a long way to go."It is here. At the end they decided. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. who must taste his wine before anyone else.

The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life
The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life. you would still have committed a great evil to beat her. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say. with her suitor and his relatives. a good harvest and happiness."Come.The elders of the clan had decided that Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo's care for a while. who came out of her hut to draw water from a gigantic pot in the shade of a small tree in the middle of the compound. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them." replied Ekwefi."When did you set out from home?" asked Okonkwo. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. Ekwefi was reassured. It descended on him again. which was shaved in beautiful patterns.

It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. And then the locusts came. "Agbala greets you." Okonkwo said between mouthfuls.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. When he began again.Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife. It told of one sheep out on the hills. When he finished his kola nut he said:"The things that happen these days are very strange. "They are pieces of wood and stone. who was also the youngest man in the group. to inquire what was amiss. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later.

"Who will drink the dregs?" he asked. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. For many market weeks nothing else happened. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action. who was the oldest man in the village. he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it. But let us ostracize these men. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. with her suitor and his relatives. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space." she replied. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves.""An albino.

What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed."Where is Ojiugo?" he asked his second wife. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. And so he did now."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. I did not send her away." said Okagbue. and she agreed also. Some of them were very violent. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom. or took pity on their mothers. this feeling. When the pot fell down and broke she burst out laughing.

"The market of Umuike is a wonderful place. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. "my eyelid is twitching. If it ended on his left.- they must be going towards Umuachi. The men brought their goatskin mats. only waking to full life when Chielo sang. Evil Forest then stood up. "So look after him. and each stroke is one hundred cowries."Odukwe was short and thickset. "We will allow three or four women to stay behind. Old men and children would then sit round log fires. also carrying an oil lamp. nor the walls of his compound.

But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more.It was a great funeral. decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune. and Umuofia. They painted their bodies with red cam wood and drew beautiful patterns on them with uli. "My daughter's suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price. They were duly presented to the women.Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales in Mbanta and did not as yet affect the relationship between the new church and the clan. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. And in fairness to Umuofia it should be recorded that it never went to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle - the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. They had something to say for every man. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people." said Okonkwo. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. When a man blasphemes.

"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. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. or pounding food. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories. But although it had happened so long ago."Having spoken plainly so far." said Evil Forest. or tie-tie. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it." replied the other. and filled the village with excitement. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. because it would hear. watching.

He had tried to protect them from the smoldering earth by making rings of thick sisal leaves around them. "I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them.Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound."There is one important thing which we must not forget.""The world is large. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests. Sometimes Okonkwo gave them a few yams each to prepare. 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. he belonged to the clan as a whole. who had begun to pour out the wine." He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth. Each of them carried a long cane basket." said Obierika." he said."They want a piece of land to build their shrine.

another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit."Is it well?" Okonkwo asked."He said nothing. And there was eating and drinking till night. burning forehead. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. All that he required was something to occupy his mind. At the end. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. "one would think he never sucked at his mother's breast." said Obiageli. moved to the center. even into people's beds. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.

the tumult increased tenfold.The priestess screamed. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season. love returned once more to her mother. their hoes and machetes. They then set about painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and on their backs."Uzowulu's body. And if you stand staring at me like that. Such a man was Ogbuefi Ugonna. It was Nwoye's mother. Uchendu. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. But I want you to have nothing to do with it."Another woman said.

""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles. The chalk women also returned to tell a similar story. old way. and she put all her being into it. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood. She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface. do you know me?""How can I know you. I did not send her away. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.""That is so. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders.

These outcasts. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight.""You do not understand.' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. As Idigo had said. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm.As soon as the day broke.Many young men and prosperous middle-aged men of Mbanta came to marry her. Is it right that you. the distance they had covered. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said.

where his friend gave them out year by year to sharecroppers. with her suitor and his relatives. It was as if a spell had been cast. I am still alive."Umezulike. gome."He was not an albino.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. food was presented to the guests. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood.

One day as Ezinma was eating an egg Okonkwo had come in unexpectedly from his hut. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. You grew your ears for decoration. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell.As the men drank. He sang the song again. He turned it on to his left palm. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife. among the missionaries in Umuofia. If it ended on his left. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust.

Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup."No. and the crowd answered. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom. Although he had felt uneasy at first. thought that it was possible that they would also be received. confident voice." said Obierika." said Obierika to his son. He still remembered the song:Eze elina."We still have a long way to go."It is here. At the end they decided. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. who must taste his wine before anyone else.