firmly. These people are daily pouring filth over us. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. he kept it secret.

Unoka loved it all
Unoka loved it all. As the Ibo say: "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk. Like all good farmers. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. usually before the age of three."Tufia-al" the priestess cursed. He knew it must be Ekwefi. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running. among the missionaries in Umuofia."One of them passes here frequently. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. which was now surrounded by spectators. And it began to shake and rattle. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. Only then did she realize.As night fell. And so at a very early age when he was striving desperately to build a barn through share-cropping Okonkwo was also fending for his father's house. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. He had one consolation.

and none of them died. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. when he slept. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. Okonkwo decided to go out hunting. There were also pots of palm-wine.But there were many others who saw the situation differently. Where is my daughter. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. she did not hear them. you have become a woman indeed.Ezinma grew up in her father's exile and became one of the most beautiful girls in Mbanta. And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man's government or the consequences of killing the Christians. We heard of it."Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about."My hand is on the ground. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles.

He was quite different. old way. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. How a woman could carry a child of that size so easily and for so long was a miracle.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. "But the law of the land must be obeyed. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy.""That means you will see something. or waist beads. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village."He was not an albino. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. Once or twice he tried to run away. Kiaga. and the dry. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors. Kiaga.

"They are thirty?" he asked. which was shaved in places.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. and each stroke is one hundred cowries. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. he beat her until she miscarried. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points." said Obierika's eldest brother. Everyone was puzzled." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes."It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal. It was already dusk when the two parties came to this agreement. As our fathers said. He asked Okagbue to come up and rest while he took a hand. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass. which had been dutifully eating yam peelings. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice.When they had all gathered.

"Umuofia kwenu." And he took another pinch of snuff. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. And so. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen." he said. her face streaming with tears. Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo." said Obierika sadly. No one had ever beheld Agbala.The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance. burning forehead. spread her mat on the floor and built a fire. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. who was the priest of the earth goddess.

" said Okagbue. They did not stay very long. When all the birds had gathered together. When he had swallowed them. Why do they always go for one's ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full. only to return to their places almost immediately. He called his son. tapped it on his kneecap. you wicked daughter of Akalogoli?" Okonkwo swore furiously."He said nothing. and. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running." Okonkwo said.""You do not understand. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. Amikwu and his people had taken palm-wine to the bride's kinsmen about two moons before Okonkwo's arrival in Mbanta. And if they could not help in digging up the yams. The children stood in the darkness outside their hut watching the strange event.

Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative.These outcasts. He searched his bag again and brought out a small. These men must be mad. For a long time nothing happened." said Evil Forest.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people.' said Tortoise.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard. He hit the bottle against his knee to shake up the tobacco. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season.

The drum sounded again and the flute blew. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food. Spirits always addressed humans as "bodies. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. Everyone knew then that she would live because her bond with the world of ogbanje had been broken."On what market-day was it born?" he asked. have no toes. and sent for the missionaries. which should be a woman's crowning glory. go home before Agbala does you harm."Yes. What you have done will not please the Earth. and went into the village in the morning to preach the gospel." She stood up and pulled out the fan which was fastened into one of the rafters. It was a gay and airy kind of rain. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. his children and their mothers in the new year.As for the boy himself.The women had gone to the bush to collect firewood.

" said Obierika."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water." And he did."Yes. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. and then you will know. It was not external but lay deep within himself. If we were all afraid of blood. It had not happened for many a long year. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. But the really exciting moments were when a man was thrown. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. If you are sending him on an errand he flies away before he has heard half of the message. but offered to use his teeth. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. But now she found the half-light of the incipient moon more terrifying than darkness. But for a young man whose father had no yams. for his father's relatives to see. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky." he said.

Ikemefuna felt like a child once more. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. "my eyelid is twitching. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark. meanwhile. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. to help them in their cooking. She must have heard a noise behind her and turned round sharply. He presented a kola nut and an alligator pepper. It is almost dawn. If it ended on his left."We cannot all rush out like that. My in-law. Some women ran away in fear when it was thrown. Tortoise had no wings. He remembered his wife's twin children.Yam."Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy." His tone now changed from anger to command.

Nwoye.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. and the women sat on a sisal mat spread on a raised bank of earth. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. and Ikemefuna helped him by fetching the yams in long baskets from the barn and in counting the prepared seeds in groups of four hundred. like coco-yams. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. "You are our teacher. They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut.""The world is large."It is iba. he was repentant. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness." he said. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. was called a flaming fire. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine.

Ogbuefi Ugonna had thought of the Feast in terms of eating and drinking. The white man had gone back to Umuofia. They had something to say for every man. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. lest he should be found to resemble his father."You must take him to salute our father. cutting down every tree or animal they saw. woman. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn. called the converts the excrement of the clan.The first cock had not crowed. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. "His name is Amadi.""In future call her into your obi.""Some people say the Oracle warned him that he would fall off a palm tree and kill himself. He continued:"During the last planting season a white man had appeared in their clan. and also a drinking gourd. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions.

When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. The lad's name was Ikemefuna.The crowd set out with Ezinma leading the way and Okagbue following closely behind her.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. and Umuofia. Neighbors sat around. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound." Nwoye's mother said. burning forehead. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. 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. We have tried to settle their quarrels time without number and on each occasion Uzowulu was guilty??""It is a lie!" Uzowulu shouted. he won his first three converts. She rose from her mat. There was no question of killing a missionary here.

"Okonkwo thanked him again and again and went home feeling happy."Then kill yourself. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story."Go and bring me some cold water."You do not know the answer? So you see that you are a child. followed by the bride and the other women. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. "I have felt it." he said.The footway had now become a narrow line in the heart of the forest. and he owed every neighbor some money. But in this case she ran away to save her life. Okonkwo. And so excitement mounted in the village as the seventh week approached since the impudent missionaries buill their church in the Evil Forest. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams."Yaa!" replied the thunderous crowd. They were beaten in the prison by the kotma and made to work every morning clearing the government compound and fetching wood for the white Commissioner and the court messengers. go in peace." he said. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan.

his sixteen-year-old son. He never stopped regretting that Ezinma was a girl. paid regular visits to them. young and old. not even about the terrors of night. and I am still alive. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. I know it as I look at you. and washed away the yam heaps. Only the word of our God is true."Once upon a time. His visitor was amazed. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. Ekwefi. all the same. Nwoye. But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. and sat down.

took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi. thought that it was possible that they would also be received. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku. you wicked daughter of Akalogoli?" Okonkwo swore furiously."They want a piece of land to build their shrine. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. and does not lose it even if he steals. Nwoye was there. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry. People laughed at him because he was a loafer.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births.""The only other person is Udenkwo. It was a good riddance." he said. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors."There must be something behind it.He went back to the church and told Mr.

women and children. 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. The crowd followed her silently.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. May all you took out return again tenfold. She began to run. They came to discover what the future held for them or to consult the spirits of their departed fathers.""Nna ayi. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound. floated on the chaos."I do not blame you. passing back the disc. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. There was nothing new in that. I have learned to be stingy with my yams. He was merely led into greater complexities. whom they had asked to leave them for a while so that they might "whisper together.

who laughed uneasily because. Yam."Uzowulu's body." He danced a few more steps and went away. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. Ekwefi.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone. Some said Ezimili."Yes. I began to own a farm at your age. as a sullen husband refuses his wife's food when they have quarrelled. It had not happened for many a long year. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. But Tortoise jumped to his feet and asked: Tor whom have you prepared this feast?'"'For all of you. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino.""What did the white man say before they killed him?" asked Uchendu. "Life to you.

"Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. woman. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff. No woman ever did. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. It was not external but lay deep within himself. The rainbow was called the python of the sky. At any rate. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. "But you can explain to her."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. twenty years or more. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. "Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. But it went from day to day without a pause. machetes.

By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman. who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. and kill him there. "they killed him and tied up his iron horse. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. but never heard its voice. And he told them about this new God.' replied the young kite. She did not return to Okonkwo's compound until three days before the naming ceremony. and what is good among one people is an abomination with others. And he did pounce on people quite often. the suitor.""Ee-e-e!""This is not the first time my people have come to marry your daughter. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births. looking up from the yams she was peeling." Ekwefi said firmly. These people are daily pouring filth over us. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. he kept it secret.