shadow. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.""I do not.

Okonkwo told him
Okonkwo told him.Unoka. sandy beach." he bellowed a fifth time. "I know what it is??the wrestling match. children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories. the farthest village in the clan. Maduka vanished into the compound like lightning. Go home and work like a man."Yes." said Okonkwo. The fowl Ekwefi had just killed was in the wooden mortar. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot. The eight other egwugwu were as still as statues. and a girl. "1 told you. and at the end of three years he had become very distant indeed. and on her waist four or five rows of jigida. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo's stories about tribal wars. Two years after her marriage to Anene she could bear it no longer and she ran away to Okonkwo. and sometimes two rainbows.""I don't know how we got that law.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song. Obiageli. When he began again.

It was evening and the sun was settingUchendu's eldest daughter."But you said it was where they bury children?" asked the medicine man. He did not understand it. Okonkwo got ready quickly and the party set out with Ikemefuna carrying the pot of wine." he mocked. Again and again Iguedo was called and men waited breathlessly in all the nine villages. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. he belonged to the clan as a whole. A sudden hush had fallen on the women. in their due proportions. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. and it was said that. Umuazu. But there were some too who came because they had friends in our town. and then you will know. Unoka was."None."The birds gathered round to eat what was left and to peck at the bones he had thrown all about the floor.It was late afternoon before Nwoye returned. "I planted the farm nearly two years ago. and although ailing she seemed determined to live."But this particular night was dark and silent. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched." he began. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire.

His name was Maduka. Even the enemy clan knew that."Will you give Ezinma some fire to bring to me?" Her own children and Ikemefuna had gone to the stream. he broke it and they ate. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time. and her arms folded across her breasts. And when he got there he found it was a man making a sacrifice. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. They were not the real wrestlers. He did not know who the girl was. for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin. and so everyone in his family listened. But although it had happened so long ago. do you know me?" asked the spirit. It was slow and painful. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger." he said to Okonkwo.""The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. as husbands' wives were wont to. Mr. do you know me?""How can I know you. close to the Great Shrine. Their children carried pots of water. who was also the youngest man in the group." said his father.

was marrying a new wife. She remembered that night. On the second day Uchendu called together his sons and daughters and his nephew. have no toes. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino. Who else among his children could have read his thoughts so well? With two beautiful grown-up daughters his return to Umuofia would attract considerable attention. When they had all taken."Take away your kola nut. "His shell broke into pieces. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. He was imprisoned with all the leaders of his family." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. roasting and eating maize. The drums rose to a frenzy. Kiaga. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter."I sometimes think he is too sharp. and our clan can no longer act like one. as was the custom. but that they had many children to feed.When she got to the big udala tree Ezinma turned left into the bush. they ought to know that Akueke is the bride for a king. And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. Because of her size she made her way through trees and creepers more quickly than her followers. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages.

""It is so indeed." said Nwoye's mother. "I planted the farm nearly two years ago.After the wine had been drunk Okonkwo laid his difficulties before Nwakibie. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle.Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. it could also mean a man who had taken no title."They want a piece of land to build their shrine. and was about to say something when the old man continued:"Yes. Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever ege style. and they nodded their heads. and stammered. my great friend.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi.' said Tortoise. and his face beamed. Unoka was never happy when it came to wars. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. "Whoever has a job in hand. The bush was alive with the tread of feet on dry leaves and sticks and the moving aside of tree branches. and he told them stories of the land??masculine stories of violence and bloodshed." said Ezinma touching the ground with her finger. Nwoye remembered this period very vividly till the end of his life. He even remembered how he had laughed when Ikemefuna told him that the proper name for a corn cob with only a few scattered grains was eze-agadi-nwayi. they said to themselves." He filled the first horn and gave to his father.

They said she was coming. "You fear that you will die. She thought of all the terrors of the night."He will do great things.'Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive. Marriage should be a play and not a fight so we are falling down again. and his face beamed. It was slow and painful. The men stood outside the circle. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. drank a little and handed back the horn."We have heard both sides of the case. Living fire begets cold. At such times she seemed beyond danger. We do not dispute it. which was shaved in beautiful patterns. sandy beach. They sang his praise and the young women clapped their hands:"Who will wrestle for our village?Okafo will wrestle for our village. It was only when he had got there that it had occurred to him that the priestess might have chosen to go round the villages first. Then all Umuofia turned out in spite of the cold harmattan. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made. my dear friend." Ekwefi said to the woman who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her since the beginning of the matches. and she guessed they must be on the village ilo.

She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover. And this was the message. the god of the sky. They were both Uzowulu's neighbors. as on that day.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. As for the boy. and so all the clan was at his funeral. go home before Agbala does you harm.Okonkwo sprang from his bed. When they had all taken. The fire did not burn with a flame. But no one thought It would be as long as three years. But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves. who had lived about two hundred years before. had crawled out of the shrine on her belly like a snake. he thought over the matter. She greeted her god in a multitude of names??the owner of the future. burning forehead."Ezinma ran in the direction of the barn and brought back two yams from the dwarf wall. and the polite name for leprosy was "the white skin. I have none now except that young girl who knows not her right from her left. Ikemefuna looked back. one of those wicked children who.But the year had gone mad. I owe them no yams.

His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered. The neighbors sat around watching the pit becoming deeper and deeper. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. another man asked a question: "Where is the white man's horse?" he asked. Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies? If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier. As she knelt by her. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited.Then the missionaries burst into song. It was very much like Obiageli. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. because it would hear."Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done. moved to the center. Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them. But it is your turn now." came the voice like a sharp knife cutting through the night. through lonely forest paths. and of the forces of nature."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint. 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. And it began to shake and rattle.There were seven men in Obierika's hut when Okonkwo returned." Nwoye's mother said. And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war. The woman was Mgbafo and the three men with her were her brothers.

Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. conversing with his father in low tones. It said that other white men were on their way. and so did his little children. and old men and women would remember their youth. so she cupped her right hand to shelter the flame. they became the lords of the land. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. but they were really talking at the top of their voices. "We do not ask for wealth because he that has health and children will also have wealth. There is only one true God and He has the earth. His mind went to his latest show of manliness.Ezeudu had been the oldest man in his village.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi." she said. the "medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. He died and rotted away above the earth. Elumelu. All the other dancers made way for her." he said as he went. "But I want all of you to note what 1 am going to say. They all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal. Okonkwo slept." said Okonkwo as he rose to go.As for the boy himself. Obiageli.

"Early in the afternoon the first two pots of palm-wine arrived from Obierika's in-laws. the interpreter. somewhat indulgently. Nwoye." answered his first wife.The Oracle was called Agbala. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. But let us drink the wine first. As the elders said. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. "Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. who has promised everlasting life to all who believe in His holy name. New yams could not be eaten until some had first been offered to these powers. Ani. Okonkwo and his wife followed at a respectful distance. He then roused Ezinma and placed her on the stool. At last Ogbuefi Ezeugo stood up in the midst of them and bellowed four times. The iron horse was still tied to the sacred silk-cotton tree. She thought they must be going towards the sacred cave. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness. The way he said it sent cold fear down Ikemefuna's back.' said the birds when they had heard him." and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in UGG Slippers Salechalk."My in-law has told you that we went to his house. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry. They danced back to the center together and then closed in.

In the end Parrot.Okonkwo brought out his snuff-bottle and offered it to Ogbuefi Ezenwa. somewhat indulgently. When they carried him away. Okonkwo told him. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding. where every woman had a shallow well for fermenting her cassava."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. the god who cut a man down when his life was sweetest to him. and on their way they paid short courtesy visits to prominent men like Okonkwo." he had said. You think you are still a child. Nothing happened at its proper time."Yes. away from the crowd." He paused.""You worry yourself for nothing. Unoka went into an inner room and soon returned with a small wooden disc containing a kola nut. Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home. Okonkwo's son." he said to Okonkwo. "Use the fan. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. who was the eldest of the nine sons. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries.

They should have armed themselves with their guns and their machetes even when they went to market. The birds were silenced in the forests. Our hosts in the sky will expect us to honor this age-old custom. It was a little village called Mbanta. Kiaga. If I were you I would have stayed at home. Unoka. Gome." said another. There were also pots of yam pottage. Why was that?"Okonkwo shook his head. what do I do? Do i shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head That is what a man does. and regain the seven wasted years. No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly.Ezinma and her mother sat on a mat on the floor after their supper of yam foo-foo and bitter-leaf soup.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries."There is too much green vegetable. And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household.""I shall wait too."The two outcasts shaved off their hair. "It is enough. But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth. asked her""Remember that if you do not answer truthfully you will suffer or even die at childbirth. It had not happened for many a long year.The first cock had not crowed.- it was either too early or too late.

'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite. "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought. The custom here is to serve the spokesman first and the others later. He was greatly surprised. When she had borne her third son in succession."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The cut bush was left to dry and fire was then set to it. looking at the position of the sun."One of them passes here frequently.' he said as they flew on their way. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for our gods and ancestors.Okonkwo knew these things. But it went from day to day without a pause. And this was the message. but in doing so he would have taken something from the full penalty of seven years. working feverishly from one drum to another. She would die with her. Their church stood on a circular clearing that looked like the open mouth of the Evil Forest. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna. father? You are beyond our knowledge.The whole village turned out on the ilo. Some of them were too angry to eat. why it is that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka. Ekwefi and her daughter. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame.

or rather to his death. On Obierika's side were his two elder brothers and Maduka. Violent deaths were frequent. And he was afraid to look back."No. The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is returned. which. and had just married his third wife."When your wife becomes pregnant again. degenerate and effeminate? Perhaps he was not his son.Okonkwo spent the next few days preparing his seed-yams. They were duly presented to the women. "1 thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo.Ezinma brought them a bowl of water with which to wash their hands. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. relaxed again."We are at last getting somewhere. Most communal ceremonies took place at that time of the day. leaving a regular pattern of hair.At first Ikemefuna was very much afraid. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government." said his eldest brother."Because I did not want to. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. and a little hoe for digging out the tuber. He had one consolation.

" said Uchendu to his peers when they consulted among themselves. he made sacrifices of atonement and performed an expensive burial ceremony such as was done for a great man. Nwoye. "And these white men.Before it was dusk Ezeani. into a healthy. They formed a circular ring with a break at one point through which the foot-track led to the center of the circle. but he stood beckoning to them. But it is your turn now. And she went into her hut to warm the vegetable soup she had cooked last night. 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. what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away?' 'It said nothing. building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher. how he had often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky. You are a great family. But he left hold of Nwoye. and by then he had become gravely worried. took out two leaves and began to chew them."I don't know why such a trifle should come before the said one elder to another. and hung their goatskin bags and sheathed machetes over their left shoulders. She believed because it was that faith alone that gave her own life any kind of meaning."He belongs to the clan." he said. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin." said Okagbue.

" said Okonkwo. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative." Altogether there were fifty pots of wine. You buried it in the ground somewhere so that you can die and return again to torment your mother. And they began to shoot. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino. Okonkwo.But Mr. sang for mercy. The faint and distant wailing of women settled like a sediment of sorrow on the earth. to inquire what was amiss. After that nothing happened for a long time between the church and the clan. Your generation does not know that. and you can teach us the things of the new faith. But he left hold of Nwoye. and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. At last Sky was moved to pity. "when she was pregnant. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers. beginning with the eldest man. "Okoli told me himself that it was false. moved to the center." he had said.And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry. like the snapping of a tightened bow.

"Ezinma's voice from the darkness warmed her mother's heart.Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family." And after a pause she said: "Can I bring your chair for you?""No. What she had seen was the shape of a man climbing a palm tree. "In those other clans you speak of. and Maduka brought in a pot of palm-wine. Kiaga restrained them. "God will laugh at them on the judgment day. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. "Your daughter will bear us sons like you.The whole village turned out on the ilo. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh."The crowd answered-." said Obierika."Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!""Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!"Evil Forest then thrust the pointed end of his rattling staff into the earth. But he had recently fallen ill." he said as he went."It has not always been so.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. In the morning he went back to his farm and saw the withering tendrils. 'but tell me. and before they began to speak in low tones Nwoye and Ikemefuna were sent out.The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. Ezigbo. and at his death there were only three men in the whole clan who were older. Tortoise also took one.

and was not given the first or the second burial. holding the ancestral staff of the family. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. nor the walls of his compound. was passing by the church on his way from the neighboring village. 1 owe them no cocoyams. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. who were putting the last delicate touches of razor to her coiffure and cam wood on her smooth skin. but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders. It might happen again this year. working feverishly from one drum to another. And they were right." Obierika agreed." said Ekwefi. Ezigbo. Unoka stood before her and began his story. Okonkwo bent down and looked into her hut. He broke the nut saying: We shall all live. for he knew certainly that something was amiss. and Odukwe bent down and touched the earth. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad."That was all he had said. He was the oldest man in Ire.

" said Okonkwo. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. He searched in it for his snuff-bottle. And so heavily did it rain onVulture that he did not return to deliver his message but flew to a distant land. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head."Is that not Obiageli weeping?" Ekwefi called across the yard to Nwoye's mother.And then the priestess screamed."Nwakibie cleared his throat. "and leave the child alone. love returned once more to her mother. my child.'"He began to eat and the birds grumbled angrily. Yam."I sometimes think he is too sharp." said Mr. Okonkwo took up his goatskin bag to go. gome. trying to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness.It seemed to Ekwefi that the night had become a little lighter."We shall be going. It was on the seventh day that he died. Only a few of them saw these white men and their followers. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan. The story was told in Umuofia. Could he remember them all? He would tell her about Nwoye and his mother.

Evil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. "He seemed to speak through his nose. the shouting and the firing of guns. They said she was coming. Her eyes were useless to her in the darkness. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest. or with their father in his obi warming themselves from a log fire. so his chi agreed. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem. and turned to his sons and daughters. gome. "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death. And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. Then came the voices of the egwugwu. But the song spread in Umuofia. That week they won a handful more converts. like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit an the way. jumping over walls and dancing on the roof. who lived near the udala tree." said Obierika. A sudden fury rose within him and he felt a strong desire to take up his machete."Call your wife and child." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma.

The yams he had sown before the drought were his own." And so they all went to help Obierika's wife??Nwoye's mother with her four children and Ojiugo with her two. She started to cry. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo. The hearing then began. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. carrying on their heads various sizes of pots suitable to their years. On the last night before the festival. There is only one true God and He has the earth. He just hung limp. The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue. and two others after her. and washed away the yam heaps. and the cannon shattered the silence. She greeted her god in a multitude of names??the owner of the future. was a man's crop.""Is he well?" asked Nwoye." suggested Okonkwo. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase. He warmed himself in the fire and ate the entrails. "My daughter's suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price. He did not know who the girl was.That was many years ago. "Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest." said Mr. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly.

but I shall be happy if you marry in Umuofia when we return home.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife. and it could not be done later because harvesting would soon set in. The drums rose to a frenzy. And as he told them of the past they sat in darkness or the dim glow of logs. He turned again to Ezinma. It was not that they had been lazy.""Uzowulu's body.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 earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase." replied Okonkwo. every man with his goatskin bag hung on one shoulder and a rolled goatskin mat under his arm. But such was her anxiety for her daughter that she could not rid herself completely of her fear."As soon as he entered his last year in exile Okonkwo sent money to Obierika to build him two huts in his old compound where he and his family would live until he built more huts and the outside wall of his compound." He turned to Odukwe.That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. As far as the villagers were concerned. They cross seven rivers to make their farms. If it ended on his left."For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him."Perhaps I have been away too long." said Machi. I am worried about Nwoye. and sat speechless. Then the rain became less violent. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt.

A vague scent of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air."Every year." he said. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue."The crowd roared with laughter."Point at the spot with your finger. and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. and saw those who stood or sat next to them." said one of the women."You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once. Many years ago when she was the village beauty Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest within living memory. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness. You see. as most people were. Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter. a man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness." he said. The Oracle said to him. long ago. and sent for the missionaries. and he saw himself taking the highest title in the land." He threw his head down and gnashed his teeth."I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy."He said something. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan." said Ezinma at last.

The new year must begin with tasty. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians. because their dreaded agadi-nwayi would never fight what the Ibo call a fight of blame.As soon as the day broke. the suitor. When she had borne her third son in succession. There was no barn to inherit.' she called. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. which children were rarely allowed to eat because such food tempted them to steal.But the most dreaded of all was yet to come. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness. That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. and was full of the sap of life. "The world has no end." said Uchendu"I swear. He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days. Her fear had vanished. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind. And for the first time they had a woman. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve."'We know you too well. I think. She put back the empty pot on the circular pad in the corner.

and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep. who walked away and never returned.' But my wife's brothers said they had nothing to tell me. white dregs and said. touching the earth."Did she ask you to feed them before she went?""Yes." said Obiageli. Mgbafo. He trembled with the desire to conquer and subdue. became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything.- they merely set the scene." she called. the troublesome nanny goat. But he was so weak that his legs could hardly carry him. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofta long ago. Soon it covered half the sky. Chielo never ceased in her chanting. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife. So they made a powerful medicine. And the other boy was flat on his back. My mother was one of you."I did not say He had a wife. The kola nut was given him to break. It all began over the question of admitting outcasts. where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. But they were very rare and short-lived.

" said Mr. The conversation at once centered on him. He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians.Okonkwo planted what was left of his seed-yams when the rains finally returned.""That is very bad.The last big rains of the year were falling. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village playground." said the priestess. Ukegbu counted them. gome. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach. Then he remembered that he had not taken out his snuff-spoon. and the lad Ikemefuna."Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself." said Obierika. she thought. The soup was brought out hot from the fire and in the very pot in which it had been cooked. He sang. Mighty tree branches broke away under them. Okonkwo. and he was grateful. where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. and the other an old and faint shadow. She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.""I do not.