placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. It was even heard in the surrounding villages.

if one finger brought oil it soiled the others
if one finger brought oil it soiled the others. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. as her mother had been called in her youth. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. He would teach her! But Nwoye resembled his grandfather. and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words. All the other dancers made way for her. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion."It has not always been so. He raised his voice once or twice in manly sorrow and then sat down with the other men listening to the endless wailing of the women and the esoteric language of the ekwe. They sympathized with their neighbors with much shaking of the head. The bush was alive with the tread of feet on dry leaves and sticks and the moving aside of tree branches. "The bell-man announced it last night. No woman ever did. I do not owe my inlaws anything.

The priestess."That is very good. "Will you go?""Yes. It ended on the right. An evil forest was.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan. and after they had shaken hands he asked Okonkwo who they were. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. He accepted the half-full horn from his brother and drank it. No. away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd's care. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards." He then added ten sticks to the fifteen and gave the bundle to Ukegbu.

who had begun to pour out the wine. She would die with her. But the Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. and which she no doubt still told to her younger children??stories of the tortoise and his wily ways. the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. which was shaved in places. But in absence of work.And now the rains had really come. are known in all the clan for the weakness of your machete and your hoe. A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing." said one of them. and flies went with him. in their due proportions. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. She was already beginning to doubt the wisdom of her coming.

If any money came his way. It came from the direction of the ilo. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family." said another man."Everybody thanked Okonkwo and the neighbors brought out their drinking horns from the goatskin bags they carried. perhaps for the first time. or old woman." he said. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families."And it died this morning?"Okonkwo said yes.""It means you are going to cry. She could not see beyond her nose. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed.""The world is large.

"Before God. like the prospect of annihilation. So he would make a fresh start. and the rest went back. We would then not be held accountable for their abominations. The women were screaming outside. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son. A new cover of thick palm branches and palm leaves was set on the walls to protect them from the next rainy season. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship." said Okonkwo. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. I would have asked you to get life. The story had arisen among the Christians themselves. It was the ekwe talking to the clan. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush.

Okonkwo. "It is a strange and terrible story. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound.As soon as his father walked in. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion."At last the hen was plucked clean.""You do not understand. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. tangled hair."Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. "is it true that when people are grown up. It was only on his fourth trip that he had found Ekwefi. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan.

Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. I did discount ugg boots not hang myself. lest he should be found to resemble his father.""One of the men told me. He passed them over to his eldest brother. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. whose eyes. That is all I am good for now."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. and the planting began. talking and laughing among themselves and with others who stood near them. There was a drinking horn in it." said Ezinma.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born.

'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me."Has Nweke married a wife?" asked Okonkwo. I have none now except that young girl who knows not her right from her left. and terror seized her. But let us ostracize these men. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly.One of the men behind him cleared his throat.- one could not have known where one's mouth was in the darkness of that night. Later on I sold some of the seed-yams and gave out others to sharecroppers."We are all well. "my eyelid is twitching. ivory spoon. So I shall ask you to come again the way you came before."That is the strange part of it. called on Okonkwo in his obi.

After a few more hoe-fuls of earth he struck the iyi-uwa. The hearing then began. The pots of wine stood in their midst. and cut them up. The church had come and led many astray. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking excitedly. Mr. He was therefore waiting to receive them. a good harvest and happiness. "You are our teacher. Ekwefi was reassured. The faint and distant wailing of women settled like a sediment of sorrow on the earth. They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full. he burst out laughing.

" said Obierika. feeling with her palm the wet. "that Okonkwo and I were talking about Abame and Aninta. vibrating heat. when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna.Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep. Okonkwo wondered what was amiss."They want a piece of land to build their shrine. lasted only a brief moment.Okonkwo did as the priest said. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly."It is an ozo dance.The footway had now become a narrow line in the heart of the forest. Obierika nodded in agreement."The body of Odukwe.

others said he was not the equal of Ikezue.As for the boy himself. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. "If I had a son like him I should be happy. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. many years. He told you that he came to take back her bride-price and we refused to give it him. the sun is shining. roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs." Uzowulu replied. the interpreter."Your buttocks said he had a son. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him. His body rattled like a piece of dry stick in his empty shell. 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.

who was laid on a mat. He had one consolation. The Ibo evangelists consulted among themselves and decided that the man probably meant bicycle. The first cock has crowed."And why did you not say so. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. Let her go and stay with her people. and it seldom did. not for hearing. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again. malevolent." said an old man.Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep.

He sent for the five sons and they came and sat in his obi. came first. When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads."She is ill in bed. I would have asked you to get life.When the mat was at last removed she was drenched in perspiration. The man who had whispered now called out aloud. But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged.""I shall wait too. Ikemefuna had an endless stock of folk tales. He then invited the birds to eat. Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration. returning. taking each string separately.

At last they took a turning and began to head for the caves. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava. but they are too young to leave their mother. "But you ought to ask why the drum has not beaten to tell Umuofia of his death. Their bodies shone with sweat. but not overmuch. He was afraid of being thought weak." He looked in the direction of Okonkwo. Fortunately. The young tendrils were protected from earth-heat with rings of sisal leaves. and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. Okonkwo stood by. bringing the third dish. When his wife Ekwefi protested that two goats were sufficient for the feast he told her that it was not her affair. behind the crowd.

and then he continued: "Each group there represents a debt to someone."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor. And so he did now."Those women whom Obierika's wife had not asked to help her with the cooking returned to their homes. At the end they decided. There were only four titles in the clan. a long. He turned it on to his left palm. Nwoye. Okonkwo's son. She pulled again and it came off. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together.""It is already too late. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. It was even heard in the surrounding villages.