deeper and the crowd went with her. and sleepy. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother.

and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan
and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. panting. sandy beach. Neighbors sat around. but its vigor was undiminished. and a girl. the in-laws began to arrive. The old man listened silently to the end and then said with some relief: "It is a female ochu. Okonkwo. He presented a kola nut and an alligator pepper."A little more?? I said a little. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season. Okonkwo. Gome. It came from the direction of the ilo.

Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. No one had actually seen the man do it."Is it well?" Okonkwo asked." he said."That was all he had said." said Uchendu. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. Many of them spoke at great length and in fury." he said. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm. This one had only one hand and it carried a basket full of water. for Mr.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory. "Umuofia kwenu. The rainbow began to appear.

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. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo. and saw those who stood or sat next to them. The villagers were so certain about the doom that awaited these men that one or two converts thought it wise to suspend their allegiance to the new faith. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. but she was held down. But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray. "I dislike cold water dropping on my back."It is here. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. or God's house.The last big rains of the year were falling." said Obierika.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. had gained ground.

Thus the men of Umuofia pursued their way."Don't be afraid. young and old.""You do not understand.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. usually before the age of three. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. and the others to the chalk quarry." Okonkwo said. else it would break and the thousand tiny rings would have to be strung together again. with which he carried the brown snuff to his nostrils. the men returned with a pot of wine. Cam wood was rubbed lightly into her skin. Thank you. one of these women went to Ozoemena's hut and told her.

The daughters of Uehuiona were also there. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear. and at the end of it beat his instrument again. She was rewarded by occasional spells of health during which Ezinma bubbled with energy like fresh palm-wine. boomed the hollow metal. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. I owe that man a thousand cowries. tangled and dirty hair. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six.Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife.""That is very true. "You are already a skeleton. If any money came his way. and washed away the yam heaps. but now sat with Okonkwo in his obi.

Ezinma went deeper and deeper and the crowd went with her. Classic Mini Uggs'Then we can eat the chick. There were five groups. Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm. met to hear a report of Okonkwo's mission. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell. a good harvest and happiness. "We are going directly. I greet you.' replied the young kite."When did you become a shivering old woman. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood.

Okonkwo ate the food absent-mindedly. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them."It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr. though his dialect was different and harsh to the enrs of Mbanta. But it went from day to day without a pause. when Mr. Okonkwo. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. "Blessed is he who forsakes his father and his mother for my sake."Having spoken plainly so far.The Oracle was called Agbala. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself. "So look after him. But there were some too who came because they had friends in our town.

'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. Nwoye was there. It was a smooth pebble wrapped in a dirty rag." said Evil Forest. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. He was to be called All oj you. And they all knew Ekwefi and her daughter very well."Our father. One morning three of them came to my house. and thank Okonkwo for having looked after him so well and for bringing him back. and they each gave him a feather. "They are young tubers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. No woman ever did.

Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. She could not see beyond her nose." she replied.One of the men behind him cleared his throat."Go home and sleep.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about. The rains had come and yams had been sown. A deathly silence descended on Okonkwo's compound. But she refused them all. The villagers were so certain about the doom that awaited these men that one or two converts thought it wise to suspend their allegiance to the new faith. and within a short time all the birds agreed that he was a changed man. The sound of her benumbed steps seemed to come from some other person walking behind her. She is called Ozoemena. and each stroke is one hundred cowries."1 have told you to let her alone.

He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. And then like the sound of his cannon he crashed on the compound. as if he was going to pounce on somebody. Okonkwo had called in another medicine man who was famous in the clan for his great knowledge about ogbanje children. and she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world. Okonkwo. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors. It was a good riddance." said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. If your in-law brings wine to you. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them. She called her by her name.The old man. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi.

'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. And there was eating and drinking till night. and I am still alive. Nwoye's mother. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. Ekwefi.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily. As the smoke rose into the sky kites appeared from different directions and hovered over the burning field in silent valediction.""Anyway. won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages.""Ee-e-e!""Prosperous men and great warriors. He accepted the half-full horn from his brother and drank it. There was once a man who went to sell a goat. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass.

armed with sheathed machetes. "Okonkwo! Agbala ekme gio-o-o-o! Agbala cholu ifu ada ya Ezinmao-o-o-oi"At the mention of Ezinma's name Ekwefi jerked her head sharply like an animal that had sniffed death in the air. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song."Odukwe's body. The sickness was an abomination to the earth. or Holy Feast as it was called in Ibo. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood."After the kola nut had been eaten Okonkwo brought his palm- wine from the corner of the hut where it had been placed and stood it in the center of the group. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust. nearly all the osu in Mbanta followed their example. and he was grateful. I salute you. and we would be like Abame.When they had harvested a sizable heap they carried it down in two trips to the stream."I have come to you for help.

"1 told you. "They had been warned that danger was ahead."Come and shake hands with me. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. Many years ago another egwugwu had dared to stand his ground before him and had been transfixed to the spot for two days. Okonkwo." said Obierika. the god of the sky.Mr. or with their father in his obi warming themselves from a log fire. and the elders of his family. But it only lasted till the end of the service. "They had been warned that danger was ahead. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan. Tortoise had no wings.

"Having spoken plainly so far. There was nothing new in that. who walked away and never returned. There was the story of a very stubborn man who staggered back to his house and had to be carried again to the forest and tied to a tree. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. He could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father. The ancestral spirits of the clan were abroad. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. with love. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. go in peace. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors. Aninta.

Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed."We still have a long way to go. chewing the fish. Thelocusts had not come for many. But even in such cases they set their limit at seven market weeks or twenty-eight days. succulent breasts. She was rewarded by occasional spells of health during which Ezinma bubbled with energy like fresh palm-wine. They faced the elders.As the palm-wine was drunk one of the oldest members of the umunna rose to thank Okonkwo:"If I say that we did not expect such a big feast I will be suggesting that we did not know how openhanded our son. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!"She walked through Okonkwo's hut into the circular compound and went straight toward Ekwefi's hut. Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood. Ezinma went deeper and deeper and the crowd went with her. and sleepy. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother.