Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat."And why did you not say so.' said Mother Kite.

I sacrifice a cock to Ani
I sacrifice a cock to Ani. But when she lived on to her fourth. Unoka. Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. But as he walked through the market he realized that people were pointing at him as they do to a madman. have no toes. They told the white man and he smiled benevolently. he was at a loss. "Will you go?""Yes.She wore a coiffure which was done up into a crest in the middle of the head. Her name was Nneka. or God's house. He danced a few steps to the funeral drums and then went to see the corpse.Then the missionaries burst into song. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves. He heard Ikemefuna cry. "Which is this god of yours. When all seemed ready he let himself go. They were not the real wrestlers." replied the white man. 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. "He seemed to speak through his nose." Obierika again drank a little of his wine. This happened in the rainy season. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave.

When he walked. and terror seized her.- they must be going towards Umuachi. What would she do when they got to the cave? She would not dare to enter. 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. she found her lying on the mat. Although he had felt uneasy at first." said Obierika. The blazing sun returned. Those things a man built for himself or inherited from his father. Okoye was a great talker and he spoke for a long time. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death. The three white men and a very large number of other men surrounded the market. At first the bride was not among them.""But they are beating the drums." replied Okukwe. "I had something better to do. He called his son. He could not do anything without telling her.As for the boy himself. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about. Tortoise was very happy and voluble as he flew among the birds. the whole clan gathers there. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder. her blood still ran cold whenever she remembered that night. His name was Nwoye.

The oldest member of this extensive family was Okonkwo's uncle. 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. Her back was turned on the footpath that led out of the hills. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. His mother had wept bitterly. The villagers were so certain about the doom that awaited these men that one or two converts thought it wise to suspend their allegiance to the new faith. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father.Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door. At such times she seemed beyond danger. Ezinma's fire was now sending up thick clouds of smoke. and of the forces of nature. Nwoye's mother and Okonkwo's youngest wife were ready to set out for Obierika's compound with all their children.As he broke the kola. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action. He looked it over and said it was done. It filled him with fire as it had always done from his youth. He had called the first child born to him in exile Nneka??"Mother is Supreme"??out of politeness to his mother's kinsmen. floated on the chaos. If you are sending him on an errand he flies away before he has heard half of the message. and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept." he asked. and they had quickened their steps. Di-go-go-di-go.Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them." he had said. Its most potent war-medicine was as old as the clan itself.

She knew her daughter was safe." said Okonkwo. She could not be expected to cook and eat while her husband starved. Two elderly neighbors were sent for. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. it would have been impossible to eat. or watched him as he tapped his palm tree for the evening wine."Have you?" asked Obierika. Uchendu.Mr.It was a great funeral. There was a light wind blowing.' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles."On what market-day was it born?" he asked." Okonkwo replied. dug her teeth into the real thing. She often called her Ezigbo. We did not see it. Unoka stood before her and began his story. said Ezeugo. "Somebody is walking behind me!" she said. "I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them. Yam stood for manliness. Young men and boys in single file.

in the sunshine. At the opposite end of the compound was a shed for the goats. He could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father. that man was okonkwo.The nine villages of Umuofia had grown out of the nine sons of the first father of the clan." said Ogbuefi Ezeudu. "I have heard that many years ago. Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action." She went into the hut again and brought down the smoke-black basket in which she kept her dried fish and other ingredients for cooking soup.""But someone had to do it. If a gang of efulefu decided to live in the Evil Forest it was their own affair.- they merely set the scene. Everybody soon knew who the boy was. They became ordinary human beings again. Kiaga stopped them and began to explain. and then flew away. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? The same God created you and them. Okonkwo told him. She would want to hear everything that had happened to him in all these years. nearly half a day's journey away." Okonkwo said to himself again."Yaa!" replied the thunderous crowd. His name was Maduka." he said. but I shall be happy if you marry in Umuofia when we return home."At last the party arrived in the sky and their hosts were very happy to see them.

Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write. When the will of the goddess had been done.On the third day he asked his second wife."The night was already far spent when the guests rose to go. "Ozoemena was. But Ekwefi and Ezinma had heard the noise and run out to see what it was. Okonkwo would take care of meat and yams. Okonkwo. It was quiet and confident. 'Don't touch!' If i hold her footShe says. Every woman immediately abandoned whatever she was doing and rushed out in the direction of the cry. These men must be mad. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house. it is for you."Let me make the fire for you. and earth rose. like a funeral. women and children." Okonkwo said to himself again."Is that enough?" she asked when she had poured in about half of the water in the bowl. into a healthy."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it.'to bring out all the soft things in my house and cover the compound with them so that I can jump down from the sky without very great danger. A few moments later he went behind the hut and began to vomit painfully. Okonkwo had returned home and sat waiting. No matter how prosperous a man was.

We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers.The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest and to build their house. somewhat lamely. Kiaga. The musicians with their wood. He had finished it on the very day the locusts came. Then the group drank. where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. "All the gods you have named are not gods at all. and stayed. But Tortoise jumped to his feet and asked: Tor whom have you prepared this feast?'"'For all of you."The weeping was now quite close and soon the children filed in."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma.Having sworn that oath. women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight. There must have been about ten thousand men there. which were passed round for all to see and then returned to him. Everybody was killed. Dew fell heavily and the air was cold. Dum! Dum! Dum! boomed the cannon at intervals. he had gone to consult the Oracle." he said sadly. At first the bride was not among them. It was powerful in war and in magic." replied her mother.

And he was already beginning to know some of the simple stories they told.' Why is that?"There was silence. and she put all her being into it. My sister lived with him for nine years. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season. all the same. suddenly overcome with fury. Ekwefi and her only daughter."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor. Even a man's motherland is strange to him nowadays. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children."Who taps your tall trees for you?" asked Obierika. Yam." said the interpreter." and on each occasion he faced a different direction and seemed to push the air with a clenched fist.- the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. but achievement was revered. Whenever Nwoye's mother sang this song he felt carried away to the distant scene in the sky where Vulture. was marrying a new wife." But it was a different Chielo she now saw in the yellow half-light. she prayed a thousand times. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town. It was a good riddance. Another one was wailing near his right ear. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood." He paused.

Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. which together formed a half moon behind the obi. Ekwefi and her only daughter." replied Okonkwo. He brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. They went outside again." Okonkwo said. When all was laid out. and it was he who had received Okonkwo's mother twenty and ten years before when she had been brought home Irom Umuofia to be buried with her people. astride the steaming pot. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long.On a moonlight night it would be different. who also counted them and said:"We had not thought to go below thirty. and girls came from the inner compound to dance. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Sometimes the sun shone through the rain and a light breeze blew. Abame??I know them all." He pulled his staff from the hard earth and thrust it back." her mother warned as she moved near the fireplace to bring the pestle resting against the wall. guttural and awesome.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and machetes? We would be cowards lo compare ourselves with the men of Abame. He watched the sky all day for signs of rain clouds and lay awake all night. His mother might be dead. But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged.

It ended on the right. or how. It was a little village called Mbanta."Come along then and show me the spot. and filled the village with excitement. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. I knew your father. The sun breaking through their leaves and branches threw a pattern of light and shade on the sandy footway. He hoped to get another four hundred yams from one of his father's friends at Isiuzo."Go home and sleep. for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan. It came from the direction of the ilo. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd. she could not ignore the fact that some really evil children sometimes misled people into digging up a specious one. He wanted first to know why they had been outlawed. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily. broken now and again by singing.Am oyim de de de de! flew around the dark. The crowd burst into a thunderous roar. and he told them stories of the land??masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. But no one was sure where it was coming from." he said. Somewhere a man was taking one of the titles of his clan. almost to himself.

How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away. with music and dancing and a great feast.""Go and bring our own. followed by the bride and the other women. His younger wives did that. the man saw it vaguely in the darkness."The two outcasts shaved off their hair. The clan saw no reason then for molesting the Christians."On what market-day was it born?" he asked. We pray for life. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched. nor even a young wife. Okonkwo's son. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write. If any money came his way. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi's only daughter.When the heat of the sun began to soften." said Obierika. 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. As Idigo had said. woman. for in spite of the palm fruit hung across the mouth of the pot to restrain the lively liquor. whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter.He sighed heavily. in their proper order. a debtor.

"I did not know it was you. 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.' "I have no more to say to you. Kiaga. or Holy Feast as it was called in Ibo. Kiaga restrained them. When he died this morning. Nwoye."A little more?? I said a little."Because I did not want to. "when she was pregnant. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these.But the year had gone mad. could not shelter under his roof. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. he was already one of the greatest men of his time." Okonkwo thought within himself. Then he and another man went before Ikemefuna and set a faster pace. Gome. His name was Okagbue Uyanwa. She often called her Ezigbo." He danced a few more steps and went away."Go and bring me some cold water. and it ended on the left. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve.

Ezinma had not wanted to cooperate with him at first. Maduka. A deep murmur went through the crowd when he said this. who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo. just emerged from the earth. and so they stood waiting. Nobody knew how old. Okonkwo. Sometimes it poured down in such thick sheets of water that earth and sky seemed merged in one gray wetness. with a start. and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. But there is one more question I shall ask you." said Ezinma. Ekwefi trudged along between two fears.But there was a young lad who had been captivated." said Mr." said Uchendu after a long silence. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. He did not know who the girl was. The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue. Okonkwo slept. I shall pay my big debts first.Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. In fact." he said.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend.

"But the leaves will be wet. but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. and went back to her hut. "But you can explain to her. He warmed himself in the fire and ate the entrails. Ogbuefi Ugonna had thought of the Feast in terms of eating and drinking. The house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Am oyim de de de de! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. He just hung limp. If I were you I would have stayed at home. and of the forces of nature. No one had actually seen the man do it. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. "I sold the big ones as soon as you left."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. There was an oil lamp in all the four huts on Okonkwo's compound.Uchendu took the hen from her. Later in the day he called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. Her fear had vanished. would wipe them off the face of the earth. one hen. Okonkwo made a present of two cocks to them. Ukegbu. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. The old man bore no ill will towards Okonkwo. "I planted the farm nearly two years ago.

And then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world.He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household."That is not the end of the story. and each party brought with them a huge pot of palm-wine. now desperate.""Your words are good. are white like this piece of chalk. metallic and thirsty clap. My case is finished.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket." he said." they said. He had a bad chi or personal god. A palm-oil lamp gave out yellowish light. She beckons in front of her and behind her. And they began to shoot. Kiaga." he said. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. My case is finished. He did not inherit a barn from his father." replied her mother." Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. But on one point there was general agreement??the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg. Obierika's relatives and friends began to arrive. His love of talk had grown with age and sickness.

and through these Okonkwo passed the rope. Such a thing could never happen in his fatherland. 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.'"'You do not know me. As Idigo had said."Where are her children? Did she take them?" he asked with unusual coolness and restraint."Oye. Every woman in the neighborhood knew the sound of Nwayieke's mortar and pestle. more fierce than it had ever been known. It was a different woman??the priestess of Agbala. He remembered his wife's twin children. If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan. tears gushed from her eyes."Two years ago. He then adjusted his cloth. my friend. metallic and thirsty clap. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu. his sixteen-year-old son.He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. Unoka. who drank a cup or two each." said Obierika. he fled to Aninta to escape the wrath of the earth. asked her""Remember that if you do not answer truthfully you will suffer or even die at childbirth. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia.

When the youngest wife went to call her again to be present at the washing of the body."Ekwefi turned the hen over in the mortar and began to pluck the feathers."Go and burn your mothers' genitals. now said"You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. He would remember his own childhood. The first people who saw him ran away. as on that day." said Obierika." said Obierika. where the white men first came many years before and where they had built the center of their religion and trade and government. It must be the thought of going home to his mother. At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. unless it was one of the stubborn ones who returned."Because I did not want to."Go into that room. He cleared his throat and began:"Thank you for the kola." he asked. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts. Uzowulu. The harmattan was in the air and seemed to distill a hazy feeling of sleep on the world. When i say no to them they think i am hard hearted. She was very heavy with child. Okonkwo always asked his wives' relations. spears. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed.

And in all the nine villages of Umuofia a town crier with his ogene asked every man to be present tomorrow morning. But no one was sure where it was coming from."When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight.At this point an old man said he had a question. and so everyone in his family listened. and prayed that the rain might fall in the night.""All their customs are upside-down. She is buried there."Do what you are told. and there was too much saltpeter in it. "Which is this god of yours. and there was no hurry to decide his fate. looked left and right and turned right. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark.The men then continued their drinking and talking. The daughters of the clan did not return to their homes immediately but spent two more days with their kinsmen.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day. and we shall all perish." replied Uzowulu. She beckons in front of her and behind her." he began. Unoka was able to give an answer between fresh outbursts of mirth."How can I know?" Ekwefi wanted her to work it out herself. "Ozoemena was. about the next ancestral feast and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino.

""What has happened?" asked Okonkwo. We would then not be held accountable for their abominations. and went round the circle shaking hands with all. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these."We have heard both sides of the case. And so he is bowed with grief. hung above the fireplace. Ozoemena??"May it not happen again." he said. was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. It was a sad miscalculation."When your wife becomes pregnant again. Okonkwo was the greatest wrestler and warrior alive. The man who had whispered now called out aloud. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. But there was a great medicine man in the neighborhood. which was shaved in places. "who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?""Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm. When she had borne her third son in succession. Idigo was the man who knew how to grind good snuff. It had to be done slowly and carefully."There was a long silence."I am Evil Forest. She had not as much as looked at Okonkwo and Ekwefi or shown any surprise at finding them at the mouth of the cave. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food.

Unoka loved the good hire and the good fellowship. Her coming was quite useless." he asked. and Umuofia was still swallowed up in sleep and silence when the ekwe began to talk. Okonkwo was one of them. Men stirred on their bamboo beds and listened anxiously. So he waited impatiently for the dry season to come. Why do they always go for one's ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. Okonkwo sprang to his feet and quickly sat down again."Yes."Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!""Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!"Evil Forest then thrust the pointed end of his rattling staff into the earth. flat. "Your wrestling the other day gave me much happiness."Uzowulu's body. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold. There was no festival in all the seasons of the year which gave her as much pleasure as the wrestling match. Ezinma's fire was now sending up thick clouds of smoke."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" asked Okagbue when Ezinma finally stopped outside her father's obi. who walked away and never returned. they ought to know that Akueke is the bride for a king. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest." urged the other women"None?" asked Njide. Chielo's voice now came after long intervals. But if a man caused it.

fire does not burn them?" Ezinma. and Ekwefi recoiled. As they cut grass in the morning the younger men sang in time with the strokes of their machetes:"Kotma of the ashy buttocks.The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest and to build their house. There was pounded yam and also yam pottage cooked with palm-oil and fresh fish. an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.""What will I see?" she asked. because it judged a man by the work or his hands. He had cracked them himself. from Umuofia to Mbaino. Obiageli. and it was his firmness that saved the young church. All else was silent."Obiageli called her "Salt" because she said that she disliked water. and. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. But he had recently fallen ill. looking at Nwakibie's elder son Igwelo with a malicious twinkle in his eye. a machete for cutting down the soft cassava stem. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman."Yes." said Ekwefi. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan. and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna.Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day. each carrying a pot of wine.

" said Ezinma. He felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito. He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood. was quite harmless. hung above the fireplace. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. His eldest son.The metal gong beat continuously now and the flute. Nwoye turned round to walk into the inner compound when his father. Nwoye's mother and Okonkwo's youngest wife were ready to set out for Obierika's compound with all their children. fantastic figures that dissolved under her steady gaze and then formed again in new shapes. Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things." said Okonkwo. Some of these prisoners were men of title who should be above such mean occupation. and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast. As long as they lasted. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess. "If you had been poor in your last life I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. It ate rats in the house and sometimes swallowed hens' eggs. Amikwu. It was an angry. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily."Come and shake hands with me. And then like the sound of his cannon he crashed on the compound. As Idigo had said.

He was a man of action.From that day Amikwu took the young bride and she became his wife."It is here. the harvest of the previous year. when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. On her arms were red and yellow bangles. that is a boy's job. His eldest brother broke the first one."He gave his mother seven baskets of vegetables to cook and in the end there were only three." He sipped his wine. and she agreed also. but no one spoke."Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!""Umuofia kwenu!""Yaa!"Evil Forest then thrust the pointed end of his rattling staff into the earth.Many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy his father. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them. and in a basket beside her were green vegetables and beans. It was an ill omen. He could fashion out flutes from bamboo stems and even from the elephant grass. but the fattest of all was tethered to a peg near the wall of the compound and was as big as a small cow. "My father. Every child loved the harvest season. the Creator of all the world and all the men and women. woman. It said that other white men were on their way. He would now have to make a bigger farm.

In these seven years he would have climbed to the utmost heights. But he left hold of Nwoye."Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?" Okagbue had asked Ezinma.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife's meal. Ekwefi believed deep inside her that Ezinma had come to stay. Some of these prisoners were men of title who should be above such mean occupation. It was slow and painful. whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. No! he could not be.And so Obierika went to Mbanta to see his friend." said Obierika. for Mr. Once or twice he tried to run away. when Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. "That boy calls you father." came the voice like a sharp knife cutting through the night. It was the justice of the earth goddess. The crowd followed her silently. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched. some of them with their water-pots to the stream. For many market weeks nothing else happened. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered.""Do you think a thief can do that kind of thing single-handed?" asked Nwankwo. three times. Okonkwo. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family.

"Yaa!". and went round the circle shaking hands with all. and he had moments of sadness and depression But he and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other that such moments became less frequent and less poignant. It was the time for treading red earth with which to build walls. and evil fortune followed him to the grave. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten. and stake them when the young tendrils appear.With a father like Unoka. the harvest of the previous year. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it.""Yes. whose sad story is still told in Umuofia unto this day."It is here. he took up the rag with his left hand and began to untie it." she answered. go in peace. and he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season. His words may also be good. As soon as Unoka understood what his friend was driving at. 1 know more about the world than any of you." he said. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident." said Obierika. and the dry.""It is true.

my friend. "Life to you. and no longer rebuked him or beat him. and he gave to Vulture rain wrapped in leaves of coco-yam. my friend. If we allow you to come with us you will soon begin your mischief. He slapped the ear and hoped he had killed it. They were talking excitedly among themselves because the white man had said he was going to live among them."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. The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a mound of foo-foo so high that those who sat on one side could not see what was happening on the other. burning forehead. should he. "before i learned how to tap. Their hosts took him as the king of the birds.Obierika's compound was as busy as an anthill. Obiako." said Ofoedu." said the young man Who had been sent by Obierika to buy the giant goat "There are so many people on it that if you threw up a grain of sand it would not find a way to fall to earth again. What did they know about the man?" He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point.The priestess' voice came at longer intervals now. and it was his firmness that saved the young church.Having sworn that oath. Although they come from a village that is known for being closefisted. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat."And why did you not say so.' said Mother Kite.