Umuofia. and the other an old and faint shadow. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day.

It was Nwoye's mother
It was Nwoye's mother. because you understand us and we understand you. Even in those days he was not a man of many words. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season.The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life. But he had long learned how to lay that ghost." he said. '1 am a changed man. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush." she said. and Ikemefuna. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. "My son has told me about you." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child." he said. but its vigor was undiminished. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. He died and rotted away above the earth. "If you split another yam of this size. Women and children returning from the stream with pots of water on their heads wondered what was happening until they saw Okagbue and guessed that it must be something to do with ogbanje.In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo's household. I shall give you twice four hundred yams. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day.

and on her waist four or five rows of jigida. The drums begin at noon but the wrestling waits until the sun begins to sink. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. "Your wife was at fault."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. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth. "But what is good in one place is bad in another place. especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. who was a prosperous farmer." he said. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. who was the priest of the earth goddess. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme. and terror seized her. He did not understand it. or God's house. We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas.""It is already too late. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen."Thank you. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. Okonkwo. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. His wives and children were very happy too. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. Okonkwo.

Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools.At last the rain came.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu. building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher. light and gay.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child." she replied. Some of them were accompanied by their sons bearing carved wooden stools. and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. and stayed. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. refreshed and thankful."Then I shall go back to the clan." said Okonkwo.But there were many others who saw the situation differently.""What has happened to that piece of land in dispute?" asked Okonkwo. It was Chielo." Ekwefi said to the woman who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her since the beginning of the matches. my daughter." resumed Obierika. because it judged a man by the work or his hands. It was a different woman??the priestess of Agbala.

They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full.""It is the result of a great medicine.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi. Evil Forest then stood up. There were many women. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. roots snapped below. deeply. like a son. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. as the saying goes. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. "I have heard that many years ago. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second. something felt in the marrow. "Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter." said Akukalia. He was ill for three market weeks. red in tooth and claw. working feverishly from one drum to another."Tell my wife. who said he should die. which every man kept in his obi and with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see.

" said Nwoye's mother. Like all good farmers."As they spoke Ezinma emerged from the hut. Tortoise had no wings. she did not hear them.""That is very bad. He ate a few more pieces of plaintain and pushed the dish aside. who was a prosperous farmer.""I shall wait too. She put back the empty pot on the circular pad in the corner. The men trod dry leaves on the sand. and Obiageli told her mournful story. I shall pay you. more fierce than it had ever been known. she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth.He was a person dedicated to a god.Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. Now and again the cannon boomed." said Uchendu after a long silence.Ekwefi still had some cassava left on her farm from the previous year. in your obi or in her own hut?" asked the medicine man."Having spoken plainly so far. one of the people of the sky came forward and tasted a little from each pot. Then it went nearer and named the village: " Iguedo of the yellow grinding-stone!" It was Okonkwo's village.""Go and bring our own. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him.

especially as he looked somewhat different from the others."That is not strange.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. As soon as she got up. The hearing then began. It was called a string." He looked at Okonkwo. whereupon his father beat him heavily. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries."Before God. "The children are still very young. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor." said another. It was after such a day at the farm during the last harvest that Nwoye had felt for the first time a snapping inside him like the one he now felt. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word.""There is no song in the story. Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health. He wore a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute."What does it all mean?" asked Mr. "They have that custom in Obodoani. Not long after." They were hard and painful on the body as they fell. At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground. and the crowd answered. They danced back to the center together and then closed in.

But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray. I have waited in vain for my wife to return. Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Their children carried pots of water. The young men who kept order flew around.As soon as his father walked in. On the last night before the festival.Uchendu took the hen from her. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.It was late afternoon before Nwoye returned. he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. He had called the first child born to him in exile Nneka??"Mother is Supreme"??out of politeness to his mother's kinsmen. i fear for the clan." said Ekwefi. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing.""Ee-e-e!""And this will not be the last. Yam. roots snapped below.The world was silent except for the shrill cry of insects. but he stood beckoning to them. Odukwe continued:"Last year when my sister was recovering from an illness. "It is not to pay you back for all you did for me in these seven years. of how his father.

stopped them. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. The children were also decorated." she replied and disappeared in the darkness."When they had eaten." answered one of Obierika's companions. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows. No! he could not be. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God." he announced when he sat down. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success.Sometimes a man came to consult the spirit of his dead father or relative. If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. Ojiugo's children were eating with the children of his first wife. They set fire to his houses. without serious danger to his own health. her face streaming with tears. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness.""He was indeed. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves.

and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. In the other group were her husband. He presented a kola nut and an alligator pepper. in their due proportions. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own. Gome."I did not know it was you. Nwoye was there. A man stood there with a machete in his hand. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead. And what was more. with her suitor and his relatives. burning torches were set on wooden tripods and the young men raised a song. She sometimes broke into a run and stopped again suddenly. my hand has touched the ground. Then it went nearer and named the village: " Iguedo of the yellow grinding-stone!" It was Okonkwo's village. I would have asked you to bring courage. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. that my children do not resemble me. Neither of the other wives had.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough.An iron gong sounded. We have tried to settle their quarrels time without number and on each occasion Uzowulu was guilty??""It is a lie!" Uzowulu shouted. "she will bring you back very soon."Don't be foolish.

" replied Ekwefi." asked another man. the sun is shining. All the family were there and some of the neighbors too. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping. I know it as I look at you. therefore. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Even the few kinsmen who had not been able to come had their shares taken out for them in due term. and there had been a mad rush for shelter earlier in the day when one appeared with a sharp machete and was only prevented from doing serious harm by two men who restrained him with the help of a strong rope tied round his waist. She beckons in front of her and behind her. Living fire begets cold. She ran faster. who was then an ailing man. decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune. He had therefore put his drinking-horn into his goatskin bag for the occasion. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions. lest he strike you in his anger. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. And for many days this rare food was eaten with solid palm-oil. he had stalked his victim." came the voice like a sharp knife cutting through the night. 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. They do not decide bride-price as we do."You must watch the pot carefully. and Okonkwo filled his horn again.

He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. Once or twice he tried to run away. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. in your obi or in her own hut?" asked the medicine man." said Obierika.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. Okonkwo brought out l??s big horn from the goatskin bag."Two years ago." said Obierika. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff.""But someone had to do it. who was once the village beauty. 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. Kiaga.The daughters of the family were all there. he had allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly interval to pass and then gone with his machete to the shrine."Ezeudu was a great man. She could not see beyond her nose. "I am an old man and I like to talk."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. It was like the market. As far as the villagers were concerned. which had dozed in the noon-day haze.

the emanation of the god of water. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent. which was fastened to the rafters. No. And if you stand staring at me like that.Okonkwo cleared his throat and moved his feet to the beat of the drums. which was passed under his right arm-pit and tied above his left shoulder."He will do great things. The priestess in those days was a woman called Chika. Ekwefi brought her to the fireplace." said Ofoedu. "Poor child. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. Evil Forest then stood up."Thank you."He sprang to his feet. Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman."Is Anasi not in?" he asked them. As they emerged into the open village from the narrow forest track the darkness was softened and it became possible to see the vague shape of trees. On her arms were red and yellow bangles. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. That was the day it happened. beat him up and took our sister and her children away." replied Okonkwo.

Living fire begets cold. The other people were released. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other diety.Okonkwo took the bowl from her and gulped the water down."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. came to visit him. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families. Have you not heard the song they sing when a woman dies?"'For whom is it well." he said as he broke it. But he thought that one could not begin too early. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. Obierika. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. Your mother is there to protect you. The lad's name was Ikemefuna."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. but he did not know where to begin." Ezinma said. "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. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo. But 1 thought you would need the money now and so I brought it. and each wife built a small attachment to her hut for the hens. And then the locusts came. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument."Have you?" asked Obierika. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.

He continued:"During the last planting season a white man had appeared in their clan. I shall pay you.Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them.At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves.Okonkwo was also feeling tired." he said. with music and dancing and a great feast. white foam rose and spilled over."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers." said the medicine man. It is like Dimaragana. Ezinma. She immediately dropped her pestle with which she was grinding pepper. Evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. I am Dry-meat-that-fills-the-mouth."Do what you are told.- they must be going towards Umuachi. If such a thing were ever to happen. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect. when the sun's heat had softened. Everybody in the crowd was talking.She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. the owner of all land. are known in all the clan for the weakness of your machete and your hoe. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. empty men.

Okonkwo did as the priest said. She looked very much like her mother. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat. Ekwefi tried to pull out the horny beak but it was too hard. 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.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi. All else was silent.' said Tortoise. "I dislike cold water dropping on my back. The heathen say you will die if you do this or that. buoyant maiden. and everybody agreed that he was as sharp as a razor. and they knocked against each other as he searched. But I can trust you. urging the others to hurry up. So they made a powerful medicine."My hand is on the ground. succulent breasts. The elders and grandees of the village sat on their own stools brought there by their young sons or slaves."I do not blame you. was celebrating his daughter's uri. All cooking pots. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect. The elders sat in a big circle and the singers went round singing each man's praise as they came before him.But the year had gone mad. said Ezeugo.

They throw away large numbers of men and women without burial."Yes." lied Nwoye's mother. He said he was one of them. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. He looked it over and said it was done. her face streaming with tears. he took with him his flute.At last the two teams danced into the circle and the crowd roared and clapped. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter."Uzowulu's body. and Umuofia. Nothing happened at its proper time. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. This was about eight days after the fight. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point. Her heart beat violently and she stood still. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. Kiaga."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. quietly and deliberately. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say." he said. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody.

for he knew certainly that something was amiss. others Abame or Aninta. in a terrifying voice. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!). Kiaga. beat me up and took my wife and children away. women and children.' Why is that?"There was silence. Then the foo-foo was served.Qkonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. The old man bore no ill will towards Okonkwo. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. he belonged to the clan as a whole." said Obierika.""You were very much like that yourself. He always said that whenever he saw a dead man's mouth he saw the folly of not eating what one had in one's lifetime." replied the other. And what is the result? Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead." said Ezinma. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches. "when she was pregnant. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking. Instead of saying "myself" he always said "my buttocks.

There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup." he said. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him." said the leader of the ecjwucjwu. These men must be mad. One of them was so old and infirm that he leaned heavily on a stick. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. and although ailing she seemed determined to live." she replied. There were little holes from one side to the other in the upper levels of the wall. The children had lost interest and were playing. Thelocusts had not come for many. It was a gay and airy kind of rain.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. and then. Ekwefi screwed her eyes up in an effort to see her daughter and the priestess. on their backs and their thighs. It was there that her third child was born and circumcised on the eighth day. The church had come and led many astray. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. will you go to see the wrestling?" Ezinma asked after a suitable interval. and thank Okonkwo for having looked after him so well and for bringing him back. are white like this piece of chalk. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves.

He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. boomed the hollow metal. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. watching." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger. were whispering together."Call your wife and child. The next child was a girl.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. In fact he recovered from his illness only a few days before the Week of Peace began. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation.The last match was between the leaders of the teams.' Do you know what he told the Oracle? He said. He is an exile. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in ihe assembly of the people. Okonkwo. We must cook quickly or we shall be late for the wrestling. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust. But I can tell you. A snake was never called by its name at night. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms. like something agitating with a metallic life.""Ee-e-e!""Prosperous men and great warriors. Ezinma took it to him in his obi." Ofoedu agreed. called round his neighbors and made merry.

metallic and thirsty clap. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others. 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. after the rains. Obierika. She understood things so perfectly.But some of the egwugwu were quite harmless.- one could not have known where one's mouth was in the darkness of that night."Point at the spot with your finger." He paused. He went into Ekwefi's hut. Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo. But that did not alter the facts."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive.It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta. and the world lay panting under the live. She thought of all the terrors of the night. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again.""I was only speaking in jest. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind." said Okonkwo.""If we leave our gods and follow your god. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. All cooking pots.

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. go in peace. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings." At the same time the priestess also said. "there is no slave or free.- you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil." said Ofoedu. who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him."That is not strange. 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. sandy footway began to throw up the heat that lay buried in it. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him.And then the egwugwu appeared.""You were very much like that yourself." said Uchendu. But all he said was: "When shall I go home?" When Okonkwo heard that he would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams. lasted only a brief moment."The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks." Okonkwo agreed. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. especially as he looked somewhat different from the others." said Ofoedu."As soon as he entered his last year in exile Okonkwo sent money to Obierika to build him two huts in his old compound where he and his family would live until he built more huts and the outside wall of his compound. their legs and feet.

The old man who received him was his mother's younger brother. But in this case she ran away to save her life." said Obierika. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. Nwoye's mother is already cooking. Some of them were not at home and only four came in.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. In the end Oduche died and Aneto was taken to Umuru and hanged. 'Ogbuefi Ndulue. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. afraid of your next-door neighbor. "1 do not know how to thank you.""You worry yourself for nothing."That is not strange." continued Odukwe. It was a cry in the distance: oji odu aru ijiji-o-o! (The one that uses its tail to drive flies away!). "They will put off Ndulue's funeral until his wife has been buried.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life.' replied the young kite. because you understand us and we understand you. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought. Okonkwo looked away." Obierika again drank a little of his wine. As our people say. And there was eating and drinking till night.

There were six of them and one was a white man. That woman. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. He was in fact an outcast. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. the son of Obierika. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. "Tortoise and Cat went to wrestle against Yams??no." the men said among themselves. "Agbala greets you. and stake them when the young tendrils appear. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price. 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. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. who had felt more angry than the others. Okagbue was a very striking figure. making music and feasting."Who taps your tall trees for you?" asked Obierika. His mother had wept bitterly. the top one. tall and strongly built. But they soon returned and everyone was gazing at the rag from a reasonable distance. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors.

Soon it covered half the sky. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people. That also is true. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind. Violent deaths were frequent. He would now have to make a bigger farm. men. she was dead. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited. So they made a powerful medicine. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive." said Obierika. Darkness held a vague terror for these people. and they closed in.Perhaps it never did happen." and was allowed to go wherever it chose. and about some effeminate men who had refused to come with them. He told them that the true God lived on high and that all men when they died went before Him for judgment. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. That week they won a handful more converts. which had dozed in the noon-day haze. leaving a regular pattern of hair. the troublesome nanny goat. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man.

" said Ekwefi."You must watch the pot carefully. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. who was the eldest of the nine sons. He still thought about his mother and his three-year-old sister."Locusts are descending. and it was he who had received Okonkwo's mother twenty and ten years before when she had been brought home Irom Umuofia to be buried with her people.Chielo's voice was now rising continuously. they could see from his color and his language." said the convert. the one young and beautiful. "I shall carry you on my back. But he thought that one could not begin too early. the god who cut a man down when his life was sweetest to him." He got up painfully." said an old man." he said. Okonkwo and the boys worked in complete silence. It was indeed the shrine of a great god. The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is returned. Ekwefi even gave her such delicacies as eggs."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. And he was afraid to look back. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. She was very heavy with child.

"Oho." said his eldest brother. She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them. "Welcome. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning. on their backs and their thighs.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost.""You do not understand. people said it was refusing food. and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians. If your in-law brings wine to you. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino." the convert maintained. The thick mat was thrown over both. and gave it to Ibe to fill."Evil Forest then turned to the other group and addressed the eldest of the three brothers.Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children. We did not see it. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. the shouting and the firing of guns. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. that man was okonkwo. He was tall and huge.The confusion that followed was without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia. and the other an old and faint shadow. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day.