church on his way from the neighboring village."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it."That is very good.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message.

the priestess of Agbala
the priestess of Agbala. He passed them over to his eldest brother. When the moon rose late in the night. too old to attend Ndulue during his illness. it was true. some were orators who spoke for the clan." He prayed especially for Okonkwo and his family."I am Evil Forest. and they agreed about the beating. But the Christians had told the white man about the accident. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot. my hand has touched the ground."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself. and was punished. woman.

egusi soup and bitter-leaf soup and pots and pots of palm-wine. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. and Ekwefi asked Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo to explain to Obierika's wife that she would be late. she thought."I have kola."Your half-sister. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food. conversing with his father in low tones. Okonkwo had committed the female.Ezinma led the way back to the road. except his priestess. Chielo passed by.Unoka. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body.The last match was between the leaders of the teams.

and it was not until late in the evening that one of them saw for the first time his in-law who had arrived during the course of the meal and had fallen to on the opposite side. It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits. She was alive and well. 'but tell me." she replied and disappeared in the darkness. and soon the children were chasing one of their cocks."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor."This is Obierika. Okonkwo.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed."He belongs to the clan. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. are known in all the clan for the weakness of your machete and your hoe.

with which he made two wings. It was instinctive. The elders sat in a big circle and the singers went round singing each man's praise as they came before him. You are a great family. Old men nodded to the beat of the drums and remembered the days when they wrestled to its intoxicating rhythm. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly. tapped it on his kneecap." said the priestess."Forgive me. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree." she replied and disappeared in the darkness. All the women shouted with joy because Ekwefi's troubles were at last ended."Nwakibie cleared his throat. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. Then the rain became less violent.

Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. They just pulled the stump. "If you split another yam of this size. What is it that has happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?""Have you not heard how the white man wiped out Abame?" asked Obierika. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. but six. and flies went with him. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body."When your wife becomes pregnant again. Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. I owe that man a thousand cowries. At such times.' said Tortoise. Now you talk about his son."Father.

panting." replied Okonkwo. followed by the bride and the other ugg outlet salewomen. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood." she answered simply."Agbala do-o-o-o!?? Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! ??" Ekwefi trudged behind. His younger wives did that. and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself.He wanted him to be a prosperous man. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. he was not afraid now. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things." He paused. And there was eating and drinking till night. carrying a pot of palm-wine on his head. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved.

An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. Old men and children would then sit round log fires."Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand. Her eyes went constantly from Ezinma to the boiling pot and back to Ezinma. are white like this piece of chalk. All that he required was something to occupy his mind. my child. he had gone to consult the Oracle. Some said Ezimili. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched. The moon was shining. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. my dear friend. 'Ogbuefi Ndulue.

Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. that is not the beginning. The story was told in Umuofia. Ekwefi muttered." said Okagbue. She was Okonkwo's second wife Ekwefi. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew. She presented the cock to the musicians and began to dance. as Ekwefi had said." This was interpreted to them but very few of them heard. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine." said Okonkwo. and they each gave him a feather." Okonkwo made a sound full of disgust.

woman. or waist beads. Okonkwo was among them. 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.""There is no story that is not true. Here we say he cannot climb the tall tree but he can tap the short ones standing on the ground. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. There were nine of them.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." said Okonkwo after a pause. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. of all people. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night. why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka.

panting. only waking to full life when Chielo sang.When she got to the big udala tree Ezinma turned left into the bush. then.No work was done during the Week of Peace. drew some lines on the floor. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God.Uchendu took the hen from her." He drank his palm-wine.Ikemefuna came to Umuofia at the end of the carefree season between harvest and planting. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season.The woman with whom she talked was called Chielo.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door." she called.As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete. my child.

and Ekwefi asked Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo to explain to Obierika's wife that she would be late. thus completing a circle with their hosts. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions." said Uchendu."No. Ekwefi broke into a run as though to stop them. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now. Njide. and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed.The festival was now only three days away. Nothing happened at its proper time. Stories about these strange men had grown sim one of them had been killed in Abame and his iron horse tied to the sacred silk-cotton tree."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive.

"But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death."Ekwefi came out from her hut carrying her oil lamp in her left hand. He was ill for three market weeks. But if a man caused it. without serious danger to his own health. He asked Okagbue to come up and rest while he took a hand. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have. The wavering converts drew inspiration and confidence from his unshakable faith. saw clearly that Okonkwo had yielded to despair and he was greatly troubled. When they did.""All their customs are upside-down. The only work that men did at this time was covering the walls of their compound with new palm fronds. spears."Uzowulu's body.""Let them laugh.

" Ofoedu agreed.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them. was expected to invite large numbers of guests from far and wide. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home. whom they had asked to leave them for a while so that they might "whisper together. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. When the pot fell down and broke she burst out laughing." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor. When a man blasphemes. passed through his obi and into Ekwefi's hut and walked into her bedroom. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!).""Once upon a time. Do you hear that. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last.

and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind."Sometimes I wish I had not taken the ozo title. The cloud had lifted and a few stars were out. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. dressed in garbs of war. Chielo's voice now came after long intervals."My hand is on the ground. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. The neighbors and Okonkwo's wives were now talking. Then the rain became less violent. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland. His words may also be good. There were only four titles in the clan. and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians. the rulers and elders of Mbanta assembled to decide on their action. he broke it and they ate.

Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors' salutes. I did not hang myself."Thank you. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. empty men. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. close to the Great Shrine. But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness. Quick as the lightning of Amadiora. We heard of it. I shall pay my big debts first. He heard the blow. 'You have taken back your sister.But there were many others who saw the situation differently. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day.

the tumult increased tenfold. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. He could neither marry nor be married by the free-born. some of whom now stood enthralled. He told you that he came to take back her bride-price and we refused to give it him. who went to plait her hair at her friend's house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal. But Ekwefi could not see her. He stepped forward. away from the crowd. why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka." said some of the elders. food and palm-wine. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it."That is very good.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message.