Chapter 14 fourteen

Okonkwo was well received by his mother's relatives in Nbonta.The old man who received him was his mother's younger brother, who is now the oldest person in the family.His name is U Cheng Du.Thirty years ago, when Okonkwo's mother's body was brought home to be buried with her relatives, it was he who greeted her.Okonkwo was still a child at that time, and Uchendu still remembers Okonkwo crying and saying farewell words that have been passed down from generation to generation: Mom, mom, mom is gone. That was many years ago.Okonkwo came here today not to send his mother to be buried with her relatives, but to take refuge in his mother's hometown with his family of three wives and eleven children.As soon as Uchendu saw Okonkwo and his family's sad and tired faces, he guessed what happened to them.He didn't ask anything.It was not until the next day that Okonkwo told him everything in detail.The old man listened to his words without saying a word, heaved a sigh of relief, and said: This is the sin of women.He arranged the necessary rituals and sacrifices.

Okonkwo's relatives gave him a piece of land to build his yard on and two or three more plots to cultivate in the coming planting season.His mother's relatives helped him build a main house and a thatched hut for each of his three wives.He then placed the tablets of his own gods and ancestors.Uchendu's five sons each gave him 300 cassava seeds to help their cousin start a new field; when the first rains come, the farming will begin. The rain finally came, very suddenly and violently.For two or three months the sun grew hotter and hotter, until at last it seemed as if it were shooting fire into the earth.The weeds had long been scorched yellow, and the sand and stones under their feet were like burning coals.The evergreens put on dusty brown coats.The birds stopped chirping in the forest, and the earth lay panting under the swaying heat.Then the thunder rumbled.It was an angry, dry, loud thunder, different from the low, flowing thunder of the rainy season.There was a strong wind, and the dust was thick in the air, and the wind blew the palm trees to this side, and the leaves fluttered in the wind, like hair combed into strange patterns.

The rain finally came, and it was a large hailstone, which people called the water walnut in the sky.The hailstones that fell were hard and hurt people, but the young people were happy to run around to pick up cold water walnuts and put them in their mouths. The earth quickly woke up, and the birds in the forest flew around, singing happily.A fragrance of thriving green grass and trees spreads in the air.The heavy rain gradually turned into light raindrops. The children all went to find a place to hide from the rain. Everyone felt refreshed, happy and grateful. Okonkwo and his family worked hard to cultivate the new farmland.He managed his own life again, but he no longer had the energy and enthusiasm of his youth, which is like learning to use his left hand when he is old.Work can no longer bring him the same pleasure as before, and when he has nothing to do, he always sits silently, half asleep and half awake.

His life had been governed by an ambition to be a leader of the clan.That is the driving force of his life.His goal was almost reached.But now, everything is over.He had been banished from the clan like a fish thrown on dry sand, dying.It was obvious that his Patronus was not worthy of great deeds.One cannot transcend the fate of one's patron saint.The elders say that if a man says yes, so does his own god, but this is not true.In his case, he himself said yes, but his God said no. The old man Uchendu could see clearly that Okonkwo had lost heart, which troubled him very much.He was going to give him some good advice after Isa | Ife's ceremony.

Amikawo, the youngest of Uchendu's five sons, is getting a new wife.The price of the bride has been paid, and the last ceremony is just waiting.About two months before Okonkwo came to Spanta, Amikawo and his family had given palm wine to the bride's relatives.Now the time has come for the last ceremony. Uchendu's married daughters all came home to the party. Some lived in distant villages and had to walk a long way.Uchengdu's eldest daughter came back from Opodo and walked for almost half a day.Uchendu's nieces also came.This is a big gathering of umm adah (whole family) and it is only held when there is a death in the family or when someone is getting married.There were twenty-two of them.

They sit in a big circle on the ground, and the bride holds a hen in her right hand and sits in the middle of the circle.Uchengdu sat beside her, holding the family's ancestral cane.The rest of the men stood outside the circle and watched.So do their wives.It was dusk and the sun had just set. The question was posed to the bride by Uchendu's eldest daughter, Enjide. Remember, if you don't answer honestly, you will suffer and even die in childbirth, she began, how many men have you slept with since my brother expressed his desire to marry you? not even one.She answered succinctly.

Answer honestly.The other women urged her on. not even one?Enjide asked. not even one.she answered. Well, you swear by the walking stick of my ancestors.U Chengdu said. Uchengdu took the hen from her hand, cut the hen's throat with a sharp knife, and dripped a few drops of blood on the ancestor's walking stick. That same day Amikawo took the young bride to his hut, and she became his wife.Uchengdu's daughters did not go home immediately, and they stayed with their relatives for two or three days. The next day, Uchendu called his son, daughter and nephew Okonkwo together.The men sat down on the ground with sheepskin blankets they had brought, and the women sat on a mound covered with sisal mats.Wu Chengdu gently stroked his gray beard, brushed his teeth, and then began to speak in a serene and prudent manner, choosing words carefully:

My words were mainly for Okonkwo, he began, but I want you all to remember what I said.I am an old man and you are all children.I know more about human affairs than any of you.If any of you thinks he knows more, he can speak out.He paused for a moment.No one spoke. Why is Okonkwo living with us now?This is not his clan.We are but relatives of his mother.He is not from this place.He was an exile, punished by living in a foreign land for seven years.So he was depressed by melancholy.But I have a question for him.Okonkwo, can you tell me why we tend to give our children a very common name, Enleka, which means mother is supreme?We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives must obey his orders.A child belongs to his father and his family, not to his mother and her family.A man belongs to his father's hometown, not to his mother's hometown.And we prefer to say that Mother Enleka is supreme.Why is this?

The audience was silent.Uchendu said again: I want Okonkwo to answer me. I can't answer.Okonkwo replied. You can't answer?So, you see, you're still a kid after all.You have several wives and many children. More children than I have.You are a great figure in your clan.But you are still a child, my child.Listen to me, let me tell you.But I have one more question for you.Why should a woman be sent home to be buried with her own relatives when she dies?She is not buried with her husband's relatives.Why is this?Your mother was sent back to me and buried with my people.Why is this.

Okonkwo shook his head. He didn't know that either, Uchendu said, but now he was filled with sadness because he was going to live in his mother's hometown for a few years.He smiled wryly, then turned to face his children, how are you doing?Can you guys answer my question? They all shook their heads. Well, you hear me, he cleared his throat and said it was all right that the child belonged to his father.But if the father beat his child, the child would go to the mother's hut and cry.A man belongs to his father's hometown when things are going well and life is good.But if he has sorrow and pain, he will find comfort in his mother's homeland.Your mother is here to shelter you.She is buried here.That is why we say that the mother is supreme.Okonkwo, are you right to give your mother a heavy look and refuse to be comforted?Be careful, or you will upset the dead.Your duty is to comfort your wife's children, and after seven years, bring them back to your father's hometown.But if you let sorrow overwhelm you and destroy you, they too will die in exile.He paused for a while, then waved his hand to his children, these people are all your relatives.You thought you were the most suffering person in the world, did you know someone who lived in exile for life?Do you know someone who lost all his cassava, even his children?I have had six wives.Now there is only the little girl who can't tell the left from the left.Do you know how many children I buried when I was young and strong?There are twenty-two of them.I didn't hang myself, I'm still alive.If you think you are the most suffering person in the world, then, you can ask my daughter Akunli, how many twins did she have and how many did she throw away?Haven't you heard that song that people sing when a woman dies?

Who is it good for and who is it good for? It does no one any good. I have nothing more to say to you.