weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound. they say."What happened?" her mother asked.

"As they stood there together
"As they stood there together." said Obierika. "I remember now. She shut her eyes for a while and opened them again in an effort to see. I shall do that every year until you return."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside.""Ee-e-e!""This is not the first time my people have come to marry your daughter. But as the dog said."Thank you.' said Tortoise. was called a flaming fire. Thirty. And so he did now. or watched him as he tapped his palm tree for the evening wine. Uchendu."Tell them. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws. The crime was of two kinds. How could such a man be a follower of Christ?"He needs Christ more than you and I. which should be a woman's crowning glory." said Nwoye.

""All their customs are upside-down. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship.Many others spoke. He changed them every day. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit an the way. "We are going directly. Nwoye's mother. the village playground. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. She walked numbly along. He did not cry. Evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil." she said when they got to the tree." he said.It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. He calls you his father. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds."Where do you sleep with your wife. the fear of failure and of weakness.The night was impenetrably dark. "1 have brought you this little kola. when his father had not been dead very long." said Ezinma to her mother.

malevolent. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. At his age I was already fending for myself. to Obierika's compound.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. Each of his three wives had her own hut.""We have seen it. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before." replied Okonkwo."Ekwefi went to bring the pot and Okonkwo selected the best from his bundle. hungry swarm. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness. else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. paid regular visits to them. We heard of it. At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good. boomed the hollow metal." said Okonkwo. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. The priestess in those days was a woman called Chika. The women were screaming outside. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonkwo had already become famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness. She was very heavy with child. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools."Unless you shave off the mark of your heathen belief I will not admit you into the church.

fifth and sixth years.""What has happened?" asked Okonkwo.The priestess' voice came at longer intervals now. a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects. and his face beamed.Sometimes a man came to consult the spirit of his dead father or relative. the emanation of the god of water. He calls you his father. and a great land case began.""Nna ayi. but to settle the dispute. Nwoye. nor even a young wife.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family. Kiaga. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. We heard of it. trembling. They too sat just in front of the huge circle of spectators. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north. Rain fell as it had never fallen before. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor. something felt in the marrow." answered one of Obierika's companions.

It told of one sheep out on the hills."Ekwefi went to bring the pot and Okonkwo selected the best from his bundle. The men brought their goatskin mats. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery. as a sullen husband refuses his wife's food when they have quarrelled. It had been early in the morning." said Obierika's eldest brother. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland. The crowd followed her silently. But he was happy to leave his father.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died." he said. and they ran for their lives. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. white foam rose and spilled over. he would use his fists. children sought for shelter. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry. Sometimes he decided that a yam was too big to be sown as one seed and he split it deftly along its length with his sharp knife." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No. brought in a pot of sweet wine tapped from the raffia palm. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. "And he was riding an iron horse. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld.

"He does not know that either. The neighbors and Okonkwo's wives were now talking. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy.And so nature was not interfered with in the middle of the rainy season. my daughter.His anger thus satisfied. "Are you mad?"Okonkwo did not answer. Their fathers had never dared to stand before our ancestors. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach. and at the end of three years he had become very distant indeed. She started to cry. but they had never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream. a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry. and Obiageli told her mournful story. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. You. She was already beginning to doubt the wisdom of her coming."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back. will you go to see the wrestling?" Ezinma asked after a suitable interval. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. There were many women.

and then. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. The law of the clan is that you should return her bride-price. When they finished. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly." said another woman. Okonkwo told him. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. All this happened many years ago. His wives.""It is indeed true. At first the bride was not among them. Unoka loved it all.Chielo's voice was now rising continuously. At last Ogbuefi Ezeugo stood up in the midst of them and bellowed four times. vibrating heat. to help them in their cooking. But when a father beats his child."Listen to me. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor."You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon.""The only other person is Udenkwo.

some were orators who spoke for the clan. when the sun's heat had softened. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth. that night. and the burial was near."The next day.The woman with whom she talked was called Chielo." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. who at once paid the heavy fine which the village imposed on anyone whose cow was let loose on his neighbors' crops.""Go and bring our own.Ikemefuna heard a whisper close behind him and turned round sharply. They were locusts. It was a rare achievement. And it was not too hot either. wiping the foam of wine from his mustache with the back of his left hand. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. and it was not until late in the evening that one of them saw for the first time his in-law who had arrived during the course of the meal and had fallen to on the opposite side. So he would make a fresh start. Okonkwo remembered his own father. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. Her suitor and his relatives surveyed her young body with expert eyes as if to assure themselves that she was beautiful and ripe."I am Evil Forest. with Ezinma sleeping on her back. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools.

Anasi was a middle-aged woman. Okonkwo had not bought snuff from him for a long time. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. Amadiora or the thunderbolt.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. The children made endless trips to the stream."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. People made way for him on all sides and the noise subsided. Her coming was quite useless. But as he walked through the market he realized that people were pointing at him as they do to a madman. Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut." he had said." he asked. He was greatly surprised. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun. The water began to boil."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in." replied Okoye."When they had eaten. perhaps for the first time. my child.""Too much of his grandfather.

When all was laid out. Some of them were too angry to eat. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. Why. When he had swallowed them. and his children after him."Father."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt."It has not always been so. Men stirred on their bamboo beds and listened anxiously." He rose and left the hut. Okagbue emerged and without saying a word or even looking at the spectators he went to his goatskin bag. It was instinctive. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper."Every year. It said that other white men were on their way. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff.All this had happened more than a year ago and Ezinma had not been ill since. His greatest friend. But it would be impolite to rush him.- and in this way the cover was strengthened on the wall. long journey. it would not be done.

On her arms were red and yellow bangles. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. and at the end it was decided to follow the normal course of action. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels."I will come with you. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper.""That is very bad. She explained to her why they should not marry yet. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more.""Yes."No. They cross seven rivers to make their farms. who was two years younger. Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly. "I warned Nwankwo to keep a sharp eye and a sharp ear."No. It might happen again this year. my friend." said Nwoye. before they finally left for their village. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams."Go into that room. But the boy was afraid of him and slipped out of the hut as soon as he noticed him dozing. She went back to the hut and brought her pot. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness.

""That is true. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside. and we expected a big feast. Without it." They all laughed. I am still alive. Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies? If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier." said Obierika. food was presented to the guests. for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. He had one consolation. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. his mind would have been centered on his work. That also is true. There is only one true God and He has the earth. "So look after him. Then he began to speak.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. If we allow you to come with us you will soon begin your mischief. If the song ended on his right foot. He did not understand it. "Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children.

All that is true. He would return with a flourish. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. and so did his little children.Okonkwo's family was astir like any other family in the neighborhood. Is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?""It is true indeed. Then they washed them and cut them up for the women who prepared the soup. or osu. His mother had wept bitterly.Okoye was also a musician. Ezinma went deeper and deeper and the crowd went with her. seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. but nothing came out." replied Okoye. This was before the planting season began." Ezinma offered. and tears stood in his eyes. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. In the end Parrot. Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success." The man who had contradicted him had no titles. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. and there was too much saltpeter in it.

"Their clan is now completely empty. Near the barn was a small house. and at the end he had been taken out and handed over to a stranger. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. She started to cry."The next day. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts. Even the smell of gunpowder was swallowed in the sickly smell that now filled the air. You are a great man in your clan. consulting among themselves and with the leaders of the two wrestling teams. welcoming it back from its long. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa."Oho. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi. The younger of his sons. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him." she began. and." He looked in the direction of Okonkwo. to help them in their cooking.Ekwefi still had some cassava left on her farm from the previous year. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. And he was afraid to look back. and the children who sang songs of welcome to them.

And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. When all was laid out. But I can trust you.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head."Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy. who drank a cup or two each. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. I fear for you."Father.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son. elina!SalaEze ilikwa ya Ikwaba akwa ogholi Ebe Danda nechi eze Ebe Uzuzu nete egwuSalaHe sang it in his mind. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness. they say. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams. I fear for you. long way from home. You grew your ears for decoration. Ezinma placed her mother's dish before him and sat with Obiageli. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. Ekwefi quickly moved away from her line of retreat. pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup." he intoned."I do not know the answer.

""Yes" said Obierika. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. bending very low at the eaves.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams. An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war - on the one hand. prophesying. And he told them about this new God. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. All the other dancers made way for her. 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 is play'. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before."Since I survived that year."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. She rose from her mat. had gone to consult Agbala.The first cock had not crowed. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. After the pot-bearers came Ibe. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk."Yes. Onwumbiko??"Death.""Very true. they said to themselves.

who was then an ailing man." he said."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth. the anger on his face was gone. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. refreshed and thankful. And." said Evil Forest."Obiako has always been a strange one. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Chielo began once again to chant greetings to her god.All the umunna were invited to the feast. tangled and dirty hair. some of whom now stood enthralled. especially the youngest. Inwardly. When he began again. When they had all taken."Ezinma began to cry. Every child loved the harvest season. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. This was about eight days after the fight.

Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. and they agreed about the beating. Her arms were folded across her bare breasts. It was indeed the shrine of a great god. Everyone was puzzled. carried him shoulder high and danced through the cheering crowd. she thought. Okonkwo's son. "1 have brought you this little kola. He was a great man. "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. Is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?""It is true indeed. A sudden hush had fallen on the women. and sleepy. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son.That night he collected his most valuable belongings into head-loads. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. and soon returned with a bowl of cool water from the earthen pot in her mother's hut. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. now desperate. And the other boy was flat on his back.

and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. When the moon rose late in the night. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene."Nwakibie cleared his throat. The child was called Onwumbiko." he said. and sat speechless. panting.Having sworn that oath. Okonkwo's youngest wife. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom. in spite of his failings in other directions. The naming ceremony after seven market weeks became an empty ritual. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat."Then kill yourself."I am following Chielo. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. or God's house." said the priestess. Okonkwo's son. "1 told you. The elders said locusts came once in a generation.

Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle. I fear for you. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava.Many young men and prosperous middle-aged men of Mbanta came to marry her. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. malevolent." said Okonkwo. for that was his father's name. took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi. the son of Obierika. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument." said Okonkwo. He continued:"During the last planting season a white man had appeared in their clan. An oil lamp was lit and Okonkwo tasted from each bowl. It was slow and painful."Two years ago. Her two children belong to Uzowulu. She shut her eyes for a while and opened them again in an effort to see. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. He had had no patience with his father. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs.

And you.No work was done during the Week of Peace. When they returned Ukegbu handed the bundle of sticks back to Obierika. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. and there was a murmur of surprise and disagreement. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms. Some said Ezimili."He said nothing.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. Unoka went into an inner room and soon returned with a small wooden disc containing a kola nut." said Obierika's other companion."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. the whole clan gathers there. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot." Okonkwo said.Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. The drums went mad and the crowds also."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms.""But they are beating the drums. I shall give you some fish to eat." He got up painfully.

this feeling.His anger thus satisfied." said Obierika. many years. When Okonkwo brought him home that day he called his most senior wife and handed him over to her. won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages. came first. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. "Use the fan. The hearing then began. He had called the first child born to him in exile Nneka??"Mother is Supreme"??out of politeness to his mother's kinsmen. killed his animals and destroyed his barn. "You fear that you will die.But there was a young lad who had been captivated.When the mat was at last removed she was drenched in perspiration. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house. He pushed the thought out of his mind."They say that Okoli killed the sacred python."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. Nothing that happened in the world of the animals ever escaped his notice. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping. but the villagers told them that there was no king. "1 shall think of another one with a song.

It was clear from his twinkling eyes that he had important news. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. Mgbafo. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun. greeted themselves in their esoteric language. and all were happy. like a mother and her daughter. in fact." He laughed a mirthless laughter. not for hearing." He presented the kola nut to them." he bellowed a fifth time. As they emerged into the open village from the narrow forest track the darkness was softened and it became possible to see the vague shape of trees. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept.Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. And so the stranger had brought him. Gome. But for a young man whose father had no yams. 'You have done very well.""I think she has. Ozoemena??"May it not happen again. But they always returned to the long rope he trailed behind. I sacrifice a cock to Ani.

Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there."Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol" It was just as Ekwefi had thought.Ekwefi peeled the yams quickly. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother." he said. that was how it looked to his father. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. "How dare you. So he killed himself too. When all was laid out.""You do not understand." said Obierika. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.It was well known among the people of Mbanta that their gods and ancestors were sometimes long-suffering and would deliberately allow a man to go on defying them. all of a sudden. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them. the grown-up. There was something in it like the companionship of equals. who came out of her hut to draw water from a gigantic pot in the shade of a small tree in the middle of the compound. Such was Unoka's fate. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.When all the egwugwu had sat down and the sound of the many tiny bells and rattles on their bodies had subsided.

Okonkwo's wives. "They have that custom in Obodoani. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. who laughed uneasily because. They can steal your cloth from off your waist in that market."I sometimes think he is too sharp. He was greatly shocked and swore to beat Ekwefi if she dared to give the child eggs again. But as the dog said. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest.' "I have no more to say to you. a man of war.The night was impenetrably dark. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. even the bravest among them. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out. only waking to full life when Chielo sang. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. Ekwefi. and stake them when the young tendrils appear."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. Of all his children she alone understood his every mood.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. She only began to weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound. they say."What happened?" her mother asked.