in the center with a hen in her right hand." he said when Okonkwo had spoken. But Chielo's voice was still a long way away. woman."The two outcasts shaved off their hair.

I salute you
I salute you."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain. "Life to all of us. The clan was like a lizard." said one of the women." Ezinma pointed out. When one came to think of it.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory. The world was now peopled with vague. Go home and work like a man. ivory spoon." said Nwakibie. like splitting wood. Every man rose in order of years and took a share. It was clear that the bags were full of cowries. And she had agreed. He worked. "I sold the big ones as soon as you left.

" said the joker. The young tendrils were protected from earth-heat with rings of sisal leaves. a long."Once upon a time. "We should do something."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. who was then an ailing man. She is buried there. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. Uzowulu. Then the crier gave his message. His two younger brothers are more promising.' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter. Fortunately. And so they fled into Umuofia with a woeful story.""I pray she stays. It was like pouring grains of corn into a bag full of holes. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. I salute you.

Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. People laughed at him because he was a loafer. all alone in that fearful place." Ezinma said. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. The suitor was a young man of about twenty-five. when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna. woman." said the woman.""But he had no wings. It was like the desire for woman. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. in a cleared spot.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village. and was not given the first or the second burial. followed by Akueke. There were only four titles in the clan. He remembered his wife's twin children.

"Father. one saw that there was sorrow and grief there.""If we leave our gods and follow your god. He passed them over to his eldest brother. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware." And he took another pinch of snuff. Sometimes another village would ask Unoka's band and their dancing egwugwu to come and stay with them and teach them their tunes. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together. There was coming and going between them. She greeted her god in a multitude of names??the owner of the future. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo. Ekwefi mopped her with a piece of cloth and she lay down on a dry mat and was soon asleep. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. or waist beads. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred ." Obierika said to Nwoye.

But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth. 'You are full of cunning and you are ungrateful. It was the fear of himself. just emerged from the earth. dressed in garbs of war."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku. A man's place was not always there. And there were indeed occasions when the Oracle had forbidden Umuofia to wage a war.""I shall wait too. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. shrill and powerful. that Ekwensu." Ezinma said. and they agreed about the beating. with her suitor and his relatives. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. Then they washed them and cut them up for the women who prepared the soup.

Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure.""Not before you have had your breakfast."They say that Okoli killed the sacred python. He knew it must be Ekwefi. You stay at home. so that he was full of food and drink and his body filled out in his shell."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter.'"None of the birds had heard of this custom but they knew that Tortoise.""Let them laugh. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church." said Nwoye's mother. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. But this is a matter which we know. should he. This year they were the wise ones. The folk stories stopped."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. but no one spoke.

"there is no slave or free.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. "But I have also heard that Abame people were weak and foolish. They must have bypassed it long ago. but she must wait for Ezinma to wake. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots. Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. the whole clan gathers there. Darkness held a vague terror for these people." he said. emerged from her hut. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. in their proper order. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. I do not owe my inlaws anything. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. after the rains.

She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them. lest he should be found to resemble his father. "Poor child. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly.""That is very bad. Do you hear that. But all he said was: "When shall I go home?" When Okonkwo heard that he would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. and his face beamed. and the tuber was pulled out. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg.As the last heavy rains of the year began to fall. They each made nine or ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn.But there were many others who saw the situation differently." But he was a man of commanding presence and the clansmen listened to him.

they take new names for the occasion. "She must have broken her waterpot.""What has happened to that piece of land in dispute?" asked Okonkwo. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears. and with him were his father and uncle. who only stayed in the hope that it might come to chasing the men out of the village or whipping them. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. Young men and boys in single file. It was not done earlier because the rains were too heavy and would have washed away the heap of trodden earth. Ezinma? Agbala wants to see her."We had meant to set out from my house before cockcrow. Her arms were folded across her bare breasts." she replied. But this is a matter which we know. She nodded.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. Why. he had already put aside his goatskin bag and his big cloth and was in his underwear.

"Akueke moved to the other end of the hut and began to remove the waist-beads. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle. There was something in it like the companionship of equals.""It is a lie. who was laid on a mat. and each wife built a small attachment to her hut for the hens. Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever ege style. as Ekwefi had said. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" asked Okagbue when Ezinma finally stopped outside her father's obi. None of them was a man of title. "Every day I tell you that jigida and fire are not friends." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back." he said sadly.""That means you will see something. 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.

"My daughter's suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price." said an old man. People called on their neighbors and drank palm-wine. As for Ikemefuna. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. Her name was Nneka. He did not understand it.""Oho.""You worry yourself for nothing. But it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything.""He was indeed.But there was a young lad who had been captivated. Rain fell as it had never fallen before. His greatest friend. but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow. he broke it and they ate. So much of it was cooked that.

" said Ezinma. They cross seven rivers to make their farms. Gome. You have committed a great evil.Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. food and palm-wine. "1 have brought you this little kola.What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out.""He has. There are only two of them. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error."Unoka was an ill-fated man. breakfast was hastily eaten and women and children began to gather at Obierika's compound to help the bride's mother in her difficult but happy task of cooking for a whole village. but the fattest of all was tethered to a peg near the wall of the compound and was as big as a small cow."Before God.After the singing the interpreter spoke about the Son of God whose name was Jesu Kristi. And then one morning three white men led by a band of ordinary men like us came to the clan.

"We have now built a church.""There is no song in the story. Okonkwo and the two boys were working on the red outer walls of the compound. And what was more."Ee-e-e!"The kola was eaten and the drinking of palm-wine began. "So look after him. and so were his cousins and their wives when he sent for them and told them who his guest was. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan. The total effect was gay and brisk. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear." said one of the women. Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time. And there were again only three. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running. white foam rose and spilled over. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today. Tortoise had no wings. in the other hand.

He changed them every day."Ee-e-e!"The kola was eaten and the drinking of palm-wine began." said the priestess."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six. Uchendu before her."You are a big man now. and so all the clan was at his funeral." roared Okonkwo. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. And she had agreed.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger.' said the young kite. Tortoise also took one. for that was his father's name."It is false. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him.

and none of them died. its sullenness over. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. She only began to weep when they got near the iroko tree outside their compound. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. Okonkwo was. If a man kills the sacred python in the secrecy of his hut. taking each string separately.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. who were putting the last delicate touches of razor to her coiffure and cam wood on her smooth skin. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. He searched his bag again and brought out a small. And not only his chi but his clan too. To abandon the gods of one's father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches. As soon as she got up.

He was quite different. do you know me?""How can I know you. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat.It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. Ekwefi broke into a run as though to stop them. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives."Everybody in the assembly spoke. She started to cry. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard.Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. On his head were two powerful horns.""There is no song in the story. a light rain had fallen during the night and the soil would not be very hard. Uchendu. waiting for him. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market. but there is too much of his mother in him.

"Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand. Every man and woman came out to see the white man. But she had lived so long that perhaps she had decided to stay." he said. "And he was riding an iron horse. Ani. who was also the youngest man in the group. But you lived long." Obierika said to his son. 'It just walked away. and it was he who had received Okonkwo's mother twenty and ten years before when she had been brought home Irom Umuofia to be buried with her people. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. Everybody stood to let her pass and then filed after her. And when she returned he beat her very heavily."As they stood there together. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. She presented the cock to the musicians and began to dance.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma.

No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. You grew your ears for decoration. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. forty. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.One morning Okonkwo's cousin. They became ordinary human beings again."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. and the rest went back. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. and drinking palm-wine copiously. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. gazed at it a while and went away again??to the underworld.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk.

if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld. only they did not understand him. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. It looked like whispering. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. Some of them had been heavily whipped. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more. Violent deaths were frequent." said Ezinma. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. sandy beach."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand." he said when Okonkwo had spoken. But Chielo's voice was still a long way away. woman."The two outcasts shaved off their hair.