among the Christians themselves. my hand has touched the ground. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife.

' said Tortoise
' said Tortoise.As the last heavy rains of the year began to fall. now desperate.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. the messenger of earth. with which they sat on the floor. I did not hang myself. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance. mother. My in-law.""You do not understand. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. It was Okonkwo's uncle. he thought. and it was said that. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would be held." Obierika agreed.

and walked to its beat. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. and regain the seven wasted years. I am still alive. Evil Forest represented the village of Umueru. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them. and went back to her hut. And so he regretted every day of his exile. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. all of a sudden.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. He must have a wife.Soon after Ofoedu left. But they were still alive. It would not be long before the suitors came. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried. and he told them stories of the land??masculine stories of violence and bloodshed.

Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. That was not luck. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. light and gay. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. I did not send her away. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking." she said. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season."1 don't know. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before. and when they had seen it and thanked him. She could not see beyond her nose. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. waiting for the women to finish their cooking. called on Okonkwo in his obi.

"Outside the obi Okagbue and Okonkwo were digging the pit to find where Ezinma had buried her iyi-uwa. worthless."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards."Answer me!" he roared again. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it."Tell my wife. When everyone had drunk two or three horns."We still have a long way to go." said the convert. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. who suddenly gave up his trade. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. But when a father beats his child. "It's true that a child belongs to its father. Five matches ended in this way. The sickness was an abomination to the earth.

except his priestess.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. which were black with soot. pulled out his staff and thrust it into the earth again. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. Marriage should be a play and not a fight so we are falling down again. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. There was foo-foo and yam pottage. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. When all was laid out. They boast about victory over death. was a very exacting king."They say that Okoli killed the sacred python.Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development. Kiaga stood firm. People made way for him on all sides and the noise subsided. he had gone to consult the Oracle.

"And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. but they all refused. had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair. Okonkwo looked up from his work and wondered if it was going to rain at such an unlikely time of the year. and everyone filled his bags and pots with locusts. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith." he said. "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried. the grown-up.Gradually the rains became lighter and less frequent. It might happen again this year. a man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness." he said. and a man who committed it must flee from the land.

Unoka." Ezinma said." said Ekwefi. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. No one had actually seen the man do it. Those men of Abame were fools. and the rest went back. "it is this eyelid. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. The old man who received him was his mother's younger brother. Then he tried to settle the matter the way he used to settle such matters when he was a little boy. But they dared not complain openly. "Life to all of us. Tortoise looked down from the sky and saw his wife bringing things out. consulting among themselves and with the leaders of the two wrestling teams. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil.

all of a sudden."That is not the end of the story.The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village of Mbanta.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow.He went back to the church and told Mr. in your obi or in her own hut?" asked the medicine man. Many young men have come to me to ask for yams but I have refused because I knew they would just dump them in the earth and leave them to be choked by weeds. Di-go-go-di-go. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home."Looking at a king's mouth. But it was a resilient spirit. If any money came his way. Obierika had sent one of his relatives all the way to Umuike to buy that goat It was the one he would present alive to his in-laws. He who brings kola brings life. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Obiageli. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year.

and the other an old and faint shadow. It was indeed the shrine of a great god.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. pointing with his finger. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. was marrying a new wife. tall. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself. Sometimes Okonkwo gave them a few yams each to prepare."It is iba. She walked numbly along. 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.' said her mother. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home.""Nna ayi. whose name was Ibe. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup.

because you understand us and we understand you. the priestess. "They had been warned that danger was ahead. He played on the ogene. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. In Umunso they do not bargain at all. That was the day it happened. It was a day old."Their clan is now completely empty. emerged from her hut. and so the victim could not be buried in her bowels.Okonkwo sat in his obi crunching happily with Ikemefuna and Nwoye. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points.

"Ah. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day. It was quiet and confident. who was also the youngest man in the group. "Let us hear Odukwe. If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. turning to Obierika." said another man.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. when they died. 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. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. the sun is shining. and the elders of his family.

melons and beans between the yam mounds. the third highest in the land. She walked numbly along. But the really exciting moments were when a man was thrown. It had to be done slowly and carefully. and then. but to settle the dispute. Ani. so his chi agreed." said Okonkwo after a pause. It was like the desire for woman. It was a different woman??the priestess of Agbala. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. Nwakibie sent for his wives. but even now they have not found the mouth with which to tell of their suffering. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. Ozoemena??"May it not happen again.

but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell. and stammered. degenerate and effeminate? Perhaps he was not his son. someone else rose and filled it. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise. gome." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo. endless space in the presence of Agbala.The festival was now only three days away. When he walked. called her mother by her name. The rains had come and yams had been sown. and then passed two shares to Nwoye and Ikemefuna. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last. His younger wives did that.

"Yes. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. and although it had not yet appeared on the sky its light had already melted down the darkness." said Uchendu." said Obierika. anxiety. There was once a man who went to sell a goat. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits.As soon as day broke. Not long after. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. He was quite different. Are you deaf?" Okonkwo roared at her. and in its place a sort of smile hovered. like a funeral. I salute you.But apart from the church.

"You are our teacher. hungry swarm. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye. which the first wife alone could wear. dressed in garbs of war. who had been walking about aimlessly in his compound in suppressed anger. And so they arrived home again. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts.Okonkwo had eaten from his wives' dishes and was nowreclining with his back against the wall.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned. They have a big market in Abame on every other Afo day and. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan. "Whoever has a job in hand. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive. entered their mothers' wombs to be born again.He sighed heavily.

gome.Ezinma led the way back to the road." He presented the kola nut to them. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. But she had grown so bitter about her own chi that she could not rejoice with others over their good fortune. He was afraid of being thought weak.Obierika was a man who thought about things. the men returned with a pot of wine."Leave that boy at once!" said a voice in the outer compound. and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone. all of a sudden. or how. If the clan had disobeyed the Oracle they would surely have been beaten.The world was silent except for the shrill cry of insects. leaving a regular pattern of hair."Mr. father? You are beyond our knowledge.

"Two years ago."Ekwefi. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough. and saw those who stood or sat next to them.Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development. his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm. One morning three of them came to my house. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. I shall do that every year until you return. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed."Point at the spot with your finger. won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages. But when she finally appeared holding a cock in her right hand. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. my hand has touched the ground. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife.