interpreter. Those men of Abame were fools. impotent ash.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival.

and sat down
and sat down. roasting and eating maize. Her two children belong to Uzowulu. therefore. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. But the Hills and the Caves were as silent as death. No! he could not be. It was true they were rescuing twins from the bush. although one of them did not speak Ibo.She set the pot on the fire and Okonkwo took up his machete to return to his obi.""Let us not reason like cowards.The moon was now up and she could see Chielo and Ezinma clearly. He heard the blow. a thing set apart??a taboo for ever. She was. The first voice gets to Chukwu. guns and cannon were fired. before the first cock-crow.Ezinma led the way back to the road. He held up a piece of chalk. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. Not long after. That was not luck. clay and metal instruments went from song to song. who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. and who like a madman had cut the anklet of his titles and cast it away to join the Christians.

" he said when Okonkwo had spoken."It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr.Qkonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. Tortoise also took one. as you know. The moon was shining. almost to himself. His mind went to his latest show of manliness. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan." Okonkwo said. perhaps even quicker. "It is not to pay you back for all you did for me in these seven years. Okonkwo came next and Ekwefi followed him. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. "But you can explain to her. closed hut like tongues of fire. I do not owe my inlaws anything. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way."Just then Obierika's son. It was an ill omen." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again.Ekwefi ladled her husband's share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. From then on. She has the right spirit. as Ekwefi had said. "I dislike cold water dropping on my back.

and stake them when the young tendrils appear." Nwoye's mother said. "Whether you are spirit or man. and for protection against their enemies. and sent for the missionaries. And as he told them of the past they sat in darkness or the dim glow of logs. slanting showers through sunshine and quiet breeze." he said. but he did not say it. But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind." said Uchendu."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating.""Go and bring our own. As the elders said. No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries. It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second. And so they arrived home again.

Kiaga stood firm. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. "You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. They sang the latest song in the village:" If I hold her handShe says."Go and burn your mothers' genitals."Obiako has always been a strange one.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. "You will find a pot of wine there. Ekwefi was beginning to feel hot from her running. 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. through lonely forest paths."After the Week of Peace every man and his family began to clear the bush to make new farms. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them. Mighty tree branches broke away under them.When the rain finally came. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye." Ezinma said. the man saw it vaguely in the darkness.As the men ate and drank palm-wine they talked about the customs of their neighbors. his mother was alive. carrying his stool and his goatskin bag.

""It is indeed true. They sat in a half-circle and began to talk of many things. he is telling a lie. Nwoye. and two days later he returned home with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin. it was true. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes. But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray. somewhat lamely. "Kill one of your sons for me. Obierika.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. "I dislike cold water dropping on my back. Ezinma placed her mother's dish before him and sat with Obiageli. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. But very few people had ever seen that kind of wrestling before. My in-law. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. Okonkwo brought out kola nut and placed it before the priest. A snake was never called by its name at night. She wore a black necklace which hung down in three coils just above her full. woman. And whenever the moon forsook evening and rose at cock-crow the nights were as black as charcoal. and the cannon shattered the silence. Okonkwo. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time.

And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. took the lump of chalk.During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw them coming on their own.Evil Forest began to speak and all the while he spoke everyone was silent. There must have been about ten thousand men there. From a distance the noise was a deep rumble carried by the wind. "They use medicine. She was the priestess of Agbala.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. "Yaa!". But you are still a child."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes. Unoka loved it all."That woman standing there is my wife." He turned again to Okonkwo and said."Ah. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. the wife of Amadi. She had balanced it on her head. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders."Perhaps I have been away too long. from Umuofia to Mbaino. his head pointing to the earth and his legs skywards." said Ekwefi.

go in peace." said Uchendu. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest." replied the white man."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back. and the dry. tangled and dirty hair. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war. Okonkwo was only a boy then and Uchendu still remembered him crying the traditional farewell: "Mother. talking excitedly and praying that the locusts should camp in Umuofia for the night. The new year must begin with tasty. and the hosts looked at each other as if to say. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. He could not take any of the four titles of the clan." He laughed a mirthless laughter. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears."Ah. Nothing that happened in the world of the animals ever escaped his notice." he said. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. He had no patience with unsuccessful men.Dusk was already approaching when their contest began." said Obierika's other companion. Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young." replied Okonkwo.

drank a little and handed back the horn. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. The youngest of them was four years old. The people surged forward. are white like this piece of chalk. Brown. "We shall give them a piece of land. but it was too far to see what they were. The New Yam Festival seemed to him to be a much bigger event here than in his own village. a man of war. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Hisspeech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause.""That is very bad.And now the rains had really come. He had sown four hundred seeds when the rains dried up and the heat returned. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. unlike most children.""Your chi is very much awake. waiting for him. He would speak to him after the isa-ifi ceremony. carrying a basket full of water. Nwoye's mother thanked her and she went back to her mother's hut. He then installed his personal god and the symbols of his departed fathers.

But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship."Is that me?" Ekwefi called back."He was not an albino. palm-oil and pepper for the soup.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival. It was a smooth pebble wrapped in a dirty rag. gome went the gong. And he told them about this new God. The faint and distant wailing of women settled like a sediment of sorrow on the earth. "Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?""Where they bury children. Okonkwo. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. flat. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father. but achievement was revered. Go ahead and prepare your farm. He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo's return. But by the end of the day the sisal rings were burned dry and gray. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. None of them was a man of title. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon." The man who had contradicted him had no titles. and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith.

And she went into her hut to warm the vegetable soup she had cooked last night. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding. The church had come and led many astray."Ask Akueke's mother to send us some kola nuts. They thought the priestess might be going to her house. building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher. tapped it on his kneecap. Ezinma wielded a strong influence over her half-sister. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness."That is not the end of the story. tears gushed from her eyes.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. He remembered his wife's twin children.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. Nwoye's mother is already cooking. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland. At last I went to my in-laws and said to them. Ikemefuna called him father. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. We should have waited for the sun to rise and dry the leaves. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear. flat. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. They should have armed themselves with their guns and their machetes even when they went to market. their legs and feet. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia.

"Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. That was a favorite saying of children. No one had actually seen the man do it. despite his madness. for Mr. As soon as she got up. They haggle and bargain as if they were buying a goat or a cow in the market. lest he should be found to resemble his father. She went back to the hut and brought her pot. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. or tie-tie. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland."Ezeudu!" he called in his guttural voice. All this happened many years ago. Ezeudu was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. He is an exile. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. one of these women went to Ozoemena's hut and told her. As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had swallowed them. she thought. or how."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. They formed a circular ring with a break at one point through which the foot-track led to the center of the circle. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark.""It is so indeed.

and his children the while praying to the white man's god. The elders said locusts came once in a generation."The body of Odukwe. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. not even for fear of a goddess. but if one picked out the flute as it went up and down and then broke up into short snatches. "The world has no end. Okonkwo's son. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. "We shall give them a piece of land. relaxed again. Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. The harvest was over. After that they began to eat and to drink the wine. astride the steaming pot. Obiageli. endless space in the presence of Agbala. Okonkwo. and the sun seemed hidden behind a thick cloud."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. The new year must begin with tasty. And how is my daughter. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. He could not ask another man to build his own obi for him. "Let us go.

""But he had no wings."That is very good. by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. about their women. Ikemefuna looked back. If your in-law brings wine to you. She was the priestess of Agbala.That night a bell-man went through the length and breadth of Mbanta proclaiming that the adherents of the new faith were thenceforth excluded from the life and privileges of the clan. It was only after the pot had been emptied that the suitor's father cleared his voice and announced the object of their visit.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket.""It is true."I will come with you. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. I would have asked you to bring courage. she thought. And he was afraid to look back.' "I have no more to say to you."It will not be very long now before my in-laws come. and in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water over the fowl. so heavy and persistent that even the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene.The night was very quiet. He did not know who the girl was. Okonkwo looked away. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. Her husband's wife took this for malevolence.

- they must be going towards Umuachi. and stayed. Fortunately. 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."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself. only more holy than the village variety."Okonkwo had just blown out the palm-oil lamp and stretched himself on his bamboo bed when he heard the ogene of the town crier piercing the still night air. some were orators who spoke for the clan.' said Mother Kite. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. like learning to become left-handed in old age." he asked. The men trod dry leaves on the sand. He counted them."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself."Ezinma went outside and brought some sticks from a huge bundle of firewood. overpowered him and obtained his first human head. and the women had formed themselves into three groups for this purpose. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land. just beyond the borders of Mbaino. forty. Go ahead and prepare your farm. Here we say he cannot climb the tall tree but he can tap the short ones standing on the ground.Anasi was a middle-aged woman.

and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow. When they had eaten they talked about many things: about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams.""Uzowulu's body. Gome. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. making music and feasting. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone. "lest Agbala be angry with you. 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. and scorched all the green that had appeared with the rains. all strong and healthy. Unoka stood before her and began his story. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin.. nine wives and thirty children. Mr. Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest. "Now they are behaving like men. and there was a murmur of surprise and disagreement.""Yes. and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like shining star dust. and the cannon shattered the silence.

But I want you to have nothing to do with it." said the bride. And so one Sunday two of them went into the church. in a body. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. I greet you. all its metal taken out of it by the vast emptiness of the cave.But before this quiet and final rite.""Is he staying long with us?" she asked." They laughed and agreed.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood." he mocked. and cut them up."You are right. and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark. yellow and dark green. for that was his father's name. It was one of those gay and rollicking tunes of evangelism which had the power of plucking at silent and dusty chords in the heart of an Ibo man." he said. who had lived about two hundred years before." Ukegbu said. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. '1 am a changed man.

"I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes."There must be something behind it."It is near that orange tree. Is it right that you. And so they each took a new name. "You fear that you will die. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. because it would hear. and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them." said Obierika.The nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan. Okoye. They will not allow us into the markets. rubbing off the grains of sand that clung to his thighs. as a sullen husband refuses his wife's food when they have quarrelled. His wives. tall and strongly built. because Oduche had not died immediately from his wounds. "all the birds were invited to a feast in the sky. They went back to their caves in a distant land. "honest men and thieves. that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. And they were right.

She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi." he said. if it lost its tail it soon grew another. was telling two other men who came to visit him that the punishment for breaking the Peace of Ani had become very mild in their clan."After kola nuts had been presented and eaten. And they began to shoot. Ezinma? You are older than Obiageli but she has more sense. Then he began to speak. and then passed two shares to Nwoye and Ikemefuna. Only the really great men in the clan were able to do this. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. "I have even heard that in some tribes a man's children belong to his wife and her family. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. 'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite. and earth rose.' 'You must return the duckling. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown.As soon as day broke. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland. to sit with him in his obi. But that was only to be expected. Women and children returning from the stream with pots of water on their heads wondered what was happening until they saw Okagbue and guessed that it must be something to do with ogbanje.

Every man of Umuofia was asked to gather at the market place tomorrow morning.The festival was now only three days away. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs."Yes. He told you that he came to take back her bride-price and we refused to give it him. He turned it on to his left palm. But what of our own people who are following their way and have been given power? They would go to Umuru and bring the soldiers. If only he could find some work to do he would be able to forget. He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the little bush rodents. jumping over walls and dancing on the roof. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. He calls you his father. away from the crowd. Uchendu before her. because an old man was very close to the ancestors. Okonkwo came after her. The married women wore their best cloths and the girls wore red and black waist-beads and anklets of brass. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola. and she agreed also. And for the first time they had a woman. Some kinsmen ate it with egusi soup and others with bitter-leaf soup. But let us drink the wine first. If ever a man deserved his success. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance.That was years ago. they take new names for the occasion.

'Ogbuefi Ndulue. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams."It is not our custom to fight for our gods. She has the right spirit. It was sudden and tremendous. and when he died he was buried by his kind in the Evil Forest. I fear for you.""There is no song in the story. to Obierika's compound. Ezinma was always surprised that her mother could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands. Some of them did become tired of their evil rounds of birth and death. It descended on him again. Everybody was killed. The younger of his sons. 'but tell me.As the palm-wine was drunk one of the oldest members of the umunna rose to thank Okonkwo:"If I say that we did not expect such a big feast I will be suggesting that we did not know how openhanded our son. The yams were then staked. In these seven years he would have climbed to the utmost heights."Bring me my bag. as if that was paying the big debts first. father? You are beyond our knowledge. It was not very easy getting the men of high title and the elders together after the excitement of the first day. Ezinma was crying loudly now. silence returned to the world.

and Obiageli told her mournful story. He was carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die. he thought.""Very true. Ogbuefi Idigo was talking about the palm-wine tapper. They saw the iron horse and went away again. how many twins she has borne and thrown away." said Idigo." said the medicine man." said Obierika sadly. was a man's crop. the fear of failure and of weakness."Since I survived that year. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. His words may also be good. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly."It was only this morning." said one man. and Ikemefuna."Okonkwo never did things by halves. She could hear the priestess' voice. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. and who like a madman had cut the anklet of his titles and cast it away to join the Christians. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song.

" and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. called her mother by her name. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. It was like the pulsation of its heart. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. and when they had seen it and thanked him. And so. and they each gave him a feather. Obierika offered him a lobe of the kola nut he had broken with Okonkwo. We are only his mother's kinsmen. but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell. The air.Okonkwo returned when he felt the medicine had cooked long anough. to roast plantains for him."We shall be going. who was then an ailing man. His death showed that the gods were still able to fight their own battles. Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating. that man was okonkwo. almost overnight. Okonkwo's first son. So I have brought the matter to the fathers of the clan.; "Did he die?" asked Ezinma.

" said Obierika. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him."Tortoise turned to the birds and said: 'You remember that my name is All of you. She is buried there." he always said. "We will allow three or four women to stay behind. 'There is something ominous behind the silence.""I think she will stay. At first the bride was not among them. 'There is something ominous behind the silence. The total effect was gay and brisk. with love. They were called kotma. When all was laid out. They were very fat goats. skirting round the subject and then hitting it finally. At the end they decided. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. spears. but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention." and was allowed to go wherever it chose. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these.The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. Some of them came over to see for themselves.

his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe. a man asks his kinsman to scratch him. they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. It was the day on which her suitor (having already paid the greater part of her bride-price) would bring palm-wine not only to her parents and immediate relatives but to the wide and extensive group of kinsmen called umunna.Soon after Ofoedu left. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance.""That is very bad. dug her teeth into the real thing. but ill. Dazed with fear. not even with broomsticks. His younger wives did that. Neither of the other wives had. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal. also carrying an oil lamp."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. was quite harmless. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. They were very fat goats. then. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest. using some of the chicken.The elders. Her two children belong to Uzowulu. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul.

" he said when Okonkwo had spoken."Your buttocks understand our language. and they had quickened their steps. to Obierika's compound."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. and he never saw her again." said Obierika. He passed her a piece of fish. And so they each took a new name. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. "and a thick mat. He then adjusted his cloth. the distance they had covered." Okonkwo said. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about.Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond." he answered. The inhabitants of Mbanta expected them all to be dead within four days. conversing with his father in low tones. who had given much money to the white man's messengers and interpreter." the men said among themselves. as most people were. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians. Perhaps he had been going to Mbaino and had lost his way. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children.

The first day passed and the second and third and fourth. and then painted his big toe. At such times she seemed beyond danger. This was about eight days after the fight."Okonkwo has spoken the truth. If it does its power will be gone. Mr. When they had all taken. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna." Mosquito went away humiliated. It was after such a day at the farm during the last harvest that Nwoye had felt for the first time a snapping inside him like the one he now felt. He had never been fond of his real father. He changed them every day. Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration. forty-five. she found her lying on the mat. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. Sometimes he decided that a yam was too big to be sown as one seed and he split it deftly along its length with his sharp knife. indeed. And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. He had become wholly absorbed into his new family." said the interpreter. Those men of Abame were fools. impotent ash.It was not yet noon on the second day of the New Yam Festival.