whispered something to his first wife. the priest of the earth goddess. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. its sullenness over.But apart from the church.

and the smallest group had ten lines
and the smallest group had ten lines. malevolent. and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them. somewhat indulgently. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write. "before i learned how to tap."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. She began to run." she said when they got to the tree. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long. a debtor. He had a bad chi or personal god. all alone in that fearful place.

Three men beat them with sticks. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan." He put it down to his inflexible will. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. But they were very rare and short-lived.' he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter. hung above the fireplace."1 have told you to let her alone.After the wine had been drunk Okonkwo laid his difficulties before Nwakibie. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. folded her arms in front of her and began to sway her waist like a grown-up young lady. And he had all but achieved it. I did not hang myself." was joyfully chanted everywhere.

"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. And he told them about this new God. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. and a great land case began. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path. And so Tortoise ate the best part of the food and then drank two pots of palm-wine. some of whom now stood enthralled." said Mr. and men." he said.""That is very bad. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. "Will you go?""Yes."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes."Leave that boy at once!" said a voice in the outer compound.

"The two outcasts shaved off their hair. "But you can explain to her."Yes. They painted their bodies with red cam wood and drew beautiful patterns on them with uli. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. But Ekwefi could not see her.After the wine had been drunk Okonkwo laid his difficulties before Nwakibie. And he told them about this new God. Sometimes he turned round and chased after those men. to inquire what was amiss. and as it dwelt on it."Oho. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else - with a heavy hand. Of all his children she alone understood his every mood. and it was his firmness that saved the young church.

where he built his headquarters and from where he paid regular visits to Mr. and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter.""Ee-e-e!""And this will not be the last."You are a big man now. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families." Ezinma began. my friend. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts. Nothing wouldhappen to Ezinma."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma.Ekwefi still had some cassava left on her farm from the previous year. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them.

Nwoye's mother is already cooking. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? The same God created you and them. and there was no hurry to decide his fate." said Ezinma. How his mother would weep for joy. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. "Let us not presume to do so now. 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."Ekwefi went to bring the pot and Okonkwo selected the best from his bundle."Yaa!" replied the thunderous crowd.At last the rain came. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. the shouting and the firing of guns.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand.

"Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" asked Okagbue when Ezinma finally stopped outside her father's obi. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother. each of them carrying a heavy bag on his head.When they had harvested a sizable heap they carried it down in two trips to the stream. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive. Then send him word to fight for us. "it is this eyelid. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. "How dare you. If we were all afraid of blood. Okonkwo walked behind him. but they all refused. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. was among them.

And if they could not help in digging up the yams. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations."Yes. This was before the planting season began." asked another man.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come. especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded. Ezinma. The hearing then began. The crowd then shouted with ainger and thirst for blood. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest. each brought her bowl of foo-foo and bowl of soup to her husband."Don't you know what kind of man Uzowulu is? He will not listen to any other decision."One of them passes here frequently. young and old.

Aninta."The body of Odukwe. he thought over the matter. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. The spell of sunshine which always came in the middle of the wet season did not appear. He did not know who the girl was. And so they walked out together. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. gome." Ezinma said. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else - with a heavy hand. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. But everybody knew that he was going to die and Aneto got his belongings together in readiness to flee.

Some women ran away in fear when it was thrown."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. The sickness was an abomination to the earth. I did not hang myself. We must fight these men and drive them from the land. his face beaming with blessedness and peace. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily.Dusk was already approaching when their contest began. "Your daughter will bear us sons like you. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving.Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. Rain fell as it had never fallen before." he said.

the harvest of the previous year."I don't know why such a trifle should come before the said one elder to another.Okonkwo's head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things.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. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. like a funeral. And let me tell you one thing. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound. all of a sudden. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. Like all good farmers."My hand is on the ground.

""God will not permit it. he has learned to fly without perching." he mocked. as you know. and Ikemefuna.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan. He fell and fell and fell until he began to fear that he would never stop falling." he said quietly to Ezinma. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. whom he had thrown away.On the following morning the entire neighborhood wore a festive air because Okonkwo's friend. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. "one would think he never sucked at his mother's breast.

Ezinma. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. and very strong. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why. It is like Dimaragana. my friend. but no one thought the stories were true. Kiaga. They had something to say for every man. Old men and children would then sit round log fires. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant."Where is Ojiugo?" he asked his second wife."Oho. dug her teeth into the real thing. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame.

Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. They thought the priestess might be going to her house. "The bell-man announced it last night. He said he was one of them. "But I have also heard that Abame people were weak and foolish. Okonkwo was.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. "They use medicine. No. they take new names for the occasion." said Obierika sadly. I shall break your jaw.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. others Abame or Aninta.

except his priestess. It was like the desire for woman. They never answered yes for fear it might be an evil spirit calling. light and gay. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. and allowed a brief pause. Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma. He picked it up. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards." But before they went he whispered something to his first wife. the priest of the earth goddess. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. its sullenness over.But apart from the church.