passed them over to his eldest brother. despite his madness. The blazing sun returned.

my sons
my sons. It was a story of brothers who lived in darkness and in fear. Ezinma's voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving farther and farther into the distance. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. She nodded. do you know me?""How can I know you. Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. "Kill one of your sons for me. 'Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him.That was years ago. beans and cassava."I have kola. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it.""The world is large. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. Mighty tree branches broke away under them. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. He looked terrible with the smoked raffia "body.

But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged. If you give me some yam seeds I shall not fail you."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. For three or four moons it demanded hard work and constant attention from cock-crow till the chickens went back to roost. passing back the disc. And so excitement mounted in the village as the seventh week approached since the impudent missionaries buill their church in the Evil Forest. only to return to their places almost immediately. who will hold his head up among my people.""Very true. and each stroke is one hundred cowries. and Odukwe bent down and touched the earth. go home before Agbala does you harm. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. "You are our teacher. Amikwu. thus completing a circle with their hosts. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success.

" ';."We cannot all rush out like that."Answer truthfully. I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts. It was an angry. and about some effeminate men who had refused to come with them. It was the fear of himself." came her voice."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo." he intoned. His greatest friend. Those things a man built for himself or inherited from his father. They all admired it and said that that was the way things should be done. At first the bride was not among them." replied Odukwe. because it would hear. people said it was refusing food." said Obierika. and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country.

"The village has outlawed us. unless it was one of the stubborn ones who returned.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost." He rose and left the hut. floated on the chaos. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all.As soon as his father walked in. The rain became lighter and lighter until it fell in slanting showers." He turned to Uzowulu's group and allowed a short pause." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. and a man who committed it must flee from the land. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. and saw those who stood or sat next to them.'"None of the birds had heard of this custom but they knew that Tortoise. Some people even said that they had heard the spirits flying and flapping their wings against the roof of the cave. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose. We all know him. from where he had espied a fire.

and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. And what was more. in their due proportions. Nwoye's sister. Kiaga. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death."Where else but in his house in the hills and the caves?" replied the priestess. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. There were five groups. Some said Okafo was the better man.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. "You are not a stranger in Umuofia." said Ofoedu. Okonkwo's first son. He did not inherit a barn from his father. Then came the voices of the egwugwu."Thank you. whom he nearly shot.

In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. It is like Dimaragana. and then passed two shares to Nwoye and Ikemefuna. "We do not ask for wealth because he that has health and children will also have wealth. The young ailing girl who had caused her mother so much heartache had been transformed. In the other group were her husband. who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him.""I can tell you.""Let us not reason like cowards." The boy smiled."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village. not even about the terrors of night."Go home and sleep. behind the crowd." said Obierika."The crowd roared with laughter. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body.

" said Obierika. all talking in low voices. But his wives and young children were not as strong."Ezinma ran in the direction of the barn and brought back two yams from the dwarf wall." he asked. As the evening wore on. The people surged forward. Ekwefi and her only daughter. It throbbed in the air. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept. Elumelu. he was not afraid now. carrying the stamp of their mutilation??a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye."Odukwe was short and thickset.Gradually the rains became lighter and less frequent. It was unbelievable. untouched by the ax and the bush-fire.' Maduka has been watching your mouth.

She could not see beyond her nose.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. some were orators who spoke for the clan.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about." said Ofoedu. 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. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. Age was respected among his people. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all.Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat. He asked Okagbue to come up and rest while he took a hand. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder.""He has. "You fear that you will die. As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had swallowed them."He led Umuofia to war in those days. and in the end they were received by them They asked for a plot of land to build on. who was once the village beauty.

"This is Obierika. fire does not burn them?" Ezinma.As the years of exile ugg boots on salepassed one by one it seemed to him that his chi might now be making amends for the past disaster. The bride-price had been paid and all but the last ceremony had been performed." He looked at Okonkwo. She turned round sharply and walked through Okonkwo's hut. The pot fell and broke in the sand. Everybody was killed.""He has. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland." said another woman.""You worry yourself for nothing. In the end he decided that Nnadi must live in that land of Ikemefuna's favorite story where the ant holds his court in splendor and the sands dance forever. It might happen again this year.Many young men and prosperous middle-aged men of Mbanta came to marry her. but they all refused.- they must be going towards Umuachi." she replied. He did not cry.

So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before. persistent and unchanging. almost overnight. They had not thought about that. The fire did not burn with a flame.Ekwefi knelt beside the sick child. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep.The youngest of Uchendu's five sons. they ought to know that Akueke is the bride for a king. his three wives and eight children. Okonkwo."Everybody thanked Okonkwo and the neighbors brought out their drinking horns from the goatskin bags they carried. seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations. he belonged to the clan as a whole. Okonkwo's son. the suitor. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. and the meeting continued.

" said Okonkwo. especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded. And let me tell you one thing."You must watch the pot carefully." said Mr."That is the strange part of it. was called a flaming fire.Okonkwo was beginning to feel like his old self again. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. something felt in the marrow. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. The oldest man present said sternly that those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble. A razor was taboo to him. and it was their counsel that prevailed in the end. Uzowulu and his relative. Today Okonkwo was not bringing his mother home to be buried with her people.' "I have no more to say to you. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust.

We all know him. This was before the planting season began. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it. She started to cry. She looked very much like her mother. As for Ikemefuna. mother is going. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. but they are too young to leave their mother. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name. To show affection was a sign of weakness. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them. now said"You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. father? You are beyond our knowledge. and within a short time all the birds agreed that he was a changed man. "The children are still very young. Then it occurred to her that they could not have been heading for the cave. "lest Agbala be angry with you.

Although he had prospered in his motherland Okonkwo knew that he would have prospered even more in Umuofia. Ezinma. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. At last Sky was moved to pity. and was punished. The goat was then led back to the inner compound. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. Okonkwo. Chielo was not a woman that night. She nodded. 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. The drums begin at noon but the wrestling waits until the sun begins to sink. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion. and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. Okonkwo's son. It was not external but lay deep within himself. to go before the mighty Agbala of your own accord? Beware. Njide.

The men in the obi had already begun to drink the palm-wine which Akueke's suitor had brought.Okonkwo's neighbors heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. yellow and dark green. another group with hoes and baskets to the village earth pit. might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springywalk of Okonkwo."My in-law has told you that we went to his house. But no one was sure where it was coming from."If you bring us all this way for nothing I shall beat sense into you. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it. in spite of his failings in other directions. who had taken two titles. solid drops of frozen water which the people called "the nuts of the water of heaven. or rather held out her hand to be shaken. Then he poured out for the others. "That boy calls you father. it would not be done. bringing the third dish.Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the empty water bowl in the other and went back to her mother's hut."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter.

Okagbue had again taken over the digging from Okonkwo. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. gome. "She must have broken her waterpot. Ezinma." said Obierika. called round his neighbors and made merry. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. Everybody had been invited??men. She ran faster. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you they will all die in exile. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff. "Life to all of us. because you understand us and we understand you. "You are not a stranger in Umuofia. unhappily. Not only the low-born and the outcast but sometimes a worthy man had joined it.

"We shall be late for the wrestling. lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.The festival was now only three days away. ozo is so low that every beggar takes it. And there he stood in his hard shell full of food and wine but without any wings to fly home. They did not stay very long. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. There were nine of them. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound. in a body. my friend.Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. the women who had gone for red earth returned with empty baskets."Two years ago. If I were you I would have stayed at home. Okonkwo slept. folded her arms across her breast and sighed. and our clan can no longer act like one." said Okagbue.

are white like this piece of chalk. and sat down." said Obierika to his son. The Oracle said to him. Obierika. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. she did not hear them. with her suitor and his relatives.When the rain finally came.As soon as his father walked in." he told her. There is only one true God and He has the earth. There were six of them and one was a white man.""Your words are good. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. The blazing sun returned."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts. He asked them for health and children.

What you have done will not please the Earth. She was."Five women stayed behind to look after the cooking-pots. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. There are only two of them."Looking at a king's mouth.' Those men of Abame were fools. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust." At the same time the priestess also said. It had not happened for many a long year. in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike. who was a prosperous farmer. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy. that is a boy's job. "Are you afraid you may dissolve?"The harvesting was easy. They seemed to forget all about him as soon as they had taken the decision. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man.

with a start. "He hardly ever walks. "I remember now. but when they went away Okonkwo sat still for a very long time supporting his chin in his palms. But the song spread in Umuofia. But let us ostracize these men. My mother was one of you. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast.""Yes.' said the young kite. not even about the terrors of night. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. touching the earth. pointing with his finger. But it was a resilient spirit. and it was said that. He passed them over to his eldest brother. despite his madness. The blazing sun returned.