over the question of admitting outcasts.He did not sleep at night. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her.

paid regular visits to them
paid regular visits to them.With a father like Unoka. tangled hair. His mother had wept bitterly. He did not know who the girl was. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits."Where have you been?" he stammered. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village." said Uchendu. and the rest went back. She will be a good wife to you. If any one of you prefers to be a woman. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors.

He knew that Nwakibie would not refuse him.Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound. and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself. Okonkwo stood by the pit."There is one important thing which we must not forget. gazing into a log fire. demolished his red walls. We did not see it. Okonkwo.""I don't know how we got that law. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. It looked like whispering.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. Gome."Having spoken plainly so far.

And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. blowing it with her breath. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes. "Your wife was at fault. His wives and children were very happy too. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom."No. There was authority in her bearing and she looked every inch the ruler of the womenfolk in a large and prosperous family. They were called kotma. Ezinma went deeper and deeper and the crowd went with her.One day a neighbor called Okoye came in to see him. and Ikemefuna. and I am still alive. As soon as he heard of the great feast in the sky his throat began to itch at the very thought. "My son has told me about you. 1 know how to deal with them.

Three young men from the victorious boy's team ran forward.But there were many others who saw the situation differently. But what of our own people who are following their way and have been given power? They would go to Umuru and bring the soldiers. "and yet he is full of sorrow because he has come to live in his motherland for a few years. When all seemed ready he let himself go. They too sat just in front of the huge circle of spectators. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace." He paused. twenty years or more. perhaps even quicker.But apart from the church." said Okonkwo. Iweka. The men trod dry leaves on the sand.- they must be going towards Umuachi. Every market day. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew.

" she replied. nearly half a day's journey away."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water. walked in their midst."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them. the god who cut a man down when his life was sweetest to him.With a father like Unoka. 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. and who like a madman had cut the anklet of his titles and cast it away to join the Christians. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. or osu. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. The people surged forward. and ate up all the wild grass in the fields. who was two years younger. It said that other white men were on their way."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma.

" he said. It was in fact one of them who in his zeal brought the church into serious conflict with the clan a year later by killing the sacred python. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted." Ezinma offered. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. go in peace.""Not before you have had your breakfast.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan. They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. Nwoye remembered this period very vividly till the end of his life.The earth quickly came to life and the birds in the forests fluttered around and chirped merrily."It is here. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks.

The yams he had sown before the drought were his own." was joyfully chanted everywhere. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. Some women ran away in fear when it was thrown." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. Abame??I know them all. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians."You know what it is. Then something had given way inside him. He made him feel grown-up. and he owed every neighbor some money. As the evening drew near. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church.The woman with whom she talked was called Chielo. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others." said Obierika. and turned to his sons and daughters.

And it began to shake and rattle.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. But the one knew what the other was thinking. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action. They were returning home with baskets of yams from a distant farm across the stream when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. Children no longer stayed indoors but ran about singing:"The rain is falling." said Okonkwo. He is an exile. thought that it was possible that they would also be received. The suitor was a young man of about twenty-five. woman. and none of them died. They became ordinary human beings again. meanwhile. It was a good riddance. quietly and deliberately.Okonkwo did as the priest said.

"No. was a very exacting king. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. He told them that the true God lived on high and that all men when they died went before Him for judgment. others Abame or Aninta. In Umunso they do not bargain at all.- they all fled in terror."At last the great day came and Tortoise was the first to arrive at the meeting place. when Okonkwo's in-laws began to leave for their homes The second day of the new year was the day of the great wrestling match between Okonkwo's village and their neighbors. his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. The saying of the elders was not true??that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. was a man's crop. "If you split another yam of this size. from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts. Go ahead and prepare your farm. but no one spoke."It is an ozo dance.

And she enjoyed above all the secrecy in which she now ate them. And so he did now. and she was notorious for her late cooking. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul??the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. Then the foo-foo was served. speaking in a tremulous. that Ekwensu.' Those men of Abame were fools. He knew that Nwakibie would not refuse him. with her suitor and his relatives. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. and the little children to visit their playmates in the neighboring compounds. Maduka. It was unheard of to beat somebody during the sacred week. Tortoise also took one. Without it. took the lump of chalk.

Umuofia."1 am one of them. as most people were. I would have asked you to get life. There were also pots of palm-wine. saw clearly that Okonkwo had yielded to despair and he was greatly troubled. He had fallen ill on the previous night.Nwoye's younger brothers were about to tell their mother the true story of the accident when Ikemefuna looked at them sternly and they held their peace. carrying on their heads various sizes of pots suitable to their years. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. They sympathized with their neighbors with much shaking of the head. and he owed every neighbor some money."Ekwefi. in fact. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. It was then uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came from above or below. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust.

Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. It was the fear of himself. We are only his mother's kinsmen. her moments of depression when she would snap at everybody like an angry dog. and she was notorious for her late cooking. was quite harmless. a long."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family. and the tuber was pulled out. The women weeded the farm three times at definite periods in the life of the yams. But all of a sudden she would go down again. and within a short time all the birds agreed that he was a changed man." they said. Those things a man built for himself or inherited from his father." But he was a man of commanding presence and the clansmen listened to him.

Ikezue held out his right hand. But they were still alive. on their backs and their thighs. who stood beside her. Ezeudu was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony." said Obierika. And what was more. They were called kotma. If ever a man deserved his success. and earth and sky once again became separate. cutting down every tree or animal they saw. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. A razor was taboo to him. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house.""And so everybody comes.

Unoka was never happy when it came to wars. the emanation of the god of water.The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child. You have committed a great evil. He who brings kola brings life. 1 know more about the world than any of you. had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest. it is play'. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk. and sent for the missionaries. and then you will know. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him.' said her mother.

Beyond that limit no man was suffered to go. Aninta. stopped them. and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. He would remember his own childhood. The church had come and led many astray. she was dead."We had meant to set out from my house before cockcrow.The priestess screamed."You need some sleep yourself. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. closed hut like tongues of fire. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all. or tie-tie. and the crowd followed her.

and perhaps other women as well. or pounding food.A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi as she stood gazing in the direction of the voices like a hen whose only chick has been carried away by a kite. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. taking each string separately.The way into the shrine was a round hole at the side of a hill. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. When the women had exacted the penalty they checked among themselves to see if any woman had failed to come out when the cry had been raised. but I shall be happy if you marry in Umuofia when we return home. When a man blasphemes. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush. which.When the rain finally came. using some of the chicken. But let us ostracize these men.

A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. or the teeth of an old woman. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. They can steal your cloth from off your waist in that market. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things.- one could not have known where one's mouth was in the darkness of that night. where his friend gave them out year by year to sharecroppers. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the center. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. But if a man caused it. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts.He did not sleep at night. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her.