title. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. stopped them. nor the walls of his compound. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land.

made up her mind
made up her mind. gome. It was the justice of the earth goddess. Old men nodded to the beat of the drums and remembered the days when they wrestled to its intoxicating rhythm. it is for you."My in-law has told you that we went to his house.With a father like Unoka. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. came to visit him. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head." said Obierika." lied Nwoye's mother. as was the custom.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other diety."Uzowulu's body. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions.Ikezue held out his right hand. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools. There was no barn to inherit. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds."He was not an albino.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries. "That is the story. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner.

" replied Okonkwo." roared Okonkwo. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. of all people. Nothing happened at its proper time. She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. It had to be done slowly and carefully. she prayed a thousand times. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter.That year the harvest was sad.As soon as the day broke."Point at the spot with your finger. He still remembered the song:Eze elina. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. but they grew women's crops.His life had been ruled by a great passion??to become one of the lords of the clan."He was not an albino. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. The elders said locusts came once in a generation. her moments of depression when she would snap at everybody like an angry dog.

and Ezinma brought his goatskin bag from the far end of the hut. impotent ash. and the smallest group had ten lines. "But they will understand when they go to their plot of land tomorrow morning. and they." he said. and the smallest group had ten lines.She had prayed for the moon to rise. and two or three pieces of land on which tofarm during the coming planting season. At one stage Ekwefi was so afraid that she nearly called out to Chielo for companionship and human sympathy. And this faith had been strengthened when a year or so ago a medicine man had dug up Ezinma's iyi-uwa. gome. was the wife of Ogbuefi Udo. If they imagined what was inside. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning."Ezeudu!" he called in his guttural voice. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. too old to attend Ndulue during his illness. He was tall and huge. and filled the village with excitement. people said it was refusing food. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road.

Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him. The Lord shall have them in derision. The other wives drank in the same way." said the convert. and how Sky withheld rain for seven years. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.""It is indeed true. in their due proportions. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. In the other group were her husband. whose eyes.These outcasts. Kiaga. they held them over an open fire to burn off the hair. "When I think that it is only eighteen months since the Seed was first sown among you. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. As long as they lasted. It was full of meat and fish. and terror seized her. some of whom now stood enthralled. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts.""God will not permit it."Bring me my bag. They just pulled the stump. The poor and unknown would not dare to come forth.

and the women sat on a sisal mat spread on a raised bank of earth. The inhabitants of Mbanta expected them all to be dead within four days. he was repentant.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. I salute you. "Bear no hand in his death. whom she called "my daughter. through lonely forest paths. "My father. "You are our teacher. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. was celebrating his daughter's uri. When he had swallowed them."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you." Okonkwo said to himself again." said Ofoedu. "and yet he is full of sorrow because he has come to live in his motherland for a few years. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. And. and the sun seemed hidden behind a thick cloud.""That is why the drum has not been beaten to tell Umuofla. and as it dwelt on it.Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps.Low voices.

When he thought he had waited long enough he again returned to the shrine. their hoes and machetes. but she was held down. He drank palm-wine from morning till night. you have become a woman indeed. He asked them for health and children."Don't cry."Their clan is now completely empty. but that they had many children to feed. "We are going directly. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. very shyly. to roast plantains for him. Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever ege style. These men must be mad. Then he began to speak. who suddenly gave up his trade. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs. "that was why the snake-lizard killed his mother.' replied the young kite. He then adjusted his cloth. Unoka was never happy when it came to wars. Mosquito. her face streaming with tears.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots.

especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. There were nine of them. Nwayieke lived four compounds away." said his daughter Ezinma when she brought the food to him. Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door." said Obierika. He must have a wife." the others replied. bending very low at the eaves. They should have armed themselves with their guns and their machetes even when they went to market. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. And when. "They had been warned that danger was ahead. the top one." said Nwoye's mother. persistent and unchanging. Onwumbiko??"Death. The birds were silenced in the forests. He had one consolation. He immediately set to work digging a pit where Ezinma had indicated. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions.Uzowulu stepped forward and presented his case. My sister lived with him for nine years. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad.

He is always in a hurry. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard." said Uchendu. was the wife of Ogbuefi Udo.""You do not understand. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free."She has gone to plait her hair. three times. pointing at the far wall of his hut. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. He always said that whenever he saw a dead man's mouth he saw the folly of not eating what one had in one's lifetime. "My son has told me about you. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child.One of the men behind him cleared his throat."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more. He calls you his father. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. "Poor child." urged the other women"None?" asked Njide."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked.

and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. gome.Some farmers had not planted their yams yet. They were silent for a long time." said Okagbue. roasting and eating maize. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. My mother was one of you. He is not my father. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino. "We should do something. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under its shade.Later." said Mr." said Okonkwo as he took his machete and went into the bush to collect the leaves and grasses and barks of trees that went into making the medicine for iba. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. It was sudden and tremendous. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers. He must have a wife. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter.

I greet you."Because I did not want to." But she could not. He sang. 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. Yam stood for manliness. with a full beard and a bald head. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd. He went into the obi and saluted his father."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. elina!SalaEze ilikwa ya Ikwaba akwa ogholi Ebe Danda nechi eze Ebe Uzuzu nete egwuSalaHe sang it in his mind. Without it. His yams grew abundantly. calling on her mother. his sixteen-year-old son. "Your wife was at fault. Ekwefi." she replied. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. Nwoye's mother is already cooking. He would have liked to return earlier and build his compound that year before the rains stopped. Who else among his children could have read his thoughts so well? With two beautiful grown-up daughters his return to Umuofia would attract considerable attention. unless it be the emotion of anger. he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it. his children and their mothers in the new year.

He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. The thick dregs of palm-wine were supposed to be good for men who were going in to their wives. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more. not even for fear of a goddess. which was part of the night. they could see from his color and his language. Two elderly neighbors were sent for. Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest. as husbands' wives were wont to. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. as usual. like leprosy and smallpox.'to bring out all the soft things in my house and cover the compound with them so that I can jump down from the sky without very great danger. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. trembling. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman." said an old man. As for his converts. Without it. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness. The birds were silenced in the forests. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground.

or with their father in his obi warming themselves from a log fire. Thirty.As the broken kola nuts were passed round. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries. He was merely led into greater complexities. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you. gazing into a log fire. only more holy than the village variety. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. A few moments later he went behind the hut and began to vomit painfully.At last the rain came. The musicians with their wood. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. She was the priestess of Agbala. In short. his sixteen-year-old son. my great friend. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season. Ojiugo's children were eating with the children of his first wife. who was now in charge of the infant congregation. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. But this is a matter which we know.

He knew it must be Ekwefi.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan.Okonkwo had eaten from his wives' dishes and was nowreclining with his back against the wall. but not overmuch. one hen. like coco-yams.""That cannot be. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. and he said so with much threatening."We have heard both sides of the case. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye.. "Yaa!". the suitor. men." replied Ekwefi. Amikwu and his people had taken palm-wine to the bride's kinsmen about two moons before Okonkwo's arrival in Mbanta. Uchendu. and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement.He is fit to be a slave. "But you can explain to her. He picked it up.

' But my wife's brothers said they had nothing to tell me. had gone to consult Agbala. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. 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. She could not be expected to cook and eat while her husband starved. "And he was riding an iron horse. A palm-oil lamp gave out yellowish light. and they had quickened their steps. There were six of them and one was a white man. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay."I beg you to accept this little kola. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him. and then flew away.But Mr. Who knows what may happen tomorrow? Perhaps green men will come to our clan and shoot us. but he had not expected he would be so generous. If such a thing were ever to happen. He knew that he was a fierce fighter. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul??the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial.Ezinma lay shivering on a mat beside a huge fire that her mother had kept burning all night. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her.

He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him."We are at last getting somewhere. Obierika and half a dozen other friends came to help and to console him. She trudged slowly along. It was very much like Obiageli. I am an old man and you are all children. You know as well as I do that our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor. As the evening wore on." said one of them. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her. "That is the story. tangled and dirty hair. without serious danger to his own health. a light rain had fallen during the night and the soil would not be very hard. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. the owner of all land. He would be very much happier working on his farm.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more. The sickness was an abomination to the earth." He put it down to his inflexible will. among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia."What are you doing here?" Obierika had asked when after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy.

"Bring me my bag. They were possessed by the spirit of the drums." he said and cleared his throat." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor. "Those that hear my words are my father and my mother. I have none now except that young girl who knows not her right from her left."Just then Obierika's son. Ekwefi had been returning from the stream with her mother on a dark night like this when they saw its glow as it flew in their direction. Then he poured out for the others. He told them that the true God lived on high and that all men when they died went before Him for judgment. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard.""I think she will stay. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. and they knocked against each other as he searched. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper."That is not strange. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme. The moon was shining. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky."They will not begin until the sun goes down. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed."Forgive me." replied Uzowulu. and Obiageli told her mournful story. She walked numbly along.

The sound of her benumbed steps seemed to come from some other person walking behind her. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond."I beg you to accept this little kola. On his head were two powerful horns. He was tall and huge. As soon as he found one he would sing with his whole being. Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle. Ukegbu counted them. my dear friend. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell." he said sadly. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. Only the word of our God is true. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors. whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs. except his priestess. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. even the bravest among them. It was as if a spell had been cast."Okoli was not there to answer. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts.

Marriage should be a play and not a fight so we are falling down again." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. tangled hair."Okoli was not there to answer.""Why?" asked Obierika and Okonkwo together. If they imagined what was inside.The women had gone to the bush to collect firewood. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored." he said as he went." said Okonkwo. They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them." and was allowed to go wherever it chose. Five matches ended in this way.His anger thus satisfied. They were the lazy easy-going ones who always put off clearing their farms as long as they could.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. We have albinos among us. who were still outside the circle."Yes."What is iyi-uwa?" she asked in return." Nwoye's mother said. and Okonkwo filled his horn again." said Nwoye. and when they had seen it and thanked him.

"They are young tubers. and he was not afraid of war. As for his converts.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival. He warmed himself in the fire and ate the entrails. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan."Nwoye did not fully understand." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night.After the singing the interpreter spoke about the Son of God whose name was Jesu Kristi."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. Nwoye. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands. But I can tell you.""Yes. Every man and woman came out to see the white man. even into people's beds. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. as her father and other grownup people did.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. and also a drinking gourd. impotent ash. Ezinma. Nwayieke lived four compounds away.

"My father. which was part of the night. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them. "But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light."You are a big man now. Okonkwo brought out kola nut and placed it before the priest. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home." But it was a different Chielo she now saw in the yellow half-light. It descended on him again."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative."When your wife becomes pregnant again."Before God.But before this quiet and final rite. Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary. He had discerned a clear overtone of tragedy in the crier's voice. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. Thank you."At last the hen was plucked clean.One morning Okonkwo's cousin. who was the eldest of the nine sons.

and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her. Okonkwo."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. 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. Three men beat them with sticks." said Obierika."It was only this morning. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. In short.In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo's household. When one came to think of it. like something agitating with a metallic life. Sometimes it poured down in such thick sheets of water that earth and sky seemed merged in one gray wetness. And so although Okonkwo was still young. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body. like the snapping of a tightened bow. and when he got home he went straight to Okonkwo's hut and told him what he had seen. and Okonkwo filled his horn again. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom.

her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season. They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand. She thought of all the terrors of the night. who was the eldest of the nine sons.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise." said Obierika to his son. flat. They all have food in their own homes. We have albinos among us.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle. As soon as the two boys closed in. with love. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. in spite of his failings in other directions. Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. It was full of meat and fish. "He seemed to speak through his nose. Their bodies shone with sweat. and everyone filled his bags and pots with locusts." he said. And perhaps those not so young would be playing in pairs in less open places. The old man listened silently to the end and then said with some relief: "It is a female ochu.' Why is that?"There was silence. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone.

"Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked. her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season.Ikezue held out his right hand. The spirit of wars was upon them. Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them. especially at festivals and also when an old man died. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. The poor and unknown would not dare to come forth. taking each string separately. turning to Obierika. without serious danger to his own health. He sighed again.By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. He was tall and huge. and stammered. and went round the circle shaking hands with all.He brought with him two young men. Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration. were fixed on her. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. who sat next to him. The thick dregs of palm-wine were supposed to be good for men who were going in to their wives. As Idigo had said. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan.

" he said. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. were whispering together. There was an immediate stir. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka.""I can tell you. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.As these things went through her mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. Di-go-go-di-go.""Yes. in a terrifying voice. and earth and sky once again became separate. he thought over the matter. No one had actually seen the man do it. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. Chielo passed by."Just then Obierika's son. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. He then installed his personal god and the symbols of his departed fathers. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man.

But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise." said Ezinma to her mother. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. Many young men have come to me to ask for yams but I have refused because I knew they would just dump them in the earth and leave them to be choked by weeds. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. and a little hoe for digging out the tuber. The rainbow was called the python of the sky.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. he would use his fists. ozo is so low that every beggar takes it. sat near the fireplace waiting for the water in the pot to boil. "I shall survive anything. She would die with her. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. he had gone to consult the Oracle."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. Old men and children would then sit round log fires. no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan."Sometimes I wish I had not taken the ozo title. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. stopped them. nor the walls of his compound. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land.