beginning with the eldest man. who was Okonkwo's father." he bellowed a fifth time.

The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it
The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it. Okonkwo. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu. the interpreter. smiling. He does not belong here. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound." said Ojiugo. The women began to talk excitedly. as her mother had been called in her youth."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves. for although nobody else knew it. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. I owe that man a thousand cowries.But apart from the church. and they had quickened their steps.

bending very low at the eaves. 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. It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched." said Ekwefi. And this was the message. It had to be done slowly and carefully.At that moment they heard someone crying just outside their compound. Okonkwo. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. were whispering together. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more. the priestess. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm."Nwoye did not fully understand. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own.The drum sounded again and the flute blew.

He was to be called All oj you. sang for mercy. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher. "My father. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. only they did not understand him. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. "I am an old man and I like to talk. Every child loved the harvest season. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say.

It was instinctive. Di-go-go-di-go. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. It was called a string. Okonkwo. If there is any one among you who thinks he knows more let him speak up. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. younger men gave way and the tumult subsided. like something agitating with a metallic life." said Ezelagbo. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north. took the lump of chalk. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. some were orators who spoke for the clan. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. But the drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed.

and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes. and Ojiugo's daughter. looking up from the yams she was peeling. Some of them had been heavily whipped. How his mother would weep for joy."Unoka was an ill-fated man. A palm-oil lamp gave out yellowish light." he said. welcoming it back from its long." said Nwoye's mother. The married women wore their best cloths and the girls wore red and black waist-beads and anklets of brass. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children."I do not blame you. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. It was one of those gay and rollicking tunes of evangelism which had the power of plucking at silent and dusty chords in the heart of an Ibo man. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan.

The two voices disappeared into the thick darkness. The men stood outside the circle."Their clan is now completely empty. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene. a man of war. and at the end of it beat his instrument again. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. drew some lines on the floor. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. as was the custom. You may have heard of the title I intend to take shortly. especially the youngest. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun. endless space in the presence of Agbala. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard.

" His tone now changed from anger to command." said Obierika." he said. "So look after him. "there is no slave or free. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all. But in absence of work. Everyone was puzzled.' Why is that?"There was silence. She had. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. He stretched himself and scratched his thigh where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept. others Abame or Aninta."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. as the saying goes. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. or took pity on their mothers. But there were some too who came because they had friends in our town. mother is going.

"They are pieces of wood and stone. or the children of Eru. and then passed two shares to Nwoye and Ikemefuna. took her stick and walked over to the obi. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market.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." He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. the white men had also brought a government. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them. "my eyelid is twitching."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. His mother might be dead.But." said the bride. armed with sheathed machetes.

His eldest brother broke the first one.""We have seen it."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! Chi negbu madu ubosi ndu ya nato ya uto daluo-o-o! ??"Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts. But they were very rare and short-lived. stopped them. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. Some were great farmers. which was fastened to the rafters. succulent breasts. what do I do? Do i shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head That is what a man does. the suitor. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages. It was already dusk when the two parties came to this agreement. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning."As soon as he entered his last year in exile Okonkwo sent money to Obierika to build him two huts in his old compound where he and his family would live until he built more huts and the outside wall of his compound. You think you are still a child. He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago.

Ezeudu is dead. do you know me?""How can I know you. He could not do anything without telling her. Okonkwo came after her. self-assured and confident. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. the anger on his face was gone. and his children after him. Not only the low-born and the outcast but sometimes a worthy man had joined it. They cross seven rivers to make their farms." Okonkwo asked himself. Obierika. put down his load and sat down. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. But Ekwefi could not see her. But you are still a child.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. 1 know you will not despair. I owe that man a thousand cowries.

She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. afraid of your next-door neighbor. But they dared not complain openly. 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me. But there is just one question I would like to ask him. In the end he decided that Nnadi must live in that land of Ikemefuna's favorite story where the ant holds his court in splendor and the sands dance forever. if it lost its tail it soon grew another. That was not luck." Nwoye's mother said. "It is enough. It was a day old. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. Because he had taken titles. And so they arrived home again. others Abame or Aninta." he asked. But I can tell you.

'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. There was a long break. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents.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. He asked Okonkwo a few questions about the dead child.""God will not permit it. And so he did now. It must have been a very long time. let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young." He rose and left the hut. of all people. as usual. holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy." said Okonkwo. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm.

where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun. Okonkwo. who was the oldest man in the village. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. is."I was coming over to see you as soon as I finished that thatch." said Ezinma. His mother and sisters worked hard enough. This was before the planting season began. 'It just walked away."Two years ago. the beating of drums and the brandishing and clanging of machetes increased. That week they won a handful more converts. Obierika nodded in agreement.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. 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. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase.

She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. i fear for the clan. one hen. Ezinma turned left as if she was going to the stream." said Okonkwo. Obierika. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. It was like the market. She pulled again and it came off. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. He addressed Nwakibie. Ekwefi could now discern the figure of the priestess and her burden. But he always found fault with their effort.""The only other person is Udenkwo. or how. Do you hear that. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. Then the group drank. It is the law of our fathers.

he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun." he said. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. of all people. The pots of wine stood in their midst." said Okonkwo. where he thought they must be. that Chielo had stopped her chanting."Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered. Okonkwo told him.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. and he was not afraid of war. Then everything had been broken. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death." said Obierika.

They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally. "And let there be friendship between your family and ours. living in a special area of the village.But there was a young lad who had been captivated. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally. At one stage Ekwefi was so afraid that she nearly called out to Chielo for companionship and human sympathy. All cooking pots. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. But this is a matter which we know.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come. was a very exacting king. and four or five others in his own age group. It must have been a very long time. Obierika's son. That is a wise action. and allowed a brief pause. Obierika.

She went in and knocked at his door and he came out.' replied the young kite. She wore the anklet of her husband's titles." said Uchendu. And Okonkwo had already done that. That was why Okonkwo had been Chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife.There were seven men in Obierika's hut when Okonkwo returned." said Nwoye's mother. gome." replied Okonkwo. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. saluted the spirits and began his story.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. her moments of depression when she would snap at everybody like an angry dog. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old."It is here.

among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. It was clear from his twinkling eyes that he had important news." said Obierika. The folk stories stopped. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. He could not ask another man to build his own obi for him. He still remembered the song:Eze elina. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. and they knocked against each other as he searched." said Okagbue.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. He is an exile. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. Okonkwo had called in another medicine man who was famous in the clan for his great knowledge about ogbanje children.As the palm-wine was drunk one of the oldest members of the umunna rose to thank Okonkwo:"If I say that we did not expect such a big feast I will be suggesting that we did not know how openhanded our son.""Very true. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship.

The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede." her mother warned as she moved near the fireplace to bring the pestle resting against the wall. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him. Nwoye's mother. If one says no to the other. It was called a string." asked Obierika." said Idigo."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. Uzowulu and his relative. I shall pay you." The crowd agreed." said Obierika. beginning with the eldest man. who was Okonkwo's father." he bellowed a fifth time.