converts who had smarted under Mr. Brown's restraining hand now flourished in full
favour. One of them was Enoch, the son of the snake-priest who was believed to have
killed and eaten the sacred python. Enoch's devotion to the new faith had seemed so
much greater than Mr.
Brown's that the villagers called him the outsider who wept louder than the
bereaved.
Enoch was short and slight of build, and always seemed in great haste. His feet
were short and broad, and when he stood or walked his heels came together and his feet
opened outwards as if they had quarrelled and meant to go in different directions. Such
was the excessive energy bottled up in Enoch's small body that it was always erupting in
quarrels and fights. On Sundays he always imagined that the sermon was preached for
the benefit of his enemies. And if he happened to sit near one of them he would
occasionally turn to give him a meaningful look, as if to say, "I told you so." It was
Enoch who touched off the great conflict between church and clan in Umuofia which
had been gathering since Mr. Brown left.
It happened during the annual ceremony which was held in honour of the earth
deity. At such times the ancestors of the clan who had been committed to Mother Earth
at their death emerged again as egwugwu through tiny ant-holes.
One of the greatest crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in
public, or to say or do anything which might reduce its immortal prestige in the eyes of
the uninitiated. And this was what Enoch did.
The annual worship of the earth goddess fell on a Sunday, and the masked spirits
were abroad. The Chri 7F??v??V?v???B&VV?F?6?W&6?6?V?B??BF?W&Vf?&Rv?????R?6??R?bF?V?"?V??Bv??R?WBF?&VrF?RVwwVwwRF?&WF?&Rf?"6??'Bv???P?f?"F?Rv??V?F?72?F?W?w&VVB?BvW&R?&VG?&WF?&??r?v?V?V??6?&?7FV@???VBF?BF?W?v?V?B??BF&RF?F?V6?6?&?7F???v?W&WW??F?W???6?R&6??@???R?bF?V?vfRV??6?v??B7G&??R?bF?R6?R?v??6?v2?v?26'&?VB?V??6?fV?????????BF?&R?fb??2?6??F?R?F?W"VwwVwwR???VF?FV?7W'&?V?FVBF?V? ?FW6V7&FVB6???????F?6??V?B???g&??F?R&?f?Rv?R??v??V??B6???G&V???@??