morning?"Okonkwo said yes." Ekwefi said firmly."Don't cry. They sat in a half-moon.

" He looked in the direction of Okonkwo
" He looked in the direction of Okonkwo.As the broken kola nuts were passed round."Okonkwo brought the wine and they began to drink. The spirit of wars was upon them. Brown. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. This was before the planting season began. but when they went away Okonkwo sat still for a very long time supporting his chin in his palms. among the missionaries in Umuofia. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children. waving their palm fronds. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. "Our duty is not to blame this man or to praise that." said Obierika.The royal python was the most revered animal in Mbanta and all the surrounding clans. It was a great feast." said the leader of the ecjwucjwu. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. who had been talking. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms. "let her not sleep in her hut. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred ." he said.

The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip."We shall be going.'"Tortoise had a sweet tongue. who was the priest of the earth goddess." said Okonkwo as he rose to go. Okonkwo stood by. bringing the third dish."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. the sun is shining. If it ended on his left. and so they stood waiting. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long. because you understand us and we understand you. too busy to argue."The night was already far spent when the guests rose to go. and asked no questions."Since I survived that year. He was taking his family of three wives and their children to seek refuge in his motherland. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. he. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. Then send him word to fight for us. But it is not so.

and his face beamed. Unoka. "It is a strange and terrible story. my great friend. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk."As he was speaking the boy returned." said his father. Ikemefuna came into Okonkwo's household. He spoke through an interpreter who was an Ibo man. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. They were grieved by the indignity and mourned for their neglected farms. I salute you. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. the whole clan gathers there."But the leaves will be wet. Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration. i fear for the clan. the owner of all land. 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. but he stood beckoning to them. He did not inherit a barn from his father. They asked who the king of the village was.The women had gone to the bush to collect firewood. 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.

the priest of the earth goddess. who must taste his wine before anyone else. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man. The air was cool and damp with dew. Maduka.""Uzowulu's body.He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household. Soon after. One of them was a pathetic cry. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing. and how Sky withheld rain for seven years. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. My mother was one of you.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. If ever a man deserved his success. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart. when the land had been moistened by two or three heavy rains. She had about three teeth and was always smoking her pipe. they became the lords of the land. If a gang of efulefu decided to live in the Evil Forest it was their own affair. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes.

picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. the white men had also brought a government. and Ikemefuna. But all of a sudden she would go down again. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife." she began. which. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. It was not very easy getting the men of high title and the elders together after the excitement of the first day. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing. Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies? If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi." said Ezinma. They have a big market in Abame on every other Afo day and.""He tapped three of my best palm trees to death. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. They made single mounds of earth in straight lines all over the field and sowed the yams in them. There were six of them and one was a white man.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating." he said. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control. the priestess of Agbala. he was told.

but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree."Leave her to me. Even the greatest medicine men took shelter when he was near. And every man whose arm was strong. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast. who was then an ailing man.That was years ago."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms." said Obierika's other companion. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter. but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice.But. It was a fierce contest. "In those other clans you speak of. who will hold his head up among my people. to harvest cassava tubers. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape.' And so Daughter Kite returned the duckling and took a chick instead. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again.

"The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. Okonkwo had called in another medicine man who was famous in the clan for his great knowledge about ogbanje children."That is not strange. the whole clan gathers there. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. And now he was going to take the Idemili title. "Use the fan. Ekwefi was reassured. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. "lest Agbala be angry with you. Everybody had been invited??men. watching. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell. A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air. And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony.""Is he staying long with us?" she asked. Neighbors sat around. which only made the darkness more profound. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories." Ezinma said.

But it went from day to day without a pause. because it had been inadvertent. Some said Okafo was the better man." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. The daughters of Uehuiona were also there. And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace. The birth of her children. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. His greatest friend. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. Ezinma.' Those men of Abame were fools. and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed. But she refused them all. But in spite of these disadvantages. But the arrivees persevered. He fell and fell and fell until he began to fear that he would never stop falling. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed. like the snapping of a tightened bow. hung above the fireplace. One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. All that he required was something to occupy his mind. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan.

Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. the anger on his face was gone. And so when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole hardly big enough to pass a hen. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms. So I have brought the matter to the fathers of the clan.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries. "But I want all of you to note what 1 am going to say. Ezinma? Agbala wants to see her.""Ee-e-e!""Prosperous men and great warriors. When he walked. ivory spoon.""I can tell you."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. 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. having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices." ';. neither getting too near nor keeping too far back." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. They just pulled the stump. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. Tortoise's wife sent for him and he gathered all the bits of shell and stuck them together.

" she began. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. It was a warrior's funeral." The three rose and went outside. then. but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders.""It is already too late. Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains. very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. But he left hold of Nwoye. and. He had finished it on the very day the locusts came. We do not dispute it." said Ekwefi. and then you will know. He picked it up. whose feeling of importance was manifest in her sprightly walk. Abame??I know them all."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. "My father. Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her. "You are our teacher.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. He would now have to make a bigger farm.

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. The law of the clan is that you should return her bride-price. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. but nothing came out. Okagbue's voice was unchanged."Take away your kola nut." Ukegbu said.Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. and any time he passed her way he told Ear that he was still alive. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the center. not for hearing. Di-go-go-di-go-di-di-go-go floated in the message-laden night air."The crowd answered-." He rose and left the hut. as if he was going to pounce on somebody. I want you to be there.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat. because it had been inadvertent. At the end they decided. I shall do that every year until you return. I would have asked you to get life. calling on her mother.

"You are a big man now." said Obierika." she answered." Okonkwo replied. She ran faster." replied the white man. and washed away the yam heaps. Evil Forest then stood up.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma."You have not eaten for two days. None of them was a man of title. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. with sticks. sat on the floor waiting for him to finish.Ezinma grew up in her father's exile and became one of the most beautiful girls in Mbanta." He turned again to Okonkwo and said."Yes."I did not know it was you. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder. 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. The pot fell and broke in the sand. That also is true.And so nature was not interfered with in the middle of the rainy season. They said she was coming.

" he announced when he sat down. old way. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests." said Mr.""I do not. Now and again the cannon boomed. Then it went nearer and named the village: " Iguedo of the yellow grinding-stone!" It was Okonkwo's village. whose eyes. And then suddenly she had begun to shiver in the night." He danced a few more steps and went away. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago. her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. younger men gave way and the tumult subsided. but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches. and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise."Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol" It was just as Ekwefi had thought. but he had never yet come across them. but every farmer knew that without sunshine the tubers would not grow. The pots of wine stood in their midst. All that is true."The night was already far spent when the guests rose to go."Umuofia kwenu!" shouted the leading egwugwu.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend.

Even in those days he was not a man of many words. Ikemefuna came first with the biggest pot.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. But the song spread in Umuofia. or waist beads. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan. The pit was now so deep that they no longer saw the digger."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. Obierika. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives." came the voice like a sharp knife cutting through the night."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. gome went the gong. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man. spears. blew into it to remove any dust that might be there. Mighty tree branches broke away under them. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon. broke into life and activity."He belongs to the clan.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children.

Obierika had sent one of his relatives all the way to Umuike to buy that goat It was the one he would present alive to his in-laws. Her husband's first wife had already had three sons. and the smell of burning hair blended with the smell of cooking." said Obierika.""Nwoye is old enough to impregnate a woman.One day a neighbor called Okoye came in to see him." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. and the crowd answered. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.Before it was dusk Ezeani. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made. but he had not expected he would be so generous. Ekwefi and her only daughter.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup. waving their palm fronds."You will blow your eyes out. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. That was the day it happened." said Obiageli. suddenly changed his mind and agreed to take the message. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day.Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. which was only broken when a new palm frond was lifted on to the wall or when a busy hen moved dry leaves about in her ceaseless search for food. came into the obi from outside.

and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility.The men then continued their drinking and talking.The nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan. said Ezeugo. and you can teach us the things of the new faith. He was always alone and was shaped like a coffin. and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before. It was a deep bag and took almost the whole length of his arm. Bring me my daughter. I am an old man and you are all children. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino.""Once upon a time. Their wives also." Uzowulu replied. led out the giant goat from the inner compound. The next child was a girl.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival. and went round the circle shaking hands with all." the convert maintained." shouted Chielo. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk. women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight.

The royal python was the most revered animal in Mbanta and all the surrounding clans.""Nwoye is old enough to impregnate a woman. "You will find a pot of wine there. and the dry. Amadiora or the thunderbolt. and tears stood in his eyes. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy. gome. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. carried him shoulder high and danced through the cheering crowd. If I were you I would have stayed at home.Then the missionaries burst into song. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer." His tone now changed from anger to command. there was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day."1 don't know." Obierika said to his son."In her hut." said Obiageli."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. You know his first wife who walks with a stick?""Yes. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son. its sullenness over. Then the crier gave his message.

greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. and they beat the men. this feeling. And if you stand staring at me like that. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. white dregs and said. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house. Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut. Now Ekwefi was a woman of forty-five who had suffered a great deal in her time. I salute you. when they died. It was a smooth pebble wrapped in a dirty rag. or rather to his death. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew.Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound. welcoming it back from its long. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. These people are daily pouring filth over us." said Obierika. he was terribly afraid. The yams were then staked.

On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. If they imagined what was inside. "lest Agbala be angry with you.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. but offered to use his teeth. There were six of them and one was a white man. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo." he answered.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. 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. went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. Obiageli. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons.""The only other person is Udenkwo. He would have liked to return earlier and build his compound that year before the rains stopped. returning. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. Nwoye. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. and the crowd yelled in answer." he said and cleared his throat.

""I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl.The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought." She went into the hut again and brought down the smoke-black basket in which she kept her dried fish and other ingredients for cooking soup. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. who was fat and whose body shone as if oil was rubbed on it??"She broke off because at that very moment a loud and high-pitched voice broke the outer silence of the night.In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo's household. who was once the village beauty. He brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. rubbing her eyes and stretching her spare frame. and then. The dark top soil soon gave way to the bright red earth with which women scrubbed the floors and walls of huts. Today Okonkwo was not bringing his mother home to be buried with her people." Then more pots came. took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi. Her heart beat violently and she stood still.Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem." said the leader of the ecjwucjwu. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. They cross seven rivers to make their farms. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. "The bell-man announced it last night. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls.

Three men beat them with sticks."Our father." the convert maintained. We should have waited for the sun to rise and dry the leaves. they kept their imagination to themselves. Her fear had vanished. her face streaming with tears." said Obierika. My mother was one of you. The egwugwu had emerged once again from their underground home. Then the foo-foo was served." continued Odukwe. During those years no single day passed in the sky without his beating the woman.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. by Ezeani. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. It was an angry." He laughed a mirthless laughter." he intoned. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels.At first."Who taps your tall trees for you?" asked Obierika.

I fear for you. When a man blasphemes. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. Unoka stood before her and began his story. greeted themselves in their esoteric language. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. light and gay. and kill him there. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years.""Anyway. I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. therefore. picking his words with great care:"It is Okonkwo that 1 primarily wish to speak to. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. She was used to Chielo calling her "my daughter. Listen to me and I shall tell you.""That means you will see something. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. Chielo passed by. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet. making music and feasting." she began. They became ordinary human beings again.

had asked Ear to marry him. Trees were uprooted and deep gorges appeared everywhere. by Ezeani. leaving a regular pattern of hair. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. Okonkwo cleared his throat. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you. he was terribly afraid."He led Umuofia to war in those days." he said as he broke it..' Those men of Abame were fools. They would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets. I am not afraid of work. with which he carried the brown snuff to his nostrils." he said. Ekwefi even gave her such delicacies as eggs. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. Every man and woman came out to see the white man." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed.""Oho. You have committed a great evil. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. The yams put on luxuriant green leaves. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever.

"He led Umuofia to war in those days. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. my dear friend." said Uchendu. It was clear from his twinkling eyes that he had important news.' 'You must return the duckling.""He has. There were only four titles in the clan."I do not blame you. Has he thrown a hundred Cats?He has thrown four hundred Cats. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry." said Ekwefi. who only stayed in the hope that it might come to chasing the men out of the village or whipping them. Sometimes he decided that a yam was too big to be sown as one seed and he split it deftly along its length with his sharp knife. burning forehead. It was a tremendous sight. Machi. They had then drawn patterns on them in white. He brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. facing the elders and grandees of the clan. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it."Do you think you are cutting up yams for cooking?" he asked Nwoye. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup.

Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat." They laughed and agreed. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions.Having sworn that oath. But you were a fearless warrior. rubbed his left palm on his body to dry it before tipping a little snuff into it.But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through. as you know. a man of war. They sang his praise and the young women clapped their hands:"Who will wrestle for our village?Okafo will wrestle for our village. Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body. It was also part of the night. and it was their counsel that prevailed in the end. she prayed a thousand times." He put it down to his inflexible will.' said her mother. But no one was sure where it was coming from.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes." Ekwefi said firmly."Don't cry. They sat in a half-moon.