the yams. It descended on him again. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head.

But it would be impolite to rush him
But it would be impolite to rush him."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest.""But they are beating the drums.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head."One of them passes here frequently. like the prospect of annihilation. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it. and so all the clan was at his funeral. and they ran for their lives. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. and they had quickened their steps. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry." said one of them. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say. when he was young. Okonkwo. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up." said one of the cousins. And it was not too hot either. "Whoever has a job in hand.

in silence. All the women shouted with joy because Ekwefi's troubles were at last ended."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. tangled hair. said Ezeugo. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. On his head were two powerful horns. Maduka."Come along then and show me the spot. "His shell broke into pieces. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest. and she was notorious for her late cooking. There was authority in her bearing and she looked every inch the ruler of the womenfolk in a large and prosperous family." Ezinma offered.Ikezue held out his right hand. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown.When the rain finally came. His sons brought out the pots of palm-wine. A man stood there with a machete in his hand. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede.

He wanted him to be a prosperous man."'We know you too well. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. Their leader was called Evil Forest. "Poor child. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. He breathed heavily. a thing set apart??a taboo for ever. But the second time did not count."You must take him to salute our father. in their due proportions. elina!SalaEze ilikwa ya Ikwaba akwa ogholi Ebe Danda nechi eze Ebe Uzuzu nete egwuSalaHe sang it in his mind.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup.""But they are beating the drums. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets.Okonkwo shook his head doubtfully. Some of them were very violent.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm.

Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. Near the barn was a small house. Then the crier gave his message. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner.Okonkwo did as the priest said.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. mother. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside." said Idigo. Okonkwo.""That cannot be. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure. His yams grew abundantly." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor. have no toes." she answered simply. with love. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility.

The priestess was now saluting the village of Umuachi. They then set about painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and on their backs. watching. "She should have been a boy. "You are already a skeleton. food was presented to the guests.At last the two teams danced into the circle and the crowd roared and clapped."Umuofia kwenu. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. At first they were afraid they might die. His two younger brothers are more promising. and allowed a brief pause. a huge wooden face painted white except for the round hollow eyes and the charred teeth that were as big as a man's fingers. And it was not too hot either. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it. the god of yams. And so they walked out together. All the family were there and some of the neighbors too."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done."You must watch the pot carefully.""That is true.

they said to themselves. I fear for you."How can I know you. that night. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children. father? You are beyond our knowledge. he burst out laughing. 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. their legs and feet. as most people were. She is buried there.She had prayed for the moon to rise. I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots.Ezinma led the way back to the road.At this point an old man said he had a question. But let us drink the wine first.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return."Don't be foolish. But for a young man whose father had no yams. That was in fact the reason why he had come to see Unoka. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it.

he had gone to consult the Oracle. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. They had something to say for every man. Ekwefi had a feeling of spacious openness. It had been early in the morning. with which they sat on the floor." he said. "These are now your kinsmen.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman. but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them.'When Ekwefi brought the hoe.In this way the moons and the seasons passed." They all laughed. His sons brought out the pots of palm-wine. light and gay.""Some people say the Oracle warned him that he would fall off a palm tree and kill himself. passing back the disc.At this point an old man said he had a question. He was the oldest man in Ire. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write.

Gome."I am Evil Forest."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. He was in fact an outcast.""Let us not reason like cowards." said Obierika's other companion. and they began to go back the way they had come." He rose and left the hut. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. And that could not be. At last Sky was moved to pity. It was after such a day at the farm during the last harvest that Nwoye had felt for the first time a snapping inside him like the one he now felt. Such was Unoka's fate. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. Such was Unoka's fate. stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls. "My father. But it turned out to be even bigger than we expected. and was about to say something when the old man continued:"Yes. We pray for life.

"I wish she were a boy. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. all of a sudden."It will not take us long to harvest as much as we like." He paused for a long while. And immediately Okonkwo's eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly."Yes. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. No woman ever did.""I shall wait too. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop.That year the harvest was sad. "And these white men.All this had happened more than a year ago and Ezinma had not been ill since." They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm."I shall return very soon. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka.

looking up from the yams she was peeling."Everybody thanked Okonkwo and the neighbors brought out their drinking horns from the goatskin bags they carried."Where have you been?" he stammered. but its vigor was undiminished." said Ekwefi."The body of Odukwe. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet. he thought over the matter. but she must wait for Ezinma to wake. unless it be the emotion of anger. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. and in a basket beside her were green vegetables and beans. No woman ever did.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. She turned round sharply and walked through Okonkwo's hut. He breathed heavily."Oye. His wives. The man who had whispered now called out aloud.

"So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks. Inwardly. They must have bypassed it long ago. although one of them did not speak Ibo. But they were still alive. and Ezinma brought his goatskin bag from the far end of the hut. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. At first Ekwefi accepted her.A hush fell on the compound immediately. "is it true that when people are grown up.Okonkwo sprang from his bed." shouted Chielo. and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin. I have cleared a farm but have no yams to sow. Inwardly. and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed. And that is why we say that mother is supreme.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. "It's true that a child belongs to its father. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night.

that Chielo had stopped her chanting. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi. welcoming it back from its long. I began to own a farm at your age. Mgbafo. And then after another lifetime these men opened the caves again and the locusts came to Umuofia.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. He is an exile."Where have you been?" he stammered.His anger thus satisfied. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. they said to themselves.And then the priestess screamed. They all have food in their own homes. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. Ofoedu ate slowly and talked about the locusts. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out.

A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi as she stood gazing in the direction of the voices like a hen whose only chick has been carried away by a kite. Ezinma took it to him in his obi.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. The total effect was gay and brisk. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you they will all die in exile. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. Ezinma. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. Mgbafo and her brothers were as still as statues into whose faces the artist has molded defiance. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky. and we expected a big feast. "on an Eke market day a little band of fugitives came into our town."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma. 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. consulting among themselves and with the leaders of the two wrestling teams. it would have been impossible to eat. this feeling. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom. At first they were afraid they might die. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess.

He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. The first rains were late. You stay at home. just emerged from the earth. some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child. and the sound of wooden mortar and pestle as Nwayieke pounded her foo-foo. Those men of Abame were fools. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention." he said sadly.When the women retired."Who is that?" he growled. We did not see it. He could not do anything without telling her. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried. She rose. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman.

Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself."Yes. It was unbelievable. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. "What about you? Can you answer my question?"They all shook their heads. And for the first time they had a woman. drank a little and handed back the horn. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head.All the umunna were invited to the feast. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come." replied the white man. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy.""I do not."Answer the question at once. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. as the Ibo people say." He danced a few more steps and went away.At last the rain came. He continued:"During the last planting season a white man had appeared in their clan. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down." replied Okonkwo.

who suddenly gave up his trade." said Nwoye. Obierika. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. Okonkwo told him." he said."They are here. called the converts the excrement of the clan. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. They haggle and bargain as if they were buying a goat or a cow in the market. But she had grown so bitter about her own chi that she could not rejoice with others over their good fortune. and the smallest group had ten lines. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess." Okonkwo thundered. she had said.

She hit her left foot against an outcropped root. Do not bear a hand in his death. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. is a beast. ignorant of the love of God. when he slept."It is here. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day." she began.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered." said Okonkwo. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound. and her arms folded across her breasts. but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. and there was no hurry to decide his fate.

"Yes. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. Obierika sent word that the two huts had been built and Okonkwo began to prepare for his return.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams. Nwoye's sister. 'She should have been a boy. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame. Nwoye. As soon as Unoka understood what his friend was driving at. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six. gome.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard. my daughter. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields. The elders of the clan replied." said some of the elders.' said Mother Kite to her daughter.

" Okonkwo thundered."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. and she put all her being into it. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma." she began.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them. they kept their imagination to themselves. It is against the will of God. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. he was not afraid now. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. Your generation does not know that.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. But it was a resilient spirit. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks. But he thought that one could not begin too early. even into people's beds. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. broke into life and activity. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household.

" said Obierika's other companion. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point." said Okonkwo. A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. As the elders said. made up her mind. in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike. She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon. And in fairness to Umuofia it should be recorded that it never went to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle - the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. which had been dutifully eating yam peelings. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground. asked on behalf of the clan to look after him in the interim. they take new names for the occasion." said Obierika. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. Once he got up from bed and walked about his compound.

They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them. You. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness." said Mr. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup. The folk stories stopped.' said her mother. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. Maduka. She was very heavy with child. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Even the very little children seemed to know." said Mr.It seemed to Ekwefi that the night had become a little lighter. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed." she called. for you people. When they had eaten they talked about many things: about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams. It descended on him again. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head.