Before it was dusk Ezeani, who was the priest of the earth goddess, Ani, called
on Okonkwo in his obi. Okonkwo brought out kola nut and placed it before the priest,
"Take away your kola nut. I shall not eat in the house of a man who has no respect for
our gods and ancestors."
Okonkwo tried to explain to him what his wife had done, but Ezeani seemed to
pay no attention. He held a short staff in his hand which he brought down on the floor to
emphasise his points.
"Listen to me," he said when Okonkwo had spoken. "You are not a stranger in
Umuofia. You know as well as I do that our forefathers ordained that before we plant
any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh
word to his neighbour. We live in peace with our fellows to honour our great goddess of
the earth without whose blessing our crops will no t grow. You have committed a great
evil." He brought down his staff heavily on the floor. "Your wife was at fault, but even
if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her, you would still have
committed a great evil to beat her." His staff came down again. "The evil you have done
can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give
us her increase, and we shall all perish." His tone now changed from anger to command.
"You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth
and a hundred cowries." He rose and left the hut.
Okonkwo did as the priest said. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine.
Inwardly, he was repentant. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbours
that he was in error. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. His
enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head. They called him the little bird nza
who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi.
No work was done during the Week of Peace. People called on their neighbours
and drank palm-wine. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which
Okonkwo had committed. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the
sacred peace. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions
somewhere in the dim past.