agony devoid of promise.- they merely set the scene. It was Chielo. He would be very much happier working on his farm."Mr. with love." said Ekwefi.

Okonkwo
Okonkwo. also had a basket of plantains and coco-yams and a small pot of palm-oil. And that could not be. Between Chielo's outbursts the night was alive with the shrill tremor of forest insects woven into the darkness. but she went to Okonkwo's compound. And if they could not help in digging up the yams. the anger on his face was gone." Okonkwo thought within himself. and earth and sky once again became separate. Okonkwo cleared his throat. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves.The last big rains of the year were falling. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season.

Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. He had tried to protect them from the smoldering earth by making rings of thick sisal leaves around them." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. or pounding food."Answer me!" he roared again. Because he had taken titles." said Obierika to his son." she began." Obierika replied sharply. some of them having come a long way from their homes in distant villages. He felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito. If they imagined what was inside. and so they stood waiting. or waist beads." suggested Okonkwo. 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.

what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. Twenty. She started to cry. Her mother consoled her and promised to buy her her another pot.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. anxiety. Rain fell as it had never fallen before. one of those wicked children who. which was now surrounded by spectators. She was very friendly with Ekwefi and they shared a common shed in the market. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him. She did not marry him then because he was too poor to pay her bride-price."It was my husband's. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. worthless.

you can tell a ripe corn by its look. They were all fully dressed as if they were going to a big clan meeting or to pay a visit to a neighboring village. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. "Tortoise and Cat went to wrestle against Yams??no. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. "If you split another yam of this size." said Mr. Now and again a full-chested lamentation rose above the wailing whenever a man came into the place of death. my friend." she said. The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. was a man's crop." said Ekwefi. And so nobody gave serious thought to the stories about the white man's government or the consequences of killing the Christians. and they were merely her messengers. I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself.

" said Okonkwo. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. I would have asked you to get life. first with little sticks and later with tall and big tree branches. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for. my sons. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors. "One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. when they died. It is a poor soil and that is why the tubers are so small. He calls you his father. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together. egusi soup and bitter-leaf soup and pots and pots of palm-wine.

young and old. They have said so. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. Spirits always addressed humans as "bodies. If it does its power will be gone. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop.That was many years ago. 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. burning forehead. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. and Umuofia. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. The air was cool and damp with dew. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd.

and his face beamed. my daughter. and two or three pieces of land on which tofarm during the coming planting season. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. "And he was riding an iron horse.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began."Go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return to you.Uchendu had been told by one of his grandchildren that three strangers had come to Okonkwo's house. And she had agreed. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry."Why do you stand there as though she had been kidnapped?" asked Okonkwo as he went back to his hut. How his mother would weep for joy. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. I shall give you twice four hundred yams.

And he did pounce on people quite often. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness.His anger thus satisfied. It was called a string. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. His own hut. His younger wives did that. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. "What we are eating is finished." said another woman. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial. It ended on the right." she said." Then more pots came. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor.

greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. But it only lasted till the end of the service. Was it not on an Eke day that they fled into Umuofia?" he asked his two companions.On a moonlight night it would be different. who clung to her. He hoped to get another four hundred yams from one of his father's friends at Isiuzo." roared Okonkwo. But it was the season of rest between the harvest and the next planting season. because you understand us and we understand you." said Okonkwo. 1 owe them no cocoyams. that is a boy's job. 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. Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. who was also the youngest man in the group. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born.

" Okonkwo agreed. and since he now had three wives his guests would make a fairly big crowd."At that moment Obierika's son. They were all fully dressed as if they were going to a big clan meeting or to pay a visit to a neighboring village. 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. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew.""Yes" said Obierika. the shouting and the firing of guns. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands. 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. and he was grateful. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. that is a boy's job. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it.

""Ee-e-e!"The oldest man in the camp of the visitors replied: "It will be good for you and it will be good for us. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. who had felt more angry than the others."Point at the spot with your finger. "Blessed is he who forsakes his father and his mother for my sake. dressed in garbs of war.Later. And she had agreed."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. which was now surrounded by spectators. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland. His sons brought out the pots of palm-wine. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia. They had thrown down their water-pots and lain by the roadside expecting the sinister light to descend on them and kill them.

he thought over the matter. 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.Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales in Mbanta and did not as yet affect the relationship between the new church and the clan. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened. that Ekwensu. Kiaga. and so everyone in his family listened. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. The sickness was an abomination to the earth. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. The world was now peopled with vague. There were huge bowls of foo-foo and steaming pots of soup." Quite often she bought beancakes and gave Ekwefi some to take home to Ezinma. and she put all her being into it. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause.

He told you that he came to take back her bride-price and we refused to give it him. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly."No. there was no other way. And what do you think the Oracle would do then?""You know very well. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . some of them with their water-pots to the stream. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive. Once in a while Chielo was possessed by the spirit of her god and she began to prophesy. ignorant of the love of God."It is not our custom to fight for our gods.""How did they get hold of Ancto to hang him?" asked Okonkwo. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. He had a bad chi or personal god. "How man men have lain with you since my brother first expressed his desire to marry you?""None.

and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them. because it would hear. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. It was not very long since they had returned. gome." said Idigo. Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. So he killed himself too.""Let them laugh. and the crowd yelled in answer."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." said another man. thus completing a circle with their hosts. and two others after her.

Then it occurred to her that they could not have been heading for the cave. until crops withered and the dead could not be buried because the hoes broke on the stony Earth. This year they were the wise ones. His mother might be dead. and earth rose. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude. Go home and work like a man. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. It was Okonkwo's uncle. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond. not for hearing. Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut."None. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm.

" said Ezinma. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. But it was a resilient spirit. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot. The air was cool and damp with dew.- they merely set the scene. My sister lived with him for nine years. If the song ended on his right foot. became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise.- they merely set the scene. It was Chielo. He would be very much happier working on his farm."Mr. with love." said Ekwefi.