night was dark and silent. the priest of the earth goddess. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan. emerged from her hut. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. suddenly found an outlet. the god of yams. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come.Ekwefi was tired and sleepy from the exhausting experiences of the previous night.""That is very bad. The elders said locusts came once in a generation. he. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. it was true. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy.

And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. Thelocusts had not come for many. and Ojiugo's daughter. spears. and piling up his debts.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come. his mother was alive. like learning to become left-handed in old age. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness. pushing the air with his raffia arms. They had then drawn patterns on them in white. and through these Okonkwo passed the rope. they became the lords of the land. like a son. And there was eating and drinking till night. No one had ever beheld Agbala. during the last harvest season.Okonkwo did as the priest said. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. And they were all gay. The air." She died in her eleventh month. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. As for his converts.

who was Okonkwo's father. Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go. and because of their ash-colored shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy Buttocks. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning. his children and their mothers in the new year. She stood for a while. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light. They must have bypassed it long ago." said Okonkwo.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. He still thought about his mother and his three-year-old sister. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. At such times she seemed beyond danger. Kiaga." The boy smiled." said Machi. and Ojiugo's daughter. woman."Point at the spot with your finger.And then the egwugwu appeared. which had dozed in the noon-day haze. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave.

was celebrating his daughter's uri. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. Ezigbo.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks. Ekwefi could now discern the figure of the priestess and her burden." Okonkwo thought within himself. and people came from far and near to consult it. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. We all know him.Obierika was a man who thought about things." replied Okonkwo. Soon after. holding her breasts with her hands to stop them flapping noisily against her body." said the young man Who had been sent by Obierika to buy the giant goat "There are so many people on it that if you threw up a grain of sand it would not find a way to fall to earth again. His name was Uchendu. feeling with her palm the wet. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. I shall give you some fish to eat. Why do they always go for one's ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. and by then he had become gravely worried. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava. It must have been a very long time.

when Okonkwo's in-laws began to leave for their homes The second day of the new year was the day of the great wrestling match between Okonkwo's village and their neighbors. It was indeed the shrine of a great god. her voice terrible as it echoed through the dark void. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. Okonkwo stood by. worthless." said Ezinma. Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go. He made him feel grown-up. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back.""God will not permit it. It had to be done slowly and carefully. "I remember now.Okagbue went back into the pit. sandy beach. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. The priestess bent down on one knee and Ezinma climbed on her back. It throbbed in the air. "It is not to pay you back for all you did for me in these seven years." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her." she answered simply."After kola nuts had been presented and eaten.He sighed heavily. "They are young tubers." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child.

At first the bride was not among them. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. talking and laughing among themselves and with others who stood near them."No. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess."It is an ozo dance. He told them that they worshipped false gods." But before they went he whispered something to his first wife. full of power and beauty." he said quietly to Ezinma."Ekwefi turned the hen over in the mortar and began to pluck the feathers. and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor. lest he strike you in his anger."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them. But Chielo's voice was still a long way away. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. "My daughter's suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads. "Let us not presume to do so now. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. She started to cry." said Okagbue.

so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene."She is ill in bed.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors.Okagbue went back into the pit.""Have you heard. But it was the season of rest between the harvest and the next planting season." said Okonkwo's voice. Her coming was quite useless. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene." said the convert. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. She was. Maduka. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. Most of them were sons of our land whose mothers had been buried with us. '1 am a changed man. But let us drink the wine first. her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. When a man blasphemes." he answered. She was already beginning to doubt the wisdom of her coming.""You were very much like that yourself.

Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. or old woman." the men said among themselves. The suitor was a young man of about twenty-five. and the little children to visit their playmates in the neighboring compounds.' Maduka has been watching your mouth. that Ekwensu. "It is not to pay you back for all you did for me in these seven years. but he did not say it. So he killed himself too. He asked the birds to take a message for his wife. perhaps for the first time. Okonkwo's youngest wife. Nobody knew how old. Okonkwo's son. And she realized too with something like a jerk that Chielo was no longer moving forward. or playground. And she had agreed. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. They were called kotma. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. He would now have to make a bigger farm. The priestess in those days was a woman called Chika."Let me make the fire for you. It was like the market.

to Obierika's compound. When he had swallowed them."The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door. suddenly changed his mind and agreed to take the message. they said to themselves. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come. which was shaved in places.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand."Yes. 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.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought. Women and children returning from the stream with pots of water on their heads wondered what was happening until they saw Okagbue and guessed that it must be something to do with ogbanje. passed through his obi and into Ekwefi's hut and walked into her bedroom.That night a bell-man went through the length and breadth of Mbanta proclaiming that the adherents of the new faith were thenceforth excluded from the life and privileges of the clan. Uchendu's eldest daughter had come from Obodo. "So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. that I am not afraid of blood and if anyone tells you that I am. who walked away and never returned. Di-go-go-di-go. He was therefore waiting to receive them. the wife of Amadi. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry. 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.

Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. It was unbelievable. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit." he said. There was no question of killing a missionary here. But I can trust you. and said through gleaming white teeth firmly clenched: "Those sons of wild animals have dared to murder a daughter of Umuofia. and drinking palm-wine copiously. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter.- it was either too early or too late. "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. red in tooth and claw. Nwoye remembered this period very vividly till the end of his life. were whispering together. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children. Unoka. closely followed by Nwoye and his two younger brothers. who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. Maduka. but they grew women's crops. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. was quite harmless.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye.

He would now have to make a bigger farm.Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond.The priestess screamed. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. nearly all the osu in Mbanta followed their example. male and female. But now she found the half-light of the incipient moon more terrifying than darkness. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. This was a womanly clan. All the women shouted with joy because Ekwefi's troubles were at last ended.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye."Then I shall go back to the clan."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. Unoka. And he had all but achieved it. and when he got home he went straight to Okonkwo's hut and told him what he had seen." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. Do not bear a hand in his death. 'It cried and raved and cursed me." Uzowulu replied.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.

Kiaga stopped them and began to explain. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them. A great evil has come upon their land as the Oracle had warned." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. astride the steaming pot. Spirits always addressed humans as "bodies."Take away your kola nut. and we shall all perish. The old man bore no ill will towards Okonkwo. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. It was not until the following day that Okonkwo told him the full story."You are right. "the goddess of the earth. But Okagbue said he was not tired yet.' Do you know what he told the Oracle? He said. that is not the beginning. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. she was dead. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka. A man's place was not always there. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene.

Her coming was quite useless. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers. Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before. 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. If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest.It was a great funeral. Then from the distance came the faint beating of the ekwe. the village playground. and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. they ought to know that Akueke is the bride for a king. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family.""They were fools. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before. None of them was a man of title. who sat next to him. women and children. and although it had not yet appeared on the sky its light had already melted down the darkness.There were seven men in Obierika's hut when Okonkwo returned. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years.""What will I see?" she asked. Ezinma. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. It was like a wedding feast.