turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. But in this case she ran away to save her life. Darkness held a vague terror for these people.

Once he got up from bed and walked about his compound
Once he got up from bed and walked about his compound. The personal dynamism required to counter the forces of these extremes of weather would be far too great for the human frame. and she was greatly feared.Okoye was also a musician. Ekwefi then became defiant and called her next child Onwuma??"Death may please himself. And so they each took a new name.Okonkwo's wives.""But he had no wings. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. unhappily. For many market weeks nothing else happened. When she had borne her third son in succession."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood."Where have you been?" he stammered. But the one knew what the other was thinking. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. It was a tremendous sight. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed. Amikwu and his people had taken palm-wine to the bride's kinsmen about two moons before Okonkwo's arrival in Mbanta.

She had. He had a bad chi or personal god. It might happen again this year. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there. a good harvest and happiness. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. His visitor was amazed. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. burning forehead.As Okonkwo sat in his hut that night. He had a bad chi or personal god. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them." said Obierika. They were very fat goats."No. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. the top one. called her mother by her name.

the son of Obierika." But Death took no notice. But the boy was afraid of him and slipped out of the hut as soon as he noticed him dozing.Uchendu took the hen from her.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside. the one young and beautiful. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. gome. And there were indeed occasions when the Oracle had forbidden Umuofia to wage a war. In the end Okonkwo threw the Cat.It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta. He never stopped regretting that Ezinma was a girl. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom.Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark."My in-law has told you that we went to his house." said Obierika. They went back to their caves in a distant land.

" suggested Okonkwo. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. especially the youngest." said Obierika."Yes. My in-law. There was no barn to inherit. They boast about victory over death. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed.""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us. He could neither marry nor be married by the free-born. She beckons in front of her and behind her."It is iba. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. She would die with her. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others. Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem. Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success.

more fierce than it had ever been known. Do you know how many children I have buried??children I begot in my youth and strength? Twenty-two. just emerged from the earth. This happened in the rainy season."That was many years ago. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface.""Very true. and they agreed about the beating.She did not know how long she waited."We still have a long way to go.Before it was dusk Ezeani. A great evil has come upon their land as the Oracle had warned. 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. The elders sat in a big circle and the singers went round singing each man's praise as they came before him. One mind said to her: "Woman. Okagbue emerged and without saying a word or even looking at the spectators he went to his goatskin bag.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. When the will of the goddess had been done." said the priestess.

And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. he burst out laughing. And what do you think the Oracle would do then?""You know very well. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman. That also is true. He told them that they worshipped false gods. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. He would be very much happier working on his farm.' said Mother Kite. Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating. Some of them came over to see for themselves." said Ekwefi. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff." he told her."He was not an albino. Is it right that you. They were possessed by the spirit of the drums.

As Idigo had said. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning. three times.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message." said the old man. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. looking at the position of the sun. but ill. They will not allow us into the markets. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. said that until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace." he said. We do not dispute it. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive."No.Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under its shade.All this anthill activity was going smoothly when a sudden interruption came. Obiako.

""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. but they never brought them into the village. without serious danger to his own health. he was repentant. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: "This meeting is for men.As night fell. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought." said one of the converts. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night. And he went. When everyone had drunk two or three horns. she did not hear them. carrying a wooden dish with three kola nuts and alligator pepper. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him."He belongs to the clan.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down.

The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back." said Okonkwo's voice. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited. Your mother is there to protect you. "Let us not presume to do so now. they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. His wife had played him false. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. was a failure."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place.In the distance the drums continued to beat. all the descendants of Okolo."In her hut."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself. egusi soup and bitter-leaf soup and pots and pots of palm-wine.

the man saw it vaguely in the darkness. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. who had felt more angry than the others.As the day wore on his in-laws arrived from three surrounding villages." said Okonkwo. he was treated with great honor and respect. Then everything had been broken. He was always alone and was shaped like a coffin. Some were great farmers."That was many years ago. also carrying an oil lamp."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. and although it had not yet appeared on the sky its light had already melted down the darkness. My case is finished. You see. "All the gods you have named are not gods at all.

as usual. You are a great man in your clan." said Ekwefi. which together formed a half moon behind the obi.These outcasts. She could no longer think. He held out his hands to them when they came into his obi. He knew that he was a fierce fighter."Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!""Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!"Evil Forest then thrust the pointed end of his rattling staff into the earth. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. who was the priest of the earth goddess. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. But it was momentary.The drums were still beating. Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them. forty. It was difficult to say which the people enjoyed more. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. setting up a wave of expectation in the crowd.

"But the leaves will be wet. you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. Mr. A snake was never called by its name at night. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. she could not ignore the fact that some really evil children sometimes misled people into digging up a specious one." said Obierika. she sat down on a stony ledge and waited. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more. unless it be the emotion of anger. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass." she replied. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. his three wives and eight children.

unlike most children. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms. and we shall all perish. which was part of the night. Ukegbu counted them.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families." he said. and Maduka brought in a pot of palm-wine. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself. the shouting and the firing of guns. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. She went back to the hut and brought her pot. and they had quickened their steps. but Okonkwo sat unmoved. women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight." said Obierika."It is here.

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.But. We must cook quickly or we shall be late for the wrestling. she was dead. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. And so he is bowed with grief. woman.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. but he did not answer. drank a little and handed back the horn." she replied. There were many women. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. but she went to Okonkwo's compound. the fear of the forest."Uzowulu's body." She died in her eleventh month.

Okonkwo had eaten from his wives' dishes and was nowreclining with his back against the wall."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma. mother is going. untouched by the ax and the bush-fire. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. Ezinma. it would have been impossible to eat. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. shiny pebble fell out. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. It was as if water had been poured on the tightened skin of a drum. When Okonkwo brought him home that day he called his most senior wife and handed him over to her. But it is not so. rubbing off the grains of sand that clung to his thighs. the priestess of Agbala.

""I don't know how we got that law. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more."Answer me. had died ten years ago."Do you think you are cutting up yams for cooking?" he asked Nwoye. using some of the chicken." said Okagbue. "and yet he is full of sorrow because he has come to live in his motherland for a few years."Then listen to me. Everybody knew she was an ogbanje. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. He had called the first child born to him in exile Nneka??"Mother is Supreme"??out of politeness to his mother's kinsmen. They thought the priestess might be going to her house. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. followed by the bride and the other women. Obierika nodded in agreement. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi. She remembered that night.

in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike. She was.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. The first rains were late."Unoka was an ill-fated man. stopped them. Then came the voices of the egwugwu."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them. She was very heavy with child. there was no other way. It is almost dawn. he kept it secret." the others replied.

Because he had taken titles. I would have asked you to get life." said Nwakibie. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads.After the death of Ekwefi's second child.The world was silent except for the shrill cry of insects. sat on the floor waiting for him to finish. Okonkwo told him. He would remember his own childhood. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it." she began. As Idigo had said. "Will you go?""Yes. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. but nothing like this had ever happened. and turned to his sons and daughters. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart." Okonkwo said.

She would die with her. He pushed the thought out of his mind.""I did not know that. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. to Obierika's compound. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. Then he began to speak.""Yes" said Obierika. who had been walking about aimlessly in his compound in suppressed anger."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. The ancient drums of death beat. If your death was the death of nature. The moon was definitely rising. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time."He took down the pot from the fire and placed it in front of the stool. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back. She turned round on her low stool and put the beak in the fire for a few moments. But in this case she ran away to save her life. Darkness held a vague terror for these people.