man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last
source of hope. We appear to pay greater attention to the little gods but that is not so.
We worry them more because we are afraid to worry their Master. Our fathers knew that
Chukwu was the Overlord and that is why many of them gave their children the name
Chukwuka-"Chukwu is Supreme."
"You said one interesting thing," said Mr. Brown. "You are afraid of Chukwu. In
my religion Chukwu is a loving Father and need not be feared by those who do His
will."
"But we must fear Him when we are not doing His will," said Akunna. "And
who is to tell His will? It is too great to be known."
In this way Mr. Brown learned a good deal about the religion of the clan and he
came to the conclusion that a frontal attack on it would not succeed. And so he built a
school and a little hospital in Umuofia. He went from family to family begging people
to send their children to his school. But at first they only sent their slaves or sometimes
their lazy children. Mr. Brown begged and argued and prophesied. He said that the
leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who had learned to read and
write. If Umuofia failed to send her children to the school, strangers would come from
other places to rule them. They could already see that happening in the Native Court,
where the D. C. was surrounded by strangers who spoke his tongue. Most of these
strangers came from the distant town of Umuru on the bank of the Great River where
the white man first went.
In the end Mr. Brown's arguments began to have an effect. More people came to
learn in his school, and he encouraged them with gifts of singlets and towels. They were
not all young, these people who came to learn. Some of them were thirty years old or
more. They worked on their farms in the morning and went to school in the afternoon.
And it was not long before the people began to say that the white man's medicine was
quick in working. Mr. Brown's school produced quick results. A few months in it were
enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk. Those who stayed longer