Abame were fools. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. If one says no to the other.

"There is one important thing which we must not forget
"There is one important thing which we must not forget. unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. and the lad Ikemefuna. I knew your father. as was the custom. or obi. "1 shall think of another one with a song. and the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind. They sat in a half-moon."Abame has been wiped out. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them. His wives wept bitterly and their children wept with them without knowing why. Ekwefi and her daughter. 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. They have said so. Kiaga stood firm. Then it occurred to her that they could not have been heading for the cave.

Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. afraid to go in. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family. stroking her head. If we allow you to come with us you will soon begin your mischief. We heard of it. was quite harmless. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. to the boys and they passed it round the wooden stays and then back to him. Unoka stood before her and began his story. "Ozoemena was.But. And immediately Okonkwo's eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly. who was then an ailing man. afraid of your next-door neighbor. It was a full gathering of umuada. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads.

Okonkwo. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. and brought out his snuff-bottle from the goatskin bag by his side. When he had swallowed them. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut. She sometimes broke into a run and stopped again suddenly.When they had all gathered. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned."There is too much green vegetable."I have heard."Ekwefi. Okonkwo said yes very strongly. like a son. The pots of wine stood in their midst."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor."For the first time in three nights. His own hut.At last the rain came.

He is always in a hurry. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. He would now have to make a bigger farm. When a man blasphemes." They all laughed. which had dozed in the noon-day haze." He drank his palm-wine. many years. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again. light and gay. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families. for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well. Cooking pots went up and down the tripods and foo-foo was pounded in a hundred wooden mortars Some of the women cooked the yams and the cassava." said Obierika. That also is true. I greet you. He said he was one of them.

At last Sky was moved to pity." she began. made up her mind. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed. Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste??long. and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. They cross seven rivers to make their farms."Unoka was an ill-fated man. Her two children belong to Uzowulu. "The world has no end." suggested Okonkwo. It was slow and painful."I am calling a feast because I have the wherewithal. lasted only a brief moment.A hush fell on the compound immediately. Nothing that happened in the world of the animals ever escaped his notice. he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.

Okonkwo stood by the pit. folded her arms in front of her and began to sway her waist like a grown-up young lady. Had she been running too? How could she go so fast with Ezinma on her back? Although the night was cool. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan. Why is it that when a woman dies she is taken home to be buried with her own kinsmen? She is not buried with her husband's kinsmen. during the last harvest season. Unoka loved the good hire and the good fellowship."Go and bring me some cold water. Ekwefi quickly moved away from her line of retreat. because it had been inadvertent. years ago. And so the two of them refused every offer of marriage in Mbanta." roared Okonkwo. in the other hand. and the cannon shattered the silence. 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 so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut.

My mother's people have been good to me and 1 must show my gratitude.Ezinma lay shivering on a mat beside a huge fire that her mother had kept burning all night. burning forehead. The crowd followed her silently. Of course they had all heard the bell-man. She rose from her mat.Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. that Ekwensu. Nwoye was there. Obierika's relatives counted the pots as they came. and sometimes two rainbows. who was now in charge of the infant congregation. He then broke the kola nut and threw one of the lobes on the ground for the ancestors. Ojiugo. and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement."Ekwefi. looked left and right and turned right.""Yes. Can you tell me. No.

"You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. should he. I forgot to tell you another thing which the Oracle said. he has learned to fly without perching. the suitor. took a long broom and swept the ground in front of his father's obi. but I shall be happy if you marry in Umuofia when we return home." lied Nwoye's mother. But the drought continued for eight market weeks and the yams were killed. and Ojiugo's daughter. Abame??I know them all. their hoes and machetes. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him." replied the other. And there were indeed occasions when the Oracle had forbidden Umuofia to wage a war." the medicine man told Okonkwo in a cool.' she called. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic. i have only a short while to live.

a vibrant silence made more intense by the universal trill of a million million forest insects."The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child." said Ekwefi." said Okagbue. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger." Ezinma said. but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man's god would not last.""Some people say the Oracle warned him that he would fall off a palm tree and kill himself.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. "And you know how leaves become smaller after cooking. "Poor child. who walked away and never returned. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky." he said and cleared his throat. "The children are still very young. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. He raised it carefully with the hoe and threw it to the surface." he said quietly to Ezinma.

We heard of it. they say." Okonkwo said. The fire did not burn with a flame. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you. and our clan can no longer act like one.As soon as the day broke. lest he should be found to resemble his father. more terrible and more sinister than the anger."As they stood there together." he said.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival. He was to be called All oj you. others Abame or Aninta. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper. But he left hold of Nwoye. or osu. and passed the disc over to his guest."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked. "Ee-e-e!""We are giving you our daughter today.

She was alive and well. And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman. who was also the youngest man in the group. It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter. despite his madness. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. as everybody knew they would. They sympathized with their neighbors with much shaking of the head. he is not too young. conversing with his father in low tones. each carrying a pot of wine.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. The child was called Onwumbiko. the king of crops.Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife. and at the end of it beat his instrument again. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. overpowered him and obtained his first human head. and all over her body were black patterns drawn with uli.

"I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan."Forgive me. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. for you people. But you are still a child. This was before the planting season began. let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje. She walked numbly along. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. he belonged to the clan as a whole. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow."It is near that orange tree. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. They painted their bodies with red cam wood and drew beautiful patterns on them with uli. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. gome went the gong. Maduka. calling on her mother. They have a big market in Abame on every other Afo day and.

"Another woman said. "They use medicine. metallic and thirsty clap. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her."Okonkwo has spoken the truth. A snake was never called by its name at night. It was addressed as "Our Father. These people are daily pouring filth over us. or waist beads. Each of them carried a long cane basket." said Okonkwo. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister. and so the victim could not be buried in her bowels.After the wine had been drunk Okonkwo laid his difficulties before Nwakibie. not even with broomsticks. But somehow he knew he was not going to see them.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. they set off in a body.Mr.Ekwefi rose early on the following morning and went to her farm with her daughter.

"One of the young children had opened the gate of the cow-shed. 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. The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. 'When people are invited to a great feast like this. "The bell-man announced it last night. and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. burning forehead." he said. Those things a man built for himself or inherited from his father. She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. I shall give you some fish to eat. "So look after him.The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space.""They have indeed soiled the name of ozo. perhaps for the first time. The women began to talk excitedly. Am I dead? They said I would die if i took care of twins. Many people looked around.

And then appeared on the horizon a slowly-moving mass like a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia."Go and bring me some cold water. forty.""That is very bad. stood near the edge of the pit because he wanted to take in all that happened." he said. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry. "Ozoemena was. if they were stubborn. I have only called you together because it is good for kinsmen to meet.The wrestlers were now almost still in each other's grip. with her suitor and his relatives. Cam wood was rubbed lightly into her skin.They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. Obierika nodded in agreement. Ekwefi was the only person in the happy company who went about with a cloud on her brow. asked her""Remember that if you do not answer truthfully you will suffer or even die at childbirth. "But I am greatly afraid.

which was fastened to the rafters.In the morning the market place was full. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him."We cannot all rush out like that. She could no longer think. Then the foo-foo was served. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. As Idigo had said. She would die with her.It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta. neither early nor late. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing." He presented the kola nut to them. The elders said locusts came once in a generation.After the death of Ekwefi's second child. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. facing the elders and grandees of the clan.""Ee-e-e!""And this will not be the last. some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk.

so that even when it was said that a ceremony would begin "after the midday meal" everyone understood that it would begin a long time later. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son. That is all I am good for now. whose name was Ibe." he said. it was in large."We have heard both sides of the case."What happened?" her mother asked. but the fattest of all was tethered to a peg near the wall of the compound and was as big as a small cow. who then unrolled the goatskin which he carried under his arm. had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair. and she guessed they must be on the village ilo."Yes. But it was as silly as all women's stories."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. Do you hear that. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven."1 have told you to let her alone."They are here.

The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them."He has married Okadigbo's second daughter. Ikemefuna looked back. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves." said Okonkwo. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. and the quiet spectators murmured to themselves. the village playground."Call your wife and child. They became ordinary human beings again. She stood until Chielo had increased the distance between them and she began to follow again. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. He had cracked them himself. now said"You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. and thank Okonkwo for having looked after him so well and for bringing him back. Now you talk about his son. the priestess of Agbala. "They had been warned that danger was ahead.

for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. It was Okonkwo's uncle. He could neither marry nor be married by the free-born. They asked who the king of the village was. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother. She remembered that night. that my children do not resemble me.""Nwoye is old enough to impregnate a woman. Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success. And so everybody came to see the white man. Nothing wouldhappen to Ezinma."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. Uzowulu."It is here.""God will not permit it. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna.There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. and was not given the first or the second burial."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor. father? You are beyond our knowledge.

Then the crier gave his message. a good harvest and happiness. which was shaved in places. My mother was one of you. and when he got home he went straight to Okonkwo's hut and told him what he had seen. who drank a cup or two each. He had cracked them himself. If you think you are the greatest sufferer in the world ask my daughter. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village. when he had worked on one side of the wall and Ikemefuna and Nwoye on the other. He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo's return. She wore the anklet of her husband's titles." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two." he said.Ezinma grew up in her father's exile and became one of the most beautiful girls in Mbanta. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife. "Beware.' Those men of Abame were fools. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. If one says no to the other.