its mother's milk. It was addressed as "Our Father. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more. Gome.

"I shall tell them my mind if they do
"I shall tell them my mind if they do. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. years ago. Everybody had been invited??men. somewhat lamely. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? The same God created you and them." pleaded from a reasonable distance. In the end Parrot. And that could not be.""What did the white man say before they killed him?" asked Uchendu. white foam rose and spilled over. who drank a cup or two each. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep. could not shelter under his roof. have no toes. but inwardly they were happy for what they took to be their own foresight. Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. If we put ourselves between the god and his victim we may receive blows intended for the offender. do you know me?""How can I know you. He refused to join in the meal. or osu. saluted the spirits and began his story. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound.

1 know more about the world than any of you. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in ihe assembly of the people."Have you?" asked Obierika. and soon the children were chasing one of their cocks. And then appeared on the horizon a slowly-moving mass like a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia. "Let us hear Odukwe. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost."They do not understand. And perhaps those not so young would be playing in pairs in less open places. She called her by her name. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. His mother might be dead. And he told them about this new God. A razor was taboo to him. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. it was in large."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes. To abandon the gods of one's father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. It must have been a very long time. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul. Ezeudu is dead. and he said so with much threatening. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness.

" said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed. they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss." the others replied."I am Evil Forest. As far as the villagers were concerned. It was called a string. brought in a pot of sweet wine tapped from the raffia palm. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan." 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. But all of a sudden she would go down again.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission.Perhaps it never did happen."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma.When they had all gathered." pleaded from a reasonable distance. "Blessed is he who forsakes his father and his mother for my sake."That was about five years ago. nine wives and thirty children. she has told me about it. They did not stay very long. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head.' Those men of Abame were fools."I do not know the answer.

Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home." said the convert. love returned once more to her mother.The drums were still beating.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. or old woman.""God will not permit it."Bring me a hoe. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. my friend. the tumult increased tenfold. Why is it that when a woman dies she is taken home to be buried with her own kinsmen? She is not buried with her husband's kinsmen. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman."This is Obierika." said Ofoedu. If one says no to the other. he said to Okonkwo:"That boy calls you father. A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match. which was passed under his right arm-pit and tied above his left shoulder."Although they were almost the same age. "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.

The crime was of two kinds. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth.""Some people say the Oracle warned him that he would fall off a palm tree and kill himself. which was now surrounded by spectators. Nwoye. and he loved this season of the year. as everybody knew they would. but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud." Ofoedu agreed.""Not before you have had your breakfast. But let us drink the wine first." he said to Okonkwo. I fear for you. That is all I am good for now.In the distance the drums continued to beat. And they were all gay. And they were all gay. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. somewhat indulgently. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin. for his father's relatives to see. for that was his father's name.

At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died.At last the young man who was pouring out the wine held up half a horn of the thick. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers." he said." she began. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night." said his eldest brother. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. "And so they killed the white man and tied his iron horse to their sacred tree because it looked as if it would run away to call the man's friends. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. the one young and beautiful. was a widely-traveled man who knew the customs of different peoples. father? You are beyond our knowledge. 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. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors." said Uchendu after a long silence. There was no barn to inherit. the god who cut a man down when his life was sweetest to him.""Uzowulu's body. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange.

'"'You do not know me. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives."They are here." The boy smiled." said Ibe. May all you took out return again tenfold."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. She had. who drank a cup or two each. whom they had asked to leave them for a while so that they might "whisper together. It was unheard of to beat somebody during the sacred week. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. "It's true that a child belongs to its father. No! he could not be. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. lest he strike you in his anger. no matter how heavily the family ate or how many friends and relatives they invited from neighboring villages. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. It had been early in the morning. hung above the fireplace. The birds were silenced in the forests. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. The moon must be preparing to rise. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. somewhat lamely.

Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. Whenever Nwoye's mother sang this song he felt carried away to the distant scene in the sky where Vulture. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. anxiety. I knew your father. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come. He sang. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. the white men had also brought a government."Agbala do-o-o-o!?? Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Ekwefi trudged behind. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more." said Okonkwo as he rose to go." said another woman. and so they stood waiting."It was only this morning. carrying on their heads various sizes of pots suitable to their years."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. We are only his mother's kinsmen. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else - with a heavy hand."The body of Odukwe. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. Go home and work like a man. afraid of your next-door neighbor.

Maduka."'We know you too well."Agbala do-o-o-o!?? Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Ekwefi trudged behind. panting. His own hut."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes. Iweka. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd." Okonkwo threatened. And so when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole hardly big enough to pass a hen." He put it down to his inflexible will. He was in fact an outcast.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come. Everybody had been invited??men. for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi." said the leader of the ecjwucjwu. pointing with his finger. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them. and does not lose it even if he steals." said Idigo. and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten."Yes.

He was merely led into greater complexities.""Somebody told me yesterday. Okonkwo. "You will find a pot of wine there. and the dry. to sit with him in his obi. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. My in-law. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool." said one of the cousins. some of whom now stood enthralled. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. The drums beat the unmistakable wrestling dance - quick. If the song ended on his right foot. The children made endless trips to the stream." said Okonkwo. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations. With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans. and all were happy. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. not dead.The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest and to build their house.

Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed."Tufia-al" the priestess cursed. He had finished it on the very day the locusts came. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. "As our people say. whom she called her daughter. Ekwefi quickly moved away from her line of retreat. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head. Gome. Who knows what may happen tomorrow? Perhaps green men will come to our clan and shoot us.The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. that is not the beginning. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation. but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said." he said when Okonkwo had spoken. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. But before he could answer. Everybody had been invited??men. The yams put on luxuriant green leaves. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. "Whoever has a job in hand. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo.

"Where have you been?" he stammered. "You look very tired. Ikemefuna came ugg sales onlineinto Okonkwo's household. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. I would not have believed. but he had not expected he would be so generous."Don't you know what kind of man Uzowulu is? He will not listen to any other decision. Every man and woman came out to see the white man. And she enjoyed above all the secrecy in which she now ate them. She was peeling new yams. And so they fled into Umuofia with a woeful story. It seemed as if the world had gone mad. another man asked a question: "Where is the white man's horse?" he asked."Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant. Nothing that happened in the world of the animals ever escaped his notice. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. the farthest village in the clan. all the descendants of Okolo.""They were fools. Uchendu before her. At his age I was already fending for myself. watching. he had gone to consult the Oracle. She felt cold. gome went the gong.

In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. in the sunshine. In short. She thought of all the terrors of the night. and was now accorded great respect in all the clan. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. sang for mercy. At last the man was named and people sighed "E-u-u. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on." suggested Okonkwo."Okonkwo never did things by halves. through lonely forest paths. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. long way from home. "We shall give them a piece of land."There was immediate excitement and those who were sitting jumped to their feet. and she put all her being into it. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. Even in those days he was not a man of many words. silencing him. But tonight she was addressing her prophecy and greetings to Okonkwo. red in tooth and claw. beat him up and took our sister and her children away.

So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. She started to cry. and allowed a brief pause. if it lost its tail it soon grew another. demolished his red walls. A snake was never called by its name at night. broken now and again by singing." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. They did not stay very long. They said that some young men had chased them away from the stream with whips. if it lost its tail it soon grew another. that I am not afraid of blood and if anyone tells you that I am. Somewhere a man was taking one of the titles of his clan. I shall break your jaw. "You will find a pot of wine there. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. gome. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. or Holy Feast as it was called in Ibo. there was no other way. Then the bride. Kiaga. And so he did now. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident.

without serious danger to his own health. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three. gome. In the center of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood." said Nwoye's mother."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. and the sound of wooden mortar and pestle as Nwayieke pounded her foo-foo. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors. Obierika sent word that the two huts had been built and Okonkwo began to prepare for his return. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka. 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. Even the enemy clan knew that. She had balanced it on her head. he is telling a lie. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. or Holy Feast as it was called in Ibo. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. and. She knew her daughter was safe. "I sold the big ones as soon as you left. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body."Come along. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them.

He calls you his father. with which they sat on the floor. "And he was riding an iron horse."How is your father?" Obierika asked. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery."Ezinma is dying. "But I cannot understand these things you tell me. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price."Locusts are descending. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma. for Mr. Some of them were too angry to eat. All else was silent.At that moment they heard someone crying just outside their compound." replied Okonkwo. Ekwefi quickly took her to their bedroom and placed her on their high bamboo bed. He was tall and huge.' But my wife's brothers said they had nothing to tell me. But Okagbue said he was not tired yet. He said he was one of them. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. The faint and distant wailing of women settled like a sediment of sorrow on the earth. Nwoye. It was very much like Obiageli. He went into Ekwefi's hut.

The women were screaming outside. whereupon his father beat him heavily. only they did not understand him.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye. My mother was one of you."We have heard both sides of the case. You have a manly and a proud heart. nearly half a day's journey away.As the men drank. That week they won a handful more converts."Thank you. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them.""What has happened?" asked Okonkwo." she said. If it does its power will be gone. but nothing came out.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife's meal. That was in fact the reason why he had come to see Unoka."Do you think you are cutting up yams for cooking?" he asked Nwoye.""That is true. when they came. They went outside again. It was said that when such a spirit appeared. Many of these messengers came from Umuru on the bank of the Great River. "and a thick mat.

Before it was dusk Ezeani. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound. She remembered that night. If we allow you to come with us you will soon begin your mischief." said Evil Forest. After such treatment it would think twice before coming again. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night. fire does not burn them?" Ezinma." ';."I did not say He had a wife. As soon as she became pregnant she went to live with her old mother in another village. The moon was shining. They were beaten in the prison by the kotma and made to work every morning clearing the government compound and fetching wood for the white Commissioner and the court messengers."There was a long silence." She died in her eleventh month."Although they were almost the same age. and they each gave him a feather. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs."Thank you." said Ekwefi. She knew her daughter was safe. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. The lad's name was Ikemefuna. It was quiet and confident." she replied.

Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. Nwoye. Once she tripped up and fell."Listen to me."Unoka was like that in his last days. "people should not talk when they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way. urging the others to hurry up."Ekwefi."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. almost overnight. when he was young. It was not done earlier because the rains were too heavy and would have washed away the heap of trodden earth. "There must be a reason for it. It was quiet and confident. Perhaps she has come to stay. "It's true that a child belongs to its father. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land.Okonkwo shook his head doubtfully. he was not a hunter."Yes.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye.Ekwefi did not answer. "As our people say. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: "This meeting is for men.

Kiaga. speaking in a tremulous. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word. But the third created a big sensation even among the elders who did not usually show their excitement so openly. The spirit of wars was upon them. all strong and healthy. and they knocked against each other as he searched. The men brought their goatskin mats.It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. and Umuofia. was a very exacting king. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife. He had become wholly absorbed into his new family."Call your wife and child. Ezinma? Agbala wants to see her. It was the justice of the earth goddess. He just hung limp. others Abame or Aninta. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day."But the leaves will be wet. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit. "and leave the child alone. and it came floating on the wind. and men dashed about in frenzy.

- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. Amikwu. 1 know more about the world than any of you.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead. But you were rich. but not today. talking was the next best. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. "I remember now. "She has iba. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house. welcoming it back from its long. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death."Once upon a time.

"When did you become a shivering old woman." said some of the elders. She started to cry. It was powerful in war and in magic. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood. Dazed with fear." said Ezinma. Kiaga. and so the victim could not be buried in her bowels. The wailing of the women would not be heard beyond the village. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. All the family were there and some of the neighbors too. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. It was said that when such a spirit appeared.When she got to the big udala tree Ezinma turned left into the bush. fifth and sixth years. and the children who sang songs of welcome to them. and the women had formed themselves into three groups for this purpose. in silence. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased.""It is a lie.

Earth's emissary. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. which had been stretched taut with excitement. They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. others said he was not the equal of Ikezue. Ekwefi and her only daughter. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. A sudden hush had fallen on the women. food was presented to the guests. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her." Obierika agreed. Who knows what may happen tomorrow? Perhaps green men will come to our clan and shoot us. beat me up and took my wife and children away. tall and strongly built. "honest men and thieves. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again.

fire does not burn them?" Ezinma."Take away your kola nut.Ikemefuna came to Umuofia at the end of the carefree season between harvest and planting. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. go home before Agbala does you harm. like the snapping of a tightened bow. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. Then he burst out:"Never kill a man who says nothing.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. He said he was one of them."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. There was something in it like the companionship of equals." and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. That was the way the clan at first looked at it. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. They guarded the prison. Darkness was around the corner." said Ekwefi. It was a fierce contest." roared Okonkwo. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young. He knew it must be Ekwefi."As they stood there together. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds.

and a man who committed it must flee from the land." they said to the women. The saying of the elders was not true??that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. A razor was taboo to him."It is here. Once he got up from bed and walked about his compound. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would be held.' replied the young kite.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye."Don't you know what kind of man Uzowulu is? He will not listen to any other decision. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions.His anger thus satisfied. as was the custom.""An albino. walked in their midst. but not today. "Let us not presume to do so now. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. They had something to say for every man. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. It was addressed as "Our Father. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more. Gome.