arisen among the Christians themselves.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.

A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match
A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match. and each stroke is one hundred cowries.But some of the egwugwu were quite harmless. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest. 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. Everybody knew she was an ogbanje. If it does its power will be gone. his children and their mothers in the new year. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. Ekwefi. and it could not be done later because harvesting would soon set in. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje." said Okonkwo after a pause. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom. When all seemed ready he let himself go. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. "And these white men. My mother was one of you.

But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness."Because I did not want to. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen. She went in and knocked at his door and he came out. The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle."1 don't know. younger men gave way and the tumult subsided."Yes. The crime was of two kinds. Obierika offered him a lobe of the kola nut he had broken with Okonkwo. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. "they killed him and tied up his iron horse. it would not be done." said Ezinma at last. their hoes and machetes. The total effect was gay and brisk. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all." said the interpreter."Odukwe's body. Obierika's relatives counted the pots as they came.

And. with love. i fear for the clan. He hit the bottle against his knee to shake up the tobacco. It is like Dimaragana. Go ahead and prepare your farm. Many of these messengers came from Umuru on the bank of the Great River.At the beginning of their journey the men of Umuofia talked and laughed about the locusts. who was once the village beauty. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. If you had died young. They sat in a half-moon. There are only two of them. and tears stood in his eyes. He would be very much happier working on his farm. woman." she replied. the white missionary. but the villagers told them that there was no king. It was a very good wine and powerful.

One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. as usual.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space."I have heard."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest. the messenger of earth. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. He did not know who the girl was. who laughed uneasily because. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors. with love. He was very good on his flute.""Very true. but he did not say it." said Uchendu. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. a debtor. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. who sat next to him.

"Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. Drums beat violently and men leaped up and down in frenzy. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown.By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman. There was foo-foo and yam pottage. It was as if a spell had been cast. and he was not afraid of war. The drums went mad and the crowds also." He turned again to Okonkwo and said.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. Unoka."Why do you stand there as though she had been kidnapped?" asked Okonkwo as he went back to his hut."Yes. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see. You have committed a great evil. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched. dressed in garbs of war. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them. But I think you ought to break it.

Ezinma. They do not decide bride-price as we do." said Obierika." said Obierika sadly. let your sister go with him.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily. They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu. and the others to the chalk quarry."Ekwefi."I am following Chielo." he said. "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. Okagbue's voice was unchanged. You think you are still a child. and you are afraid. the white men had also brought a government. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. I will only have a son who is a man." came her voice. Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly."I have heard.

Ukegbu. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast. 'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite. dug her teeth into the real thing."Perhaps I have been away too long. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her. 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. anxiety. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. Not long after. someone else rose and filled it. was quite harmless. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. conversing with his father in low tones. But the Christians had told the white man about the accident. a fairly small swarm came."I am following Chielo. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. An oil lamp was lit and Okonkwo tasted from each bowl.

Kiaga. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. who laughed uneasily because.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. "1 told you. I shall give you some fish to eat. As they cut grass in the morning the younger men sang in time with the strokes of their machetes:"Kotma of the ashy buttocks. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. and at the end of three years he had become very distant indeed.""It is indeed true. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. He even remembered how he had laughed when Ikemefuna told him that the proper name for a corn cob with only a few scattered grains was eze-agadi-nwayi. "I have felt it. It was also the dumping ground for highly potent fetishes of great medicine men when they died. But you were rich. She rubbed each string downwards with her palms until it passed the buttocks and slipped down to the floor around her feet. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. it is for you. But he thought that one could not begin too early.

Ezeudu is dead. His love of talk had grown with age and sickness. pointing at the far wall of his hut."I do not know the answer. "He seemed to speak through his nose. it is play'."We shall be going. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more. But the song spread in Umuofia." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. now said"You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. she did not hear them. Many years ago another egwugwu had dared to stand his ground before him and had been transfixed to the spot for two days. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure. That had been his life-spring. Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory. a cake of salt and smoked fish which she would present to Obierika's wife. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. What is it that has happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?""Have you not heard how the white man wiped out Abame?" asked Obierika.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu.

or with their father in his obi warming themselves from a log fire." said Okonkwo. She was going to the stream to fetch water."Your half-sister. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards. But the boy was afraid of him and slipped out of the hut as soon as he noticed him dozing. As she buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation.' said the young kite. What you have done will not please the Earth. Umuofia has decided to kill him.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. my friend. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season. a thing set apart??a taboo for ever. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. floated on the chaos. Her back was turned on the footpath that led out of the hills. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second." said Nwoye's mother.

led out the giant goat from the inner compound. raised the pot on his left knee and began to pour out the wine. I shall pay you. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back."1 have told you to let her alone. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. "The world has no end. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. As soon as he found one he would sing with his whole being.The Feast of the New Yam was approaching and Umuofia was in a festival mood. It was Okonkwo's uncle. There was coming and going between them."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. and was now accorded great respect in all the clan. Tortoise's wife sent for him and he gathered all the bits of shell and stuck them together. The soup was brought out hot from the fire and in the very pot in which it had been cooked. and he was grateful."Ekwefi did as she was asked. looking at the position of the sun.

But apart from the church. but ill. And he told them about this new God.As soon as day broke. fresh yams and not the shriveled and fibrous crop of the previous year.But there were many others who saw the situation differently. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. who had begun to pour out the wine. She would wait at the mouth." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. waving their palm fronds. white dregs and said. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi."The village has outlawed us. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves. She is buried there. before the first cock-crow.

but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last.The woman with whom she talked was called Chielo."You know what it is. You are a great family. And for the first time they had a woman."Nwakibie cleared his throat. Once or twice he tried to run away. one saw that there was sorrow and grief there. he was told. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. She rubbed each string downwards with her palms until it passed the buttocks and slipped down to the floor around her feet. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife. He could not ask another man to build his own obi for him. and."Bring me a hoe. "Welcome. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country."Where have you been?" he stammered.Unoka. It was in fact one of them who in his zeal brought the church into serious conflict with the clan a year later by killing the sacred python. His wives.

She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years." Okonkwo and Obierika said together. And so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. He does not belong here.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams.""Your chi is very much awake. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck.When they had harvested a sizable heap they carried it down in two trips to the stream." said Ibe. sad and pleading.Nwoye's younger brothers were about to tell their mother the true story of the accident when Ikemefuna looked at them sternly and they held their peace. His greatest friend. that Chielo had stopped her chanting. And what was more. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. Obierika had sent one of his relatives all the way to Umuike to buy that goat It was the one he would present alive to his in-laws. Her fear had vanished. But when a father beats his child.Seven years was a long time to be away from one's clan.Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories.

and brought back a duckling. In the other group were her husband."The market of Umuike is a wonderful place."He said something. killed his animals and destroyed his barn. and the women had formed themselves into three groups for this purpose. He was light in complexion and his eyes were red and fiery. they say. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy."Ekwefi. put down his load and sat down." said Obierika. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom.Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and child-births.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son." said another man. He heard the blow. urging the others to hurry up.

and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance.' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter.He wanted him to be a prosperous man. It very quickly went damp."Leave her to me. and on her waist four or five rows of jigida. and terror seized her. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. Uchendu. such as befitted a noble warrior."No. children. "All the gods you have named are not gods at all. one saw that there was sorrow and grief there." she said. These people are daily pouring filth over us."No. They sang songs as they went. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other.

Some people even said that they had heard the spirits flying and flapping their wings against the roof of the cave. They will serve you when I have eaten. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil. but ill. who had risen so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan." he said. It was then uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came from above or below. "Use the fan.All this anthill activity was going smoothly when a sudden interruption came.The crowd set out with Ezinma leading the way and Okagbue following closely behind her. He picked it up." she replied. Everyone knew then that she would live because her bond with the world of ogbanje had been broken. like a son. After waiting in vain for her dish he went to her hut to see what she was doing. We must cook quickly or we shall be late for the wrestling. she could bear no other person but her father. Go ahead and prepare your farm." replied the white man. "there is no slave or free. When his wife Ekwefi protested that two goats were sufficient for the feast he told her that it was not her affair.

came to visit him. had crawled out of the shrine on her belly like a snake. It was on the seventh day that he died. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan." said Obierika.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma. when Mr. through lonely forest paths. "She has iba. and Odukwe bent down and touched the earth.By the time Onwumbiko died Ekwefi had become a very bitter woman.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen."Don't be afraid. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. Akueni. which had been dutifully eating yam peelings."He sprang to his feet. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan." replied the other. and there was a murmur of surprise and disagreement. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other.

And there were again only three. The cloud had lifted and a few stars were out."Yes. Uchendu."Answer truthfully. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death. but he had never yet come across them. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. walked in their midst. The spirit of wars was upon them.Mr.Okonkwo knew these things. His mother had wept bitterly.She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body. The poor and unknown would not dare to come forth." said Okagbue." said Ekwefi. very shyly. When he began again.

"There must be something behind it. They had something to say for every man. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. That was not luck. and we shall all perish. And that could not be. He was a man of action. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. he was terribly afraid. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. whom she called her daughter. "She must have broken her waterpot. When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted."Get me a pot."We are all well.

Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. The personal dynamism required to counter the forces of these extremes of weather would be far too great for the human frame. guns and even his cannon. I shall pay my big debts first. it would not be done. and in a basket beside her were green vegetables and beans.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. in spite of his failings in other directions. It was as quick as the other two.Okonkwo sprang from his bed. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. Obiako. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. like something agitating with a metallic life. 'You have done very well. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. a cake of salt and smoked fish which she would present to Obierika's wife. Iweka. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves.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.