called Ikemefuna. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. which had been stretched taut with excitement. He had felt very anxious but did not show it.

Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags
Obierika pointed at the two heavy bags." said Ibe. Fireflies went about with their tiny green lamps. She was. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays. That was the only time Ekwefi ever saw Ogbu-agali-odu.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud."Where do you sleep with your wife. tall." he said." said Obierika to his son. "They are pieces of wood and stone. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues." said Obierika. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. Now that she walked slowly she had time to think. he was repentant." she said when they got to the tree. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves." said Obierika. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. although one of them did not speak Ibo. watching. Listen to me and I shall tell you. and it came floating on the wind.

Thelocusts had not come for many. This was before the planting season began. Nma. Fortunately. He had called the first child born to him in exile Nneka??"Mother is Supreme"??out of politeness to his mother's kinsmen.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. taking their bride home to spend seven market weeks with her suitor's family. the emanation of the god of water. 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. But two years later when a son was born he called him Nwofia??"Begotten in the Wilderness. welcoming it back from its long. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma. Okonkwo walked behind him. Okonkwo did not know at first that she was not at home. and none of them died. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. But she picked her way easily on the sandy footpath hedged on either side by branches and damp leaves. When he had swallowed them. Nwoye's sister." came her voice.'"Tortoise had a sweet tongue. This was a womanly clan. "that I shall bring many iron horses when we have settled down among them. women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight.

who lived near the udala tree. demolished his red walls. Kiaga. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. she could bear no other person but her father. guttural and awesome." He went away to his hut and Ekwefi began to tend the medicine pot almost as if it was itself a sick child. Chielo passed by. Ekwefi believed deep inside her that Ezinma had come to stay. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you they will all die in exile."What is iyi-uwa?" she asked in return. "They are pieces of wood and stone. The chalk women also returned to tell a similar story. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him.The elders. "They want to ruin us.""Does the white man understand our custom about land?""How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad. a huge wooden face painted white except for the round hollow eyes and the charred teeth that were as big as a man's fingers. He had not hoped to get more than four hundred seeds. His mother and sisters worked hard enough. and sent for the missionaries. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers.

not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia. who drank a cup or two each. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. you have become a woman indeed. And every man whose arm was strong. guns and even his cannon. "Your friend Anene asked me to greet you." he said. but no one spoke. It looked like whispering. I weed ?C I??; ??Hold your peace!" screamed the priestess. A snake was never called by its name at night. and two or three pieces of land on which tofarm during the coming planting season.When the heat of the sun began to soften. the harvest of the previous year. Go ahead and prepare your farm. All was silent. suddenly changed his mind and agreed to take the message. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause."He does not know that either.""They are not all that young. more terrible and more sinister than the anger. It contained other things apart from his snuff-bottle. 'Ogbuefi Ndulue. The barn was built against one end of the red walls. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest.

"Our father. It was even heard in the surrounding villages.""God will not permit it." said Mgbogo's next-door neighbor. Go ahead and prepare your farm. and asked no questions."We have now built a church. When he brought out the snuff-bottle he tapped it a few times against his knee-cap before taking out some snuff on the palm of his left hand.The daughters of the family were all there. Perhaps she has come to stay. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi." he said. Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest. light and gay. "His name is Amadi.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. He had felt very anxious but did not show it. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him. And every man whose arm was strong."Your buttocks said he had a son. I have waited in vain for my wife to return."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive." said Ofoedu. "Ozoemena was.""Go and bring our own. From a distance the noise was a deep rumble carried by the wind.

"Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes.""Go and bring our own." The boy smiled. and he prayed to the ancestors. The married women wore their best cloths and the girls wore red and black waist-beads and anklets of brass.Ekwefi put a few live coals into a piece of broken pot and Ezinma carried it across the clean swept compound to Nwoye's mother. because there was no humanity there."Because I did not want to. You grew your ears for decoration.She did not know how long she waited." said Ezinma. Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man."Oho.""It is like the story of white men who." Okonkwo replied." he told her. She prepared it the way he liked??with slices of oil-bean and fish. At the opposite end of the compound was a shed for the goats. We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers. But it was useless. and the planting began. The first cup went to Okonkwo. It filled him with fire as it had always done from his youth. the distance they had covered. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them. with a start.

' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonkwo had already become famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. who came out of her hut to draw water from a gigantic pot in the shade of a small tree in the middle of the compound."Ekwefi turned the hen over in the mortar and began to pluck the feathers." he intoned. But they were still alive. It was Nwoye's mother. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo. thirty-five.""You do not understand. and the elders of his family. When the moon rose late in the night."I am following Chielo. Ezinma struggled to escape from the choking and overpowering steam. She was very heavy with child. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest. There was the story of a very stubborn man who staggered back to his house and had to be carried again to the forest and tied to a tree.Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves. Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health.As soon as day broke."She has gone to plait her hair. 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. Amalinze was a wily craftsman." said another man.

lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper. making music and feasting." suggested Okonkwo. as everybody knew they would.Mr.He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi."That was many years ago. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper. and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. but nothing came out. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. and Obiageli told her mournful story. and his children after him. And so they killed him. There was coming and going between them. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. Twenty. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonkwo had already become famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness." replied Obierika.Okonkwo's wives. When the moon rose late in the night. Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize. and through these Okonkwo passed the rope." said one of the younger men.

Evil Forest then stood up." said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. as she had accepted others??with listless resignation." said Obierika. At the end.One morning Okonkwo's cousin. The rainbow was called the python of the sky. and they closed in. something felt in the marrow. but she went to Okonkwo's compound."Father."I don't know why such a trifle should come before the said one elder to another. But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. All the neighbors and relations who had come to mourn gathered round them. As our people say. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams. Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs.As for the boy himself. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. and when they had seen it and thanked him." said the joker. But they always returned to the long rope he trailed behind. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs.

He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. and Okonkwo filled his horn again. more fierce than it had ever been known.And then the egwugwu appeared.""Ee-e-e!""This is not the first time my people have come to marry your daughter. That was a favorite saying of children. 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. Spirits always addressed humans as "bodies. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night. like splitting wood." said Machi. She hurried through Okonkwo's hut and went outside. she could bear no other person but her father."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. Ekwefi was also awakened and her benumbed fears revived.Umuofia had indeed changed during the seven years Okonkwo had been in exile. and the women had formed themselves into three groups for this purpose."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother."We shall be going. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. They were all fully dressed as if they were going to a big clan meeting or to pay a visit to a neighboring village. "I had something better to do. He hit the bottle against his knee to shake up the tobacco." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo.

It seemed as if the world had gone mad. overpowered him and obtained his first human head. and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and Emefo.Okonkwo was well received by his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta. They faced the elders." he said. The bride-price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed. It was quiet and confident. She could not see beyond her nose. Everybody was lean except Cat. Ekwefi muttered." said one of the younger men. The first cock has crowed."I will come with you. And there were again only three. unlike most children. Ezinma?""She has been very well for some time now." said Mr. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola. Some years the harmattan was very severe and a dense haze hung on the atmosphere. Unoka was never happy when it came to wars.""You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle. on the other hand. Obierika's second wife followed with a pot of soup. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death.

The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase. Okonkwo.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. But the song spread in Umuofia. That woman. A sudden hush had fallen on the women. 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. but offered to use his teeth. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance." Okonkwo and Obierika said together. and about the locusts?? Then quite suddenly a thought came upon him." he answered." said Obierika's eldest brother. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness. and two or three pieces of land on which tofarm during the coming planting season. But before he could answer." roared Okonkwo. women and children. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears." she said. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled.

and Okonkwo filled his horn again. They had the same style and one saw the other's plans beforehand. Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred." he said sadly. and to soften his heart with a song of the suffering of the sons of men. Ezinma was crying loudly now.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons."We have now built a church. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. "Kill one of your sons for me. and went round the circle shaking hands with all. Her voice was as clear as metal. Nwoye remembered this period very vividly till the end of his life. but he did not know where to begin. After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa." And he did. "Those that hear my words are my father and my mother. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. The rainbow was called the python of the sky. There must have been about ten thousand men there. Nwayieke lived four compounds away. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut." Okonkwo thought within himself.Ezinma was an only child and the center of her mother's world. and was punished.

She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. they said to themselves. There was a famine in those days and Tortoise had not eaten a good meal for two moons. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom. it is play'. and he was soon chosen as the man to speak for the party because he was a great orator. He who brings kola brings life. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes. passed through his obi and into Ekwefi's hut and walked into her bedroom." said Obierika. Her fear had vanished. the Evil Forest was a fit home for such undesirable people."That is not strange. All cooking pots. Everybody was lean except Cat. suddenly found an outlet. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed." Okonkwo asked himself. Near the barn was a small house. '1 am a changed man. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. "I shall not talk about thanking you any more.""I think she will stay. nor the walls of his compound.

"You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat. Okonkwo's youngest wife also came out and joined the others." said the convert. and so the victim could not be buried in her bowels." said another woman. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other diety. in their due proportions. and went away.""All their customs are upside-down. 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. She sometimes broke into a run and stopped again suddenly. But some of these losses were not irreparable. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound. and it seldom did.When the heat of the sun began to soften. like the prospect of annihilation. Thirty."When your wife becomes pregnant again. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. Your mother is there to protect you. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored. 1 know how to deal with them. She had.

""Once upon a time. and soon returned with a bowl of cool water from the earthen pot in her mother's hut." Okonkwo said. metallic and thirsty clap." roared Okonkwo. yellow and dark green. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. and sat speechless." he said. "My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. for he had no grave. carrying a basket full of water.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi.It was going to be Okonkwo's last harvest in Mbanta. It ended on the right. panting. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. The moon had been rising later and later every night until now it was seen only at dawn.And so nature was not interfered with in the middle of the rainy season.- then silence descended from the sky and swallowed the noise. nor even a young wife."Remove your jigida first." said Okagbue. and kill him there. Okonkwo was one of them.

"In those other clans you speak of. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. but no one thought the stories were true. my friend. Okonkwo cleared his throat. looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty??the new year. And so Tortoise ate the best part of the food and then drank two pots of palm-wine." said Nwakibie. "I sold the big ones as soon as you left. The elders said locusts came once in a generation. Where is my daughter. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. Now and again an ancestral spirit or egwugwu appeared from the underworld. But it was as silly as all women's stories."How is your father?" Obierika asked. the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. "Poor child. the emanation of the god of water." said Okonkwo. And yet we say Nneka - 'Mother is Supreme. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. There was something in it like the companionship of equals. They had not thought about that. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. No.

'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. only they did not understand him. was a failure."That was about five years ago. One day as Ezinma was eating an egg Okonkwo had come in unexpectedly from his hut. But this is a matter which we know. do you know me?""How can I know you. as a sullen husband refuses his wife's food when they have quarrelled. He spoke through an interpreter who was an Ibo man. They had not thought about that. Mr. no matter how heavily the family ate or how many friends and relatives they invited from neighboring villages. And then like the sound of his cannon he crashed on the compound. Nwoye. He was greatly surprised.The priestess had now reached Okonkwo's compound and was talking with him outside his hut. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. On her arms were red and yellow bangles. pulled out his staff and thrust it into the earth again. and you can teach us the things of the new faith. I think. The men brought their goatskin mats. then. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. a place which was already becoming remote and vague in his imagination.

" She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. and was about to say something when the old man continued:"Yes. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams. and so everyone in his family listened. 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. and he owed every neighbor some money. should he. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family. They saluted one another and then reappeared on the ilo. There is only one true God and He has the earth. tapped it on his kneecap. thirty-five." said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh." was joyfully chanted everywhere. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all. He spoke through an interpreter who was an Ibo man."We have now built a church."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. But no one was sure where it was coming from." Obierika said to Nwoye. There were twenty-two of them."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. 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. machetes.

""Is he well?" asked Nwoye."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them." said another woman." said Ezinma. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams. I shall give you some fish to eat.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. would wipe them off the face of the earth. But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged."Just then Obierika's son.There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns. There were also pots of yam pottage.""Don't cry. Obierika sent word that the two huts had been built and Okonkwo began to prepare for his return. especially these days when young men are afraid of hard work. "My son has told me about you. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. others said he was not the equal of Ikezue. Chielo was not a woman that night. Kiaga's joy was very great. and asking it if it had brought home any lengths of cloth. and he prayed to the ancestors. ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls."Yes. pointing at the far wall of his hut.

"Because I did not want to.As they spoke two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu. One mind said to her: "Woman."Odukwe's body. Ojiugo. In the other group were her husband. Five matches ended in this way. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing." he said. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land. She saw the other children with their water-pots and remembered that they were going to fetch water for Obierika's wife. with sticks." His staff came down again. which had been stretched taut with excitement. But she had lived so long that perhaps she had decided to stay. "Whether you are spirit or man."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. They became ordinary human beings again. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her."Akueke moved to the other end of the hut and began to remove the waist-beads. that Ekwensu. "His name is Amadi. He said he was one of them. The priestess.Many people went out with baskets trying to catch them." He paused.

When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. had entered his eye. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories. Kiaga.It came slowly. the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. She wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full. especially the youngest. 1 owe them no cocoyams." said Evil Forest. Ekwefi and her only daughter. should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. It throbbed in the air. and had just married his third wife. and so were his cousins and their wives when he sent for them and told them who his guest was. but nothing like this had ever happened. and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. When they had gone round the circle they settled down in the center. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. And so.

"And he was riding an iron horse. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. Njide. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. and she put all her being into it.At last the rain came. She rose."No. Chielo."The two men sat in silence for a long while afterwards. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm. They asked who the king of the village was.There were no stars in the sky because there was a rain-cloud. We heard of it. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth.Before it was dusk Ezeani. Nobody thought that such a thing could ever happen. Bring me my daughter. Three men beat them with sticks. who was then an ailing man. the fear of the forest. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running. I began to own a farm at your age. "1 have brought you this little kola. Kiaga's joy was very great. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were.

She is called Ozoemena. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. Nothing happened at its proper time. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground. "I remember now."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend."We cannot all rush out like that. '1 am a changed man. like a funeral. Ekwefi was also awakened and her benumbed fears revived. "And you know how leaves become smaller after cooking. It was Chielo. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul??the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. and then flew away. He could hear in his mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. So they made a powerful medicine. Then he burst out:"Never kill a man who says nothing. Uzowulu. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush."And why did you not say so. I do not owe my inlaws anything. He put them in the pot and Ekwefi poured in some water.Then the missionaries burst into song." said Obierika. The hosts nodded in approval and seemed to say.

' she called." said Uchendu after a long silence. stopped them."This is Obierika. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. "Life to all of us. She had got ready her basket of coco-yams and fish. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives."Another woman said. through lonely forest paths. Okonkwo stood by. calling him "Our father. Why is that? Your mother was brought home to me and buried with my people. It was a fierce contest. The younger of his sons. not even with broomsticks."I beg you to accept this little kola. The crowd followed her silently. greeted themselves in their esoteric language. And so they walked out together. Nwoye was there. "I have felt it. and as it dwelt on it. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up. It would not be long before the suitors came.

Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark. and then painted his big toe. and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point." replied Uzowulu. using some of the chicken. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. All the grass had long been scorched brown."Ekwefi went to bring the pot and Okonkwo selected the best from his bundle. It was like a wedding feast. and sat speechless. Once she tripped up and fell. Ezinma turned left as if she was going to the stream. gome."Father. It was also the dumping ground for highly potent fetishes of great medicine men when they died.""They dare not bring fewer than thirty pots. He sat down again and called two witnesses. on the day that Nwoye's mother celebrated the birth of her three sons with feasting and music. 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. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. When he brought out the snuff-bottle he tapped it a few times against his knee-cap before taking out some snuff on the palm of his left hand. But they soon returned and everyone was gazing at the rag from a reasonable distance. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. which had been stretched taut with excitement. He had felt very anxious but did not show it.