white man's god would not last. She started to cry. His visitor was amazed.

She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him
She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. in spite of his failings in other directions. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village."At last the hen was plucked clean. I have waited in vain for my wife to return.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. Ekwefi had been returning from the stream with her mother on a dark night like this when they saw its glow as it flew in their direction. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. She has the right spirit. Okonkwo's son. the priest of the earth goddess."As he was speaking the boy returned.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu." But before they went he whispered something to his first wife.Later.

'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. 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. dead.. they could see from his color and his language. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. I have learned to be stingy with my yams. his mind would have been centered on his work. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. and they each gave him a feather. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. old way. "How man men have lain with you since my brother first expressed his desire to marry you?""None." said one of the cousins.When the heat of the sun began to soften.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries.

the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi. burning forehead. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else - with a heavy hand. Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest.But the year had gone mad. And so he killed her. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold. "she will bring you back very soon." and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. And you.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi.'"Tortoise had a sweet tongue. Fortunately.

if they were stubborn. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. said Ezeugo. How a woman could carry a child of that size so easily and for so long was a miracle. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd." replied Obierika. Okonkwo. he had gone to consult the Oracle. whom she called "my daughter."You are a big man now. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. There was nothing new in that. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. His mother might be dead. dressed in garbs of war.

They cross seven rivers to make their farms. They faced the elders. The daughters of the clan did not return to their homes immediately but spent two more days with their kinsmen. Then the bride.As soon as the day broke.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered. and very strong. of course.The crowd set out with Ezinma leading the way and Okagbue following closely behind her.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul."1 am one of them. let your sister go with him. he thought over the matter. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. "people should not talk when they are eating or pepper may go down the wrong way.

Such a man was Ogbuefi Ugonna. It said that other white men were on their way. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. whom she called her daughter. Men and women. Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him. but he stood beckoning to them. lasted only a brief moment. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper.Later. "They have that custom in Obodoani. They never answered yes for fear it might be an evil spirit calling.' said Mother Kite to her daughter. because there was no humanity there.As the last heavy rains of the year began to fall.

and because of their ash-colored shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy Buttocks. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally. "Your wife was at fault. There were five groups. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. walked in their midst. The wavering converts drew inspiration and confidence from his unshakable faith. She was peeling new yams.The drum sounded again and the flute blew. "You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the children. he was told. she has told me about it. And so although Okonkwo was still young.

As the Ibo say: "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food. she has told me about it. she was dead. She buried her face in her lap and waited." He turned again to Okonkwo and said. ignorant of the love of God. And if they could not help in digging up the yams. We are only his mother's kinsmen. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. when he was young. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. Her husband's first wife had already had three sons. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. She pulled again and it came off. Your mother is there to protect you.

But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. who was greatly perplexed. people said it was refusing food. "and a thick mat. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day. The white man has no sense. We do not dispute it. Old men and children would then sit round log fires. It was an angry. Okonkwo's son. "He hardly ever walks. As Idigo had said." he said.

Uchendu had been told by one of his grandchildren that three strangers had come to Okonkwo's house. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. but he did not answer."Remove your jigida first.The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. The child was called Onwumbiko. tangled hair. Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. He remembered his wife's twin children. my child. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. "Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children. When all the birds had gathered together. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. But they were very rare and short-lived.

When everyone had drunk two or three horns. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. And so the stranger had brought him. he broke it and they ate. It was the fear of himself." But Death took no notice. cutting down every tree or animal they saw. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. All was silent. She was saying again and again that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. "1 shall wait here. At any rate. neither early nor late." continued Odukwe. He did not know who the girl was. They went back to their caves in a distant land.

they say. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season." said Ezinma at last." said Okagbue. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. Go ahead and prepare your farm. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff." A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. the white missionary. With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans. But no one thought It would be as long as three years.""One of the men told me. their legs and feet."Your buttocks understand our language.The drums were still beating. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup.

thought that it was possible that they would also be received. Okonkwo's youngest wife. The three white men and a very large number of other men surrounded the market. "The people of Umuike wanted their market to grow and swallow up the markets of their neighbors. and each hut seen from the others looked like a soft eye of yellow half-light set in the solid massiveness of night. long way from home. not for hearing. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. as the saying goes. Sometimes it poured down in such thick sheets of water that earth and sky seemed merged in one gray wetness. the priestess. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory."I have heard.Anasi was a middle-aged woman. "The bell-man announced it last night. Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating.

It was not that they had been lazy. But as they drew near to the outskirts of Umuofia silence fell upon them too."Yes. beat me up and took my wife and children away."I must go home to tap my palm trees for the afternoon. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. and it was said that."Because I did not want to. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today. 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." He danced a few more steps and went away. the son of Obierika. the white man began to speak to them. whom he had thrown away.""That is why the drum has not been beaten to tell Umuofla. The first rains were late.

"Tell my wife. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. children. My case is finished. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. You grew your ears for decoration. Three converts had gone into the village and boasted openly that all the gods were dead and impotent and that they were prepared to defy them by burning all their shrines.Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight. Within a short time the first two bouts were over." said his father. he had stalked his victim. Kiaga. When Okonkwo brought him home that day he called his most senior wife and handed him over to her. I did not hang myself. "You fear that you will die.

" replied Okonkwo. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions. and was about to say something when the old man continued:"Yes.Uzowulu stepped forward and presented his case. and old men and women would remember their youth. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on. and something seemed to give way inside him."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother. He wore a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last. She started to cry. His visitor was amazed.