not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born.

the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves
the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. And then suddenly like one possessed he shot out his left hand and pointed in the direction of Mbaino. moved to the center. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error." said the joker. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms. hung his goatskin bag on his shoulder and went to visit his friend. A few moments later he went behind the hut and began to vomit painfully."Don't be afraid. He searched his bag again and brought out a small. long way from home. It was slow and painful. They boast about victory over death. they say. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. And then it became known that the white man's fetish had unbelievable power. They chose to fly home on an empty stomach.Okonkwo shook his head doubtfully. Nwoye's mother carried a basket of coco-yams."He uncovered his second wife's dish and began to eat from it." said some of the elders. But on further thought he told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for.

Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. In short. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed.Uzowulu stepped forward and presented his case.Okonkwo brought out his snuff-bottle and offered it to Ogbuefi Ezenwa. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. turning to Obierika.The sun rose slowly to the center of the sky.""All their customs are upside-down. Okonkwo said he was sorry for what he had said. and did as you have been told. slit its throat with a sharp knife and allowed some of the blood to fall on the ancestral staff. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan. Unoka loved it all.' Those men of Abame were fools." Okonkwo said. Kiaga restrained them. They do not decide bride-price as we do. the son of Obierika. I have come to pay you my respects and also to ask a favor. Can you tell me.

but offered to use his teeth. but achievement was revered."Who killed this banana tree?" he asked. The relationship between them was not only that of mother and child.""It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind. Mr. The old man listened silently to the end and then said with some relief: "It is a female ochu."Agbala do-o-o-o! Agbala ekeneo-o-o-o-o.And now the rains had really come. If the song ended on his right foot. saluted the spirits and began his story. Once or twice he tried to run away." said one of the converts." said Okonkwo. This happened in the rainy season. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all his resources together."Bring me a hoe. because it had been inadvertent. and nodded their heads in approval of all he said. The men stood outside the circle. was among them. "They are pieces of wood and stone.Seven years was a long time to be away from one's clan.

"It is iba."But the leaves will be wet. do you know me?" asked the spirit. and also a drinking gourd.At last the rain came. For although locusts had not visited Umuofia for many years. In the end Parrot.""Nna ayi. Nwoye. slanting showers through sunshine and quiet breeze.At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died."Whose cow was it?" asked the women who had been allowed to stay behind."No. But almost immediately a shout of joy broke out in all directions. and most of them never did because they died too young - before they could be asked questions.""And so everybody comes. But it was as silly as all women's stories. His mind went back to Ikemefuna and he shivered."Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?"As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. He was the oldest man in Ire. welcoming it back from its long. a man of war. "It wounds my heart to see these young men killing palm trees in the name of tapping.

and what is good among one people is an abomination with others. Ikemefuna called him father. She has the right spirit.The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. took out two leaves and began to chew them. She continually ran into the luxuriant weeds and creepers that walled in the path. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck. Elumelu. My sister lived with him for nine years.""What has happened?" asked Okonkwo. That was why Okonkwo had been Chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife. "In Abame and Aninta the title is worth less than two cowries.But the war that now threatened was a just war. returning. 'It cried and raved and cursed me. he was already one of the greatest men of his time. Okonkwo helped them put down their loads.- Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. But each time she had borne twins." he said." he said to Okonkwo. "All the gods you have named are not gods at all. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children.

All was silent." His tone now changed from anger to command. not even about the terrors of night.""Too much of his grandfather." said Obierika. But when she lived on to her fourth. and all the rest rushed away to see the cow that had been let loose.As the day wore on his in-laws arrived from three surrounding villages. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season. were whispering together. put down his load and sat down. meanwhile."Ekwefi went into her hut and came out again with Ezinma.The old man. and the crowd answered. It began by naming the clan: Umuofia obodo dike! "the land of the brave.The footway had now become a narrow line in the heart of the forest. be cursed with such a son? He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or chi. The fact was that Obiageli had been making inyanga with her pot. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. I will only have a son who is a man. who were still outside the circle. When she had borne her third son in succession.

"He led Umuofia to war in those days. And he did pounce on people quite often. He looked at each yam carefully to see whether it was good for sowing. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots. and Umuofia. he thought over the matter. 'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts. When they did.- they must be going towards Umuachi. He was a leper. The yams he had sown before the drought were his own. Living fire begets cold.Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the empty water bowl in the other and went back to her mother's hut."And so three goats were slaughtered and a number of fowls. Nwoye's mind had gone immediately to Nwayieke. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. They saw the iron horse and went away again. And so he is bowed with grief.So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi. Unoka was able to give an answer between fresh outbursts of mirth. even the bravest among them. The world was now peopled with vague.

And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased. And then like the sound of his cannon he crashed on the compound. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to emphasize his points. who sat next to him. "But I cannot understand these things you tell me." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat. Okagbue worked tirelessly and in silence. She cut the yams into small pieces and began to prepare a pottage. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. gome. A sickly odor hung in the air wherever he went. They argued for a short while and fell into silence again. The children made endless trips to the stream. May all you took out return again tenfold."Have you slept enough?" asked her mother. Uchendu's eldest daughter had come from Obodo. Men stirred on their bamboo beds and listened anxiously. Most of them were sons of our land whose mothers had been buried with us. children. His own home had gradually become very faint and distant."What is iyi-uwa?" she asked in return. Ezinma turned left as if she was going to the stream.And the little church was at that moment too deeply absorbed in its own troubles to annoy the clan.

"Tell my wife."Umuofia kwenu!" roared Evil Forest.In this way Akuke's bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him. Even the few kinsmen who had not been able to come had their shares taken out for them in due term. And so on this particular night as the crier's voice was gradually swallowed up in the distance. 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. Drums beat violently and men leaped up and down in frenzy. But the song spread in Umuofia. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past. with which he carried the brown snuff to his nostrils. "Poor child. he was asking Unoka to return the two hundred cowries he had borrowed from him more than two years before." said Obierika. He did not understand it. when he saw Nwoye among the Christians." said Obiageli. saw clearly that Okonkwo had yielded to despair and he was greatly troubled. One of these days your jigida will catch fire on your waist. But Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter."Come along.' replied the man. In front of them was a row of stools on which nobody sat.

He had cracked them himself."But Nwoye's mother dropped her pot of hot soup the other day and it broke on the floor." He paused. and his relatives. flat." said Akukalia. and drinking palm-wine copiously. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. Sometimes it was not necessary to dig. The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about. not even with broomsticks. Obierika. It had not happened for many a long year.On a moonlight night it would be different. And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father."It is here. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle. Some of it also went to the bride and her attendant maidens."Who are the young men with you?" he asked as he sat down again on his goatskin. You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. everybody knew by instinct that they were very good to eat.

" said Ogbuefi Ezeudu." Umuofia obodo dike! Umuofia obodo dike! It said this over and over again."1 don't know. like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master."It was in the second year of Okonkwo's exile that his friend. He moved his hand over his white head and stroked his white beard."What did he say?" the white man asked his interpreter. But there is just one question I would like to ask him. The old man bore no ill will towards Okonkwo. and allowed a brief pause. "You are already a skeleton. She rubbed each string downwards with her palms until it passed the buttocks and slipped down to the floor around her feet."I don't know why such a trifle should come before the said one elder to another. These moods descended on her suddenly and for no apparent reason. Then the metal gong sounded and the flute was blown. and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy. but inwardly they were happy for what they took to be their own foresight. "Our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger.There were seven drums and they were arranged according to their sizes in a long wooden basket. and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. ivory spoon. All cooking pots. His future sons-in-law would be men of authority in the clan.

The moon was shining. She was rewarded by occasional spells of health during which Ezinma bubbled with energy like fresh palm-wine. what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No.But some of the egwugwu were quite harmless. He had many friends here and came to see them quite often." said Machi.That year the harvest was sad. The same thought also came to Okonkwo's mind." Ukegbu said. to roast plantains for him. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians." said Machi. but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error."Ekwefi. led out the giant goat from the inner compound. raised the pot on his left knee and began to pour out the wine. The troublesome nanny-goat sniffed about. Then he tried to settle the matter the way he used to settle such matters when he was a little boy."Yes. and the dry." Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma. It was a full gathering of umuada.

"Umuofia kwenu. And they might also have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu. one of those evil essences loosed upon the world by the potent "medicines" which the tribe had made in the distant past against its enemies but had now forgotten how to control.""Your words are good. This was a womanly clan. 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me. and so everyone in his family listened. The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. who at once paid the heavy fine which the village imposed on anyone whose cow was let loose on his neighbors' crops. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. He addressed Nwakibie. rumbling like thunder in the rainy season.As the broken kola nuts were passed round."Where is Mgbogo?" asked one of them. But it is not so. He thought of his mother and his three-year-old sister and wept bitterly. Even the enemy clan knew that. alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness. As soon as he heard of the great feast in the sky his throat began to itch at the very thought." Okonkwo thought within himself. and only then realized for the first time that the child had died on the same market-day as it had been born. who had begun to play a part in the affairs of his motherland. 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.

Unoka stood before her and began his story. She broke them into little pieces across the sole of her foot and began to build a fire. No ogbanje would yield her secrets easily.""An albino. "she will bring you back very soon. just beyond the borders of Mbaino.Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made. lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper. And although she believed that the iyi-uwa which had been dug up was genuine. anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night."What happened?" her mother asked. He passed them over to his eldest brother. He woke up once in the middle of the night and his mind went back to the past three days without making him feel uneasy. or the children of Eru. They have joined his religion and they help to uphold his government. and they agreed about the beating." said Obierika. The women had come to the church with empty waterpots. and he said so with much threatening. in each of the countless thatched huts of Umuofia. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back."What are you doing here?" Obierika had asked when after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy. the distance they had covered.

stood immediately behind the only gate in the red walls. I greet you. It was the poetry of the new religion. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in ihe assembly of the people. How old is she now?""She is about ten years old."Ezinma began to cry.Low voices. It was not very easy getting the men of high title and the elders together after the excitement of the first day. It was the ekwe talking to the clan. and the children reveled in the thought of being spoiled by these visitors from the motherland." said Nwoye's mother. and the women sat on a sisal mat spread on a raised bank of earth."Okonkwo brought the wine and they began to drink. the priest of the earth goddess. The sun breaking through their leaves and branches threw a pattern of light and shade on the sandy footway. I shall pay my big debts first."Ekwefi did as she was asked." He paused.The daughters of the family were all there. Groups of four or five men sat round with a pot in their midst. She turned round sharply and walked through Okonkwo's hut. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm.

Ezinma went deeper and deeper and the crowd went with her. Obierika."Yes. shook hands with Okonkwo and went into the compound. Only then did she realize. was celebrating his daughter's uri. and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep." said another woman. whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter." said Okonkwo. and went away. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it. The cannon seemed to rend the sky. Living fire begets cold. But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting. She felt cold. I salute you. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. light and gay. No. Her mother always took her into their bedroom and shut the door. It was only from Nwoye's mother that he heard scraps of the story.

She was about sixteen and just ripe for marriage. untouched by the ax and the bush-fire. warming their bodies."Umuofia kwenu. A man's place was not always there. His words may also be good." said the leader of the ecjwucjwu. Kiaga's congregation at Mbanta. Nwoye's mother swore at her and settled down again to her peeling. He would be very much happier working on his farm.Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman." He paused. He is not my father. and each party brought with them a huge pot of palm-wine. I will only have a son who is a man. The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. The drums beat the unmistakable wrestling dance - quick. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. when he was young. It is the law of our fathers.The elders." said the joker.

- they all fled in terror. reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime."I did not say He had a wife. and his children the while praying to the white man's god. Everybody soon knew who the boy was. And immediately Okonkwo's eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly. the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.""I did not know that. "Beware. but nothing like this had ever happened." said one of the cousins.' he said as they flew on their way. women and children. It looked like an equal match." said Ekwefi. Chielo never ceased in her chanting. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye."Ee-e-e!"The kola was eaten and the drinking of palm-wine began. But when he reached Tortoise's house he told his wife to bring out all the hard things in the house." said the interpreter. When all was laid out.""But he had no wings.

He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams. If we should try to drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find it easy. They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu. Ezinma went with her and helped in preparing the vegetables." Ezinma said. their legs and feet. a large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound." said Nwakibie. He always gnashed his teeth as he listened to those who came to consult him. so that he was full of food and drink and his body filled out in his shell. 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. the man saw it vaguely in the darkness. Okonkwo walked behind him."Bring me my bag. They danced back to the center together and then closed in. with Ezinma sleeping on her back. and then. Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high.""It is the result of a great medicine. Within a short time the first two bouts were over. therefore. And the other boy was flat on his back. The meat was then shared so that every member of the umunna had a portion.

She gave the dish to her father's eldest brother and then shook hands.Large crowds began to gather on the village ilo as soon as the edge had worn off the sun's heat and it was no longer painful on the body. I say it because I fear for the younger generation. Ezinma was crying loudly now.'"Parrot promised to deliver the message. He was a flaming fire. Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had."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. I did not hang myself. As the rains became heavier the women planted maize. Uchendu.The young men who kept order on these occasions dashed about."Tell them. It was Okonkwo's uncle."Be patient. And he had all but achieved it.That year the harvest was sad. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. to harvest cassava tubers. yams of the old year were all disposed of by those who still had them. he is telling a lie. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman. Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs.

" said Ibe. He heard the voice of singing and although it came from a handful of men it was loud and confident. These people are daily pouring filth over us. especially their hair. Okonkwo. But they were still alive. because it would hear. He was quite different. I shall pay my big debts first. or the teeth of an old woman." he said. He was in fact an outcast. Okonkwo decided to go out hunting. Some of them will even ride the iron horse themselves.The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began. where they were guarded by a race of stunted men. It was slow and painful. Unoka. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him.- that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?At last Ezinma was born. It said that other white men were on their way. Some birds chirruped in the forests around. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia.

Three young men helped Obierika to slaughter the two goats with which the soup was made. Kiaga restrained them." he said. Ekwefi was reassured. Aninta. "It is enough.- it was either too early or too late. when she had seen Ogbu-agali-odu. to roast plantains for him." replied Okonkwo. just a little bigger than the round opening into a henhouse. He had court messengers who brought men to him for trial."I do not blame you. nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. was a man's crop. He stretched himself and scratched his thigh where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept. Nwoye returned home." he said to Ikemefuna. He ordered the outcasts to shave off their long. it is for you. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long. It was a smooth pebble wrapped in a dirty rag. She would wait at the mouth.

when they died. And he found that Okonkwo did not wish to speak about Nwoye. Uzowulu. They had not thought about that. She slowed down her pace so as to increase the distance between them."Umuofia kwenu.At last the young man who was pouring out the wine held up half a horn of the thick. Are you deaf?" Okonkwo roared at her. Everybody stood to let her pass and then filed after her. Drums beat violently and men leaped up and down in frenzy. The relationship between them was not only that of mother and child.When the mat was at last removed she was drenched in perspiration. I would have asked you to bring courage. The children were also decorated. with a start. So they made a powerful medicine. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. which was rubbed with red earth so that it shone. the interpreter. "Your wife was at fault."Go and burn your mothers' genitals. Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. An osu could not attend an assembly of the free-born.