implore you. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages.

" he said quietly to Ezinma
" he said quietly to Ezinma. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. who was the priest of the earth goddess.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. The younger of his sons. It told of one sheep out on the hills. he won his first three converts. The spell of sunshine which always came in the middle of the wet season did not appear.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. He sang the song again." said Ezelagbo. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. The glowing logs only served to light up vaguely the dark figure of the priestess.

""All their customs are upside-down."No. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. How could such a man be a follower of Christ?"He needs Christ more than you and I. He made him feel grown-up. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. They boast about victory over death. That woman. But it was as silly as all women's stories. Okonkwo's first wife. and the planting began. and stake them when the young tendrils appear. It was not done earlier because the rains were too heavy and would have washed away the heap of trodden earth.

"Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. "Beware. and saw those who stood or sat next to them. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface. but no one thought the stories were true. And so everybody came to see the white man. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh. but they grew women's crops. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them.

twenty years or more. meanwhile. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. You may have heard of the title I intend to take shortly. If such a thing were ever to happen. The two voices disappeared into the thick darkness."Odukwe's body."We are all well. It was not done earlier because the rains were too heavy and would have washed away the heap of trodden earth. It was only when he had got there that it had occurred to him that the priestess might have chosen to go round the villages first. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife.' said Mother Kite to her daughter. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots.

Very soon after. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna. who had felt more angry than the others." replied Okonkwo. in the other hand."Three moons ago. I shall give you some fish to eat. won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages. that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked." Quite often she bought beancakes and gave Ekwefi some to take home to Ezinma. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. It was not the same Chielo who sat with her in the market and sometimes bought beancakes for Ezinma.

but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes. As the evening wore on. and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin. "The children are still very young." He drank his palm-wine. How a woman could carry a child of that size so easily and for so long was a miracle. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning. 'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride. prophesying." suggested Okonkwo. He knew that he had lost his place among the nine masked spirits who administered justice in the clan.

I would have asked you to bring courage. Ekwefi and her only daughter. And so the two of them refused every offer of marriage in Mbanta.""An albino. As our fathers said. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her."He has married Okadigbo's second daughter. When everything had been set before the guests. facing the elders. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine." said Obierika.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. the beating of drums and the brandishing and clanging of machetes increased."For the first time in three nights.

and it was their counsel that prevailed in the end."Uzowulu's body. therefore. unhappily.Okoye was also a musician. He went into the obi and saluted his father. Tortoise's wife sent for him and he gathered all the bits of shell and stuck them together. He does not belong here. who must taste his wine before anyone else."Come along. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people.""It is indeed true. called on Okonkwo in his obi. just emerged from the earth. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds.

"Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now." Ekwefi said to the woman who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her since the beginning of the matches. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. "We will go with you to meet those cowards. Ojiugo. the owner of all land. unless it be the emotion of anger. They set out early that morning. and Obiageli told her mournful story." said Akukalia. The only work that men did at this time was covering the walls of their compound with new palm fronds. Was it not on an Eke day that they fled into Umuofia?" he asked his two companions.

facing the elders and grandees of the clan." said Uchendu"I swear. Nobody thought that such a thing could ever happen. You. this feeling. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor. and terror seized her."The crowd roared with laughter. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. the priestess of Agbala. He turned it on to his left palm. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. "and a thick mat. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands." and was allowed to go wherever it chose.

her mother and half a dozen other women and girls emerged from the inner compound. 'There is something ominous behind the silence.Onwumbiko was not given proper burial when he died. But no one was sure where it was coming from. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. It had not happened for many a long year. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: "This meeting is for men. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes."When your wife becomes pregnant again. chewing the fish. "honest men and thieves.

All this happened many years ago. Their bodies shone with sweat. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears. But Ekwefi could not see her. 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. by Ezeani.' said Tortoise." said Obierika's other companion. one of these women went to Ozoemena's hut and told her. and she put all her being into it. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him.""Don't cry. 'She should have been a boy. because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down Irom the north."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother.

There was no question of killing a missionary here. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. I would have asked you to bring courage. He could not do anything without telling her. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. woman. Then everything had been broken."Thank you. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. to help them in their cooking. It was not very easy getting the men of high title and the elders together after the excitement of the first day. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. She called her by her name. Ekwefi.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned.

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 could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father." The boy smiled. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang. It was a very good wine and powerful.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye. As the Ibo say: "When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk. are white like this piece of chalk. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess.The priestess screamed. His wives.

and perhaps other women as well. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland. his three wives and eight children. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out. more terrible and more sinister than the anger." said some of the elders."You are right. The poor and unknown would not dare to come forth. Ezinma. which was shaved in places. 1 know you will not despair."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger. I implore you. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages.