presented kola nuts to his in-laws." he said sadly."I was coming over to see you as soon as I finished that thatch.

"She is ill in bed
"She is ill in bed. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. Groups of four or five men sat round with a pot in their midst. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan." said one of the priests. He knew that Nwakibie would not refuse him. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them. That was not luck. sat near the fireplace waiting for the water in the pot to boil. and he gave to Vulture rain wrapped in leaves of coco-yam.The confusion that followed was without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia."Because I did not want to. for you people."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" asked Okagbue when Ezinma finally stopped outside her father's obi. It was a good riddance. If you are sending him on an errand he flies away before he has heard half of the message. It was Okonkwo's uncle. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born.

As soon as the day broke.Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them. She was already beginning to doubt the wisdom of her coming. the king of crops.""They have paid for their foolishness. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna."The next day a group of elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia came to Okonkwo's house early in the morning. But now she found the half-light of the incipient moon more terrifying than darkness. unless it was one of the stubborn ones who returned. Unoka. And she went into her hut to warm the vegetable soup she had cooked last night.Everyone was now about. We should have waited for the sun to rise and dry the leaves. Okonkwo's son." said Obierika. i have only a short while to live. He put them in the pot and Ekwefi poured in some water. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl.When the mat was at last removed she was drenched in perspiration. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!). And he had all but achieved it.

Ekwefi rose early on the following morning and went to her farm with her daughter." Ekwefi said to the woman who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her since the beginning of the matches.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family." said Obierika. the emanation of the god of water." His staff came down again."Unless you shave off the mark of your heathen belief I will not admit you into the church. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. 'She should have been a boy. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor."Thank you."Yam pottage was served first because it was lighter than foo-foo and because yam always came first. her left palm closed on her fish and her eyes gleaming with tears. to her right and to her left. "And you know how leaves become smaller after cooking." said Okonkwo. And every man whose arm was strong."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. and Odukwe bent down and touched the earth."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups.

Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor. "before i learned how to tap. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. It was an ill omen. hung above the fireplace. behind the crowd. At any rate. They were duly presented to the women. If you had been a coward." said Ekwefi." said Obierika. The wavering converts drew inspiration and confidence from his unshakable faith.- instead of thirty there were now only fifteen. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. "The bell-man announced it last night. "one would think he never sucked at his mother's breast."He was not an albino.

""It is like the story of white men who. There were five groups. Although he had felt uneasy at first." said Okagbue. Some of them had been heavily whipped. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. gods of wood and stone. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine."Why is Okonkwo with us today? This is not his clan." The boy smiled. and although ailing she seemed determined to live. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. It filled him with fire as it had always done from his youth.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. or Evil Spirit. hungry to do harm to the living. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma." he said sadly. There were also pots of yam pottage." said Obierika.

Then they washed them and cut them up for the women who prepared the soup. The white man has no sense. "As for me.It came slowly. That was the day it happened. full of power and beauty. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. He turned again to Ezinma. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages.The drums were still beating. and when they had seen it and thanked him. That was the way the clan at first looked at it." said Okagbue. Okonkwo's son. Those things a man built for himself or inherited from his father. Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. moved to the center. He." he said. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story.

fifth and sixth years. At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. She trudged slowly along. who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo. They went outside again. All that is true.Very soon after. Only a few of them saw these white men and their followers. Uchendu. how many twins she has borne and thrown away. he kept it secret." replied the other. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about. I married her with my money and my yams. the white men had also brought a government. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush."That is not the end of the story.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm.

It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava lor the feast. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. Nobody knew how old. "In many other clans a man of title is not forbidden to climb the palm tree." said Uchendu."Where do you sleep with your wife. and sat speechless. Okonkwo stood by the pit. the women who had gone for red earth returned with empty baskets. and went away. "That is the story. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. The first rains were late." he said.Some farmers had not planted their yams yet."Answer truthfully. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. the in-laws began to arrive. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. the whole clan gathers there.

I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet. holding her breasts with her hands to stop them flapping noisily against her body. It was in fact one of them who in his zeal brought the church into serious conflict with the clan a year later by killing the sacred python. and it was his firmness that saved the young church. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. It was a fierce contest.Later. There is not a single clan in these parts that I do not know very well. When the moon rose late in the night. The goat was then led back to the inner compound.Ogbuefi Ezeudu. it said. It was not until the following day that Okonkwo told him the full story. sat on the floor waiting for him to finish. The kola nut was given him to break."As they stood there together." said Ezelagbo. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound.""The world is large. You are a great man in your clan. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." he said.Sometimes a man came to consult the spirit of his dead father or relative." said Mr. The first voice gets to Chukwu. I forgot to tell you another thing which the Oracle said. he broke it and they ate." said Uchendu"I swear." said Nwoye's mother." But Death took no notice. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans. were whispering together. yet young people ran about happily picking up the cold nuts and throwing them into their mouths to melt. Then it went nearer and named the village: " Iguedo of the yellow grinding-stone!" It was Okonkwo's village. She beckons in front of her and behind her. It was such a forest that. she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl. You. and girls came from the inner compound to dance.

so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back.""That is very true. Amikwu.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere. But now she found the half-light of the incipient moon more terrifying than darkness. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. for that was his father's name. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth.Anasi was a middle-aged woman. It is almost dawn. perhaps even quicker. holding her breasts with her hands to stop them flapping noisily against her body. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time. the fear of the forest. it would not be done. The meat was then shared so that every membercheap uggs for sale of the umunna had a portion. So I have brought the matter to the fathers of the clan.

else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. She had balanced it on her head.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. "They use medicine. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads. Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about. 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. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head. But for a young man whose father had no yams. his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. It was unheard of to beat somebody during the sacred week." The crowd agreed. but he did not say it. Her husband's wife took this for malevolence. Soon after. He who brings kola brings life.

"As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut. who had felt more angry than the others. He remembered once when men had talked in low tones with his father. They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. which was part of the night. Ezenwa took it. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man. And they all knew Ekwefi and her daughter very well. dressed in garbs of war. The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle. Some said Okafo was the better man. She did not return to Okonkwo's compound until three days before the naming ceremony. 'It just walked away. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later.

" said Obierika. 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.Low voices. whom she called her daughter. 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. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations." said Ezinma at last. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Nwoye's sister.' replied the man. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. and his happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments. He warmed himself in the fire and ate the entrails. But the third created a big sensation even among the elders who did not usually show their excitement so openly.And now the rains had really come. Obiako." came her voice. she was dead. It was a day old.

and soon the children were chasing one of their cocks."That was all he had said. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter. and sent for the missionaries. Now and again the cannon boomed. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him.He is fit to be a slave." His staff came down again. had asked Ear to marry him. He would be very much happier working on his farm. he was told.But Ekwefi did not hear these consolations. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. But he was struck. They were called kotma. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind.

The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it."Come along. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows." said Akukalia. He would remember his own childhood. At the end they decided. He wanted first to know why they had been outlawed. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem. 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. Do you not think that they came to our clan by mistake. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop. whose eyes. so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later. It was Chielo. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried. He went into Ekwefi's hut.

and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.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." Ezinma said. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. But you are still a child. Okonkwo cleared his throat. who then unrolled the goatskin which he carried under his arm. The rainbow began to appear. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home. It was like pouring grains of corn into a bag full of holes. And they began to shoot. They were silent for a long time. decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. The first rains were late. So he began to plan how he would go to the sky. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches. The fire did not burn with a flame. The spirit of wars was upon them.

"The people of Umuike wanted their market to grow and swallow up the markets of their neighbors. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day.""That is true. And there was eating and drinking till night. It was like pouring grains of corn into a bag full of holes. The first cock has crowed." said Ekwefi. people said it was refusing food. this feeling."Everybody in the assembly spoke. A man stood there with a machete in his hand." he said. His body rattled like a piece of dry stick in his empty shell. But she refused them all. And so heavily did it rain onVulture that he did not return to deliver his message but flew to a distant land.It was a great funeral." said Obierika. whom he had thrown away.The daughters of the family were all there. and he gave to Vulture rain wrapped in leaves of coco-yam. on their backs and their thighs.

One morning three of them came to my house. the white missionary. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. That was why he had called him a woman.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor."Okonkwo never did things by halves. "Ozoemena was. He broke the nut saying: We shall all live. They were returning home with baskets of yams from a distant farm across the stream when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. But the Christians had told the white man about the accident." he announced when he sat down. and regain the seven wasted years. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta. If you had been a coward. As soon as Unoka understood what his friend was driving at. But the one knew what the other was thinking. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. There was authority in her bearing and she looked every inch the ruler of the womenfolk in a large and prosperous family. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm.

He sang the song again. and he sent his kotma to catch Aneto. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident. let his wing break. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. The missionaries had come to Umuofia. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. and he was grateful. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. He knew that he was a fierce fighter.""Does the white man understand our custom about land?""How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad." she called. The fire did not burn with a flame.The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village of Mbanta. The new year must begin with tasty. unless it be the emotion of anger. Twenty." she replied. who had begun to pour out the wine. He could neither marry nor be married by the free-born. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk.

"The market of Umuike is a wonderful place." said one of the cousins. but never heard its voice. When they were out of earshot. But the drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed.Ezinma was an only child and the center of her mother's world. She presented the cock to the musicians and began to dance. It was even heard in the surrounding villages. and stayed. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders. Ezinma went with her and helped in preparing the vegetables."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. They only saw the red earth he threw up mounting higher and higher. Many years ago another egwugwu had dared to stand his ground before him and had been transfixed to the spot for two days."I have heard." Obierika said to Nwoye." he said. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws." he said sadly."I was coming over to see you as soon as I finished that thatch.