saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks." The boy smiled. I salute you. trembling."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. red in tooth and claw. She called her by her name.

If
If."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. She began to run. He addressed Nwakibie. Okonkwo's wives had scrubbed the walls and the huts with red earth until they reflected light. Neighbors sat around. 1 owe them no cocoyams. If you are sending him on an errand he flies away before he has heard half of the message."Ezinma looked at her mother.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. a good harvest and happiness. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions. vibrating heat. He was carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die. One day as Ezinma was eating an egg Okonkwo had come in unexpectedly from his hut. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. gome.Everyone was now about. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. a debtor. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. and in its place a sort of smile hovered.

if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. He was carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die. Young men and boys in single file. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky.""I do not. He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days.And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia. Her brass anklets rattled as she danced and her body gleamed with cam wood in the soft yellow light.""Nna ayi. There was an immediate stir.Uchendu had been told by one of his grandchildren that three strangers had come to Okonkwo's house. male and female. Uchendu before her. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger. And so he is bowed with grief."She will bring her back soon. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. "Let us hear Odukwe. Then the foo-foo was served. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church.

Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return.The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches." he said. But Ekwefi could not see her. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife. he would use his fists. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. "If you split another yam of this size. and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.The Feast of the New Yam was approaching and Umuofia was in a festival mood. Umuazu. The child was called Onwumbiko. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. No matter how prosperous a man was. No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. They were duly presented to the women. Her coming was quite useless. Nwoye's mother went to him and placed her hands on his chest and on his back."That is not the end of the story. with love."Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand. Inwardly.

" said Mr. may Agbala shave your head with a blunt razor! May he twist your neck until you see your heels!"Ekwefi stood rooted to the spot. but he had not expected he would be so generous. who was the oldest man in the village. worthless. cooking and eating.""I do not. He did not cry. broke into life and activity. "I shall carry you on my back. and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor. and was not given the first or the second burial. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there. She explained to her why they should not marry yet."Abame has been wiped out. and his relatives. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister. Their hosts took him as the king of the birds. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. The men stood outside the circle. "Every day I tell you that jigida and fire are not friends. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him. It was already dusk when the two parties came to this agreement. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun.

lest he strike you in his anger.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them. and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders. He could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father. His own hut. They had not thought about that. and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy.As soon as day broke. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors. It was Chielo. as the saying goes."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy. too.But Ekwefi did not hear these consolations. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. eating the peelings. His greatest friend. what do I do? Do i shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head That is what a man does. not even about the terrors of night. the shouting and the firing of guns."Yes.

some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages. And so he regretted every day of his exile. He breathed heavily. and sat down." pleaded from a reasonable distance. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning. Darkness held a vague terror for these people. A bond of sympathy had grown between them as the years had passed." replied Obierika. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan." said Obierika. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father. how many twins she has borne and thrown away. as the saying goes. She wore the anklet of her husband's titles. and I am still alive. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her."Who is that?" he growled. Bring me my daughter. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. and they knocked against each other as he searched. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. and it seldom did.

who also counted them and said:"We had not thought to go below thirty. only they did not understand him. who was a prosperous farmer.An iron gong sounded. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife. Her voice was as clear as metal. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in." said the joker. "His name is Amadi. Okonkwo. as the saying goes. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. Obiageli took the first dish and returned to her mother's hut. He was therefore waiting to receive them. gome. I salute you. was marrying a new wife. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him. It would not be long before the suitors came. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death.

" he said. If. Okonkwo got ready quickly and the party set out with Ikemefuna carrying the pot of wine.When they had all gathered. and sat speechless. the sun is shining. She was called Crystal of Beauty. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. Okonkwo was among them. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food.As the men drank. Kiaga. But when she lived on to her fourth. white dregs and said. We did not see it.""But someone had to do it. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. woman.""It means you are going to cry."I am Evil Forest. and they each gave him a feather. I think.

""They are not all that young. He turned it on to his left palm."We are at last getting somewhere.""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. where he thought they must be. I would have asked you to bring courage." Uzowulu replied." Obierika thought. and how Sky withheld rain for seven years. As soon as she became pregnant she went to live with her old mother in another village. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter." said Okonkwo. Then he began to speak. The heathen say you will die if you do this or that. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed. nearly half a day's journey away. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. My case is finished. It was said that when such a spirit appeared. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. Living fire begets cold. They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full. with Ezinma sleeping on her back.

greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan."I have come to you for help. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages. and she put all her being into it.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky." He drank his palm-wine. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat. But the one knew what the other was thinking. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. But I want you to have nothing to do with it."I have kola. which should be a woman's crowning glory. He ran a few steps in the direction of the women. These women never saw the inside of the hut. and he never saw her again. only they did not understand him."That is the strange part of it."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. Do not bear a hand in his death. "Whether you are spirit or man. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta.

"before I kill you!" He seized a heavy stick that lay on the dwarf wall and hit him two or three savage blows. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. "And he was riding an iron horse. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. But she refused them all. 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. Okonkwo worked on the outside of the wall and the boys worked from within. If a gang of efulefu decided to live in the Evil Forest it was their own affair.But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house. He would be very much happier working on his farm. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season. They set out early that morning. Unoka. lasted only a brief moment. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky.'"Tortoise had a sweet tongue. He exchanged greetings with Okonkwo and led the way into his obi. They haggle and bargain as if they were buying a goat or a cow in the market. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound.

Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard." and on each occasion he faced a different direction and seemed to push the air with a clenched fist. women and children."We shall be late for the wrestling. Ofoedu ate slowly and talked about the locusts. And he did pounce on people quite often. "But the law of the land must be obeyed. "So you must finish this."Is this yours?" he asked Ezinma. Ezinma. Some women ran away in fear when it was thrown.""Oho. he had gone to consult the Oracle." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child.He went back to the church and told Mr. No matter how prosperous a man was. he was repentant. He made him feel grown-up. only they did not understand him." said Uchendu after a long silence. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence." the medicine man told Okonkwo in a cool. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools.Gradually the rains became lighter and less frequent.

He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. malevolent. If you had been a coward. And then Nkechi came in. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. The next morning they were roasted in clay pots and then spread in the sun until they became dry and brittle. forty-five. he kept it secret. his mind would have been centered on his work. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. As soon as she became pregnant she went to live with her old mother in another village. Most of the men and women of Abame had gone to their farms. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened. Yam stood for manliness. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws.One of the men behind him cleared his throat. You have many wives and many children??more children than I have.The Feast of the New Yam was approaching and Umuofia was in a festival mood. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night.

he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. sad and pleading. pointing at the far wall of his hut. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens."We have now built a church. And when." Obierika said to his son. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. But let us drink the wine first. and had just married his third wife. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. had asked Ear to marry him. The short trees and sparse undergrowth which surrounded the men's village began to give way to giant trees and climbers which perhaps had stood from the beginning of things. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her.""One of the men told me. Very often it was Ezinma who decided what food her mother should prepare." The boy smiled. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. on the other hand."Odukwe's body. and Okonkwo's women and children heard from their huts all that she said.

After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere."Don't cry. And when she returned he beat her very heavily."At last the hen was plucked clean. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. Nwoye." Obierika replied sharply. He was therefore waiting to receive them." He filled the first horn and gave to his father. about their women. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed. Amikwu. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. His mind went to his latest show of manliness. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. and through these Okonkwo passed the rope. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms." he said.

Mr. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. close to the Great Shrine.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory. A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air. That is why Tortoise's shell is not smooth." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine."Okonkwo had just blown out the palm-oil lamp and stretched himself on his bamboo bed when he heard the ogene of the town crier piercing the still night air." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands." They all laughed. "Our duty is not to blame this man or to praise that. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje.At first." he had said."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish."My hand is on the ground. The first rains were late."Do you know Ogbuefi Ndulue?" Ofoedu asked. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame.

""Yes. with love. We are only his mother's kinsmen.""Yes. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. Her voice was as clear as metal. The woman was Mgbafo and the three men with her were her brothers. he was already one of the greatest men of his time. "is it true that when people are grown up. as most people were. "His shell broke into pieces."There was immediate excitement and those who were sitting jumped to their feet. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. perhaps for the first time. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. Every market day.She did not know how long she waited. almost to himself. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. "1 told you. slanting showers through sunshine and quiet breeze. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road. One of them was a pathetic cry.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns.

" he said. Mgbafo and her brothers were as still as statues into whose faces the artist has molded defiance.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. too old to attend Ndulue during his illness. But he was not a failure like Unoka. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season.- they all fled in terror. She will be a good wife to you. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. His wife had played him false. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back. How his mother would weep for joy."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl. And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man's government or the consequences of killing the Christians. And she had agreed. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere. but he stood beckoning to them. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. that Ekwensu. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving.

Thus the men of Umuofia pursued their way. There was nothing new in that." said Okonkwo. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. with which he made two wings. old way. and four or five others in his own age group. Then she suddenly turned round and began to walk back to the road. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die." he said. If you think you are the greatest sufferer in the world ask my daughter." He laughed a mirthless laughter. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye. untouched by the ax and the bush-fire." replied the other. I have waited in vain for my wife to return. They asked who the king of the village was. And so everybody came to see the white man. No woman ever did. of course." Okonkwo said. Nwoye was there.

He did not cry. it is for you. It was a tremendous sight. Without it. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. there was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day. clay and metal instruments went from song to song. "You are our teacher. Each of them carried a long cane basket."What happened?" her mother asked.The priestess screamed.As the day wore on his in-laws arrived from three surrounding villages. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place.Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. All the other dancers made way for her. and so did his little children."Uzowulu's body. She rose from her mat. The sound of her benumbed steps seemed to come from some other person walking behind her."Ah. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before.

As the broken kola nuts were passed round. the twins still remained where they had been thrown away. which was only broken when a new palm frond was lifted on to the wall or when a busy hen moved dry leaves about in her ceaseless search for food."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once. gome. who was the eldest of the nine sons. or with their father in his obi warming themselves from a log fire. "and a thick mat. It was as quick as the other two. and none of them died. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed. but nothing came out."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. Every man rose in order of years and took a share. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm." said Nwoye. And how is my daughter. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. At first the bride was not among them. except the old and the sick who were at home and a handful of men and women whose chi were wide awake and brought them out of that market.As soon as the priestess stepped into this ring of hills her voice was not only doubled in strength but was thrown back on all sides." replied Ekwefi. they set off in a body.

The last match was between the leaders of the teams. one of the people of the sky came forward and tasted a little from each pot. thus completing a circle with their hosts. Obierika. The soup was brought out hot from the fire and in the very pot in which it had been cooked. The yams were then staked. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky." he said."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water. The ancestral spirits of the clan were abroad. Ezinma. he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. It might happen again this year. from Umuofia to Mbaino. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads." said one of the women. Cam wood was rubbed lightly into her skin. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body. The hearing then began."Obiako has always been a strange one. "Umuofia kwenu. It was a gay and airy kind of rain. in the other hand."Uzowulu's body.

'She should have been a boy. "the goddess of the earth. and earth and sky once again became separate.All the umunna were invited to the feast. But she refused them all." said an old man. His name was Uchendu.""It is true. which were black with soot. or tie-tie. At his age I was already fending for myself. In the end he decided that Nnadi must live in that land of Ikemefuna's favorite story where the ant holds his court in splendor and the sands dance forever. folded her arms across her breast and sighed. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house. Nwoye's mother. holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him. If I were you I would have stayed at home. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves.As the last heavy rains of the year began to fall. in a cleared spot. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. and it could not be done later because harvesting would soon set in. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun.

boomed the hollow metal.As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary."That is the money from your yams. She was the priestess of Agbala. came into the obi from outside. Her husband had brought out more yams than usual because the medicine man had to be fed. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. Only the word of our God is true. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy." said Obierika. As she buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation. trembling. 'She should have been a boy. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks." The boy smiled. I salute you. trembling."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. red in tooth and claw. She called her by her name.