or when they had a dispute with their neighbors.Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children. "If you split another yam of this size.

Some said Ezimili
Some said Ezimili. he fled to Aninta to escape the wrath of the earth."Leave her to me. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. He heard the blow. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. Ezinma went with her and helped in preparing the vegetables. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. He did not cry.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife's meal. with sticks." said Obiageli."We have now built a church."I will come with you. Ikemefuna was equally excited. which was rubbed with red earth so that it shone. "Whoever has a job in hand.

so his chi agreed. Unoka. It was instinctive. It filled him with fire as it had always done from his youth. Then Chielo's renewed outburst came from only a few paces ahead. closely followed by Nwoye and his two younger brothers. but now sat with Okonkwo in his obi. not only in his motherland but also in Umuofia."Come and shake hands with me.Obierika was a man who thought about things. The neighbors and relations also saw the coincidence and said among themselves that it was very significant. Okonkwo's son. They had not thought about that. But this is a matter which we know. Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. And then Nkechi came in.

and soon the children were chasing one of their cocks. "They want to ruin us. The new year must begin with tasty. you would still have committed a great evil to beat her. 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. The children were also decorated. and they each gave him a feather.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. the suitor. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house. each carrying a pot of wine." said Okonkwo. Violent deaths were frequent. calabashes and wooden bowls were thoroughly washed.

' said Tortoise. with love. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy." she replied.But Ezinma's iyi-uwa had looked real enough. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang. Many people looked around. He remembered his wife's twin children. or pounding food. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven." he said as he broke it."Sometimes I wish I had not taken the ozo title. He was the oldest man in Ire. Why is that? Your mother was brought home to me and buried with my people. When Ekwefi had followed the priestess. "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.

and within a short time all the birds agreed that he was a changed man. It was a fierce contest. The interpreter explained each verse to the audience. and after that the dry season. "That boy calls you father." he said."The next day a group of elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia came to Okonkwo's house early in the morning. And so she brought out her husband's hoes. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry." Obierika said to his son. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. or took pity on their mothers. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood. It was the time of the year when everybody was at home. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family.

"Do what you are told. "I do not blame you for not hearing the cock crow. The priestess.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. his mother was alive. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war." said Machi. his half-sister. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter. "and yet he is full of sorrow because he has come to live in his motherland for a few years." said Obierika. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly.""In future call her into your obi. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. Between Chielo's outbursts the night was alive with the shrill tremor of forest insects woven into the darkness.

and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. Okonkwo!" she warned. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back." he bellowed a fifth time."Take away your kola nut. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. made up her mind. he took with him his flute. He was in fact a coward and could not bear the sight of blood. Ezinma? You are older than Obiageli but she has more sense. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed." Okonkwo thundered. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu. When they finished.

Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders. cutting down every tree or animal they saw.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. lest he should be found to resemble his father. There must have been about ten thousand men there. "I will tell Obierika's wife that you are coming later. "that in some clans it is an abomination for a man to die during the Week of Peace."They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman. but not today. it is play'."Be patient. Ikemefuna looked back. His mother's kinsmen had been very kind to him. No. But his wives and young children were not as strong. now desperate.

Your generation does not know that. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" asked Okagbue when Ezinma finally stopped outside her father's obi. do you know me?""How can I know you. He drank palm-wine from morning till night. But his wives and young children were not as strong. not knowing what else to say.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. in the same way as they would meet if a death occurred . "I remember now. and two others after her. Many of them spoke at great length and in fury."You must take him to salute our father. And so the two of them refused every offer of marriage in Mbanta. Kiaga. the anger on his face was gone. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry.

I shall break your jaw. and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. Although he had felt uneasy at first. But her love of wrestling contests was still as strong as it was thirty years ago."I have come to you for help. or pounding food. I shall pay you. as usual.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. "they killed him and tied up his iron horse. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon."Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant. "Are you mad?"Okonkwo did not answer.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue.""I do not. In the morning he went back to his farm and saw the withering tendrils.

as usual. The hearing then began. Thelocusts had not come for many. "she will bring you back very soon.As soon as his father walked in. relaxed again. We should have waited for the sun to rise and dry the leaves." Okonkwo said between mouthfuls. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. even into people's beds. Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning. or obi. "What will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu into our midst? They will laugh. In her hand was the cloth pad on which the pot should have rested on her head. ivory spoon." ';. As the elders said.

Okonkwo took up his goatskin bag to go. on the other hand.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator and was always chosen to speak on such occasions."In her hut. When they finished. and you can teach us the things of the new faith." he said. The suitor was a young man of about twenty-five. And there were again only three. The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is returned. Nwoye's mother and Okonkwo's youngest wife were ready to set out for Obierika's compound with all their children." said Uchendu after a long silence.""You were very much like that yourself. Nwoye's mother. But no one was sure where it was coming from." And he told him what an osu was.

A man can now leave his father and his brothers.Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. Most of them were sons of our land whose mothers had been buried with us. was a man's crop. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. His eldest brother broke the first one. It was then that the one-handed spirit came. were fixed on her." said the convert. "They want to ruin us. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. And what do you think the Oracle would do then?""You know very well. When the will of the goddess had been done. young and old. The water began to boil.

but he went to the birds and asked to be allowed to go with them. the men returned with a pot of wine. his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs. yellow and dark green."A little more?? I said a little. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other diety. taking each string separately. If the song ended on his right foot. making music and feasting. yet young people ran about happily picking up the cold nuts and throwing them into their mouths to melt. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun. He told them that they worshipped false gods. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue." said someone light-heartedly and the crowd laughed. But it is not so."They are here. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind.

Ikemefuna looked back. He breathed heavily. self-assured and confident. She is called Ozoemena. let your sister go with him. One day as Ezinma was eating an egg Okonkwo had come in unexpectedly from his hut.""All their customs are upside-down. Then it occurred to her that they could not have been heading for the cave. It ended on the right. pushing the air with his raffia arms. greeted Okonkwo and turned towards the compound. "He seemed to speak through his nose. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. he is not too young. overpowered him and obtained his first human head. smiling. and we expected a big feast.

"They would have gone on arguing had Ofoedu not come in just then. or what?"The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. as on that day. He was in fact an outcast. Unoka would play with them. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest. She would wait at the mouth. Do not bear a hand in his death. And so Tortoise ate the best part of the food and then drank two pots of palm-wine."No. because it judged a man by the work or his hands. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight." urged the other women"None?" asked Njide. children sought for shelter. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. refreshed and thankful."Your buttocks understand our language.

" replied Obierika. shiny pebble fell out."That is not strange. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents. Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness. She ran faster."That is very good. but achievement was revered. a loud cheer rose from the crowd. burning forehead." he had said."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. 'You are full of cunning and you are ungrateful."It is near that orange tree. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors.Ezinma did not call her mother Nne like all children. "If you split another yam of this size.