Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Read Free Book Online

forward, carried him shoulder high and danced through the cheering crowd. Everybody soon knew who the boy was. His name was Maduka, the son of Obierika.
    The drummers stopped for a brief rest before the real matches. Their bodies shone with sweat, and they took up fans and began to fan themselves. They also drank water from small pots and ate kola nuts. They became ordinary human beings again, talking and laughing among themselves and with others who stood near them. The air, which had been stretched taut with excitement, relaxed again. It was as if water had been poured on the tightened skin of a drum. Many people looked around, perhaps for the first time, and saw those who stood or sat next to them.
    “I did not know it was you,” Ekwefi said to the woman who had stood shoulder to shoulder with her since the beginning of the matches.
    “I do not blame you,” said the woman. “I have never seen such a large crowd of people. Is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?”
    “It is true indeed, my dear friend. I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story.”
    “Your
chi
is very much awake, my friend. And how is my daughter, Ezinma?”
    “She has been very well for some time now. Perhaps she has come to stay.”
    “I think she has. How old is she now?”
    “She is about ten years old.”
    “I think she will stay. They usually stay if they do not die before the age of six.”
    “I pray she stays,” said Ekwefi with a heavy sigh.
    The woman with whom she talked was called Chielo.She was the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. In ordinary life Chielo was a widow with two children. She was very friendly with Ekwefi and they shared a common shed in the market. She was particularly fond of Ekwefi’s only daughter, Ezinma, whom she called “my daughter.” Quite often she bought beancakes and gave Ekwefi some to take home to Ezinma. Anyone seeing Chielo in ordinary life would hardly believe she was the same person who prophesied when the spirit of Agbala was upon her.
    The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow.
    The two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight. They danced back to the center together and then closed in.
    There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched, stopped them. Five matches ended in this way. But the really exciting moments were when a man was thrown. The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. It was even heard in the surrounding villages.
    The last match was between the leaders of the teams. They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. Some said Okafo was the better man; others said he was notthe equal of Ikezue. 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. They had the same style and one saw the other’s plans beforehand. It might happen again this year.
    Dusk was already approaching when their contest began. The drums went mad and the crowds also. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back.
    Ikezue held out his right hand. Okafo seized it, and they closed in. It was a fierce contest. Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever
ege
style. But the one knew what the other was thinking. The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.
    The wrestlers were now almost still in each other’s grip. The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on