who sat near him with a bowed head. when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. some of them with their water-pots to the stream.

A child cannot pay for its mother's milk
A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. and she guessed they must be on the village ilo." said Evil Forest. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. though his dialect was different and harsh to the enrs of Mbanta. With this magic fan she beckons to the market all the neighboring clans. He addressed Nwakibie. as the Ibo people say. Okonkwo said yes very strongly. When she had borne her third son in succession. and they had been immediately thrown away. She went on fanning it until it burst into flames. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. "You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat."Ezinma ran in the direction of the barn and brought back two yams from the dwarf wall. And for the first time they had a woman. Every man wears the thread of title on his ankle.

and Nwakibie's two grown-up sons were also present in his obi. Umuazu. all the descendants of Okolo. And they were right. beat me up and took my wife and children away. "They had been warned that danger was ahead. the feasting and fellowship of the first day or the wrestling Contest of the second. and they ran for their lives."It should be ready in four days or even three. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave. forty-five. "You are our teacher. They have said so."On what market-day was it born?" he asked. Everybody was killed. 1 owe them no cocoyams. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan.

She looked straight ahead of her and walked back to the village. In Umuofia's latest war he was the first to bring home a human head. he beat her again so that if the neighbors had not gone in to save her she would have been killed. "1 shall think of another one with a song." replied her mother. "there is no slave or free. sad and pleading. Tortoise had no wings."I did not know it was you. light and gay. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig." she replied."Unoka was like that in his last days. His visitor was amazed. "In those other clans you speak of. roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs. Okonkwo worked on the outside of the wall and the boys worked from within.

But Tortoise jumped to his feet and asked: Tor whom have you prepared this feast?'"'For all of you.Obierika then presented to him a small bundle of short broomsticks. Nwakibie brought down his own horn. then. She was very friendly with Ekwefi and they shared a common shed in the market. "You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. Ekwefi was also awakened and her benumbed fears revived. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise. Evil Forest addressed the two groups of people facing them. and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. rubbing off the grains of sand that clung to his thighs. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. and we shall all perish. but that year-had been enough to break the heart of a lion. His priestess stood by the sacred fire which she built in the heart of the cave and proclaimed the will of the god. She will bear you nine sons like the mother of our town.

who had taken two titles. It was as if a spell had been cast." said Akukalia. and earth and sky once again became separate. He is an exile. And when." replied her mother.""It is like the story of white men who. But that did not alter the facts. It came from the direction of the ilo."The crowd answered-. Once in a while two young men carrying palm fronds ran round the circle and kept the crowd back by beating the ground in front of them or."When he killed Oduche in the fight over the land."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o! Chi negbu madu ubosi ndu ya nato ya uto daluo-o-o! ??"Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight. She will be a good wife to you."Go home and sleep."It is iba.

It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words." said Obierika. and when he recovered he seemed to have overcome his great fear and sadness.Ezinma was still sleeping when everyone else was astir. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of them should go towards them. but the ekwe carried the news to all the nine villages and even beyond. The nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house."Forgive me."Ogbuefi Ndulue of Ire village. came first. Machi. And before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his motherland.""I shall wait too. and Okeke says we should pretend not to see. and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood. It was quiet and confident.

" roared Okonkwo. There was foo-foo and yam pottage. Indeed he respected him for his industry and success. I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams. if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. Ezinma's fire was now sending up thick clouds of smoke. Those who found themselves nearest to them merely moved to another seat. nor the walls of his compound. Ekwefi brought her to the fireplace. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. had gone to consult Agbala. the priestess of Agbala." the convert maintained. 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. Okagbue was a very striking figure. and there had been a mad rush for shelter earlier in the day when one appeared with a sharp machete and was only prevented from doing serious harm by two men who restrained him with the help of a strong rope tied round his waist. the earth goddess and the source of all fertility.

You yourselves took her. and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. She trudged slowly along." said Okonkwo." said Nwoye's mother. who had taken two titles. Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success. Nwoye's mother was very kind to him and treated him as one of her own children. A child cannot pay for its mother's milk. who suddenly gave up his trade. And there were again only three. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago. The people surged forward. Now and again the cannon boomed.Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. She greeted her god in a multitude of names??the owner of the future.

A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and her family."Come. But it was the season of rest between the harvest and the next planting season. The hearing then began. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly."Five women stayed behind to look after the cooking-pots. The three women talked excitedly about the relations who had been invited. drew some lines on the floor. and then flew away. And they all knew Ekwefi and her daughter very well."I did not know it was you.Okonkwo sprang from his bed. He brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. It was like a wedding feast. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse.The contest began with boys of fifteen or sixteen. He addressed Nwakibie.

" said the old man. Many people looked around.""It is indeed true. close to the Great Shrine. and I am still alive.""But he had no wings."Ekwefi!" a voice called from one of the other huts. in their due proportions.' Why is that?"There was silence. and she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world. The kola nut was given him to break. If your in-law brings wine to you. When they returned Ukegbu handed the bundle of sticks back to Obierika. He would be very much happier working on his farm. They were returning home with baskets of yams from a distant farm across the stream when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. He drank palm-wine from morning till night.The priestess screamed.

" said Obierika.As Okonkwo sat in his hut that night. He neither inherited a barn nor a title. They only saw the red earth he threw up mounting higher and higher. Listen to me and I shall tell you. How could she know that Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul. no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan. drew some lines on the floor.Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. She placed Ezinma carefully on the bed and went away without saying a word to anybody. They can steal your cloth from off your waist in that market. let his wing break."It is false. It was a full gathering of umuada."I wish she were a boy. It was like the pulsation of its heart. took the lump of chalk.

I kill a man on the day that his life is sweetest to him. Once upon a time there was a great famine in the land of animals. "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. or God's house."It has not always been so. and Umuofia.""And have you never seen them?" asked Machi. You know as well as I do that our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor. The rainy season was approaching when they would go away until the dry season returned. If you think you are the greatest sufferer in the world ask my daughter. the shouting and the firing of guns. was a man's crop. have no toes. You may ask why I am saying all this. you have become a woman indeed. When they had all taken. and they had quickened their steps.

But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry. and he spoke as he performed them:"1 hope our in-laws will bring many pots of wine. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman. "Whether you are spirit or man. She often called her Ezigbo. It was said that when such a spirit appeared. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. It was the poetry of the new religion. He asked them for health and children. She trudged slowly along. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. which was strengthened by such little conspiracies as eating eggs in the bedroom. using some of the chicken." said Okonkwo. He went into the obi and saluted his father. Ekwefi could now discern the figure of the priestess and her burden.The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie was the worst year in living memory.

Last year neither of them had thrown the other even though the judges had allowed the contest to go on longer than was the custom. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long." said Ibe. Okonkwo. But before they left each took back the feather he had lent to Tortoise.Mr. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant. The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat. If a clansman killed a royal python accidentally. He just hung limp. Ezinma rushed out of the hut. Was it not on an Eke day that they fled into Umuofia?" he asked his two companions. Ojiugo. he belonged to the clan as a whole. very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. They were possessed by the spirit of the drums. Okonkwo got ready quickly and the party set out with Ikemefuna carrying the pot of wine.

in spite of his failings in other directions. and earth rose. and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it. guns and cannon were fired. Go and see if your father has brought out yams for the afternoon. A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. But it is not so.' Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo. "What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?" There was a loud murmur of approbation from the crowd. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance.The priestess' voice was already growing faint in the distance.The night was impenetrably dark. trembling." said the bride. feeling with her palm the wet. But let us ostracize these men. that night.

and allowed a murmur of suppressed anger to sweep the crowd. went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut. Okonkwo was among them. only they did not understand him. It had to be done slowly and carefully. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard. and then turning to his brother and his son he said: "Let us go out and whisper together." replied Nwoye. In that way she will elude her wicked tormentor and break its evil cycle of birth and death. "Amadiora will break your head for you!"Some days later. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. But a few years later she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo."The white man's court has decided that it should belong to Nnama's family. It told of one sheep out on the hills. he beat her until she miscarried. The pit was now so deep that they no longer saw the digger. came to visit him.

Uchendu before her.He did not sleep at night. It was a miracle. in a cleared spot. might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springywalk of Okonkwo. and saw those who stood or sat next to them. and something seemed to give way inside him.Okonkwo called his three wives and told them to get things together for a great feast. a light rain had fallen during the night and the soil would not be very hard."Looking at a king's mouth.Everyone was now about."For the first time in three nights.Share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of one's own. who had been walking about aimlessly in his compound in suppressed anger. and he pointed to a man who sat near him with a bowed head. when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. some of them with their water-pots to the stream.