and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. just beyond the borders of Mbaino.

She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe
She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. "I shall survive anything."Uzowulu's body. She stood for a while. He was a great man. They boast about victory over death. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. His mother and sisters worked hard enough. But there is just one question I would like to ask him. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. but not overmuch. in a terrifying voice. the white missionary." Okonkwo said. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. the tumult increased tenfold.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life." He danced a few more steps and went away. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. As she knelt by her. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error."Don't be foolish. but he had not expected he would be so generous. As for Ikemefuna. She could hear the priestess' voice.

If any one of you prefers to be a woman. You know as well as I do that our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor.""Nwoye is old enough to impregnate a woman." He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before. Okonkwo's house was on the way to the stream." said another man. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. but its vigor was undiminished. like a mother and her daughter. "We shall give them a piece of land." asked Obierika." said the interpreter. Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans.""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. who had lived about two hundred years before.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger." Ezinma began. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters. "Welcome. The children stood in the darkness outside their hut watching the strange event. occasionally feeling with her palm the wet.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive."For the first time in three nights.

full of power and beauty."Uzowulu's body. a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind. put down his load and sat down. Ezinma. lest he strike you in his anger. Almost immediately the women came in with a big bowl of foo-foo. forty. There was something in it like the companionship of equals. armed with sheathed machetes."Bring me a low stool for Ezinma. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. as on that day." he said. Men and women." said Obierika."The village has outlawed us." said Evil Forest.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. And what was more.Ezinma led the way back to the road. The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. as Ekwefi had said. he. more terrible and more sinister than the anger.

He held out his hands to them when they came into his obi." said Mr. When the will of the goddess had been done. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. Your generation does not know that. and washed away the yam heaps. "In those other clans you speak of. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. drank a little and handed back the horn. It ended on the right." said Obierika.Okagbue went back into the pit. I have already spoken to you about him. Amikwu. Okonkwo on his bamboo bed tried to figure out the nature of the emergency - war with a neighboring clan? That seemed the most likely reason. And so the stranger had brought him. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house. As soon as he found one he would sing with his whole being. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices. I have already spoken to you about him. That is why Tortoise's shell is not smooth." said Obierika. They were duly presented to the women. I shall do that every year until you return.

It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta. suddenly found an outlet. It throbbed in the air."When they had cut the goats' throats and collected the blood in a bowl."I am calling a feast because I have the wherewithal. therefore." he bellowed a fifth time." replied Ekwefi. The drums begin at noon but the wrestling waits until the sun begins to sink. Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before. as the Ibo people say."It is here.Then the missionaries burst into song. 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. very shyly. But they have cast you out like lepers. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves.And then the egwugwu appeared."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter." he said. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations. reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. Ukegbu." he said.

" she answered simply. of how his father. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun."He led Umuofia to war in those days." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. it would have been impossible to eat. empty men. She went back to the hut and brought her pot." Obierika said to Nwoye. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks. "How much longer do you think you will live?" she asked."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. That was why Okonkwo had been Chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife. whose name was Ibe. not even with broomsticks.Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy - inwardly of course.As soon as day broke. Okonkwo cleared his throat."Go and bring me some cold water. eating the peelings. but Okonkwo sat unmoved."It is an ozo dance.""Very true. and his face beamed. But I want you to have nothing to do with it.But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit.

"Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. many years. their legs and feet."Uzowulu's body. But tonight she was addressing her prophecy and greetings to Okonkwo. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head. He had tried to protect them from the smoldering earth by making rings of thick sisal leaves around them. She trudged slowly along. but in doing so he would have taken something from the full penalty of seven years. Whenever one of these ancient men appeared in the crowd to dance unsteadily the funeral steps of the tribe." said Ezinma."They say that Okoli killed the sacred python. At one stage Ekwefi was so afraid that she nearly called out to Chielo for companionship and human sympathy. They set fire to his houses. "You look very tired.""The world is large. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home. had asked Ear to marry him. the priest of the earth goddess."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. passing back the disc. Okonkwo slept. Okonkwo brought out l??s big horn from the goatskin bag. There was once a man who went to sell a goat.

food was presented to the guests. Ekwefi had been returning from the stream with her mother on a dark night like this when they saw its glow as it flew in their direction. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years."That is the money from your yams. He did not cry. It was already dusk when the two parties came to this agreement. who had brought it from her mother's hut."We have heard both sides of the case. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. but they are too young to leave their mother.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi.It was a great funeral." he said. the sky. Then everything had been broken. also carrying an oil lamp. Some of them were very violent. male and female."Then listen to me."Go into that room.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. The children were also decorated. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see.

shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound. An evil forest was. Okonkwo's son." Obierika said to his son. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. "Now they are behaving like men. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. You are a great man in your clan. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. "As our people say. smiled broadly and said to his father: "Do you hear that?" He then said to the others: "He will never admit that I am a good tapper. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored." he said. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle." said another woman. and very strong. and then passed two shares to Nwoye and Ikemefuna. But it would be impolite to rush him. raised the pot on his left knee and began to pour out the wine. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. Soon it covered half the sky. or how. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her.

I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. They became ordinary human beings again. The other wives drank in the same way." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. Ezinma placed her mother's dish before him and sat with Obiageli."Ekwefi turned the hen over in the mortar and began to pluck the feathers.The festival was now only three days away." he said. He was a great man. Unoka was able to give an answer between fresh outbursts of mirth.He is fit to be a slave." And he arranged the requisite rites and sacrifices." The man who had contradicted him had no titles. he was not afraid now. But I think you ought to break it." he said and cleared his throat.She did not know how long she waited. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. He held up a piece of chalk.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards. a fairly small swarm came.

You think you are still a child. in the other hand. when they died. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu. he had gone to consult the Oracle. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. and he said so with much threatening. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts." she said. He woke up once in the middle of the night and his mind went back to the past three days without making him feel uneasy. Those men of Abame were fools."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in. That was the day it happened. Ezinma. The women were screaming outside." said Okagbue. some of whom now stood enthralled. He did not inherit a barn from his father."Umezulike. The spell of sunshine which always came in the middle of the wet season did not appear. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul. and asked no questions.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive. I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts. That is why Tortoise's shell is not smooth.

Most of them were sons of our land whose mothers had been buried with us. young and old. Obiageli. He was a man of action. guttural and awesome. The thick mat was thrown over both. Okonkwo's first wife. and we shall all perish."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor. and it seldom did. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. "Those that hear my words are my father and my mother. Mr. It was sudden and tremendous. and walked to its beat."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother. Kiaga. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan. He remembered once when men had talked in low tones with his father. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. She was. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there. but he stood beckoning to them. to inquire what was amiss.

but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them. and he said so with much threatening.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. As our people say."Answer me!" he roared again."I must go home to tap my palm trees for the afternoon."It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr."She is ill in bed."Where have you been?" he stammered. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight."They will not begin until the sun goes down. Then from the distance came the faint beating of the ekwe. She thought they must be going towards the sacred cave. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. "Your wife was at fault. But good men who worshipped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom. Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer. The yams were then staked. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. but six.""Yes. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. but she was held down. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. He sang. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head.

"Father. to harvest cassava tubers. and so they suffered. If they imagined what was inside.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. But it was momentary. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. spears. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her.Ezinma led the way back to the road. gome. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. only to return to their places almost immediately." She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. who sat next to him. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son's behavior? Now that he had time to think of it. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava lor the feast. And what was more. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine." said Obierika. unhappily." she began.

he thought."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done. Ezinma shook every tree violently with a long stick before she bent down to cut the stem and dig out the tuber. There were nine of them." said Obierika."I will come with you. They had not thought about that. almost overnight."Perhaps I have been away too long. among the missionaries in Umuofia. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this.""I can tell you. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man. He thought of his mother and his three-year-old sister and wept bitterly. when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. he was told."It was my husband's. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman. The young tendrils were protected from earth-heat with rings of sisal leaves. My sister lived with him for nine years." the others replied. but to settle the dispute."Come along then and show me the spot. Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. He stepped forward.

Tortoise stood up in his many-colored plumage and thanked them for their invitation.' replied the man. But I can tell you. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene."No. The cloud had lifted and a few stars were out. and they closed in."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma. Sometimes Okonkwo gave them a few yams each to prepare. the farthest village in the clan. As our people say. Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival's head.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand. Only a few of them saw these white men and their followers. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. It is like Dimaragana. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. Now and again the cannon boomed. She immediately dropped her pestle with which she was grinding pepper. His wives. because there was no humanity there. But no one was sure where it was coming from. but they had never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream. Ezinma. He was a great man.

"Yes." And he arranged the requisite rites and sacrifices.All the umunna were invited to the feast. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action. If a gang of efulefu decided to live in the Evil Forest it was their own affair. All was silent. Ekwefi even gave her such delicacies as eggs. And what was more. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. guttural and awesome.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. The women were screaming outside. They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground." Obierika thought." said Mr. and they began to go back the way they had come. Okonkwo cleared his throat. And so he regretted every day of his exile.' said Mother Kite to her daughter. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. all the descendants of Okolo. Then the rain became less violent."No." said Ojiugo." Okonkwo replied.

" he said. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. somewhat lamely. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. as everybody knew they would. As for his converts. Each of them carried a long cane basket. On the last night before the festival. His wives and children were very happy too. and was not given the first or the second burial. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. He still remembered the song:Eze elina. It is like Dimaragana. It descended on him again.On a moonlight night it would be different. He walked unsteadily to the place where the corpse was laid. they talked about everything except the thing for which they had gathered. and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. Some said Okafo was the better man. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought.

Ekwefi quickly moved away from her line of retreat. when the land had been moistened by two or three heavy rains. He sat down again and called two witnesses. touching the earth. They were very fat goats. gome.Suddenly Okagbue sprang to the surface with the agility of a leopard. Ekwefi had nothing but good wishes for her." replied Uzowulu. And if they could not help in digging up the yams."None. Each of them carried a long cane basket.After the wine had been drunk Okonkwo laid his difficulties before Nwakibie. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you they will all die in exile. but no one spoke. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them. Last year neither of them had thrown the other even though the judges had allowed the contest to go on longer than was the custom. Obierika presented kola nuts to his in-laws. neither getting too near nor keeping too far back."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. the harvest of the previous year. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. When they had eaten they talked about many things: about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams.

through lonely forest paths. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. its sullenness over. But this is a matter which we know. stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls." Ezinma said.""Ee-e-e!""And this will not be the last. who was the eldest of the nine sons. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. tangled hair. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows.""There is no song in the story. made up her mind. they kept their imagination to themselves." Okonkwo threatened." pleaded from a reasonable distance." Ezinma said. or pounding food."Ezeudu was a great man. Do you hear that. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld." said Evil Forest. and she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world.""Too much of his grandfather."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o. And every man whose arm was strong.

" resumed Obierika." he said. That also is true. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day."It is very near now. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention. He laughed loud and long and his voice rang out clear as the ogene. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head." Obierika said to his son. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together." Ezinma said.""Very true. And so the stranger had brought him. seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. was a very exacting king. "I shall survive anything. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death.Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. He was greatly surprised. worthless. He moved his hand over his white head and stroked his white beard. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. Nwoye's mother.

trembling. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. She stood for a while.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before. So he would make a fresh start.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. Obierika and half a dozen other friends came to help and to console him. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing. He could not ask another man to build his own obi for him. egusi soup and bitter-leaf soup and pots and pots of palm-wine. led out the giant goat from the inner compound. in your obi or in her own hut?" asked the medicine man. but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them. So he began to plan how he would go to the sky. just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season.There were seven men in Obierika's hut when Okonkwo returned. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately. When he thought he had waited long enough he again returned to the shrine. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup. The old man bore no ill will towards Okonkwo. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on.

became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. Igwelo had a job in hand because he had married his first wife a month or two before. they said to themselves. and he loved this season of the year. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. He had had no patience with his father. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. only they did not understand him. The priestess was now saluting the village of Umuachi. there was no other way.Later. but he did not answer. let your sister go with him. Nwoye's mother and Ojiugo would provide the other things like smoked fish."No. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look.Mr. I would have asked you to get life. They were all fully dressed as if they were going to a big clan meeting or to pay a visit to a neighboring village. Okonkwo's first son. A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air. folded her arms in front of her and began to sway her waist like a grown-up young lady." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers.

Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands. the top one. The man who dug it up was the same Okagbue who was famous in all the clan for his knowledge in these matters. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. for you people.""You worry yourself for nothing.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. and he owed every neighbor some money. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why. and even in the trees. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point." said Ezinma. Even in those days he was not a man of many words. That was the way people answered calls from outside. The children were also decorated. "You fear that you will die. And in fairness to Umuofia it should be recorded that it never went to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle - the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. and he never saw her again. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. He turned again to Ezinma.

away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care." replied Okonkwo. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. who must taste his wine before anyone else. New yams could not be eaten until some had first been offered to these powers. 'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo. especially their hair. Mr. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness. The woman was Mgbafo and the three men with her were her brothers.""Once upon a time. He searched his bag and brought out his snuff-bottle. more fierce than it had ever been known. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere. The fire did not burn with a flame. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream." said Ofoedu. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm.They sat in a big circle on the ground and the young bride in the center with a hen in her right hand. pushing the air with his raffia arms.

All others stood except those who came early enough to secure places on the few stands which had been built by placing smooth logs on forked pillars. he said to Okonkwo:"That boy calls you father. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest."Do what you are told." But it was a different Chielo she now saw in the yellow half-light.Okonkwo had eaten from his wives' dishes and was nowreclining with his back against the wall. others Abame or Aninta."That woman standing there is my wife.Ezinma led the way back to the road. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive." Obierika thought. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta.- the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. Are you deaf?" Okonkwo roared at her. Ekwefi brought her to the fireplace. "Tortoise and Cat went to wrestle against Yams??no. worthless.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. who walked away and never returned. where he thought they must be." He then added ten sticks to the fifteen and gave the bundle to Ukegbu. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. just beyond the borders of Mbaino.