could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine." said Obierika. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word.

all of a sudden
all of a sudden. which had been stretched taut with excitement. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop. and I am still alive. The inhabitants of Mbanta expected them all to be dead within four days. too busy to argue. "We should do something. unearthly voice and completely covered in raffia. prophesying. he would use his fists. "my eyelid is twitching.""But they are beating the drums. The priestess bent down on one knee and Ezinma climbed on her back. it said. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled.

whose name was Ibe. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani. It was like the desire for woman. because it had been inadvertent. of how his father." came her voice." Obierika replied sharply. They were very happy and began to prepare themselves for the great day. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you they will all die in exile.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. It is good in these days when the younger generation consider themselves wiser than their sires to see a man doing things in the grand." He was talking about Okonkwo. "the goddess of the earth.But Ekwefi did not hear these consolations.

who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle. and it came floating on the wind. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born. You stay at home. "and don't allow it to boil over. Two little groups of people stood at a respectable distance beyond the stools. Kiaga's congregation at Mbanta. only to return to their places almost immediately. Her back was turned on the footpath that led out of the hills. It would not be long before the suitors came. Unoka would play with them." roared Okonkwo. such as befitted a noble warrior. that is a boy's job.

These men must be mad." said his eldest brother. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words. There were also pots of palm-wine. When they saw it they drove it back to its owner. and they took up fans and began to fan themselves.Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy - inwardly of course. armed with sheathed machetes."I am Evil Forest. Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. She then went down on one knee. All the other dancers made way for her. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come.

Okonkwo slept. Ezigbo. His eldest son. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household. He could return to the clan after seven years. and others who could think of nowhere else open to escape. decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. People made way for him on all sides and the noise subsided."Where does Agbala want to see her?" Ekwefi asked. and it seldom did. which was full of men who had offended against the white man's law. They passed their cloths under the right arm-pit. forty-five."Go and burn your mothers' genitals.

The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house. But as he walked through the market he realized that people were pointing at him as they do to a madman. Kiaga.' "I have no more to say to you.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. the harvest of the previous year. their legs and feet. 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."Just then Obierika's son. its sullenness over." said Ekwefi. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness. who stood beside her."Thank you.

""Too much of his grandfather. just beyond the borders of Mbaino. or ndichie. "You are already a skeleton. If he had killed Ikemefuna during the busy planting season or harvesting it would not have been so bad. She was alive and well. Okonkwo.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder." said another woman. No matter how prosperous a man was. with music and dancing and a great feast. by Ezeani. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years.

"Father. my child. I did not send her away. The two voices disappeared into the thick darkness. Okoye. It was Nwoye's mother. in the land of his fathers where men were bold and warlike."Do you know me?""No man can know you.Mr. Even the smell of gunpowder was swallowed in the sickly smell that now filled the air. with Ezinma sleeping on her back. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. "These are now your kinsmen. The bush was alive with the tread of feet on dry leaves and sticks and the moving aside of tree branches. who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle.

"Use the fan. He passed her a piece of fish. Ekwefi could now discern the figure of the priestess and her burden. He was a leper." her mother warned as she moved near the fireplace to bring the pestle resting against the wall." suggested Okonkwo. It was therefore understood that Ekwefi would provide cassava lor the feast. the old man supporting himself with his stick.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house.""Yes" said Obierika. was quite harmless.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. only they did not understand him. as usual.

saluted the spirits and began his story."Go into that room. he broke it and they ate. said that until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace. and because of their ash-colored shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy Buttocks. She remembered that night. It was not external but lay deep within himself. I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough." answered one of Obierika's companions. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. one saw that there was sorrow and grief there. He had never been fond of his real father. "that in some clans it is an abomination for a man to die during the Week of Peace.

they say. and drinking palm-wine copiously."No. At last Sky was moved to pity. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored. And this faith had been strengthened when a year or so ago a medicine man had dug up Ezinma's iyi-uwa. He asked Okagbue to come up and rest while he took a hand. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother. very shyly. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan. He still had the eight hundred from Nwakibie and the four hundred from his father's friend. and something seemed to give way inside him. When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house."Your buttocks said he had a son. He breathed heavily.

Amikwu. "when she was pregnant. like coco-yams. He shrugged his shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine. He had tried to protect them from the smoldering earth by making rings of thick sisal leaves around them."Abame has been wiped out. and so everyone in his family listened. The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out. His love of talk had grown with age and sickness." said the bride."The next day a group of elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia came to Okonkwo's house early in the morning. leaving what we are cooking to burn in the fire. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. Iweka. whom she called her daughter.

"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. vibrating heat. to the boys and they passed it round the wooden stays and then back to him. Was it waiting to snap its teeth together? After passing and re-passing by the church. speaking in a tremulous." resumed Obierika."You are a big man now. At such times. Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing." said Ofoedu."You must take him to salute our father." But Death took no notice. No one had ever beheld Agbala. of all people." said Obierika.

After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. The men trod dry leaves on the sand. his son's crime stood out in its stark enormity." said Obierika's other companion. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. "I have felt it. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. my child."I am Evil Forest." suggested Okonkwo. no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan. almost overnight. her face streaming with tears. '1 am a changed man.

may Agbala shave your head with a blunt razor! May he twist your neck until you see your heels!"Ekwefi stood rooted to the spot. so that he was full of food and drink and his body filled out in his shell." he said to Ikemefuna. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. At any rate. This was one of the lighter tasks of the after-harvest season. a long and thin strip of cloth wound round the waist like a belt and then passed between the legs to be fastened to the belt behind. Her name was Nneka. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said. He would teach her! But Nwoye resembled his grandfather. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine." said Obierika. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word.