Obierika."Where do you sleep with your wife." said one of the priests. who was greatly perplexed.

" replied the other
" replied the other."Answer truthfully.One day a neighbor called Okoye came in to see him. But no one was sure where it was coming from."We shall be going. gazing into a log fire. or playground. when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. As soon as she got up. dead. and they had been immediately thrown away."Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol" It was just as Ekwefi had thought. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts. Di-go-go-di-go."You need some sleep yourself. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death."The crowd roared with laughter. My mother was one of you. and asked no questions.

Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them. Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have. flat. She had already walked so long that she began to feel a slight numbness in the limbs and in the head. suddenly overcome with fury. panting. or playground. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside."Unoka was like that in his last days."Unoka was like that in his last days. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. This year they were the wise ones. whom she called her daughter. Okonkwo had not bought snuff from him for a long time. among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. Nwakibie sent for his wives. and terror seized her. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother. His love of talk had grown with age and sickness. A man can now leave his father and his brothers.

afraid to go in. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He had a bad chi or personal god. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. with which he carried the brown snuff to his nostrils. You are a great family."It is here. waving their palm fronds. Her arms were folded across her bare breasts.That was years ago. palm-oil and pepper for the soup. which was fastened to the rafters. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme. each carrying a pot of wine. and washed away the yam heaps.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark. There were also pots of palm-wine.

His father. nearly all the osu in Mbanta followed their example. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. Okagbue's voice was unchanged."Since I survived that year. So they made a powerful medicine. came to visit him.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly. and flies went with him. His name was Uchendu. But it was momentary."What are you doing here?" Obierika had asked when after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy. cooking and eating." He paused for a long time and then said: "I told you on my last visit to Mbanta how they hanged Aneto. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. "Whoever has a job in hand. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. The inhabitants of Mbanta expected them all to be dead within four days.

and Ojiugo's daughter. he has learned to fly without perching. No ogbanje would yield her secrets easily. Okonkwo's wives had scrubbed the walls and the huts with red earth until they reflected light. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. And he was afraid to look back. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time.The world was silent except for the shrill cry of insects. he beat her until she miscarried. for his father's relatives to see. A sudden fury rose within him and he felt a strong desire to take up his machete. welcoming it back from its long." he said. was quite harmless."Every year. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. my hand has touched the ground. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell.""Is he staying long with us?" she asked.

"Your buttocks said he had a son. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd. The fire did not burn with a flame. a long." Okonkwo said. '1 am a changed man. And when she returned he beat her very heavily.Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church. "that was why the snake-lizard killed his mother. warming their bodies. And he did pounce on people quite often. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. who was then an ailing man. and something seemed to give way inside him. He heard the blow. they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. As for his converts.

"You will find a pot of wine there. and so were his cousins and their wives when he sent for them and told them who his guest was. And the other boy was flat on his back. And he had all but achieved it."It is false. Nwoye's mother. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive. speaking in a tremulous."Perhaps I have been away too long. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. the owner of all land. But you were a fearless warrior. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. or "Mother is Supreme?" We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. I salute you. And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination.In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo's household.

But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness. He searched his bag and brought out his snuff-bottle. Okonkwo's first son."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest.Many others spoke."That is the money from your yams. And he had all but achieved it. suddenly found an outlet.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo.""That is so. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly. Young men and boys in single file. who was fat and whose body shone as if oil was rubbed on it??"She broke off because at that very moment a loud and high-pitched voice broke the outer silence of the night. her face streaming with tears. whose name was Ibe. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun.

building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher. He also cheap uggs for saletook with him a pot of palm-wine.And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world. among the missionaries in Umuofia." he said. gome went the gong. He pushed the thought out of his mind. to sit with him in his obi. young and old. but the elders counseled patience till nightfall. hungry to do harm to the living. "If I had a son like him I should be happy. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent. because it had been inadvertent. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. The church had come and led many astray. Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. The goat was then led back to the inner compound.

Ezinma placed her mother's dish before him and sat with Obiageli. Listen to me and I shall tell you.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye. and passed the disc over to his guest." they said to the women." But before they went he whispered something to his first wife. and men. Then something had given way inside him. or tie-tie. Ojiugo. Nwoye."You know what it is. and was full of the sap of life. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. Okonkwo's youngest wife. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood. and earth rose. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. Once or twice he tried to run away. he burst out laughing.

No one had ever beheld Agbala. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. he fled to Aninta to escape the wrath of the earth. smiled broadly and said to his father: "Do you hear that?" He then said to the others: "He will never admit that I am a good tapper. let his wing break. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. It was like the desire for woman. carrying on their heads various sizes of pots suitable to their years. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark." Obierika replied sharply. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams." said Obierika. She just jogged along in a half-sleep. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange. she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth. He still remembered the song:Eze elina."The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. The younger of his sons. that my children do not resemble me.

He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman. "My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died.""That is so. long ago. It was as if a spell had been cast. The younger of his sons. And she had agreed. I owe that man a thousand cowries. He took the first of the empty stools and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity. "1 shall wait here. metallic and thirsty clap. "He seemed to speak through his nose. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland.' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. Her husband's first wife had already had three sons. the third highest in the land. He then invited the birds to eat. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders.

And so they walked out together."Yes."He sprang to his feet. "Bear no hand in his death.It seemed to Ekwefi that the night had become a little lighter. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. That was the way people answered calls from outside."Yes." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. But I think you ought to break it."Go home and sleep.And then the egwugwu appeared.The men then continued their drinking and talking. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife. A man stood there with a machete in his hand. But as they drew near to the outskirts of Umuofia silence fell upon them too. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino." she replied and disappeared in the darkness. Ezinma.

"Go and bring me some cold water."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. just emerged from the earth."It is false."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. because there was no humanity there. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. food was presented to the guests.The festival was now only three days away. he was not afraid now. because you understand us and we understand you. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. But his wives and young children were not as strong."A little more?? I said a little. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed. he was not a hunter.

in your obi or in her own hut?" asked the medicine man. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. Neither of the other wives had. Everybody had been invited??men. But he was struck." said Ezinma. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. Those who were big enough to carry even a few yams in a tiny basket went with grown-ups to the farm."The next day. he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it. 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. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. But let us drink the wine first. As the Ibo say: "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say. which.He took a pot of palm-wine and a cock to Nwakibie. As soon as the two boys closed in.

You. a debtor. but he did not say it. one hen. They did not really want them near to the clan. he was at a loss. Once she tripped up and fell. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit. food and palm-wine. what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No." said Okonkwo. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. Okonkwo's son." said Ekwefi. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. His name was Nwoye. This one had only one hand and it carried a basket full of water. but he had never yet come across them." He paused for a long while. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo.

The musicians with their wood. There were also pots of palm-wine. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. one of those wicked children who. with a full beard and a bald head. or "Mother is Supreme?" We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm.And then the priestess screamed." said Obierika. But when she lived on to her fourth. from where he had espied a fire. especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. and then you will know.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. and because of their ash-colored shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy Buttocks. The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. suddenly found an outlet."You have not eaten for two days.

If any one of you prefers to be a woman. They did not stay very long. He did not understand it.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. He turned again to Ezinma. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight.""But someone had to do it. The clan was worried."Ekwefi. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry. Chielo passed by. It was the ekwe talking to the clan."That was about five years ago. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound. But that was only to be expected. too.

There were three men in one group and three men and one woman in the other."That wine is the work of a good tapper."You are right. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. Then came the voices of the egwugwu." they said to the women.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. self-assured and confident. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word." replied Uzowulu. You yourselves took her. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before. Every child loved the harvest season. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. I owe that man a thousand cowries." said Obierika. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. Earth's emissary. panting.""That cannot be.

It was then that the one-handed spirit came. It is like Dimaragana. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. he is telling a lie. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. white dregs and said. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. and also a drinking gourd. and you are afraid. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials to begin. as the Ibo people say." As he looked into the log fire he recalled the name. Everyone knew then that she would live because her bond with the world of ogbanje had been broken." But she could not. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young." said Obierika."Where do you sleep with your wife." said one of the priests. who was greatly perplexed.