some work to do he would be able to forget. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. Go ahead and prepare your farm.

No matter how prosperous a man was
No matter how prosperous a man was."He does not know that either. We heard of it.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid."We have heard both sides of the case. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. but ill. they kept their imagination to themselves. gods of wood and stone. An evil forest was. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time. When the will of the goddess had been done. My case is finished." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. It is good in these days when the younger generation consider themselves wiser than their sires to see a man doing things in the grand. the distance they had covered.As the years of exile passed one by one it seemed to him that his chi might now be making amends for the past disaster. She was called Crystal of Beauty. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin.

He was a person dedicated to a god. and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season."I have come to you for help. during the last harvest season. "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. woman."That woman standing there is my wife. They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them.'When Ekwefi brought the hoe." Nwoye's mother said. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. "Use the fan. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. In fact he recovered from his illness only a few days before the Week of Peace began. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. and in a basket beside her were green vegetables and beans." replied her mother. Not long after. I want you to be there.

and although ailing she seemed determined to live. A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match."Who is that?" he growled. Kiaga. his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. I am an old man and you are all children. woman. that is a boy's job." he had said.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. and it was their counsel that prevailed in the end.""I did not know that. He had a bad chi or personal god. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul." said Ezinma. the distance they had covered. She could not be expected to cook and eat while her husband starved. "The bell-man announced it last night. She went on fanning it until it burst into flames.That night he collected his most valuable belongings into head-loads. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown."Father."When did you become a shivering old woman.

Her daughter was only ten years old but she was wiser than her years. They became ordinary human beings again. and sometimes two rainbows. He is an exile. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. Then from the distance came the faint beating of the ekwe. They were not the real wrestlers. And so the two of them refused every offer of marriage in Mbanta. yellow and dark green. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. There were five groups." he said. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. That woman.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Chielo began once again to chant greetings to her god." he said. The story was told in Umuofia."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water. He went into the obi and saluted his father. But it is your turn now. The priestess.

" lied Nwoye's mother." she began.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. But even in such cases they set their limit at seven market weeks or twenty-eight days. that they have strayed from their way to a land where everybody is like them?"Okonkwo's first wife soon finished her cooking and set before their guests a big meal of pounded yams and bitter-leaf soup. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. He played on the ogene. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. or the teeth of an old woman. and you can teach us the things of the new faith."He does not know that either. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. It was called a string. He was the oldest man in Ire. Everyone knew then that she would live because her bond with the world of ogbanje had been broken. She rose. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. Soon it covered half the sky. gome. "that he repeated over and over again a word that resembled Mbaino. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals.

""Have you heard. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd.The priestess screamed.The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. his half-sister. 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. When he brought out the snuff-bottle he tapped it a few times against his knee-cap before taking out some snuff on the palm of his left hand. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road."Go and bring me some cold water. Okonkwo!" she warned. "There must be a reason for it. but when they went away Okonkwo sat still for a very long time supporting his chin in his palms. "Your wife was at fault. He did not understand it. gazed at it a while and went away again??to the underworld. that night. blowing it with her breath.But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through. "What about you? Can you answer my question?"They all shook their heads." he said.

"Where is Ojiugo?" he asked his second wife. 'Then we can eat the chick. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him. Everybody in the crowd was talking. gome. They did not stay very long.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people."You must watch the pot carefully.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son. Another one was wailing near his right ear. He did not know who the girl was. But his wives and young children were not as strong. with love." She died in her eleventh month. Obierika nodded in agreement. children. They were silent for a long time. only they did not understand him. Ojiugo. It was as if water had been poured on the tightened skin of a drum. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. but nothing like this had ever happened. and on her waist four or five rows of jigida.

His wives and children were very happy too. But it turned out to be even bigger than we expected. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. the priestess of Agbala. he has learned to fly without perching.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. like leprosy and smallpox. It throbbed in the air. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. "honest men and thieves.""In future call her into your obi. The women weeded the farm three times at definite periods in the life of the yams. should he."For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away?' 'It said nothing."A little more?? I said a little. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights.

burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song." said an old man." said Okonkwo. He had cracked them himself. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death." said Okonkwo."You must watch the pot carefully. drank a little and handed back the horn." And he told him what an osu was. would wipe them off the face of the earth. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool.On the third day he asked his second wife."Oye. another man asked a question: "Where is the white man's horse?" he asked. trembling. who must taste his wine before anyone else." said Okonkwo. he was terribly afraid. He had felt very anxious but did not show it.

he was at a loss. which should be a woman's crowning glory." said Okonkwo. Everybody had been invited??men. Uchendu pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. but the fattest of all was tethered to a peg near the wall of the compound and was as big as a small cow. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility.- they all fled in terror. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. Then the crier gave his message. mother. Nwoye's sister."Ezinma looked at her mother. The woman was Mgbafo and the three men with her were her brothers. Okonkwo stood by. The white man has no sense. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body. old way. That was not luck.' Why is that?"There was silence. Her voice was as clear as metal. a loud cheer rose from the crowd.

Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village.But there were many others who saw the situation differently.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. 'You have taken back your sister. He looked it over and said it was done.""One of the men told me. She could hear the priestess' voice. and so did his little children. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. which was rubbed with red earth so that it shone. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon."They want a piece of land to build their shrine. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. The women began to talk excitedly. As soon as he heard of the great feast in the sky his throat began to itch at the very thought.- they all fled in terror." Okonkwo thundered. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness. Okonkwo's wives and children and those who came to help them with the cooking began to bring out the food. It was also part of the night. and men dashed about in frenzy. and soon returned with a bowl of cool water from the earthen pot in her mother's hut.

They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand." He then added ten sticks to the fifteen and gave the bundle to Ukegbu. now desperate. You stay at home. what do I do? Do i shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head That is what a man does. "He hardly ever walks. but he had not expected he would be so generous."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in. forty-five. It was then uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came from above or below. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. Every man and woman came out to see the white man. Would he recognize her now? She must have grown quite big. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. he had not slept at all last night. father? You are beyond our knowledge. And then Nkechi came in. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind. She trudged slowly along.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved." she replied. At such times she seemed beyond danger."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village.

But you are still a child. The Lord shall have them in derision. 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.""Anyway. I salute you. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.Obierika was sitting outside under the shade of an orange tree making thatches from leaves of the raffia-palm. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father. but ill.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child.His life had been ruled by a great passion??to become one of the lords of the clan. calling him "Our father. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest. each brought her bowl of foo-foo and bowl of soup to her husband. That week they won a handful more converts. But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray." answered his first wife.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape.' said Tortoise. "She must have broken her waterpot. Darkness held a vague terror for these people."Oho.

On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka."He will do great things. She often called her Ezigbo. Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her.""Oho.Okonkwo's family was astir like any other family in the neighborhood.But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through." replied Obierika."At that moment Obierika's son. they held them over an open fire to burn off the hair. to her right and to her left. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family. each carrying a pot of wine. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. and at the end of three years he had become very distant indeed. and his face beamed.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness. It was Ekwefl's turn to tell a story.

a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind.Okonkwo's prosperity was visible in his household. and in its place a sort of smile hovered. And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man's government or the consequences of killing the Christians. I fear for you. He never stopped regretting that Ezinma was a girl. asked on behalf of the clan to look after him in the interim. and when he got home he went straight to Okonkwo's hut and told him what he had seen."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma. beans and cassava. passing back the disc."Five women stayed behind to look after the cooking-pots. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before. and sat down. Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned." the convert maintained. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. lest he should be found to resemble his father."No. Mr.

Okonkwo."Then listen to me. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under its shade. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. Nobody thought that such a thing could ever happen. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. Ezenwa took it. She only began to weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound." they said to the women. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. But I think you ought to break it. There was no question of killing a missionary here. 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. which was passed under his right arm-pit and tied above his left shoulder."Okonkwo bit his lips as anger welled up within him. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. as most people were. And he had all but achieved it. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. All was silent. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights.Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales in Mbanta and did not as yet affect the relationship between the new church and the clan.

I would not have believed." said one man." She went into the hut again and brought down the smoke-black basket in which she kept her dried fish and other ingredients for cooking soup. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. You stay at home. And they might also have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu." he said. She was about sixteen and just ripe for marriage. women and children. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before. passed through his obi and into Ekwefi's hut and walked into her bedroom. who was the oldest man in the village. spread her mat on the floor and built a fire. "They are pieces of wood and stone. Uchendu. years ago. saluted the spirits and began his story. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say."Ekwefi did as she was asked. I shall do that every year until you return. You may have heard of the title I intend to take shortly. and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like shining star dust."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once.

" replied the white man. meanwhile. and the children who sang songs of welcome to them. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. and Ikemefuna. and old men and women would remember their youth. he had gone to consult the Oracle. She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover. all the same. But they dared not complain openly. His younger wives did that. they say. Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation. The drums beat the unmistakable wrestling dance - quick.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village. Okonkwo. Their leader was called Evil Forest." replied Uzowulu. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. "I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them. to her right and to her left.

If one says no to the other. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. They all have food in their own homes. This was before the planting season began. His yams grew abundantly. Their wives also. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. A snake was never called by its name at night.After the death of Ekwefi's second child.Very soon after. The thick mat was thrown over both."He took down the pot from the fire and placed it in front of the stool. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. His greatest friend." Okonkwo threatened. but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders."Just then Obierika's son. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. I salute you. An oil lamp was lit and Okonkwo tasted from each bowl. Every man can see it in his own compound. who was once the village beauty.

He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. It was as if water had been poured on the tightened skin of a drum. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. They boast about victory over death. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately."He died this morning. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes. in the sunshine. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting.As soon as day broke. Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo. and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy." said Obierika. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. he thought over the matter. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself."He does not know that either.After the singing the interpreter spoke about the Son of God whose name was Jesu Kristi.

But the boy was afraid of him and slipped out of the hut as soon as he noticed him dozing."At that moment Obierika's son. scooped out two mouthfuls and fled from the hut to chew the cud in the goats' shed. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness." he had said. In Umunso they do not bargain at all. and so all the clan was at his funeral. "my eyelid is twitching."I have come to you for help."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl. In Umunso they do not bargain at all. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize. children sought for shelter. The first voice gets to Chukwu. The ancestral spirits of the clan were abroad. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. and was full of the sap of life. one of those wicked children who. gazing into a log fire. "She must have broken her waterpot. He had finished it on the very day the locusts came. And this was the message.

At one stage Ekwefi was so afraid that she nearly called out to Chielo for companionship and human sympathy. Chielo. pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut. But the third created a big sensation even among the elders who did not usually show their excitement so openly. She pulled again and it came off. took the lump of chalk. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits."I am Evil Forest. It was Ekwefl's turn to tell a story. He was tall and huge."At that moment Obierika's son. who was greatly perplexed. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi."We cannot all rush out like that. It is like Dimaragana. may Agbala shave your head with a blunt razor! May he twist your neck until you see your heels!"Ekwefi stood rooted to the spot. But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged. and.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. She trudged slowly along." And they dispersed. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births.

"As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut. carrying a pot of palm-wine on his head. and because of their ash-colored shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy Buttocks. with her suitor and his relatives. when his father had not been dead very long. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. who will hold his head up among my people.Okonkwo's wives."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. Ikemefuna looked back. I married her with my money and my yams. It is like Dimaragana. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet.As soon as day broke. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. But they dared not complain openly. Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. If only he could find some work to do he would be able to forget. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. Go ahead and prepare your farm.